Forgetting and Remembering

A new post in the series - Reminders to self

Sometimes going through one's old writings, journals, diaries can be an incredibly learning experience. It makes one recall and perhaps even renew for oneself the insight, the wisdom of the moment that had expressed itself in those words from years ago.

Often there is a definite reason why one is led to a particular old scribbling. Perhaps it is time to remember something important, really remember. Perhaps it is time to re-dedicate oneself. Perhaps one needs a reminder. A reminder to remember.

Sometimes old scribblings take on new forms. Not necessarily because the writer has grown wiser, but more because the writer is seeking a greater clarity inside. This seeking is also a reminder. A reminder to not forget to seek.

A newer outer form also becomes a reminder. A reminder to remember and offer.

"Although his ego claims the world for its use,
Man is a dynamo for the cosmic work;
Nature does most in him, God the high rest:
Only his soul’s acceptance is his own."

In our egoistic journeys through life, as we go through various trials and tribulations, ups and downs, we generally forget that we are constantly being protected, pushed, guided and led by powers and forces beyond us, beyond our highest intellectual capabilities that we normally use to govern our lives, our choices and decisions. We may call these higher powers or forces by any name. We may call it the Divine.

In our ignorant intellectual debates on free will and destiny, we forget that in the ultimate analysis we are only instruments of a Cosmic Plan, and though blessed with a free will we have been put here on this earth to fulfil a tiny little part of His Grand Goal. We forget that we are here to manifest in our small ways His Divine Will, to play our little part in His Lila.

"Often our thoughts are finished cosmic wares
Admitted by a silent office gate
And passed through the subconscient’s galleries,
Then issued in Time’s mart as private make.
For now they bear the living person’s stamp;
A trick, a special hue claims them his own.
All else is Nature’s craft and this too hers.
Our tasks are given, we are but instruments;
Nothing is all our own that we create:
The Power that acts in us is not our force."

We forget, therefore we have to remember.

Because we are steeped in the Ignorance of our lower nature, enslaved by the prison of our physical-vital-mental selves, we forget that we are not really doing anything that we think we are doing. So we have to remember that even in our blind ignorance it is the Nature's Will manifesting itself through the outward actions being done through our hands and minds. We forget that we only have a responsibility for our actions and no claim on their outcome.

"Even Nature’s ignorance is Truth’s instrument;
Our struggling ego cannot change her course:
Yet is it a conscious power that moves in us,
A seed-idea is parent of our acts
And destiny the unrecognised child of Will.
Infallibly by Truth’s directing gaze
All creatures here their secret self disclose,
Forced to become what in themselves they hide.
For He who Is grows manifest in the years
And the slow Godhead shut within the cell
Climbs from the plasm to immortality.
But hidden, but denied to mortal grasp,
Mystic, ineffable is the spirit’s truth,
Unspoken, caught only by the spirit’s eye.
When naked of ego and mind it hears the Voice;
It looks through light to ever greater light
And sees Eternity ensphering Life."

We forget all this and that's why we are quick to take all the credit for the success of our actions and put all the blame on to the Divine or Nature if there is failure (or cry about our Bad Luck!). So we have to remember and offer all work to the Divine with no concern whatsoever for the outcome. We know we must do this, but still we don’t, we can’t.

We don’t do it because we forget.

We forget that all this is Hers, so we have to remember to offer it all to Her. We forget that we are only children of Hers struggling in Ignorance, so we have to remember that only Her Force and Her Grace can help us crawl out of this Ignorance and show us the Light.

"All stumbled on behind a stumbling Guide,
Yet every stumble is a needed pace
On unknown routes to an unknowable goal.
All blundered and straggled towards the One Divine."

Perhaps there is a deeper necessity for this forgetfulness because all is part of the Divine Plan.

"This world was not built with random bricks of Chance,
A blind god is not destiny’s architect;
A conscious power has drawn the plan of life,
There is meaning in each curve and line."

We are perhaps led to this forgetfulness so we may focus on the external world and all the actions that we must pursue. It is this action in the outer world that allows us to manifest and express outwardly what we may have experienced as part of an inward growth, whatever little that may be.

"This world is God fulfilled in outwardness."

Without the outward action we may not be able to translate any inner change into a concrete and sustained transformation. Without a reasonable dose of forgetfulness we may not be fully immersed in the outward action; without such an immersion an identification with the task may not be there and without which the task may not become a natural expression or outpouring of whatever part in us that has begun the journey of a deeper, wider and upward progress.

In the ultimate analysis, this simultaneous inner and outer journey is what helps us correct the multiple defects of the different parts of our physical-vital-mental nature. Only this can over time lead to a dynamic change of our outer nature which is essential for our evolutionary process. And for the purpose of our individual growth, this ‘back and forth’ between the outward external action and an inward redirecting of energies is what keeps us ‘testing’ for ourselves whether we are really changing. And for that we are given this experience of forgetfulness.

But we must remember that we are also given the ability to remember. We are given this because we must remember what we forget. It is this remembrance that takes us back inward. To the inner chambers where all journey is supposed to take us.

And yet we forget to remember, we forget to offer. We forget and we keep forgetting it more and more in our forgetfulness. It is as if we are lost in our own forgetfulness. The journey is long, but it begins as all journeys begin, with the first step. And that first step is remembrance.

Remember and Offer.

Verses from Savitri by Sri Aurobindo

Photos by Suhas Mehra

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To see previous post in the series, Reminders to self, click here.

To see all posts in the series, click here.

Being Two, and in Other News

Baisakhi, April 14, 2013 was when it started.  On this day that marks the beginning of the New Year in the traditional Hindu Solar Calendar, celebrated under different names in different parts of India, this blog took its form with a simple beginning.

Two years, 240 posts later, I am still figuring out, sometimes struggling with, how to express the ideal which led me to start this blog. In this process I have realised that instead of figuring out what the blog really wants to be, if I can be more certain of what this blog does not want to be (as mentioned here, here, and here) I will be perhaps able to draw closer to the true form that this blog is meant to express. Of course this will happen slowly, over time.

But as I said in my first anniversary post on this blog, there is always more to come still....

Since the truer reality is always the inner one, I can say with certainty that the last two years of blogging have given me plenty of opportunities to work on my inner attitude. There have been many moments of recognition, acceptance, denial, frustration, letting go, surrender, struggle and many other things that help us see our shortcomings, inadequacies, imperfections, all of which help us grow in humility and encourage us to strive for further progress and greater perfection.

To reiterate, I am speaking not only of the outer work but more importantly of the inner work that we must do via the outer work. And in that sense the outer work on this blog has been extremely helpful in providing ample opportunities for the inner work.

The second anniversary of the blog also gives me an opportunity to once again express my sincere gratitude. To That which is the source of everything, the beginning, the middle and the end; the Source from where everything emerges and to whom everything eventually reaches; the Force which makes everything possible; the Infinite that is behind and beyond everything that manifests and expresses.

I am deeply thankful for all the support and encouragement I have found through my readers -- those who share their thoughts about my posts either in the form of comments or private messages, and also those who engage with the content in silence. Thank you!

Since we are two, this is also an opportunity to share two other items of news that are closely connected with this work of writing and blogging.

NEWS I: A new blog

Yes. You read it right. I have started a new blog. With my husband. Yes, you read that right too.

But it is not really a blog in the conventional sense of the blog. There you will not find too many 300- or 500-word posts. Matriwords is more of a place for us to compile and share some of our longer writings, essays, research commentaries that are inspired by the social-cultural-political thought of Sri Aurobindo.

In addition to our own writings, we'll also be featuring there writings by some of the other thinkers and scholars whose works have inspired us and who continue to guide us in our ongoing study of Sri Aurobindo.

Because of its more academic nature, the content on matriwords will be updated at a bit slower pace than is typical with most blogs. In addition to an introductory post, already there are three essays and papers shared there: one written by yours truly; other that I had co-authored with my husband, and yet another written by a well-known scholar and practitioner of Integral Yoga.

I hope some readers will be interested to explore some of the content on matriwords.

NEWS II: A new review

I am happy to share another wonderful review of my book, ABC's of Indian National Education. It is a very special review because it is written by someone who is not only a dedicated intellectual and spiritual aspirant in his own right, but is also completely in sync with the deeper purpose and intention which guided my book in the first place.

Anurag Banerjee has several degrees in Commerce and Business Administration and has taught at a few insitutions. But his real work revolves around researching, writing, archiving and publishing important works in the field of Sri Aurobindo Studies. As the founder-chairman of Overman Foundation, a non-profit organization which he started in 2010 and which runs India’s only online research centre focusing on the vision, mission, thought and works of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Anurag has been working tirelessly to bring to the readers several hitherto unknown or lesser-known works comprising of intellectual, biographical, anecdotal nature as well as several interview-based and photographic works that shine new light on the life and work of the Masters.

Anurag is also a poet, translator, and a well-published author in Bengali and English. At the age of twenty, he penned a biography of Dilip Kumar Roy titled Achinpather Dibyapathik, and at the age of twenty-one he translated one hundred poems of Sri Aurobindo into Bengali titled Debotar Shrom. Both these books were published in 2008. His first book in English, Nirodbaran: The Surrealist’s Journey, was published in December 2006 when he was twenty-two years old.

So it was a matter of great honour and happiness for me when Anurag agreed to write a review for my book. In his review, he writes:

Though the author has referred to the works of Rabindranath Tagore, Jiddu Krishnamurti, Shashi Tharoor, Pavan K. Varma, Makarand Paranjpe and others, the inspiration behind ABC’s of Indian National Education is certainly the works of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. The author has delved into the ocean of their writings and presented before the reader a number of invaluable pearls of wisdom related to the theme of education.

The academic scenario of the country would have been quite different had Sri Aurobindo’s concept of education was put to practice. The path to progress has been showed by Sri Aurobindo and his spiritual collaborator, the Mother, but the author has shown—in ABC’s of Indian National Education—how to tread on it successfully. It would be an error to assume that this book is only for the members of the academic world. Nay, on the contrary, it is for the general reader as well. One cannot help but appreciate the author’s lucid style of writing and her thought-provoking insights and observations on how the academic model should be. She has hinted how we can have a modern outlook on education as well as a modern method of educating without ignoring the rich cultural heritage of the land. The author has also successfully explained how the system of education in India could be appropriately Indianized.

To read his full review, click here.

I am very grateful to Anurag for taking the time to review the book.


NEWS III:  More to come still....

While there is always more news to share, but I stop now for the time being.

And as I begin the third year of this blog, all I can say is that my sincere aspiration and hope is that my work on this blog becomes a means for truer inspiration and a deeper engagement with ideas and thoughts in the years to come.

Like with everything else in life, there may be some new changes on this blog too in the coming year. Stay tuned!

Thank you, everyone. Happy reading. Happy writing. Happy thinking.

Photo credit: Suhas Mehra

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Linking this with ABC Wednesday, N: N is for News, New

For My Mother, My First Teacher

She taught me to read and write. She taught me to love. She taught me to live. She taught me to be me.

My mother, who was a teacher to thousands of students, in her 35+years of teaching career, was my first teacher. She will always be my teacher and mentor, wherever she is.

I am not sure how good a student I have been, but I will continue to try. Because she also taught me to learn, and keep learning always. Learn from my mistakes and learn from others' mistakes too. Learn from my failures and learn from my accomplishments too.

It was in 1998 when I wrote my first "book", aka my doctoral dissertation. All 200+ pages of that book were dedicated to my parents.

Years passed and I wrote many things -- essays, book chapters for academic volumes, articles for academic and other journals, print and online magazines.

And then the time came to write another book. It gives me a very special joy when I open the first few pages of the advance copies of my newly released book, ABC's of Indian National Education and see this:

 To my Mother, my first teacher

Dear readers, I am happy to share that my book on Indian Education is now available for purchase at Amazon, where you can also read a brief overview of the book. And don't forget, you can always contact me, the author, for any thoughts you may have about the book.  

Regular readers of the blog may recall the A-Z series I did on Education in the month of April. This came together as a result of those blog posts, so my sincere thanks to all the readers of that series who encouraged me to think beyond the blog. 

I was fortunate enough to get some generous endorsements for the book from some esteemed teachers, colleagues and writers:

This book is a call for an educational approach that values the Spirit and builds upon India’s timeless wisdom of a life-affirming and living spirituality.  

Dr. Jane Brown

  Faculty Emerita, Antioch University Midwest, Yellow Springs, Ohio, USA 

                  

An educational policy bereft of the grand civilizational values of India reduces citizens to humdrum workers aspiring to nothing more than material security. This book provides the grounding essential to make Indians not just masters of the knowledge of the external but keen pursuers of knowledge eternal and internal.  Literally covering the issue, from A to Z, Dr. Mehra lays the groundwork for rethinking and re-framing India’s educational policy.                    

Dr. Ramesh Rao

Professor, Columbus State University, Columbus, Georgia, USA 

This book speaks of infusing Indian education with the Indian spirit. While it is inescapable that children have to pick up future careers, the author is opposed to making education strictly careerist, where childhood is suppressed and learning becomes mechanistic, soulless and joyless.    

N. V. Subramanian

Editor, www.newsinsight.net, Writer on politics and strategic affairs, Novelist, Delhi, India 

This book compels us to take a closer look at some of the fundamental issues regarding Indian education. Presenting the arguments with a modern approach, the book is deeply influenced by Sri Aurobindo's insights into the essential spirit of Indian culture and Education. All those interested in the future of Education in India and elsewhere will find it thought-provoking.

Kittu Reddy

Sri Aurobindo International Center of Education, Pondicherry 

Click here to order

As I look at the book jacket and flip through the pages I see some errors, and after the first few minutes of self-criticism I remember what my mother always used to say -- 'now that you have finished your work, let it go, don't think too much about it, nobody can get it all right, learn from your mistakes and move on.' 

And so with this book done, I move on to other projects and other works, remembering her love and with full assurance that she is blessing me from wherever she is. My mother, my first teacher whose love for learning and teaching inspired me to do my best as a teacher, remains the reason for my passion for Education.

I wrote this book in gratitude and memory of all my teachers — past, present and future — who have shaped me into what I am today.

I offer this to That One Teacher who is Present in All.

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Linking this with ABC Wednesday, T: T is for Teacher

His Excellency, Stop - No Eating Here!

A new post in the series - "All Music is Only the Sound of His Laughter"

Wondering about the title of this post: "His Excellency, Stop - No Eating Here!"?

This message was conveyed by none other than the great Santoor Maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma at a special concert held in Pondicherry in March 2014. And this message was conveyed to none other than the Lieutenant-Governor of Pondicherry who had just a few minutes ago officially launched a book: "Shiv Kumar Sharma: The Man and His Music." Well, Panditji didn't exactly say those words, but you will know soon what he said. Let me start at the beginning.

This is how it happened. 

The special concert was organized by a group of music-lovers in collaboration with the Department of Tourism, Pondicherry to celebrate the centenary of coming of the Mother to Pondicherry. [The Mother, spiritual collaborator of Sri Aurobindo, first came to India hundred years ago, reaching Pondicherry on 29th March, 1914]. The concert was held at the JIPMER auditorium, and special guests included the Honourable Lt. Governor of Pondicherry and several other high officials from Department of Tourism, Pondicherry.

After the initial ceremonies of lighting the lamp, honouring the special guests and the artists, and the book launch were over, and just before the concert was about to begin, an almost-unbelievable thing happened. This was a through and through Indian classical music concert. No light music programme, no fusion, no popular music, mind you. So naturally a certain dignity and a certain decorum was expected from the audiences. 

The musicians were all on the stage, ready to begin. Panditji was introducing his fellow performers and giving a brief introduction about Indian classical music when all of a sudden entered from a side entrance to the hall a neatly dressed young man with a large tray of eatables and tea. These were meant to be served to the 'dignitaries,' the VVIPs sitting in the front row of the auditorium. After all, it was part of the much-touted Indian hospitality, you see! The organizers must have felt compelled to serve some snacks and tea to the 'esteemed' guests from the Government. Of course, what they didn't realize was that they had no idea of what Indian hospitality really is. 

Indian hospitality is first and foremost about recognizing what is the proper way to do things. And it is about recognizing what is the absolutely wrong way to do things. Serving or eating food and drinks at an Indian classical music concert was absolutely the wrong thing to do. But I am not saying this. The legend himself, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma said so, and rightly said so. In plain words. This programme was not just any musical programme. It was, like any Indian classical music performance, an outer expression of an inner sadhana of the musicians for whom music is not entertainment but a means to connect with the Divine. Divine in them and Divine in everything. Panditji expressed his strong displeasure (but in a polite way) at this misguided and wrong gesture made by the organizers and explained to the audience why it was so. 

He spoke for a few minutes about the sacredness of all music, but especially the Indian classical music which has been acknowledged from times immemorial as a means to grow in spiritual sadhana, and used in that way both by musicians as well as the serious listeners. He said that while it is a common practice to eat and drink when enjoying popular music performances, and noted that this has become the worldwide trend now with music clubs everywhere, in Indian classical music concerts such a thing is completely intolerable. 

The musicians invoke the Divine Presence through their music, the stage is their temple, the audience are the gods for whom they perform, the audience on their part try to become one with the music and go inward...in all this sacred work going on where is the room for any interference like that of snacking? Panditji explained further. He said that Indian classical music is no ordinary music, it has come from the depths of the souls of seekers, the heights of the spiritual ecstasy realized by the rishis. And for him and many other Indian musicians, music has always been first and foremost about an inner seeking, a spiritual quest, a means to get in touch with that touch of divinity within. 

Obviously while this beautiful explanation was being given by the Maestro, the server slipped away quietly with his tray though he was for a couple of minutes confused about what to do, how to retreat. But I am sure this was an embarrassing moment both for the organizers as well as the VVIPs who would have probably picked up their plates had Panditji not spoken up. I do hope however that more than an embarrassing moment, this was taken as a real learning moment both by the 'esteemed' guests and their 'hosts'. 

Panditji got a huge applause for saying all that he did. For the wonderful lesson he gave everyone on the Indian classical music and the sacredness of the whole experience - of performing and listening, for the musician and the audience. 

As mesmerizing and deeply meditative as the whole music performance was at this concert, this little bit of extra added so much to the whole experience. It really did. 

"The role of music lies in helping the consciousness uplift itself towards the spiritual heights." 

~ The Mother

It is perhaps most appropriate to end this post with this....

Photo credits: 1: Suhas Mehra, 2: Painting by Pieter Weltevrede

For the previous post in this series, click here.

For all the posts in this series, click here.

Gratitude

Today this blog completes six months.

Today is the day to express Immense Gratitude:

To the Divine Mother whose Presence and Words are the inspiration for this blog.
To the Divine Master whose Guidance and Grace are the force behind this blog.
To all those regions from where the ideas and thoughts and feelings come.
To all those parts and planes of the being which facilitate reflection and integration.
To all those faculties within which help sieve, select, synthesize and express.
And,
To all those who click, read, motivate and encourage.

A BIG THANK YOU!

Ipomea Carnea, Pale pink Morning Glory

Spiritual Significance: Gratitude, It is you who open all the closed doors and allow the saving Grace to enter.

Source

Today is also the day to remind myself of why I do this blog: 

As as a humble offering to Her.
As a humble attempt to contemplate upon, live out, and express the following words:

"Let beauty be your constant ideal.

The beauty of the soul

The beauty of sentiments

The beauty of thoughts

The beauty of the action

The beauty in the work

so that nothing comes out of your hands which is not an expression of pure and harmonious beauty.

And the Divine Help shall always be with you." 

(The Mother)

Today is also the day to express a prayer:

May I always remember to 'Remember and Offer'. 

May I always remember to reflect deeply on all that appears on this blog.

May I always remember to assess deeply before anything gets expressed on this blog.

May I always remember to see all this as:

a means to progress, 

a means to become more open and receptive to Her Force.

a means to grow in gratitude and humility.

a means to seek and express deeper delight in all life and work.