Beyond Words

Not only it is that
Essentials are invisible.
But also what is most precious,
Is oft indescribable!
Words appear to be the tool
Of the mediocre world,
Handicapped to contain the infinitude
Of that pristine Love!

It was not just the word,
But the whole of nature,
In its manifest form,
Appeared incapable to,
Express those army of
The Profound Throbs
In the heart of Simoni!

All the nuances of idioms,
The Metaphors and Similes,
All look pale in-front of that
Un-uttered throbbing high,
The hopeless melancholy of solitude,
The lightness of heart at those special times,
And the heaviness of lump
Deep in the throat,
On those painful moments!

Was it the nervousness of an anxiety,
Or a hopelessness of death,
Or a hope of a potential new birth?
Was it the heaviness of a thud,
Or the lightness of a flight?
Simoni knew not.

Beyond Words,
Is present that beautiful world,
The world of Love,
Transmuting a human weakling,
To a heavenly tune!
A world which knows no separation,
No antagonism, no fear and hatred.
Only there lies just one thing –
Eternal and sold,
Standing tall with glory and grace,
The fire of Love,
Burning all the darkness of alienation!

Be it Gods in human tales,
Or the heavenly angel,
Or the roaming deer in the wilderness,
 Or the indifferent rose,
All seemed to Simoni,
Knit together with
The tapestry of the golden thread –
The thread of love.

The thread is invisible, and in-describable.
The thread is beyond all that is material,
It is beyond any need,
Beyond any in-completion,
Beyond any short-comings,
Beyond any human misgivings.
Rather the thread is the invisible link,
The strong pull,
The strong connection,
Of man with the Divine – the hidden Archetype!

Simoni wanted to sing out loud
Expressing his heart,
With heavens as the witnesses,
Of his Love – of his Soul – of his ardor!

But more he tried, more he failed.
With every effort
 Of creating a syllable,
Of creating a note,
What resulted was just a silence,
A silence more silent than the
Darkest new moon night
Amidst the cold desert!

For realized Simoni,
His Love was from the other world,
A world higher than the heavens,
A world of beings nobler than the Gods,
A space which is ever fresh,
With the sweet mist of
Fraternal compassion,
And passionate belongingness!

Simoni knew that world very real, very alive,
Which was the only truth!
For Love reigned there, and nothing else!
Every dawn heralded a new beginning,
Every dusk declared a completion of a new creation,
All impeccably painted with the
Master’s stroke of Love!

That ecstasy of being in love,
The novelty of the hidden pain,
Was not meant to be expressed
Through the imperfect world
Of impotent expressions.
For all the combinations of the worldly letters,
Were incapable to even relate
To Simioni’s love –
For it was not of this world,
But was from the world of the immortals,
From the world above the seven heavens!
But still very true, very alive,
Right Now, Right Here!
Just the need was an eye to discover it,
The eye of the Soul!

His love was not about having and possessing.
His love was not about clinging and clasping.
Rather it was built in the foundation,
Strong and un-alterable one,
Of respect, space, freedom, objectivity,
Compassion and service!

The point was not to make
The beloved know
The pain of the bleeding dusk,
The confusion of the roaring wave,
The purity of the lotus serenity,
The surrender of the floating log!

Rather it was to climb up the stairs of Evolution,
Through the effort of pain, perseverance, patience and wisdom,
Tempered by the power of faith,
In the tempo of Love,
To really invite that infinite One,
Into Simoni’s own heart!
It was to feel the Supreme’s closeness,
Passing through his body,
His hand, his feet, his bosom,
Being one in flow with his mind, his soul, his heart,
Simoni could feel being part of the One!

Tuned with the divine Rhythm,
Simoni’s heart overflowed with love,
With understanding and solidarity,
With the cobbler to the king.
It was through the blessings of the One,
Could Simoni for the first time see the Truth!
The Truth of the hidden connection,
The impregnated same one Love,
In one and all!
For then Simoni realized,
It is not about that isolated special one
In flesh and blood,
Rather it is finding the One Essence,
Beautifying all in ways different,
But essentially the same!

It is not the love for that separate self,
Rather the love was for the Whole,
The One in All,
The Supreme, the Absolute, the Unity.

Now, Simoni did realize,
Why were words inadequate,
And impotent to express his Love
In its entirety, in its purity.

For his Love was from the world higher,
Where words did not count.
But what essential,
Was just a pure heart,
And true soul, and an honorable Love.

And the truth was that,
The higher world,
Was very much present,
Right Now, Right Here.
It just needed an eye to see -
The grandeur of the invisible!
And an ear to hear,
The song of silence!
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Vande Mataram!

Vande Mataram - The National Song of India, was taken from Part 1, Chapter 10, of the Bangla novel - Anandamath, written by Bankim Chandra Chatterji in 1882. The poem is a hymn to Goddess Durga, identified as the national personification of India. It played a vital role in the Indian independence movement, first sung in a political context by Rabindranath Tagore at the 1896 session of the Indian National Congress.

In 1950 (after India's independence), the song's first two verses were given the official status of the "national song" of the Republic of India, distinct from the national anthem of India, Jana Gana Mana. 

Bengali script		NLK transliteration
বন্দে মাতরম্ ৷ সুজলাং সুফলাং মলয়জশীতলাম্ শস্যশ্যামলাং মাতরম্ ! বন্দে মাতরম্ ৷ শুভ্র-জ্যোত্স্না পুলকিত-যামিনীম্ ফুল্লকুসুমিত দ্রুমদলশোভিনীম্, সুহাসিনীং সুমধুরভাষিণীম্ সুখদাং বরদাং মাতরম্ ৷৷ বন্দে মাতরম্ ৷		vande mātaram sujalāṃ suphalāṃ malayajaśītalām śasya śyāmalāṃ mātaram vande mātaram śubhra jyotsnā pulakita yāminīm phulla kusumita drumadalaśobhinīm suhāsinīṃ sumadhura bhāṣiṇīm sukhadāṃ varadāṃ mātaram vande mātaram

Here is the translation in prose of the above two stanzas rendered by Sri Aurobindo Ghose. This has also been adopted by the Government of India's national portal. The original Vande Mataram consists of six stanzas and the translation in prose for the complete poem by Shri Aurobindo appeared in Karmayogin, 20 November 1909.

    I show gratitude to thee, Mother,
    richly-watered, richly-fruited,
    cool with the winds of the south,
    dark with the crops of the harvests,
    The Mother!

    Her nights rejoicing in the glory of the moonlight,
    her lands clothed beautifully with her trees in flowering bloom,
    sweet of laughter, sweet of speech,
    The Mother, giver of boons, giver of bliss.

Apart from the above prose translation, Sri Aurobindo also translated Vande Mataram into a verse form known as Mother, I Bow to Thee. Sri Aurobindo commented thus on his English translation of the poem:
“ It is difficult to translate the National Song of India into verse in another language owing to its unique union of sweetness, simple directness and high poetic force.”

This ancient land today again rejoices in her glory of the moonlight, as I write this article. Her lands are as is clothed beautifully with her trees in flowering bloom since eternity. Sweetness of laughter and sweetness in speech, The Mother - India - Bharat Mata - is giver of boons and giver of bliss to one and all.

She has always been the true mother - always busy giving with full bounty. Mother has given to the world sacred creations as that of Vedas, Upanishads, The Bhagavat Geeta, The Mahabharata, The Ramayana, and other thousands of enlightening ideas, which have in various languages, various forms, various ways, rituals and chores, beliefs and culture, redeemed humanity. 

Today I celebrate the independence day of The Mother, not with pride, but with utmost gratitude. I bow before thee O Mother, in the words of Bankim, I say - "Vande Mataram" - "Hail Mother!". I love you Mother, for your simplicity, for your hidden mysteries, for your sweetness of speech, for your open heart! I know Mother, you are not the richest one. I know Mother, you are not the most powerful. I know Mother, you fight with innumerable basic problems dealing with your existence every day. But we are one family - not only the ones born on this sacred land, but also men from all the world, all the regions, all creed, caste and nationality. For you have taught us Mother, there is just One; differentiations are just an illusion. What is truth is just Love; just fraternity; just brotherhood.

Today I celebrate not as an Indian, but as a man standing for Human Values, and a sacred future for humanity, worshiping the Archetype of the Mother India, for her venerated suchness, her mysteries, her sacredness, her virtues, her godliness! This beautiful Archetype is present in every cell of existence, every nook and corner, every stream, mountain, ocean and skies. It depends on the individual to know the essential, see the invisible, be a worth of belonging to that pristine and pure Mother!

Happy Independence Day to all!
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The Journey on the raft

The  Journey on the raft
Playing with the tumultuous waves,
Being winnowed by the gushing wind,
Surrounded by the endless ocean,
So wide, you can’t get around it,
So deep, you can’t get under it,
Simoni plays the tune of life,
On the harp of his ores!

Some call it life,
Some call it coincidence,
Some call it a meaningless charade.
What it is in real, Simoni does not know.
And feels it futile to even attempt to know.
For time is short, and the art is long!

The art of being alive,
Meditating on each moment,
Going deep into the suchness of each second,
Keenly listening to each breath,
Feeling each throb of the heart,
Carried on the boat of the breath,
Across the limitless and unpredictable ocean!

He does not know where he is headed to,
He does not know when the journey shall end,
All that he knows is he has to keep rowing,
He has to know – All from beginning,
Back to school, again over again,
Since thousands of yester births,
To thousands in future!

In the passion to really know,
To really be, to observe and be aware
Of the stillness beyond the apparent entropy.
To discover the invisible thread
Connecting the dots of the countless
Turns, swirls, ebbs and flow.

Some say it is all preordained.
Some say it is just an indifferent nature.
Some say it is the causation of your actions.
Some say it is the Big Father in white beard,
Up in the sky controlling all.

Simoni has come out all alone,
In the midst of the storm,
With his bosom exposed to the lightning,
His sinews hardened with the fighting the waves,
Every moment through his art.
He is to discover the suchness of the ocean,
By his own heart and soul.
He is out to create his own poem,
With his own understanding of the ocean.

Going along finds he,
Glittering islands,
Colorful mermaids,
Bountiful ships.
All playing beautiful tunes,
Frolics, dances, activities all around.
All vie for his attention.
All want him to come to rest,
In the ease of the slumber of their fraternity
Of determinate answers,
To all the existential questions.
Through their borrowed ideologies and beliefs!

Simoni keeps rowing,
Going deep within,
Acknowledging his amazement,
At the flowering of events all around,
Shaping his destiny,
All coordinating with each other,
His efforts and actions,
The invisible mystery,
All working hand in hand,
Creating this wonderful tapestry of his existence!

He wants to see the mystery
In his own eyes,
Feel it with his own hands,
Reflect upon it with his own find,
Love it with his own heart.

He keeps rowing,
Undaunted by the tribulations,
The failures and pain.
He does not know where he is heading,
Nor he knows from where he comes.
He just knows one thing,
To chip away the non-essentials,
Carving this sculpture of his life,
Expressing only the truth!

It is the truth what he has to find out,
By his own, with his mind, heart and soul,
Guided by the masters of posterity,
And the Elders of his time.
He knows he is another link
In the invisible string of life,
Extending from the eternity,
Heading to the eternity.
He knows his sculpture of truth,
Is not for himself.
Rather it is for the links coming tomorrow,
The links who carve their own sculpture,
Better and more beautiful than ever.

Simoni knows he has to just act,
With all devotion, humility, and finesse!
He knows all his toils, pains, and strivings,
Are his offerings to that Source,
The Source of all the Mystery!

He gets the glimpse of that unknowable Mystery,
Sometimes as an incredible coincidence,
Sometimes as a gasping beauty,
Sometimes as a venerated intuition,
Sometimes as just a simple purity of stillness.

He knows the Mystery is unfathomable.
He knows his life is just a wavelet,
Amidst the roaring giant waves,
In the shore less ocean all around.

He keeps rowing,
Meditating towards chipping away,
Illusions one after another,
With the chisel of his mind, heart and soul,
Sharpened with intuition, intelligence and grace.
He keeps on with is work,
Still, concentrated, and un-wavered.
No storm can move him out,
From his deep meditation.

Amongst all these actions,
All these struggles,
He is mystically at peace.
For him all flow in a divine harmony!
As the orchestra in resonance,
As the nature!

Doing the yoga of his Karma,
Not enchanted with the outcome,
He keeps on with his work,
One-sighted, unmoved, and still.
Rowing his boat,
Knowing the mystery,
One level after another!
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The Case of God

The only truth is God. The only mission of everyday life is to be one with God, in doing one's daily work. It is a lost game to give attention on to people, institution, and the ways of the world. This is because all the ways of the world are ever changing. They are mere reflections of God. This does not mean that a person necessarily has to close himself off from the world. He can. That way he will be able to see God, if it is as per his temperament. Many masters have been able to do exactly the same. But if it worked out for say Ramanna Maharishi, it did not work the same way for Tagore, for example. Tagore had to play with his words and poetic expression to see God, and be one with Him.

The point is a man has to search God based on his temperament. He just cannot follow others. He is unique and so his path. If he is a go getter, he has to see God in his pursuits, and try to find God in his errands. A person who is a scholar, has to find God in his studies and research. There is only one pole star. Man can operate based on his own temperament, character, and the limitations imposed by the society he lives in. Each can find God in his own path. The point is man has to be one sighted fixed on to God and nothing else.

We spend our days. We meet people, interact with them. We do multiple actions. We plan our work. We execute them. We indulge. We sacrifice. There are millions of the work we enter from morning to evening, from birth to death. In doing each of these activities, it is important not to let the countless differentiation in the gross features in the realm of form, impregnate into one's self feeding just his emotional, physical and mental needs. Allowing this rainbow of expectations, worldly needs, and the varied colorful shades of myriad colors of the manifested world, as specified in the Gita as Kaam, Krodh, Raag, Dwesh, one simple beats around the bush. It is just being enchanted by the mirage. It is not that they are wrong and one has to guard oneself from them. It is not about repressing them or suppressing them. The point is about using them as gateway to reach the invisible Archetype which is the only truth. It is not a mystical abstraction. Rather it is hard core truth. We all know we will die. We all know we will lose all those whom we love. We all know our possessions will rust, break and disappear. We all know our body will be engulfed in weakness, wear-tear and diseases. We all know people change their opinions. We all know it is an impossibility for any one to really know the other from core. One just relates to the other from a mere fuzziness of what his own mind perceives about the other, which is neurologically, psychological and sociologically entire different from the other. We all know, eventually all are alone in this path of life. But, still we tend to expend so much time and energy in the pursuits of the worldly things. One has to be aware of being connected to the higher realm through the nature of things around.

To explain in the most concrete level, it is something like this. When one buys a good book, he does not get enchanted with its cover, binding, fonts, quality of page, the fragrance of the papers, etc. Yes, certainly these have the first impact on the reader. But as one really start reading the book, and drinking the wisdom encoded in the words of the book, one starts relating to a world which is invisible and inspiring. What was non-essential was all visible - the manifest beauty of the book's appearance and make. What was really essential - the wisdom in the mind of the author was always invisible. It was upto the efforts of the reader to really do his job to really understand, apply and appreciate the wisdom. That is an active participation in the part of the reader to be able to really "see" the book.

Today those great men in flesh and blood are no more. Men of the stature of Buddha, Jeremiah, Jesus, Moses, Einstein, Gandhi, Tagore, etc are no more. But their  thoughts, their ideals their inspirational work still remains and will continue to do so, helping humanity to be better and realize its full potential till eternity. It is the devoted activity these men entered into to discover the truth about themselves and the nature, which blossomed those perennial flowers of wisdom.

So, it is the Karma - the activity, qualified with the intention and effort to know the truth, is what is important. It is not about what one gets out of the activity, in the domain of form. Because whatever you get in the domain of the form is just a reflection of a hidden truth. For example, as I am writing this article, as I look outside the window infront, I see an expanse of trees swaying in the morning breeze. What is visible to me is an expanse of green land, and multitude of trees. A poet who sees this visible beauty, in the effort to search the invisible truth in this expanse of nature, might visualize his love for his muse, swaying in freedom in the music of her love. A naturalist might see the truth hidden in the form of the nature of the soil, the impact of the trees on the soil and the ecosystem around. A real estate businessman, might be thinking about ways to clean up the forest and raise a multi storied building in its place. All are busy in their own created realities. This one level getting into what is apparent.

The second level is even more profound. For the poet, can he transcend his love for his muse, to the love for that immutable? Can that muse be the archetype of Love itself, rather than a person in flesh and blood? When he goes deep into his feelings he discovers it was not the love for anything in form, which was inspiring him. But it was the love for the hidden immutable archetype of Life itself, that was so inspiring - the songs of the birds, the expanse of the sky, the brotherly dance of the branches of the trees. More creative effort a person applies on what is apparent, more he is able to come home to the truth.

A doctor does not get overwhelmed with the dilapidated condition of a visiting patient. Rather he looks through what is visible, and applies his reason and knowledge of the anatomy of the body, to come to a conclusion. What is apparent to the doctor on first sight of the patient is just an illusion. What he discovers after an active devoted activity is what is truth.

The same applies to the life of a software developer. Bombarded with multiple issues coming every day on the product he is working, he cannot afford to be moved by what is just reported by customers, test engineers, system folks, etc. He has to debug the issue and find out the real cause. In each moment spent in the actual debugging and finding out the root cause, he discovers the truth - the immutable - The God.

The idea is not to get lost by the outer manifestation of life. The outer manifestation of life is a ploy of natural selection to continue the proliferation and propagation of genes. That does nothing greater. Rather, the need is to rise, and grow from a boy to a man. It is the time to grow from a girl to a woman. It is about growing from naive to the Knowing.

It is about shunning the laziness to be passive in life and be impacted by the whims and fancies of the self and the others. It is about being an Arjun; lifting his "Gandiv" and fight the war. Fighting the war is about engaging in a creative activity to know the truth, in the field that suits the temperament of a person. It is about getting involved in work, not just to be busy. But rather to search for the truth, to bring the invisible Archetype to the sensible world.

It is not only about knowing the world around. It also about knowing one's own self. It is also about going deep within and know one’s own self in reality. It is about getting in touch with the latent power of one's own self. It is about discovering the personal manhood and womanhood hidden inside. It is about also finding that aspect of divine hidden in oneself. It is about transcending from intellect to intuition and intelligence. The famous photographer - Pierre Polain speaking about his photographs puts this idea pretty beautifully in his book "Wisdom through lens" as -
"The reality, the truth behind a picture, its idea and sentiment cannot be described because it does not belong to the visible sphere but to the invisible. This is why a photograph has to be seen through he "eyes of the soul" at least as much as with our physical eyes. A photograph is a door, an open passage from intelligible to the sensible, from the invisible to the visible, and looking at its inner nature is looking into a mirror: it can help us discover ourselves; it can help us get to know ourselves. The photograph is a means for the archetype to make its way into the visible and temporal world, and thus looking at the photograph will awaken a profound and mysterious sentiment, which is the echo of the same archetype inside us."
 He further says, "The artist is, in fact, the real Prometheus..he does not steal the fire from Zeus to bring it back to humanity, like the divine hero did, but he does "steal" the vision of the archetypes - especially Beauty and Harmony, and makes it perceptible to the rest of humanity through his own art."

So, can a man have the courage to be the Prometheus? Yes, that is what life is for. It is about realizing one's whole self and the knowing the world around. It is about knowing the laws of nature, and being part of the big scheme of things, being creative and taking that small step, which helps man to see Truth, and bring forward to humanity the Truth - in its special form - unique to the expression of the individual.

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Janmastami - The Birth of the Lord

 

Krishna – An archetype which stands for all that is supreme, all that is ideal, all that is potential in human, is considered to be born on the day of Janmashtami (celebrated yesterday). According to Indian mythology, Krishna was born without a sexual union, but by divine “mental transmission” from the mind of Vasudeva into the womb of Devaki.

Child hood and Youth

The stories of Krishna's childhood and youth tell how he became a cow herder, his mischievous pranks as Makhan Chor (butter thief), his foiling of attempts to take his life, and his role as a protector of the people of Vrindavana.

The stories of his play with the gopis (milkmaids) of Vrindavana, especially Radha (daughter of Vrishbhanu, one of the original residents of Vrindavan) became known as the Rasa lila and were romanticised in the poetry of Jayadeva, author of the Gita Govinda. These became important as part of the development of the Krishna bhakti traditions worshiping Radha Krishna.

The Prince

On his return to Mathura as a young man, Krishna overthrew and killed his maternal uncle, Kansa, after avoiding several assassination attempts from Kansa's followers. He reinstated Kansa's father, Ugrasena, as the king of the Yadavas and became a leading prince at the court. During this period, he became a friend of Arjuna and the other Pandava princes of the Kuru kingdom, who were his cousins. Later, he took his Yadava subjects to the city of Dwaraka (in modern Gujarat) and established his own kingdom there.

Kurukshetra War and Bhagavat Gita

The sage Ved Vyasa in his magnum opus creation – Mahabharat – brings out Krishna in his full glory as a Philosopher, guiding Arjuna – the disciple – on the path to the Truth. The words of Krishna has been written in verses by Vyasa, compiled together as a separate canto in Mahabarat. This collection is known as the Bhagavat Geeta – The song of the Lord. In this compilation Krishna attempts to answer the existential questions and dilemmas of Arjuna. In one of the most profound work of art, this collection containing 18 chapters, tries to sum up a perennial wisdom, which is ever relevant, across past, present and future.

The Essence of Krishna

Krishna stands for the Best, the Good, the Right, the Truth. He stands for the impersonal and yet benevolent is-ness of the cosmos. He is not a personality. Neither he is a god or a person. He is the best what human can achieve in thoughts, action, love, harmony, fraternity, aesthetics and his day to day efforts, in leading his daily life. Krishna’s words in the Bhagavat Gita, and his life epitomizes the pole star, the inner compass, the sail of the boat, helping mankind to be aligned with the Truth, the Right, the direction which is most optimal towards the evolution of the self and the entire humanity as such.

It is on the Janmasthami day, in the year of 2012 the School of Human Values was formed - https://www.facebook.com/SchoolOfHumanValues?ref=stream

At this point of human history, when man is too busy fulfilling his egoistic needs – physical, mental and spiritual, it is an ardent call from the School of Human Values, for man to stand up, and be aware of the potential Krishna hidden in him. It is a call to humanity to be a Krishna, to be a Buddha, to be a Jesus, to be the Zoroaster, doing what he does in his daily life, with that art and aesthetics of being a Human fully born. It is a call to Know Thyself.

  

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