There is a shining mountain named Meru, an unsurpassed mass of energy; its blazing golden peaks outshine even the light of the sun. ... The gods, who dwell in heaven and are of great vigour, rich in ascetic powers, came together, mounted its plateau, and sat there to take counsel in order to obtain the ambrosia [amrit].

While the gods were thinking and conferring together, the god Narayana (Vishnu) said to Brahma, "Let the gods and demons churn the ocean which is like a churning pot, and when the great ocean is churned there will be ambrosia, and you will also obtain the herbs and gems."

... The tremendous mountain named Mandara is adorned with mountain peaks like pointed clouds; it is covered with a net of vines, it rings with the song of many birds, and it is crowded with tusked animals. ... The potent serpent Ananta arose at Brahma's behest and was instructed by Narayana in the task. Then the mighty Ananta forcibly uprooted that king of mountains with all its forests and forest-dwellers, and the gods went with the mountain to the ocean and said to him, "We will churn your water to obtain ambrosia."

... The gods and demons then said to the king of tortoises, the supreme tortoise, "You are the one suited to be the resting place for this mountain." The tortoise agreed, and Indra placed the tip of the mountain on his back, fastening it tightly.

They made Mandara the churning-stick and the serpent Vasuki the cord, and they began to churn the ocean, the treasure of waters, for ambrosia. The gods acted together with the demons, for they all wished for the ambrosia. The great demons grasped one end of the king of serpents, and all the gods held him by the tail.

During the churning of the ocean a number of events took place before

...at last, the god Dhanvantari [the physician-god] came forth [from the ocean] incarnate, holding a white pot in which the ambrosia was contained. When the demons saw this marvel they let out a great roar for the ambrosia, each crying, "It is mine!"

Then the lord Narayana took the form of Mohini, a magic illusion of the marvelous body of a woman, and he went to the demons. As their minds were bewitched, they gave the ambrosia to him in his female form, for all the demons had their hearts set on her. The goddess who was made of the illusion wrought by Narayana held the bowl and gave it to the gods to drink, but although the demons were seated in a row she did not give it to them to drink.

Afterwards, of course, the demons were so enraged that they attacked, and a great battle ensued. But the gods, now having the benefit of the ambrosia's power, were able to prevail and prevent the demons from consuming any of the amrit.

This tale contains a great deal of alchemical and tantric symbolism, and in my opinion it is one of the most important esoteric formulations ever given.

The serpent around the mountain-as-rod is a classic caduceus image, a parallel to the image of the uncoiling serpent of Kundalini awakening. The mountain being churned in the ocean (as archetypal a feminine symbol as there has ever been) is a not-very-veiled rendition of sacred sex -- especially considering the numerous references in this myth to milk, or to the white foam of the ocean, or other white foamy products of the churning. Thus the myth has a very important tantric reading -- but that is not, in my mind, the most important element of the myth's meaning. It is, on many levels beyond this, a myth about the uniting of opposites.

Exciting the limbic system through Dervish whirling, esoteric initiation, drumming and dancing, solemn ceremony, flaggelation, or tantric sex, causes the sympathetic nervous system to overflow, activating simultaneously the parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system is what causes bodily excitation -- sweat, adrenaline, heavy breath, heightened awareness; while the parasympathetic nervous system is what causes bodily calm -- slower breath and heart rate, a sense of calm, muscular stillness. When both systems are active at once, one feels the sensation of awe -- the profound state of mystical awareness.

It's unclear whether the ancient Hindu myth-makers could have been so aware of their inner life that they recognized awe as the combination of calm and excitation. They could, however, have observed the experience of becoming "one with the universe," which is often shown mythologically as the uniting of opposites. What is actually going on here, is that mystical experiece often involves the quietening of the spatial orientation center of the brain. Neurologists have seen this occuring in conjunction with the subjective experience of "mystical union."

In this myth the uniting of opposites takes two forms: the gods and demons overcoming their differences temporarily to work together towards a common goal -- and the union of male and female in the body of Mohini, the transgendered enchantress.

As it was encoded in the Gospel of Thomas:

Jesus said to them, "When you make the two one, and when you make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside, and the above like the below, and when you make the male and the female one and the same, so that the male not be male nor the female female... then will you enter the kingdom."

Mohini serves as the High Priestess, the Camel who Crosses the Abyss, because it is she who determines who is worthy to receive the amrit, the ambrosia that confers immortality.

Though in the excerpt above her femininity is described as an "illusion," this is misleading because in another myth, Mohini bears a child to Shiva -- the androgynous Ayyappan, who could be compared to Hermaphrodite of Greek myth.

For these reasons, I consider her to be one of the most potent symbols of gnosis ever offered.

In the Bhagavad-Gita Krishna describes an attitude towards the Vedas very similar to that of Paul towards the Law of Moses.

Sacred action (karma) is described in the Vedas and these come from the Eternal, and therefore is the Eternal everpresent in a sacrifice. Thus was the Wheel of the Law set in motion, and that man lives indeed in vain who in a sinful life of pleasures helps not in its revolutions. But the man who has found the joy of the Spirit (atma-ratihh) and in the Spirit has satisfaction, who in the Spirit has found his peace, that man is beyond the law of action. He is beyond what is done and what is not done, and in all his works he is beyond the help of mortal beings. Bhagavad-Gita 3:15-17, trans. Juan Mascaro

Compare this to:

So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. Romans 7:4-6, NIV

Both passages can be read in light of the Gnostic psychic/pneumatic distinction to read thus: religious codes are good as far as they go, in maintaining the social harmony and encouraging people to live better lives. But they do not represent the pinnacle of human spiritual awareness; direct spiritual awareness supercedes the religious codes, as one who always acts from compassion does no wrong.