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inner spiritual urges to flow naturally within us. Rieker explains<br />
the importance of a favourable atmosphere for meditative<br />
purposes: 'Man without environment, let us assume this possibility<br />
theoretically, could neither create nor change his inner self, for he<br />
would lack an outer measure of his inner relationships. And thus<br />
the inner self of Man is not, a priori, decisive, but only in his<br />
momentary relationship to his environment.' 38<br />
The acts of bathing (ablution), dressing, sitting for worship,<br />
offering of ritual ingredients, along with others like nyasa and<br />
bhuta-suddhi (purification of body and elements) are performed to<br />
tune the environment, body and mind.<br />
Preparation<br />
After both partners have bathed, sakti (the female partner) is<br />
liberally and gently massaged with scented oils: jasmine for her<br />
hands, keora for her neck and cheeks, champa and hina for her<br />
breasts, spikenard for her hair, musk for her abdomen, sandal paste<br />
for her thighs, and khus for her feet. The primary aim of using<br />
Radha, the beloved of Lord<br />
Krishna, encircled by sixteen<br />
female energies. Rajasthan, c. 18th<br />
century. Gouache with gold on<br />
paper.<br />
167
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