Metamorphosis: the journey of the cosmic caterpillar

What the sun and a caterpillar have in common.

Oṃ pūrṇamadaḥ pūrṇamidam pūrṇāt pūrṇamudacyate
pūrṇasya pūrṇamādāya pūrṇamevāvaśiṣyate
oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ

That is whole. This is whole. From the whole the whole becomes manifest. From the whole when the whole is negated, what remains is again the whole.

from Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. (listen to audio of Manorama chanting the mantra.)

The sun makes a sac…