Sanskrit Street

While visiting Sarnath, the original place of where the Buddha began teaching, there are a series of temples from various Buddhist sects and denominations and permutations, including a Jain one.

Though not Buddhist, the Jains are often compared to them, or wholesale lumped together with them as they share the most affinities of any of the religions on the surface. The Jains are a breed apart and are on the fringe of the Indian-based religions, though quite prominent in some sectors of society.

The Jains have a principal mantra of “Ahimsa parama Dharmah,” which means, “Non-violence is the supreme Duty.” A true Jain does not have much time left if he or she really lived up to the extremes of the religion for they believe that even breathing, eating, and drinking endangers other living creatures. But, for the most part, this is taken theoretically. However, it is a good mantra to have.

The Jains also stress something akin to the Buddhist doctrine of life. Your life is your responsibility, not God’s and not someone else’s. There is neither room for blame, nor praise, but rather action and consequence.

Living on the edge of religion, the Jains are not evangelical, nor do they have a large base, it is a choice, and the choice is yours. And, only a Soul that has vanquished its own demons can be considered liberated. Nobody can save your Soul, but by your own effort. 

When I Was King

The Upanishads, or the most well-known and circulated exegesis of the Vedic tradition, are the more philosophical answer to the religious-based Vedas. This was not only a philosophical movement, but it signaled a significant power shift in ancient Indian society.

Formerly, the ruling class, or caste was the Brahmin, or priestly caste. These were chiefly men from the Sanskrit-speaking Aryans who had descended upon the sub-continent from most likely the Russian Steppes, or former Persian empire in about the year 1500 BCE. In order to distinguish these taller, fairer skinned conquerors, the caste system, based upon varna, or color, was installed. Though this later becomes associated with civil status and occupation, originally the caste system was a way to discriminate between the conquering and the conquered.

For quite some time the Brahmins reigned supreme, espousing the holy scriptures as the Truth, but this was not to last. Within the second caste, the Kshatriya, there began to be murmurs of discontent. The Kshatriya class was the princely and warrior caste and the Upanishads belong primarily to their canon fodder of thought. Within this tradition, The Bhagavad Gita, whose hero is the princely warrior, Arjuna, is considered to be a discreet Upanishad within the larger epic, the Mahabharata.

Upanishad, or Upa-ni-shad, literally means to “approach and sit before.” These were teachings in which the student would approach the guru and sit before him, engaging intellectual debate, seeking clarification in the often vague and contradictory scriptures. These became the dialectic of the Kshatriya who eventually did wrestle the power from the Brahmins, and amongst whom Siddhartha Gautama, or, the Buddha , was counted. His questioning of the scriptures of old was quite in line with the Upanishadic tradition of the dialectic, quite like that of Socrates in his native Athens.

The Mandukya Upanishad chiefly deals with the breakdown of the sacred syllable of OM, which is famously used in yoga classes around the world as a mantra to be used for meditation.

However, the “true” nature of OM, when examined, is protracted to four movements, A, U, M, and Silence. When chanting the OM, it should begin from deep in the chest cavity, reaching back to the spine at the back of the throat with a bass “A” which then gradually moves up the esophagus as the “U” transiting towards the tongue with the “M” as it moves to the lips and finally clenched teeth and the nasal drone exiting from the nostrils trailing off into Slience, to be repeated again from the core of the abdomen.

In Upanishadic tradition, these tesseract of sound (and absence of sound), mimics the four stages of sleep, ranging from light, disturbed sleep of the “A” to a superbly profound, dreamless sleep of the silence, signaling the dissolution of the Self into the Atman, or Universal Soul. Before that, the Self enters the dream stage in which all things are possible. In the dream state, a pauper becomes king, a murderer a saint, and all barriers of Time and Space are broken. It is the great equalizer for it is the verisimilitude of Death, the true great equalizer.

In Advaita Vedanta, the concept then of the dreaming stage of sleep is likened to the quest for liberating the mind of discrimination between the Self and Other, between opposites, and any discretions at all. It is the moment before enlightenment in which the thinking and intellectualism can serve one no longer, it is the space between the calculus that cannot be measured, that illusive cantor dust, yet only transcended by the release of the ignorance of the “educated” mind, which deludes us with divisions, rather than seeking correspondences.

Shankara writes of this transitional phenomenon:

That which transcends caste and creed, family and heritage,

Devoid of name and form, praise and blame;

Transcending Time and Space and bass matter:

That Brahman, “Thou Art That.”

Contemplate this in your mind.

Words, Words, Words

Having visited the Theosophical Society's grounds  in Adyar, Chennai this weekend, I was moved to reflect upon  Krishnamurti's reluctancy with regards to “established religion.” What I believe that is often most misunderstood about his decision to leave any organization behind is that he was not saying that they were wrong in the message, but wrong in saying that Truth can be communicated by scripture alone. I am curious how many in the quest for spiritual fulfillment have indeed been fulfilled by words alone.

Can mere words bring us to a state of spiritual liberation, or is there rather a divine spark, much like Plato said is the only true transference of knowledge from a master to a student?

The paradox, of course, is that such ideas are inevitably written down, and some become the so-called “gospel truth.” Cecil, whom I met this past week, and who is a believing Christian, said that he “hated all religions” but is a follower of Christ. Paraphrasing St. Francis, he said he believes in “preaching the Gospels, but also using words every now and then” to communicate his belief. I found this to be an intriguing take on Christianity as Cecil is very well versed in many religions as was apparent in our two and a half hour conversation coming back to Madurai from Tirunelveli last week.

Krishnamurti, like others before him, was against the idea of “followers” for his words, but rather exhorted one to search for him or herself if something was Truth and not to take it for granted upon the pronouncement of an expert. And, like many such requests, there have been Krishnamurti Institutions set up to do just the opposite of what he asked.

In a similar vein, Shankara’s treatise on Advaita Vedanta, the Vivekashudamani ultimately declares that the path to liberation is not via the Vedas, but through the individual’s personal reconciliation and recognition of his or her communion with the Universal Soul, or Atman.

Reminiscent of the “Nameless Name” of Taoist thought, Shankara dismisses the Vedas and other scriptures as the path to enlightenment, though, yet again, he does so in words, words that have themselves become the scriptures for Advaita Vedanta. And, the vicious paradox continues...

Like a shower of mere sound, vulgar words, adeptness in reciting the scriptures and such knowledge is good merely for the enjoyment of scholars, but is not for liberation.

The study of the scriptures is useless so long as the ultimate Truth is unknown, and likewise as useless when the ultimate Truth is known.

Hold Your Horses

In addition to the concepts of self-discipline linked to the five aspects of Yama in the Astangayoga philosophy of Patañjali, there are likewise five precepts of Niyama, which further prepare the sadhaka, or aspiring student for the path of Yoga. The pairing of Yama and Niyama is the dual aspect of restraint and action. This involves the development of discernment between what one should not do and what one ought to do in order to attain a level of physical, mental, and spiritual equilibrium that is necessary to obtain so that one may proceed with your practice with clarity of body and mind.

In my life, I have always strove for a symbiotic relationship between my mind and body, and when one is out of synch the other seems to also follow suit, and conversely, when one is in good condition, the other is likely to be so as well. Ultimately, I have come to realize that it is a quasi-chicken and the egg koan that is not likely to be resolved with mere cogitation, so I have likewise stopped asking that question as such as to which drives the other, and instead have been focusing on bringing the two into balance.

Yoga is the past participle, verbal noun of the Sanskrit verb YUJ, which means to join, or, like the English that comes from it, to yoke as in a pair of oxen, or perhaps horses. In the Phaedrus of Plato, there is a well-known allegory of the soul as a charioteer with a team of yoked horses, one light, one dark, which pull in opposite directions, causing the chariot to careen off course if the charioteer cannot bring them into harmony. The lightness of the soul is countered by the weight of the body, the former seeking non-material sustenance, the latter material. Though made up of three apparently discreet entities, when working in harmony, they become one.

Likewise, when the aspirant of Yoga has been able to bring the forces of the mind in harmony with the body’s physical needs, the resulting process then is the successful action of yoking them together to work as one. Yama and Niyama are the preparatory measures that need to be taken in order to bring this harmony into focus.

Speaking from experience, I know how crucial it is to keep the body and mind in balance, and for me, Yoga has been an excellent avenue for me to pursue this equanimity and poise to bring back that balance at times when I have otherwise lost it. Though I have neglected to act upon this at times in my life, it has once again become an integral part of living my life in balance. However, it has also been a continuous struggle and ongoing effort to keep the allegorical horses in check. We are constantly being met with the obstacles of uncertainty and inertia and the resulting lethargy thus can be our own worst enemy. As such, the two sides of yama and niyama are required for us to be vigilant against complacency, both about ourselves and how we further operate in society as a conscientious, considerate, and compassionate participant.

shauca-santosha-tapah-svãdhyãya-Ishvarapranidhãnãni niyamãh

vitarkabãdhane pratipakshabhãvanam

Cleanliness (shauca), contentment (santosha), austerity in praxis (tapah), self-analysis (svãdhyãya), and surrender to divinity are the active precepts of discipline (niyamãh).

Obstacles of uncertainty are countered by the creative process (by the union of yama and niyama).

Control

Since I have been in Madurai, I am following a private Yoga course with a woman named Rajeshwara. She has two children who both practice Yoga and who have gone to Yoga clinics, festivals, and competitions throughout India, both of whom she “home schooled” in Yoga. Although I had practiced and taught Iyengar* Yoga for many years while living in Austin, unfortunately again many years have been intervened and I am for all intents and purposes, a beginner again. There is a seminal book on Zen called Beginner’s Mind, Zen Mind, which deals with the practice of Zazen, or intense meditation, hence the name, Zen. However, Zen ultimately comes (via the intermediate of Chinese as T’chan) from the Sanskrit word, dhyãna, which means “profound meditation.” No matter the level that we are at, we can always learn to be beginners again.

Dhyãna is the highly advanced seventh stage of the eight “limbs” of Astangayoga, which literally means eight-limbed yoga, and was codified by Patañjali, who also wrote definitive works on grammar and Ayurveda, the ancient Indian science of well-being. The Astangayoga of Patañjali notably begins with "atha,” which means “now,” or “at this point” or “then.” As such, one must be prepped before jumping into Yoga according to Patañjali. Before that, one needs to be able to communicate clearly and effectively in society with right speech and language, while also being of sound mind and body via the tenets of Ayurveda. In other words, yoga is not merely an exercise, but rather a fully developed philosophical and physiological system that one incorporates into all aspects of life.

Rajeshwara weaves in the philosophical aspects of Patañjali with the physiology of the Asanas, or poses, themselves. As such, we are going through the yoga sutras as a mixture of theory and praxis. Today, she was talking about the concepts of the first two limbs, Yama and Niyama, which can be translated as the private and public ethical observations necessary for the acarya, or student, to begin his or her practice of Yoga. These are what Patañjali sets down as the universal and ethical injunctions that prepare one for the practice of yoga. Before one begins along the path of Yoga, Patanjali lists the necessary Yamas to be fulfilled.

ahimsã-satya-asteyabrahmacarya-aparigrahãh yamãh

jãtideshakãlasmaya-anavacchinnãh sãrvabhaumãh mahãvratam II.30-31

Non-violence (ahimsã), authenticity (satya), non-stealing (asteya), disciple of austerity (brahmacarya) and non-attachment to material goods (aparigrahãh) are the codes of personal conduct.

Such are the august, universal vows, unconditional of nationality, Time, or birthright.

*B.K.S. Iyengar, globally recognized as one of the greatest living yogis, also has a translation and commentary on the Yoga Sutras by Patañjali, which is an excellent introduction to and explication of the Astangayoga philosophy.

The Sins of the Father

The Sins of the Fathers

One of the philosophical systems that I have a great interest in is that of Advaita Vedanta, which literally means the non-duality end of the Vedas. In other words, similar to Jesus saying that he did not come to break the laws, but rather to complete them, Advaita Vedanta is the completion or capstone of that which the Vedic Scriptures began.

I have been writing about the sensory overload that I have experienced while here in India, and specifically in Madurai. One of the challenges that an adept must master is the control over the sensory impressions that we are bombarded with in life. In other words, they are merely that--impressions, and are mere illusory and elusive vicissitudes that are ephemeral manifestations of the crude world. However, the world of the Spirit, that of the Universal Atman, is beyond this physically-limited world of Time and Space.

Advaita Vedanta is also a personal quest. It is not a traditional religion in the sense that it is not associated directly with a specific denomination, nor creed. The Universal Atman is a transcendence of the divisions and discrepancies. This is not saying at all that all religions are One, but, that like the attributed Ancient Greek saying of Parmenides, hen to pan, or All is One.

But, we still must undergo this process “alone,” meaning it requires the individual Atman to become aware of its own connection to the Universal, but this cannot be taught, only guided.

As one of the guidelines that Shri Shankaracarya, one of the chief commentators of Advaita, provides is the following.

Rinamocanakartãrah pituh santi sutãdayah

bandhamocanakartã tu svasmãdanyo na kashcana

mastakanyastabhãrãderduhkhamanyairvivãryate

kshudhãdikrtaduhkham tu vinã svena na kenacit

Though there are his sons and others to pay his debts, a father has no one but himself to free him of his bondage.

The distress that is caused by a heavy load upon one’s head may be alleviated by others, but no other person can relieve the consternation born of hunger and the like, but one’s own self.

Dear Hitler, my friend

During my varied trip around the streets and back alleys of Mumbai today, one of the highlights on my "grand tour" of the city was Gandhi's Mumbai home, which now houses a modest museum to the father of modern India.

The more that I am learning about Gandhi, and the longer (only two days so far) that I am in India, especially Mumbai, the more I am simply in awe of the man. In the hallways of the home are various pictures of Gandhi with some of India's and the world's most powerful people of the time and he is always there in his khadi loincloth and wrap, smiling serenely while enormous world events were unfolding. However, this did not mean that Gandhi was not one to act, and boldly at that.

In one of the main rooms, there was a display board with two letters, one to President Roosevelt, and the other to Adolf Hitler, the latter is dated July 23, 1939, and is addressed to "Dear friend,".

Now, Gandhi was anything but chums with Der Führer, but he did not let his personal agenda stand in the way of his message, and one of Gandhi's quotes highlighted at the museum (and on t-shirts outside of the caves of Elephanta) was "My life is my message."

In the letter, Gandhi appeals to Hitler's conscience by saying that "[i]t is quite clear that you are today the one person in the world who can prevent a war which may reduce humanity to the savage state. Must you pay that price for an object however worthy it may appear to you to be?"

Less than six weeks later, Germany invades Poland, determining the course of humanity's reduction to savagery for quite some time.

Gandhi signed the letter, "I remain, Your sincere friend"

If it were not Gandhi, you would think that was the work of a madman. However, knowing that Gandhi drew his inspiration from the Gita, it is not hard to comprehend.

In my hotel room, there is a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, so I opened it to the following verses, which I found appropriate for Gandhi's letter.

When the lessons of history are forgotten, or ignored..

dhyãyato vishayãn pumsah

sangas teshupajãyate

sangãt sañjãyate kãmah

kãmãt krodho 'bhijãyate

krodhãd bhavati sammohah

sammohãt smrti-vibhramah

smrit-bhramshãd buddhi-nãsho

buddhi-nãshãt pranashyati

When focused intently upon sensory objects,

An attachment to them grows in one, and

From such attachment develops lustful greed, and

From such lust, anger comes about.

From anger, utter delusion takes hold, and

From delusion, the bewilderment of the memory.

When memory is thoroughly distorted, intelligence is lost, and

When intelligence is lost, one drowns in the material.