God is within, in the deep recesses of our heart, in the form of the two sounds, Maha-naam or great name. One sound, Gopal, apprises you of the Supreme; the other sound, Govinda, of the Beyond. The Mahanaam is our real Self, the Guru. The human mind is only the pragmatic self which cuts into pieces the Integral Existence that is Mahanaam, and therefore exhibits multiplicity.
No earthly guru can initiate a person or, in other words, give diksha. Mahanaam spontaneously manifests as and when it chooses to do so. The Divine Will, which is the outward manifestation of Sri Satyanarayan, is the sole creative and sustaining principle in this universe. As Divine Power, or Energy, Mahanaam is revealed to our senses in various forms. It is the Shabdabrahmn. Shabda means sound, Brahmn refers to God, the Essence of Existence. Mahanaam is identical with Truth.
The matrix of all multiplicity, Mahanaam is the eternal refuge of all existence. The two sounds, Gopal Govinda, epitomise the bipolarity of our life in this world overflowing with the joy of infinite existence. Existence, consciousness, joy... this is the order of progressive manifestation of the Infinite. In Existence as Existence, the two sounds are in perfect identity. That is Satyanarayan, symbol of Truth, and Mahanaam is His joyous manifestation.
Submit to Mahanaam in love; do your work with Him as the Agent. Have patience with the vicissitudes of life which are tokens of His Infinite Love. Don’t restrain, don’t indulge. Be natural, shorn of all inhibitions. Work is worship when the sole frame of reference is the Soul, the vibrant Mahanaam. No one can come into this world without the two sounds of Mahanaam vibrating within.
Mahanaam is prana or life. Gopal Govinda is the warp and woof of your existence. The respiratory function is set into motion by its spontaneous vibration. If you closely follow the track of respiration you may be led to a rediscovery of the vibration of Mahanaam.
Other than Name, there is nothing. Name is the Supreme Authority. Name is the Guru. Name is God. Name is Almighty and Truth. No need of going to anybody, going anywhere. You have become full of Him. Remember Mahanaam with love and complete self-surrender. That is the only way.
As soon as the veil of ego is lifted creative power evolves in the mind of the seeker and Mahanaam disappears. My role is that of a witness. The seeker sees the Mahanaam, which is the Name of Self, dwelling in the seeker’s heart and constantly chanting the Mahanaam. The resonant sound of Mahanaam is heard by the seeker at the time of revelation.
You can turn yourself into a Vrindavan. The mind in the state of Manjari (like a budding seed) tastes the Rasa (relishes Divine Love) of Govinda (God within). That is what is meant by residence in Vrindavan.
The region of repose of respiration within the body, which is Void, is the place where from out of Void emerges Name. Therein lie Vrindavan and Govinda. It has no contact with the body inasmuch as it transcends mind. The concentrated mind is Buddhi (absolute, discriminative, intuitive). This state is possible only when one goes beyond mind or when one reaches the Void. I am kissing myself, kissing kiss itself. The mind flowers into a sheaf (Manjari), the intelligence grows transparent (conscious), and the life force becomes Joy.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Celebrating Shakti As The Mother Goddess
Rama needed Durga’s blessings for success in rescuing Sita from Ravana. It was essential to worship Durga with 108 ‘neel kamals’ (blue lotuses). But Rama could gather only 107 of them. He, therefore, offered one of his eyes to complete the count. Impressed by his devotion, Durga blessed him with victory.
The concept of Mother Goddess is pan-Indian. The Rig Vedic pantheon includes goddesses of infinity, dawn, night and speech. She is popularly called Durga and Kali in Bengal. Ambika and Bhadrakali in Gujarat, Chamunda in Karnataka, Mumbadevi, Santoshi Ma and Bhavani in Maharashtra and Kamakhya in Assam. She is Manasa, the goddess of those bitten by the snake, and Sitala, the deity of small pox, and Olai Chandi associated with cholera in Bengal. To most devotees, however, she is just Ma. In Sri Aurobindo’s ‘Savitri’ she is “The magnet of our difficult ascent. The sun from which we kindle all our suns”.
The Mother Goddess is primarily the embodiment of Shakti, power or energy, of growth, fertility and prosperity, or death, destruction and disease. She is the universal mother, the epitome of female power overriding all other powers and primal energy. She is extolled and invoked in Devi Mahatmyam, a part of Markandeya Purana, while creating a vision of the ultimate divinity as a goddess. It recounts the story of the gods defeated by the demons headed by Mahishasura after a protracted battle.
A great light issued from Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma and other gods. From their joint energies emerged a unique radiance that took female form, Devi Durga. Her face was formed by Shiva’s light, her hair by Yama’s colour, her arms from Vishnu’s lustre and her breasts from Chandra’s luminescence. From Brahma’s glow came her feet, from Kubera’s her nose and from Agni’s blaze her three eyes.
Shiva gave her his trident, Vishnu his discus, Varuna a conch, Agni a spear, Indra a thunderbolt, Surya bestowed his own rays on all the pores of her skin and Kala (time) gave her a sword and shield. Armed by the gods, the Devi challenged the demons and a fierce war ensued. After all the generals of the buffalo-demon were vanquished, Mahishasura faced the Devi who flung her noose over him. The buffalo-demon became a lion and kept changing his form to ward her off. Ultimately, she struck off his head with her sword and the asura army perished. So she is Mahishasuramardini.
As Mahamaya, she comes to the aid of Vishnu and deludes and overcomes the demons Madhu and Kaitabh. Shumbha and Nishumha, the two ferocious demons, sent their commanders Chanda and Munda to kill the goddess when she came to the rescue of the gods in distress. But she killed both in the conflict and came to be called Chamunda. The demon Raktabeeja was a bigger challenge because from every drop of his blood that fell on the ground there arose a thousand others like him. Durga, therefore, took the blood in her mouth before it touched the ground and killed the demon. She defeated Shumbha and Nishumha also after a fierce battle.
Durga combines in herself the benign face of Parvati, and the female dynamism of Shakti but is worshipped mostly in the image of the latter. Vijaya Dasami, the final day of the puja, is marked by sweet sorrow as the image is immersed and it is time for the Devi to go back to her consort. It is also Dussehra when people rejoice by burning the effigy of Ravana.
The concept of Mother Goddess is pan-Indian. The Rig Vedic pantheon includes goddesses of infinity, dawn, night and speech. She is popularly called Durga and Kali in Bengal. Ambika and Bhadrakali in Gujarat, Chamunda in Karnataka, Mumbadevi, Santoshi Ma and Bhavani in Maharashtra and Kamakhya in Assam. She is Manasa, the goddess of those bitten by the snake, and Sitala, the deity of small pox, and Olai Chandi associated with cholera in Bengal. To most devotees, however, she is just Ma. In Sri Aurobindo’s ‘Savitri’ she is “The magnet of our difficult ascent. The sun from which we kindle all our suns”.
The Mother Goddess is primarily the embodiment of Shakti, power or energy, of growth, fertility and prosperity, or death, destruction and disease. She is the universal mother, the epitome of female power overriding all other powers and primal energy. She is extolled and invoked in Devi Mahatmyam, a part of Markandeya Purana, while creating a vision of the ultimate divinity as a goddess. It recounts the story of the gods defeated by the demons headed by Mahishasura after a protracted battle.
A great light issued from Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma and other gods. From their joint energies emerged a unique radiance that took female form, Devi Durga. Her face was formed by Shiva’s light, her hair by Yama’s colour, her arms from Vishnu’s lustre and her breasts from Chandra’s luminescence. From Brahma’s glow came her feet, from Kubera’s her nose and from Agni’s blaze her three eyes.
Shiva gave her his trident, Vishnu his discus, Varuna a conch, Agni a spear, Indra a thunderbolt, Surya bestowed his own rays on all the pores of her skin and Kala (time) gave her a sword and shield. Armed by the gods, the Devi challenged the demons and a fierce war ensued. After all the generals of the buffalo-demon were vanquished, Mahishasura faced the Devi who flung her noose over him. The buffalo-demon became a lion and kept changing his form to ward her off. Ultimately, she struck off his head with her sword and the asura army perished. So she is Mahishasuramardini.
As Mahamaya, she comes to the aid of Vishnu and deludes and overcomes the demons Madhu and Kaitabh. Shumbha and Nishumha, the two ferocious demons, sent their commanders Chanda and Munda to kill the goddess when she came to the rescue of the gods in distress. But she killed both in the conflict and came to be called Chamunda. The demon Raktabeeja was a bigger challenge because from every drop of his blood that fell on the ground there arose a thousand others like him. Durga, therefore, took the blood in her mouth before it touched the ground and killed the demon. She defeated Shumbha and Nishumha also after a fierce battle.
Durga combines in herself the benign face of Parvati, and the female dynamism of Shakti but is worshipped mostly in the image of the latter. Vijaya Dasami, the final day of the puja, is marked by sweet sorrow as the image is immersed and it is time for the Devi to go back to her consort. It is also Dussehra when people rejoice by burning the effigy of Ravana.
Durga Puja Festivity: A Spiritual Metaphor
Durga Puja symbolises our eternal journey to self-realisation and not just the victory of good over evil. Behind the apparent magnificence of the rituals there lies a deep spiritual significance worth contemplation.
Human mind subject to limitations of time and space cannot conceive the abstract idea of infinite Brahmn, the non-dual one without a second. Ancient sages therefore contemplated suitable symbols for progressive realisation of the Divine through various levels of God-consciousness towards ultimate realisation. Durga Puja encompasses the entire gamut of spiritual realisation.
In the process of spiritual transformation we need to rise above the neuro-linguistic programmes in-built in our DNA. A fortnight before the puja tarpan or offering is made to ancestors till Mahalaya intended to work out the genetic bondage to enable us to awaken our divine consciousness or bodhan on Mahashashti, the first day of the puja.
To a hungry man food is God. That’s why humans first worshipped nature. On Mahashashti, prayers are offered to the woodapple tree as the abode of the goddess. On Mahasaptami, the second day of the puja, nine leaves including a banana tree called Navapatrika are placed for worship. The paradoxical presence of the four children of the goddess — who is otherwise a virgin — in the battlefield is highly symbolic. When subtle intelligence represented by Ganesha is applied to nurturing nature, wealth in the form of Lakshmi evolves.
Material prosperity begets two associates, learning and fine arts represented by Goddess Saraswati and military prowess for protection and preservation represented by Kartikeya. All these four offsprings of the goddess are worshipped for worldly achievements.
Material prosperity and military prowess invariably beget arrogance and egotism unless these are accepted as gifts of the divine and stepping-stones for further progress. But the pernicious ego sheltered under beastly ignorance (buffalo in the image) and identifying itself to be omnipotent breaks the natural law of harmony and peace. At this spiritual crisis primordial nature in the form of Goddess Durga intervenes to vanquish the ego and makes it surrender to her. It is victory of the universal life force over individual egoism and upholding of cosmic cause over untoward interests of the indomitable ego.
With 10 weapons in her 10 hands and the wisdom of the third eye the goddess transcends the 10 human senses of perception and action represented by Mahishasura. She represents the universal principle of energy or holy vibration of the cosmos.
Thus, we have progressive departure from nature worship to worship of material prosperity, military prowess, learning, fine arts and intellect. Thereafter the dominating arrogant ego is made to surrender to the omnipotent cosmic energy of Goddess Durga.
Our journey to self-realisation ends with awakening cosmic consciousness as the destination. Above the image of Durga there lies rather invisibly Lord Shiva, representing cosmic consciousness.
On the fourth day of the puja or the day of Vijaya or special victory Goddess Durga is united with Shiva after her worldly play is done for establishing the divine realisation through an evolutionary process. Hence, all the peripherals are immersed into the ocean of consciousness of Lord Shiva, which is the culmination of spiritual progress along with the dissolution of delusive manifestation of the apparent reality.
Human mind subject to limitations of time and space cannot conceive the abstract idea of infinite Brahmn, the non-dual one without a second. Ancient sages therefore contemplated suitable symbols for progressive realisation of the Divine through various levels of God-consciousness towards ultimate realisation. Durga Puja encompasses the entire gamut of spiritual realisation.
In the process of spiritual transformation we need to rise above the neuro-linguistic programmes in-built in our DNA. A fortnight before the puja tarpan or offering is made to ancestors till Mahalaya intended to work out the genetic bondage to enable us to awaken our divine consciousness or bodhan on Mahashashti, the first day of the puja.
To a hungry man food is God. That’s why humans first worshipped nature. On Mahashashti, prayers are offered to the woodapple tree as the abode of the goddess. On Mahasaptami, the second day of the puja, nine leaves including a banana tree called Navapatrika are placed for worship. The paradoxical presence of the four children of the goddess — who is otherwise a virgin — in the battlefield is highly symbolic. When subtle intelligence represented by Ganesha is applied to nurturing nature, wealth in the form of Lakshmi evolves.
Material prosperity begets two associates, learning and fine arts represented by Goddess Saraswati and military prowess for protection and preservation represented by Kartikeya. All these four offsprings of the goddess are worshipped for worldly achievements.
Material prosperity and military prowess invariably beget arrogance and egotism unless these are accepted as gifts of the divine and stepping-stones for further progress. But the pernicious ego sheltered under beastly ignorance (buffalo in the image) and identifying itself to be omnipotent breaks the natural law of harmony and peace. At this spiritual crisis primordial nature in the form of Goddess Durga intervenes to vanquish the ego and makes it surrender to her. It is victory of the universal life force over individual egoism and upholding of cosmic cause over untoward interests of the indomitable ego.
With 10 weapons in her 10 hands and the wisdom of the third eye the goddess transcends the 10 human senses of perception and action represented by Mahishasura. She represents the universal principle of energy or holy vibration of the cosmos.
Thus, we have progressive departure from nature worship to worship of material prosperity, military prowess, learning, fine arts and intellect. Thereafter the dominating arrogant ego is made to surrender to the omnipotent cosmic energy of Goddess Durga.
Our journey to self-realisation ends with awakening cosmic consciousness as the destination. Above the image of Durga there lies rather invisibly Lord Shiva, representing cosmic consciousness.
On the fourth day of the puja or the day of Vijaya or special victory Goddess Durga is united with Shiva after her worldly play is done for establishing the divine realisation through an evolutionary process. Hence, all the peripherals are immersed into the ocean of consciousness of Lord Shiva, which is the culmination of spiritual progress along with the dissolution of delusive manifestation of the apparent reality.
Whatever You Are Is Nothing But Food
According to eastern mystic tradition, all that you think you are is nothing but food. Your body is food, your mind is food, your soul is food. Beyond the soul there is certainly something which is not food. That something is known as anatta, no-self. It is utter emptiness. Buddha calls it shunya, the void. It is pure space. It contains nothing but itself; it is contentless consciousness.
While the content persists, the food persists. By ‘food’ is meant that which is ingested from the outside. The body needs physical food; without it, it will start deteriorating. This is how it survives; it contains nothing but physical food.
Your mind contains memories, thoughts, desires, jealousies, power trips, and a thousand and one things. All that is also food; on a more subtle plane it is food. Thought is food. Hence when you have nourishing thoughts your chest expands. When you have thoughts which give you energy you feel good. Somebody compliments you, and look what happens to you — you are nourished. And somebody says something uncomplimentary about you, and watch — it is as if something has been snatched away from you...
The mind is food in a subtle form. The mind is the inner side of the body; hence what you eat affects your mind... You can watch it yourself. Eat something and watch, eat something else and watch. Keep notes, and you will become aware and surprised to find that each thing that you digest is not only physical, it has a psychological part to it. It makes your mind vulnerable to certain ideas, to certain desires.
Since long, there has been a search for a kind of food that will not strengthen the mind but will help it to finally dissolve; a kind of food which, instead of strengthening the mind, will strengthen meditation, no-mind. No fixed and certain rules can be given, because people are different and each one has to decide for himself.
Talk less, listen only to the essential, be telegraphic in talking and listening. If you talk less, if you listen less, slowly you will see that a feeling of purity will start rising within you. That becomes the necessary soil for meditation. Don’t go on reading all kinds of nonsense.
Leave a few gaps in your mind unoccupied. Those moments of unoccupied consciousness are the first glimpses of meditation, the first penetrations of the beyond, the first flashes of no-mind. And then if you can manage to do this, the other thing is to choose physical food which does not help aggression and violence, which is not poisonous.
Become bigger, become huge. Why are you living in tunnels? Why are you creeping into small dark black holes? But you think you are living in great ideological systems. You are not living in great ideological systems, because there are no great ideological systems. No idea is great enough to contain a human being; being-hood cannot be contained by any concept. All concepts cripple and paralyse.
Your body is not poisoned as much as your mind is. The body is a simple phenomenon, it can be easily cleaned. If you change your poisonous foods you will be surprised; a new intelligence will be released in you. And this new intelligence will make it possible not to go on stuffing yourself with nonsense. This new intelligence will make you capable of dropping the past and its memories, of dropping unnecessary desires and dreams, dropping jealousies, angers, traumas and all kinds of psychological wounds.
While the content persists, the food persists. By ‘food’ is meant that which is ingested from the outside. The body needs physical food; without it, it will start deteriorating. This is how it survives; it contains nothing but physical food.
Your mind contains memories, thoughts, desires, jealousies, power trips, and a thousand and one things. All that is also food; on a more subtle plane it is food. Thought is food. Hence when you have nourishing thoughts your chest expands. When you have thoughts which give you energy you feel good. Somebody compliments you, and look what happens to you — you are nourished. And somebody says something uncomplimentary about you, and watch — it is as if something has been snatched away from you...
The mind is food in a subtle form. The mind is the inner side of the body; hence what you eat affects your mind... You can watch it yourself. Eat something and watch, eat something else and watch. Keep notes, and you will become aware and surprised to find that each thing that you digest is not only physical, it has a psychological part to it. It makes your mind vulnerable to certain ideas, to certain desires.
Since long, there has been a search for a kind of food that will not strengthen the mind but will help it to finally dissolve; a kind of food which, instead of strengthening the mind, will strengthen meditation, no-mind. No fixed and certain rules can be given, because people are different and each one has to decide for himself.
Talk less, listen only to the essential, be telegraphic in talking and listening. If you talk less, if you listen less, slowly you will see that a feeling of purity will start rising within you. That becomes the necessary soil for meditation. Don’t go on reading all kinds of nonsense.
Leave a few gaps in your mind unoccupied. Those moments of unoccupied consciousness are the first glimpses of meditation, the first penetrations of the beyond, the first flashes of no-mind. And then if you can manage to do this, the other thing is to choose physical food which does not help aggression and violence, which is not poisonous.
Become bigger, become huge. Why are you living in tunnels? Why are you creeping into small dark black holes? But you think you are living in great ideological systems. You are not living in great ideological systems, because there are no great ideological systems. No idea is great enough to contain a human being; being-hood cannot be contained by any concept. All concepts cripple and paralyse.
Your body is not poisoned as much as your mind is. The body is a simple phenomenon, it can be easily cleaned. If you change your poisonous foods you will be surprised; a new intelligence will be released in you. And this new intelligence will make it possible not to go on stuffing yourself with nonsense. This new intelligence will make you capable of dropping the past and its memories, of dropping unnecessary desires and dreams, dropping jealousies, angers, traumas and all kinds of psychological wounds.
Balance Cosmic Energy For Maximum Benefit
A thundershower brings great relief from the scorching heat of the sun. The pitter-patter of raindrops falling fills the air with its rhythm. The sun, storehouse of energy, ceases to be our favourite for a while. A few days of clouds, rain, thunderstorm and showers are enjoyed by all. Very soon, however, we eagerly look forward to sunlight as the dull weather brings down our energy levels.
It’s the balance of energies in the cosmos that keeps us on our feet. We absorb these energies in the form of prana, the life force, and reach it to the various organs for them to work in unison. So our absorbing the energies from the cosmos keeps us physically alive. Any imbalance affects mental and physical health.
By learning to balancing these energies, we could derive maximum benefit from what is available to us in forms of vibrations in nature. A blend of these sounds and vibrations activates the chakras, the main energy centres in our body, thereby bringing about complete health and harmony between the cosmic vibrations and our chakras.
Chakra literally means a wheel or circle. In the human body energy flows through three main channels or nadis, namely sushumna, pingala and ida. Pingala and ida start from the right and the left nostrils respectively. These move to the crown of the head and then course downwards to the base of the spine. These two nadis intersect each other and also with sushumna. These junctions of the nadis are called chakras which regulate the body mechanism.
The ‘Kundalini Pranayam’ performed regularly energises and balances the chakras. Each major chakra has a sound to activate the energy of that particular area and open itself to receive maximum benefit from cosmic energies:
1. Mooladhara chakra: Moola or root is the adhara or source of support. From here, prana reaches energies to every nook and corner of the body. It is situated in the pelvis. Colour: red, sound vibration: ‘lam’.
2. Swadhishthana chakra: This controls the functions of reproductive and excretory organs. Sva signifies the vital force and adhishthana means abode. It is situated above the organs of generation. Colour: saffron, sound: ‘vam’.
3. Manipura chakra: Situated in the navel region, this chakra controls every organ below the diaphragm and helps to increase digestion and assimilation to maintain perfect health. Colour: red, sound: ‘ram’.
4. Anahata chakra: Anahata means the unbeaten. Situated in the cardiac area this improves heart and lung function. Colour: green, sound: ‘yam’.
5. Vishuddhi chakra: This signifies purity and enables all the glands to function to their optimum and maintains perfect hormone balance. Colour: violet, sound: ‘ham’.
6. Ajna chakra: Ajna means command. Situated between the eyebrows, this chakra is vital in stimulating the pituitary gland and slowing down the ageing process. It has the shape of the crescent moon. Colour: silverwhite, sound: ‘om’.
7. Sahasrara chakra: Sahasra means one thousand. This works towards mind and body balance and promotes total health. Colour: rising sun, sound: ‘mmmmm’.
Taking the most comfortable position, close your eyes and visualise each chakra and its colour as you inhale and chant the particular sound as you exhale. Regular practice of ‘Kundalini Pranayama’ brings about complete harmony in the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual energies, thus keeping oneself in tune with cosmic energies.
It’s the balance of energies in the cosmos that keeps us on our feet. We absorb these energies in the form of prana, the life force, and reach it to the various organs for them to work in unison. So our absorbing the energies from the cosmos keeps us physically alive. Any imbalance affects mental and physical health.
By learning to balancing these energies, we could derive maximum benefit from what is available to us in forms of vibrations in nature. A blend of these sounds and vibrations activates the chakras, the main energy centres in our body, thereby bringing about complete health and harmony between the cosmic vibrations and our chakras.
Chakra literally means a wheel or circle. In the human body energy flows through three main channels or nadis, namely sushumna, pingala and ida. Pingala and ida start from the right and the left nostrils respectively. These move to the crown of the head and then course downwards to the base of the spine. These two nadis intersect each other and also with sushumna. These junctions of the nadis are called chakras which regulate the body mechanism.
The ‘Kundalini Pranayam’ performed regularly energises and balances the chakras. Each major chakra has a sound to activate the energy of that particular area and open itself to receive maximum benefit from cosmic energies:
1. Mooladhara chakra: Moola or root is the adhara or source of support. From here, prana reaches energies to every nook and corner of the body. It is situated in the pelvis. Colour: red, sound vibration: ‘lam’.
2. Swadhishthana chakra: This controls the functions of reproductive and excretory organs. Sva signifies the vital force and adhishthana means abode. It is situated above the organs of generation. Colour: saffron, sound: ‘vam’.
3. Manipura chakra: Situated in the navel region, this chakra controls every organ below the diaphragm and helps to increase digestion and assimilation to maintain perfect health. Colour: red, sound: ‘ram’.
4. Anahata chakra: Anahata means the unbeaten. Situated in the cardiac area this improves heart and lung function. Colour: green, sound: ‘yam’.
5. Vishuddhi chakra: This signifies purity and enables all the glands to function to their optimum and maintains perfect hormone balance. Colour: violet, sound: ‘ham’.
6. Ajna chakra: Ajna means command. Situated between the eyebrows, this chakra is vital in stimulating the pituitary gland and slowing down the ageing process. It has the shape of the crescent moon. Colour: silverwhite, sound: ‘om’.
7. Sahasrara chakra: Sahasra means one thousand. This works towards mind and body balance and promotes total health. Colour: rising sun, sound: ‘mmmmm’.
Taking the most comfortable position, close your eyes and visualise each chakra and its colour as you inhale and chant the particular sound as you exhale. Regular practice of ‘Kundalini Pranayama’ brings about complete harmony in the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual energies, thus keeping oneself in tune with cosmic energies.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Exploring A Reality That Lies Beyond Perception
Swara means note literally, but it holds a deeper significance than its western definition... It is not a mechanical pitch, but rather, an utterance that comes from deep within the human body...
The ancient western position on music was that it was made up of patterns of sound with regular melodic intervals which reflect the simple ratios by which the world is organised and make sense to our organs of perception. Western theory is thus built around perceptible, rational ideas which the human mind can see, recognise, and find proof for.
Musicologist Lewis Rowell has written that Indian music is rooted in a fundamentally different assumption — that there is a continuous, unseen, and constantly changing reality which is the backdrop for all human action and perception. It is what shapes our karma or destiny, and helps explain why seemingly inexplicable things happen to us.
The notes in Indian music are thus not categorical, separate, self-contained entities, but are connected through a subtle, elusive continuum of notes that can barely be identified by the human ear. They are, in the metaphysical sense, part of that reality which lies beyond perception. These in-between notes are called srutis, and they are the essence of Indian music.
In a very literal sense, these srutis are the half notes and quarter notes that fill the intervals between two notes. But that would be a grossly incomplete description. There is much more to the sruti, for it can entirely change the reality of the notes. For instance, how you reach a particular note is as important as the note itself. It may be arrived at from below, or above, after caressing that hidden note that hovers next to it, and it will evoke a completely different sensation than if the musician were to meet the note directly.
This explains why Indian music cannot be learned from textbooks. It has to be taught by a guru who can explain these nuances, coax the right note out of the student and help her achieve it. How would even the most articulate text manage to explain that you have to meet the swara gradually and lovingly and with a touch of foreplay?
The ancient scriptures were preserved in the oral tradition, where each phrase and utterance was memorised through a complex set of mnemonics and then recited with great emphasis on delivery, so that future generations got it just right. Yoga, also an ancient and secret discipline, was passed down from teacher to student, not through textbooks. The Indian classical musical tradition relies on a similar oral tradition where the teacher is a key player and often viewed with the same reverence with which one would treat a priest or a monk.
But there is only so much that can be taught. It is finally up to the student to understand the secrets of swara. The singer may have perfect pitch but may or may not get to the next level. It is only when the student gets a feel for the notes that her music will truly shine forth...
Hindu musicians... believe that the first element to emerge, long before life populated the universe, was the sound Om, which embodies that universal spirit some call God. Perhaps this is why the sensation experienced, both for the artist and the connoisseur, when a musician enunciates the swara in its ultimate and precise form, is very similar to the feeling one has when one sits in a quiet temple,church,or mausoleum,and experiences that sudden epiphany.
The ancient western position on music was that it was made up of patterns of sound with regular melodic intervals which reflect the simple ratios by which the world is organised and make sense to our organs of perception. Western theory is thus built around perceptible, rational ideas which the human mind can see, recognise, and find proof for.
Musicologist Lewis Rowell has written that Indian music is rooted in a fundamentally different assumption — that there is a continuous, unseen, and constantly changing reality which is the backdrop for all human action and perception. It is what shapes our karma or destiny, and helps explain why seemingly inexplicable things happen to us.
The notes in Indian music are thus not categorical, separate, self-contained entities, but are connected through a subtle, elusive continuum of notes that can barely be identified by the human ear. They are, in the metaphysical sense, part of that reality which lies beyond perception. These in-between notes are called srutis, and they are the essence of Indian music.
In a very literal sense, these srutis are the half notes and quarter notes that fill the intervals between two notes. But that would be a grossly incomplete description. There is much more to the sruti, for it can entirely change the reality of the notes. For instance, how you reach a particular note is as important as the note itself. It may be arrived at from below, or above, after caressing that hidden note that hovers next to it, and it will evoke a completely different sensation than if the musician were to meet the note directly.
This explains why Indian music cannot be learned from textbooks. It has to be taught by a guru who can explain these nuances, coax the right note out of the student and help her achieve it. How would even the most articulate text manage to explain that you have to meet the swara gradually and lovingly and with a touch of foreplay?
The ancient scriptures were preserved in the oral tradition, where each phrase and utterance was memorised through a complex set of mnemonics and then recited with great emphasis on delivery, so that future generations got it just right. Yoga, also an ancient and secret discipline, was passed down from teacher to student, not through textbooks. The Indian classical musical tradition relies on a similar oral tradition where the teacher is a key player and often viewed with the same reverence with which one would treat a priest or a monk.
But there is only so much that can be taught. It is finally up to the student to understand the secrets of swara. The singer may have perfect pitch but may or may not get to the next level. It is only when the student gets a feel for the notes that her music will truly shine forth...
Hindu musicians... believe that the first element to emerge, long before life populated the universe, was the sound Om, which embodies that universal spirit some call God. Perhaps this is why the sensation experienced, both for the artist and the connoisseur, when a musician enunciates the swara in its ultimate and precise form, is very similar to the feeling one has when one sits in a quiet temple,church,or mausoleum,and experiences that sudden epiphany.
The Three Devis And Creative Energy
Durga is one version of the allpervading Shakti, the powerful manifestation of the Supreme Energy. The eternity of this supreme manifestation of divine female power is considered to be pervading infinite space and time. The everlasting and allpervading Shakti also presides over the processes of creation, conservation and annihilation.
Concepts of creation, preservation and annihilation are crucial as “many-body” operators in physics. Almost all physical systems are many-body systems. The smallest many-body entity is a physical system with only two constituents. Atoms, atomic nuclei, molecules, solids, liquids, gases and the universe constitute important physical many-body systems. We, too, live in many-body systems that include family, our society and the world. However, these are not studied as physical systems, although some enthusiastic students of the subject do show some interest in them.
Maha Shakti or Supreme Energy is manifested chiefly in three forms: Maha Saraswati, Maha Lakshmi and Maha Kali. The three devis represent three important facets of life: Creation, conservation and annihilation. Learning and wisdom play a far more important role than details of one’s birth.
Maha Saraswati stands for creation. The creative person who pursues knowledge and wisdom continues to live with the grace of Maha Lakshmi, who is responsible for the sustenance of life. Maha Lakshmi bestows her grace and bounty. Finally, Maha Kali, responsible for annihilation, completes the cycle.
Physical energy has several forms. There are transformations among the different forms of energy. In the process, however, the indestructibility of the energy, and consequently matter, is not affected. The stability and functionality of different forms of energy and matter depend on the distribution of these in the atom, which is the source of all forms of energy and matter, the complete knowledge of which still remains elusive.
This is also true with regard to the Universe. In spite of several propositions and expositions about the universe and its finiteness or infiniteness, the subject is still mysterious. This fact emphasises the boundless or infinite limits of knowledge.
We are not bound by finite dimensions. We live free, and we are surrounded by infinite space, time and knowledge. It’s all there, we only need to reflect on the metaphysics of it. Science is normally handled within only spacetime dimensions. With knowledge included, it becomes philosophy or metaphysics. Research in science is increasingly also revealing to us the infinite nature of knowledge: the more we know, the more there is to know and so on.
What we might refer to as super-space is spanned by space, time and knowledge, all having both real and imaginary components; the imaginary components are the reciprocal or momentum space, frequency and ignorance respectively. That we are in this situation is not our doing. In this context, the concept of a Supreme Power is important.
Philosophy and science have a common characteristic. Both are born of doubt and also evolve with creation of more doubts. Understanding the correlation between the seemingly contrasting aspects of science and philosophy is important in enabling further exploration of the mysteries and nature of space, time and knowledge.
Concepts of creation, preservation and annihilation are crucial as “many-body” operators in physics. Almost all physical systems are many-body systems. The smallest many-body entity is a physical system with only two constituents. Atoms, atomic nuclei, molecules, solids, liquids, gases and the universe constitute important physical many-body systems. We, too, live in many-body systems that include family, our society and the world. However, these are not studied as physical systems, although some enthusiastic students of the subject do show some interest in them.
Maha Shakti or Supreme Energy is manifested chiefly in three forms: Maha Saraswati, Maha Lakshmi and Maha Kali. The three devis represent three important facets of life: Creation, conservation and annihilation. Learning and wisdom play a far more important role than details of one’s birth.
Maha Saraswati stands for creation. The creative person who pursues knowledge and wisdom continues to live with the grace of Maha Lakshmi, who is responsible for the sustenance of life. Maha Lakshmi bestows her grace and bounty. Finally, Maha Kali, responsible for annihilation, completes the cycle.
Physical energy has several forms. There are transformations among the different forms of energy. In the process, however, the indestructibility of the energy, and consequently matter, is not affected. The stability and functionality of different forms of energy and matter depend on the distribution of these in the atom, which is the source of all forms of energy and matter, the complete knowledge of which still remains elusive.
This is also true with regard to the Universe. In spite of several propositions and expositions about the universe and its finiteness or infiniteness, the subject is still mysterious. This fact emphasises the boundless or infinite limits of knowledge.
We are not bound by finite dimensions. We live free, and we are surrounded by infinite space, time and knowledge. It’s all there, we only need to reflect on the metaphysics of it. Science is normally handled within only spacetime dimensions. With knowledge included, it becomes philosophy or metaphysics. Research in science is increasingly also revealing to us the infinite nature of knowledge: the more we know, the more there is to know and so on.
What we might refer to as super-space is spanned by space, time and knowledge, all having both real and imaginary components; the imaginary components are the reciprocal or momentum space, frequency and ignorance respectively. That we are in this situation is not our doing. In this context, the concept of a Supreme Power is important.
Philosophy and science have a common characteristic. Both are born of doubt and also evolve with creation of more doubts. Understanding the correlation between the seemingly contrasting aspects of science and philosophy is important in enabling further exploration of the mysteries and nature of space, time and knowledge.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
