Monday
The day started out with a very pleasant walk with B.R. Sharma, whom I quite like. We walked up Gariahat Road to the Birla temple, about a 15 minute walk. They have nice Radha-Krishna deities in the main garbha mandir, Durga and Shiva in the two flanking temples.
Sharma came into my room afterwards, just before leaving, and sang a Shiva bhajan for me. He has a very sweet voice besides his other talents. He says that he taught Sanskrit at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Mumbai before going to Lonavla, where he is only paid 20K Rs a month, which seems astonishingly low for a person with his credentials and responsibilities. Nevertheless, his two children are both going through university and doing well.
After breakfast I walked to Kalighat towards the Metro, but made a detour to the Kali temple, which I had never visited before. The actual area around the temple has all the characteristics of a traditional tirtha sthan, with hundreds of stalls selling souvenirs like beads, pictures, pint size Shiva lingas and other sacred mementos. I could feel a kind of spiritual tingle as I approached the temple, and there is no doubt that this is Calcutta’s spiritual center.
Kalighat is one of the 52(?) Siddha Piths, where if I remember correctly, part of Sati’s foot fell. I was shown around by a stuttering young panda and ended up giving generously to both Ma Kali and the panda, all for the welfare of my family members—ex-wife, son, daughter, grandchildren. I guess Ma Kali wanted to bless them. I more or less went through it as if in a dream, with no attachment to any part of it.
The temple itself was built by Man Singh, who built half the Hindu temples in North India, it seems. It is covered in what looks like bathroom tile. The deity itself is nothing more than a decorated black stone, much like a Shiva linga. It has the trademark huge silver tongue and four arms—a sword in the upper left, the lower left for holding severed heads, the other two in vara (blessing) and abhaya (bestowing fearlessness).
From there I visited two Gaudiya Maths that are nearby—Chaitanya Gaudiya Math and Chaitanya Research Institute. I was given a friendly reception in the latter; I passed unnoticed in the former. Neither was particularly impressive as an institution. It is clear that the Ramakrishna Mission has gained greatly by remaining solidly dedicated to Vivekananda’s mission without excessive political infighting—at least not to the point of a significant schism. They certainly have benefited from the single successor acharya system they adopted. The last eight or ten “presidents” have all been aged men in their 80’s and 90’s, most of them with very high scholarly credentials, like Ranganathananda and Gambhirananda.
From there I went to the Bangla Sahitya Parishad to pick up a copy of Sri Krishna Kirtan by Boru Chandidas. They have published a new edition with an expanded introduction, so that will be well worth perusing. I also picked up a copy of Bankim’s Ananda Math, which was probably the first “secular” Bengali novel that I ever read.
From there I walked to Vidhan Sarani along Sahitya Parishad Street. Sanskrit Pustak Bhandar has reprinted Haridas Das’s BRS, UN and Madhava-mahotsava. They have made the margins a little bigger and the quality is even better than the original editions. I forgot to pick up a copy of Vivarta-vilasa, though. Completely slipped my mind for some reason. Sanskrit Book Depot has reprinted Caitanya Caritera Upadana, also in a nicely done edition.
Across from the Sanskrit Pustak Bhandar is Vivekananda’s “ancestral home,” which has been done up in great style by the RKM. It is all full of marble, glass and light and is a cultural center, offering courses, etc. This is really the historical part of Calcutta. Scottish Church College, which is celebrating 150 years of existence is a bit north of there, the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj just south. Jora Sanko, where Rabindranath lived, is a bit west of there. A little further south is Calcutta University. Not as many book stalls as there used to be. Vidhan Sarani was more like Delhi’s Daryaganj-Naya Sarak when I was here last. No longer.
Got on the metro at Mahatma Gandhi Road and just headed straight back to RKIC.
Tuesday.
I was waiting for the internet place to open—Calcutta in general seems to open around between 10.30-11. No change there from the old days.
Went to the Asiatic Society on the corner of Park Street and Chowringhee. The highlight, I guess, was meeting Ramakanta Chakravarti. I asked some qeustions about the Kheturi date. So his opinion is after 1600 because Rasikananda’s name is there and Rasikananda’s birthdate is known to have been from the 1580’s or so. He said something about him being at least 19 at the time. Dinesh Chandra Sen says 1602 to 1606. But that does not clear up the mystery too much. Even so, I really do have to revise my dates up, as the 1570’s does seem way to early. Whatever the case, some information has to be rejected, particularly where Srinivasa Acharya is concerned. He clearly could not have been in Puri and met Gadadhar Pandit and still have attended Kheturi in 16-hundred whatever. And what about Kavi Karnapur. There is no chance he could have been there. There were other Chaitanya parshads present, and even if you say that the youngest parshad was, say, seven years old, i.e, born in 1527, that makes early 1600’s possible.
The problem is that Prema Vilasa, if written in 1612, would likely not have recounted a so recent event in such a past tense. This question really needs to be looked at again in depth.
I also asked RKC about the Rasaraja philosophy, which he says had taken on characteristics of the Sahajiya doctrine. I pressed him on this, and all I could get was that the idea of svakiya rasa was what he considered sahajiya! I said that would make the Radhavallabhis sahajiyas and he said no, they were deviants but not sahajiya. Then I asked whether any sexual practices were there in Vamshi-siksha and he said, no, no “orgiastic practices” in the Baghnapara line. “Otherwise, how would Bhaktivinoda Thakur have accepted the Rasaraja concept?” And he quoted the exact line from Sajjanatoshani.
I checked the ASB manuscript catalogue, which I understand from Bibek Bannerjee is being upgraded. And it certainly needs to be—it attributes Gopala Champu to someone called Jivaraja and assigns Govinda-lilamrita to Raghunatha Das, even while quoting the colophon which clearly says that GLA arises from the blessings of Raghunath Das (raghunAtha-varaje). They have two MSS of Danakelikaumudi, none of Mukta-charita, and two of Gopala-tapani, but I did not have time to check the details. Besides these, they seem to have a number of still unpublished works— I noticed a couple of commentaries on the Sruti-stuti, and Bhagavata shloka collections, some Nimbarki works I have never seen before, etc.
Since I knew that the Iskcon temple is not too far from there, I walked down Park Street, asking for directions until I got there, just in time for arati. Mayapur may have grown exponentially in the last two decades, but Calcutta Iskcon is pretty much in a time warp. Probably something to do with ritvik politics. Quite a few people came to arati, however, including a large number of young Bengali men, who danced through the kirtan from beginning to end. I left before the end of the kirtan, but was quite happy at the chance to chant in front of the deities. Iskcon is in a well-to-do and hip area of town—lots of American franchises like Pizza Hut and their knockoffs.
On my return, I was paid a visit by a gentleman named Pravir Kumar Hui, a former professor of English with whom I talked a bit about rasa philosophy. He gave me a gif of a book about Gopinath Kaviraja written by Paritosh Das, who has written three rather (I am sorry to say) unsatisfying books about Sahajiyaism. Gopinath Kaviraj’s commentaries about
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Valedictory session
The Valedictory session
Panel discussion. Sarvabhutananda Swamiji
vimathya sarva-çästräëi
vicärya ca punaù punaù
idam eva suniñpaëëaà
yoga-çästram param matam
Well philosophy is supposed to be a reflection on the findings of philosophy. VV Just as you would take up any science, take up yoga as a subject of study.
Yoga is practical, which is what makes it probably
Vedanta is the only living tradition, yoga gives it life.
räja-vidyä = räja-yoga ?
Yoga a “broad religion”
RKM committed to spreading the cultural heritage of India.
J.N.Mahanty
Prof. of philo. Temple University. Special guest. Observations.
What is the relation between philosophy and yoga? Ask questions “how we see color and hear sounds.” Color blind does not even understand the question. Deaf hearing sounds. Most of us must be able to do it.
Other kinds of knowledge. Requires some such knowledge accepted by many people. Philosophy theory, Yoga puts into practice. Relation between theory and practice complicated. Back and forth. Yoga older than systems of philosophy. [Well they must have had some reason for doing it in the first place.]
Things about which we can think rationally. Experience to possibility of an experience of knowledge which is not open to all of us. Kant “things about which we can think but cannot know.” Halfhearted and unsatisfactory answer. If rationality leads us to surmise something to be possible, then it must be open to experience.
Falling back on faith. Kant limit scope of faith
India has no concept of faith?
Experience. anubhüti, etc. really mean that?
Knowing the absolute possible
Hegel all knowledge lead to absolute knowledge.
Sensory experience thinking about it
Thinking will end there and faith takes over.
As a philosopher I cannot accommodate any idea that I cannot substantiate from my own experience.
Yoga leads to a certain kind of knowledge or experience. How much philosophically I can understand it.
Blind person may understand physical concept of color, but not experientially. Without the experience merely repeat words. Always check with own experience.
Case of color very peculiar. Case of yoga something different. I don’t yet understand “pure consciousness.” Always consciousness of this or that. Yogaç citta-våtti-nirodhaù. Returning it to itself.
Consciousness is svaprakäça even when I am most engaged in the world, I still have awareness of myself, not know perfectly clearly, I have awareness of my consciousness. Even without practicing yoga, I know where yoga will lead even
Goal implicitly in everyday consciousness purify it by withdrawing it from immersion in the material world.
Western philosophers does not deny this consciousness but says we cannot attain it. So concentrate on everyday consciousness.
Self-illuminating character. No matter how lost still aware of my own being.
Follow theory to attain the goal, which is promised to be true.
çraddhä-vérya-småti-samädhi-prajïä upäyäù.
Swami Atmapriyananda
We already heard from Swami Atmapriyananda, at the end of the plenary session. He here answered a couple of questions that came from auditors. The questions are of some interest, though unfortunately I did not make a perfect note of them, as they reveal the concerns of the auditors, which are more practical than theoretical.
(1) The first was a question that comes up in all religious traditions and the Swami’s answer was right on. Someone asked about a contradiction in the statements of several transcendentalists on where to meditate on the heart. Maharshi Raman says it is on the right rather, others say the left. And Brahmananda, Maharshi’s guru, says the center.
Atmapriyananda disposed of this avuncularly by saying that where the Mandukya Upanishad says that the purusha is “thumb size,” Shankara says that such statements are made only to facilitate meditation. The core content of the experience is the same. This is because the human mind thinks in physical terms.
He mentioned another difference that is present in Raman Maharshi’s teachings, i.e. that the “final realization” is from the heart, looping back to the heart after reaching the sahasrara.
This is not the first time I have heard this, and I will comment on it later in my own summary, which will follow in another post.
Another question centered on ultimate causes of bondage. Swamiji said that how and why cannot be asked about certain fundamental things. The example he gave came from the life of the Buddha who was asked a similar question. He said if a man was shot with an arrow and spent his time trying to establish who shot it, he would probably die before he found out.
Vivekananda said in practical terms that spiritual life begins when one experiences “deep dissatisfaction with one’s present state.” For most, the time has not come, because they do not have such dissatisfaction. But he concluded on a hortatory note, again echoing a Vedantic metaphor that originates with Shankara (I vaguely recall): “You are caged lions; caged lions should roar. Your cage is made of bamboo, not iron. You are lions, not sheep any more.”
Gerald James Larson
The last word or “presidential overview” went to an American scholar. Gerald Larson, who has been peppering the conference with cheerful questions for all the presenters. He is almost an archetype of the American Indologist professor, of those I have seen and known, jovial, sharp, friendly, humane. And he knows his subject from a vantage point of impartiality that sets him apart from many of the Indian thinkers, who tend to wallow in a kind of apologetics that makes their scientific credentials suspect. Even the Vivekananda project itself has that kind of mission statement, though I would not say that it has been unproductive. After all, all scientific discovery does ultimately come from intuition and faith. Nevertheless, it is rather provocative when one considers that the external superstructure, entirely Westernized, seems to have the purpose of “proving,” as much to Indians as foreigners, that the internal, underlying essence of India is at least “as good as” that of the West.
Larson’s summarizing statements were extremely brief, as “time was short.” That was true enough, as we had listened to ten papers and about an hour’s worth of concluding statements and summaries already. The thrust of Larson’s comments were that the conference had shown, by virtue of the different standpoints presented, that yoga has become many things. How does one go about evaluating them? He used the analogy of evaluating contrasting languages, which of course echoes Ramakrishna’s own analogy of pani, water, jala.
Larson proceeded by the via negativa to establish what Yoga is not: Yoga is not indology, i.e., not just something from India. It is not philology, as it cannot be reduced to words. It is not a particular religion, as various other religions can make use of it, nor is it mysticism. This last one seems to be Larson’s personal bugaboo: He says that some look for union with Absolute, whereas yoga is really viyoga—the separation of spirit from matter, purusha from prakriti. In fact, he is correct and wrong at the same time: though yoga has its roots in dualist Sankhya philosophy, it has been totally assimilated by Vedanta. But Larson himself admitted elsewhere that much of Patanjali’s terminology has been influenced by Buddhism, whereas no such influences can be detected in the Sankhya.
At the same time, Larson said it is not a philosophy, though it makes use of Sankhya, it is primarily, as always stated, a practical application that can be made use of or adapted to other philosophies, just as was the case with religion. His conclusion was that yoga is the search for spiritual clarity. And here, no doubt to Swami Veda’s delight, he said that Yoga is samadhi, an altered state of awareness.
But Larson then could not resist making a normative statement, for which he, clever diplomat that he is, adopted the Bengali technique of quoting a rather well-known Rabindranath poem. I am not sure of Tagore’s own title, but Larson presented it as “The samadhi of a common man.” I don’t have the entire text, but copied down the essence as he read it:
I don’t know what that poem says about Tagore that he would insist on his servant spending the day working after a traumatic event like that, nor how this shows a state of transformed consciousness. Is that all yoga is, stoicism? The Gita has two definitions of yoga in chapter 2: yogaH karmasu kaushalam and samatvam yoga uchyate: “Yoga is expertise in activities” and “Yoga is equanimity.” Though the last may apply here to some extent, how can we truly know the state of the servant’s mind. Perhaps he spent the entire day cursing his unfeeling master and the destiny that forced him to sweep floors when he should have been at home providing comfort to his wife and family members. Were he a president and his work so important that the fate of millions hung in the balance, he would have to overlook the loss of a child, but running the bath of a pampered prince? Not in my book.
Open Ends
Why should we not disgree? In response to Gerald Larson asking about what scientists believe.
Open ends. There was quite a bit of talk about grace. The Maharishi is a Shakti bhakta, we heard. Aurobindo also talks about the importance of the descent of grace. Yogananda even mentions about Krishna being God. We heard a bit about ishvara-praNidhAnAt. The relationship between effort
****
The conference came to an end last night and we ate supper at a long table, on porcelain dinnerware, with the compulsory number of forks, knives and spoons laid out. A bearer came to make sure that we put the serviettes in our laps and served, from the left, each preparation, making sure that we knew the name of each. All in keeping with Ramakrishna’s mission to bring Western feasting methods to India. The feast began with the brahmärpaëaà prayer and a word of thanks from Debbrata Sen Sharma and the director, Sarvabhutananda Swami.
It was completely vegetarian, although one grim looking sannyasi, whom I later saw receiving pranams, his feet being touched obsequiously while he fiddled with a telephone, told me rather pointedly that I would have to make it clear that I was vegetarian. But I did rather think that wine was missing. When the end of the feast was suddenly announced by some brahmacharis chanting a Vedic mantra, it felt like the conversation was incomplete, something that would never have happened if this table had been in Italy and the wine had flowed freely.
Walking the streets of Calcutta afterwards, I felt the kind of letdown that comes after intense activity. It will take longer to digest everything.
Panel discussion. Sarvabhutananda Swamiji
vimathya sarva-çästräëi
vicärya ca punaù punaù
idam eva suniñpaëëaà
yoga-çästram param matam
Well philosophy is supposed to be a reflection on the findings of philosophy. VV Just as you would take up any science, take up yoga as a subject of study.
Yoga is practical, which is what makes it probably
Vedanta is the only living tradition, yoga gives it life.
räja-vidyä = räja-yoga ?
Yoga a “broad religion”
RKM committed to spreading the cultural heritage of India.
J.N.Mahanty
Prof. of philo. Temple University. Special guest. Observations.
What is the relation between philosophy and yoga? Ask questions “how we see color and hear sounds.” Color blind does not even understand the question. Deaf hearing sounds. Most of us must be able to do it.
Other kinds of knowledge. Requires some such knowledge accepted by many people. Philosophy theory, Yoga puts into practice. Relation between theory and practice complicated. Back and forth. Yoga older than systems of philosophy. [Well they must have had some reason for doing it in the first place.]
Things about which we can think rationally. Experience to possibility of an experience of knowledge which is not open to all of us. Kant “things about which we can think but cannot know.” Halfhearted and unsatisfactory answer. If rationality leads us to surmise something to be possible, then it must be open to experience.
Falling back on faith. Kant limit scope of faith
India has no concept of faith?
Experience. anubhüti, etc. really mean that?
Knowing the absolute possible
Hegel all knowledge lead to absolute knowledge.
Sensory experience thinking about it
Thinking will end there and faith takes over.
As a philosopher I cannot accommodate any idea that I cannot substantiate from my own experience.
Yoga leads to a certain kind of knowledge or experience. How much philosophically I can understand it.
Blind person may understand physical concept of color, but not experientially. Without the experience merely repeat words. Always check with own experience.
Case of color very peculiar. Case of yoga something different. I don’t yet understand “pure consciousness.” Always consciousness of this or that. Yogaç citta-våtti-nirodhaù. Returning it to itself.
Consciousness is svaprakäça even when I am most engaged in the world, I still have awareness of myself, not know perfectly clearly, I have awareness of my consciousness. Even without practicing yoga, I know where yoga will lead even
Goal implicitly in everyday consciousness purify it by withdrawing it from immersion in the material world.
Western philosophers does not deny this consciousness but says we cannot attain it. So concentrate on everyday consciousness.
Self-illuminating character. No matter how lost still aware of my own being.
Follow theory to attain the goal, which is promised to be true.
çraddhä-vérya-småti-samädhi-prajïä upäyäù.
Swami Atmapriyananda
We already heard from Swami Atmapriyananda, at the end of the plenary session. He here answered a couple of questions that came from auditors. The questions are of some interest, though unfortunately I did not make a perfect note of them, as they reveal the concerns of the auditors, which are more practical than theoretical.
(1) The first was a question that comes up in all religious traditions and the Swami’s answer was right on. Someone asked about a contradiction in the statements of several transcendentalists on where to meditate on the heart. Maharshi Raman says it is on the right rather, others say the left. And Brahmananda, Maharshi’s guru, says the center.
Atmapriyananda disposed of this avuncularly by saying that where the Mandukya Upanishad says that the purusha is “thumb size,” Shankara says that such statements are made only to facilitate meditation. The core content of the experience is the same. This is because the human mind thinks in physical terms.
He mentioned another difference that is present in Raman Maharshi’s teachings, i.e. that the “final realization” is from the heart, looping back to the heart after reaching the sahasrara.
This is not the first time I have heard this, and I will comment on it later in my own summary, which will follow in another post.
Another question centered on ultimate causes of bondage. Swamiji said that how and why cannot be asked about certain fundamental things. The example he gave came from the life of the Buddha who was asked a similar question. He said if a man was shot with an arrow and spent his time trying to establish who shot it, he would probably die before he found out.
Vivekananda said in practical terms that spiritual life begins when one experiences “deep dissatisfaction with one’s present state.” For most, the time has not come, because they do not have such dissatisfaction. But he concluded on a hortatory note, again echoing a Vedantic metaphor that originates with Shankara (I vaguely recall): “You are caged lions; caged lions should roar. Your cage is made of bamboo, not iron. You are lions, not sheep any more.”
Gerald James Larson
The last word or “presidential overview” went to an American scholar. Gerald Larson, who has been peppering the conference with cheerful questions for all the presenters. He is almost an archetype of the American Indologist professor, of those I have seen and known, jovial, sharp, friendly, humane. And he knows his subject from a vantage point of impartiality that sets him apart from many of the Indian thinkers, who tend to wallow in a kind of apologetics that makes their scientific credentials suspect. Even the Vivekananda project itself has that kind of mission statement, though I would not say that it has been unproductive. After all, all scientific discovery does ultimately come from intuition and faith. Nevertheless, it is rather provocative when one considers that the external superstructure, entirely Westernized, seems to have the purpose of “proving,” as much to Indians as foreigners, that the internal, underlying essence of India is at least “as good as” that of the West.
Larson’s summarizing statements were extremely brief, as “time was short.” That was true enough, as we had listened to ten papers and about an hour’s worth of concluding statements and summaries already. The thrust of Larson’s comments were that the conference had shown, by virtue of the different standpoints presented, that yoga has become many things. How does one go about evaluating them? He used the analogy of evaluating contrasting languages, which of course echoes Ramakrishna’s own analogy of pani, water, jala.
Larson proceeded by the via negativa to establish what Yoga is not: Yoga is not indology, i.e., not just something from India. It is not philology, as it cannot be reduced to words. It is not a particular religion, as various other religions can make use of it, nor is it mysticism. This last one seems to be Larson’s personal bugaboo: He says that some look for union with Absolute, whereas yoga is really viyoga—the separation of spirit from matter, purusha from prakriti. In fact, he is correct and wrong at the same time: though yoga has its roots in dualist Sankhya philosophy, it has been totally assimilated by Vedanta. But Larson himself admitted elsewhere that much of Patanjali’s terminology has been influenced by Buddhism, whereas no such influences can be detected in the Sankhya.
At the same time, Larson said it is not a philosophy, though it makes use of Sankhya, it is primarily, as always stated, a practical application that can be made use of or adapted to other philosophies, just as was the case with religion. His conclusion was that yoga is the search for spiritual clarity. And here, no doubt to Swami Veda’s delight, he said that Yoga is samadhi, an altered state of awareness.
But Larson then could not resist making a normative statement, for which he, clever diplomat that he is, adopted the Bengali technique of quoting a rather well-known Rabindranath poem. I am not sure of Tagore’s own title, but Larson presented it as “The samadhi of a common man.” I don’t have the entire text, but copied down the essence as he read it:
There was no sign of my servant this morning. The door stood unlatched, my bath unprepared, the bed unmade. Time passed and the rascal still did not show up. Irritation pricked me increasingly. At last quite late he came and addressed me in the usual manner. But by this time I was so angry that I just said, “Go, get out. Don’t come back.” The servant looked hurt and tears came to his eyes. He said, “During the night, my little girl died.” And then he went about his days work, cleaning and so on, leaving not a task undone.
I don’t know what that poem says about Tagore that he would insist on his servant spending the day working after a traumatic event like that, nor how this shows a state of transformed consciousness. Is that all yoga is, stoicism? The Gita has two definitions of yoga in chapter 2: yogaH karmasu kaushalam and samatvam yoga uchyate: “Yoga is expertise in activities” and “Yoga is equanimity.” Though the last may apply here to some extent, how can we truly know the state of the servant’s mind. Perhaps he spent the entire day cursing his unfeeling master and the destiny that forced him to sweep floors when he should have been at home providing comfort to his wife and family members. Were he a president and his work so important that the fate of millions hung in the balance, he would have to overlook the loss of a child, but running the bath of a pampered prince? Not in my book.
Open Ends
Why should we not disgree? In response to Gerald Larson asking about what scientists believe.
Open ends. There was quite a bit of talk about grace. The Maharishi is a Shakti bhakta, we heard. Aurobindo also talks about the importance of the descent of grace. Yogananda even mentions about Krishna being God. We heard a bit about ishvara-praNidhAnAt. The relationship between effort
****
The conference came to an end last night and we ate supper at a long table, on porcelain dinnerware, with the compulsory number of forks, knives and spoons laid out. A bearer came to make sure that we put the serviettes in our laps and served, from the left, each preparation, making sure that we knew the name of each. All in keeping with Ramakrishna’s mission to bring Western feasting methods to India. The feast began with the brahmärpaëaà prayer and a word of thanks from Debbrata Sen Sharma and the director, Sarvabhutananda Swami.
It was completely vegetarian, although one grim looking sannyasi, whom I later saw receiving pranams, his feet being touched obsequiously while he fiddled with a telephone, told me rather pointedly that I would have to make it clear that I was vegetarian. But I did rather think that wine was missing. When the end of the feast was suddenly announced by some brahmacharis chanting a Vedic mantra, it felt like the conversation was incomplete, something that would never have happened if this table had been in Italy and the wine had flowed freely.
Walking the streets of Calcutta afterwards, I felt the kind of letdown that comes after intense activity. It will take longer to digest everything.
Plenary Session, Part I
Bhajanananda Swamiji Maharaj
Bhajanananda Swami gave a very insightful paper into the Yoga-sutras. His presentation took quite a different and, for me, novel, global approach to Patanjali. His basic point was that though the main theme of Patanjali is usually seen to be the promotion of ashtanga-yoga, the control of the chitta-vrittis and the attainment of samadhi, but "the truth is that ashtanga-yoga does not play a major role in Patanjali's total scheme." The real goal is not to control the mind, but the attainment of liberation, or kaivalya.
What Bhajanananda says here is not particularly astonishing, but he was extremely clear and many of his explanations shed light on areas I had not previously understood very well. For instance, he explained the word klesha (YS 2.3) as the conative-affective aspect of the mind: impulses, desires, emotions, etc., along with egoism (asmita) and avidya or ignorance, which is the root cause. Klesha roughly corresponds to bhoga-vasana in Vedanta. It does not have the prima facie meaning of pain, affliction, distress, anguish, etc. The term is in all likelihood derived from Buddhism, though here again the meaning differs.
Karmashaya is another important term that means the unseen and long term effects of action, which also has direct effects on the mind (samskara) and externally (the most direct and visible effects of an action). It is equivalent to sanchita-karma in Vedanta and is the cause of future births and the continuation of the wheel of samsara. For Patanjali, liberation comes when we stop the fructification of karmashaya that has already been deposited through the destruction of the kleshas. (YS 2.13)
In Vaishnavism, I guess this roughly corresponds to Bhag. 10.22.17--
na mayy Avezita-dhiyAM kAmaH kAmAya kalpate
bharjitAH kvathitA dhAnAH prAyo bIjAya neSyate
I suppose I could go on here, but it would take far too much of my own time, so I am going to stop.
Kriya-yoga by Dr. Ramarao V. Komaragiri
Dr. Ramarao is a follower of Yogananda Paramahamsa, Shyamacharan Lahiri, Yukteshwar. He supplied the requisite glorification of Yogananda in his contributions to the spreading of yoga in the Western world.
According to him, the main feature of his system is that it is scientific, in the sense that it is experiential not experimental. This is perhaps the primary theme of the conference as a whole, the conceit that yoga is scientific and not merely religious. Here is Yogananda's own statement:
And of course, this calls de rigueur for a reference to Einstein's E=MC2.
Yogananda followers are notoriously secretive about their kriya-yoga, but it basically seems to consist of breathing exercises like kapalabhati as well as mantra meditation. It is not the same as the kriya-yoga of YS 2.1, which is generally said to be a kind of karma-yoga.
One thing that was interesting was the role of the "personal god Krishna." Rao says, "The second great achievement of kriya yoga is to make God real and tangible. God is a loving, lovable personal being with whom one can easily relate, and on whom one can confidently depend for daily needs and daily help. God is not a vague idea, nor is He confined to the temple or church or to a distant corner of heaven." Unfortunately there was little elaboration here. As with most yoga systems, the procedures emphasized were more technical than devotional and Ramrao's paper was light on theology.
Ramrao has a very good singing voice and sang several poems written in English by Yogananda. These are called "cosmic chants" and "innovative japa methods."
This has an "esoteric" meaning refering to the devotee's journey in the inner realms, roaming with Om along the spinal pathway, through the different chakras.
Ramrao's conclusion is that the spirit of Kriya Yoga is classical, but the language and idiom are modern.
I particularly enjoyed the quote from the Mundaka Upanishad (2.4)--
praNavo dhanuH zaro hy AtmA
brahma tal lakSyam ucyate
apramattena vedhavyaM
zaravat tan-mayo bhavet
Smriti-upasthana or Sati-paTThAna by Swami Veda Bharati
This is the paper I read. It was rather an odd feeling, as I have already said, to read something that was not my own, and though the audience was polite, it was hard to gauge the extent of rapport and communication.
The paper could basically be divided into several parts. First of all, Swamiji highlights the use of the term smrita-upasthana in Vyasa's commentary to YS 1.20 and equates it to the sati-paTThAna of the Pali canon. He then asks what are the similarities and differences between the practices in Buddhism, which are well known, and those of yoga, which are less so. He goes into a long analysis of the word smriti from the commentaries to the Gita, and comes up with some ten meanings, slightly different from each other, which go a bit beyond simple memory (which is one of the vrittis mentioned in YS 1.13).
Since smaranam is an important aspect of bhakti-yoga also, this discussion was certainly useful and a paper discussing the various aspects of smaranam in the bhakti-yoga tradition would no doubt be quite an important contribution.
The most important part of the paper was the practical description of the Buddhist anusattis and their equivalent yoga practices.
Sri Sraddhalu Rannade
complementary systems
common psychological principles
conscious self surrender
ascent and descent
Integral Yoga of Aurobindo.
Bhajanananda Swami gave a very insightful paper into the Yoga-sutras. His presentation took quite a different and, for me, novel, global approach to Patanjali. His basic point was that though the main theme of Patanjali is usually seen to be the promotion of ashtanga-yoga, the control of the chitta-vrittis and the attainment of samadhi, but "the truth is that ashtanga-yoga does not play a major role in Patanjali's total scheme." The real goal is not to control the mind, but the attainment of liberation, or kaivalya.
What Bhajanananda says here is not particularly astonishing, but he was extremely clear and many of his explanations shed light on areas I had not previously understood very well. For instance, he explained the word klesha (YS 2.3) as the conative-affective aspect of the mind: impulses, desires, emotions, etc., along with egoism (asmita) and avidya or ignorance, which is the root cause. Klesha roughly corresponds to bhoga-vasana in Vedanta. It does not have the prima facie meaning of pain, affliction, distress, anguish, etc. The term is in all likelihood derived from Buddhism, though here again the meaning differs.
Karmashaya is another important term that means the unseen and long term effects of action, which also has direct effects on the mind (samskara) and externally (the most direct and visible effects of an action). It is equivalent to sanchita-karma in Vedanta and is the cause of future births and the continuation of the wheel of samsara. For Patanjali, liberation comes when we stop the fructification of karmashaya that has already been deposited through the destruction of the kleshas. (YS 2.13)
In Vaishnavism, I guess this roughly corresponds to Bhag. 10.22.17--
bharjitAH kvathitA dhAnAH prAyo bIjAya neSyate
I suppose I could go on here, but it would take far too much of my own time, so I am going to stop.
Kriya-yoga by Dr. Ramarao V. Komaragiri
Dr. Ramarao is a follower of Yogananda Paramahamsa, Shyamacharan Lahiri, Yukteshwar. He supplied the requisite glorification of Yogananda in his contributions to the spreading of yoga in the Western world.
According to him, the main feature of his system is that it is scientific, in the sense that it is experiential not experimental. This is perhaps the primary theme of the conference as a whole, the conceit that yoga is scientific and not merely religious. Here is Yogananda's own statement:
Kriya is a psycho-physiological method by which human blood is de-carbonated and recharged with oxygen. The atoms of this extra oxygen are transmuted into life current to rejuvenate the brain and spinal centers. By stopping the accumulation of venous blood, the yogi is able to lessen or prevent the decay of tissues. The advanced yogi transmutes his cells into energy.
And of course, this calls de rigueur for a reference to Einstein's E=MC2.
Yogananda followers are notoriously secretive about their kriya-yoga, but it basically seems to consist of breathing exercises like kapalabhati as well as mantra meditation. It is not the same as the kriya-yoga of YS 2.1, which is generally said to be a kind of karma-yoga.
One thing that was interesting was the role of the "personal god Krishna." Rao says, "The second great achievement of kriya yoga is to make God real and tangible. God is a loving, lovable personal being with whom one can easily relate, and on whom one can confidently depend for daily needs and daily help. God is not a vague idea, nor is He confined to the temple or church or to a distant corner of heaven." Unfortunately there was little elaboration here. As with most yoga systems, the procedures emphasized were more technical than devotional and Ramrao's paper was light on theology.
Ramrao has a very good singing voice and sang several poems written in English by Yogananda. These are called "cosmic chants" and "innovative japa methods."
I will be a gypsy,
Roam, roam and roam.
I'll sing a song that none has sung.
I'll sing to the sky,
I'll sing to the wind,
I'll sing to my red cloud.
I'll roam, roam and roam.
I'll roam, roam with Om.
I'll be the king of the land
Through which I roam.
This has an "esoteric" meaning refering to the devotee's journey in the inner realms, roaming with Om along the spinal pathway, through the different chakras.
Ramrao's conclusion is that the spirit of Kriya Yoga is classical, but the language and idiom are modern.
I particularly enjoyed the quote from the Mundaka Upanishad (2.4)--
brahma tal lakSyam ucyate
apramattena vedhavyaM
zaravat tan-mayo bhavet
Om is the bow, the arrow is the individual being and Brahman is the target. With a tranquil heart, take aim. Lose thyself in Him, even as the arrow is lost in the target. (Pranavananda's translation).
Smriti-upasthana or Sati-paTThAna by Swami Veda Bharati
This is the paper I read. It was rather an odd feeling, as I have already said, to read something that was not my own, and though the audience was polite, it was hard to gauge the extent of rapport and communication.
The paper could basically be divided into several parts. First of all, Swamiji highlights the use of the term smrita-upasthana in Vyasa's commentary to YS 1.20 and equates it to the sati-paTThAna of the Pali canon. He then asks what are the similarities and differences between the practices in Buddhism, which are well known, and those of yoga, which are less so. He goes into a long analysis of the word smriti from the commentaries to the Gita, and comes up with some ten meanings, slightly different from each other, which go a bit beyond simple memory (which is one of the vrittis mentioned in YS 1.13).
Since smaranam is an important aspect of bhakti-yoga also, this discussion was certainly useful and a paper discussing the various aspects of smaranam in the bhakti-yoga tradition would no doubt be quite an important contribution.
The most important part of the paper was the practical description of the Buddhist anusattis and their equivalent yoga practices.
Sri Sraddhalu Rannade
complementary systems
common psychological principles
conscious self surrender
ascent and descent
Integral Yoga of Aurobindo.
Trip to Kolkata
I am presently in Kolkata at a conference being sponsored by the Ramakrishna Mission at the Ramakrishna Institute of Culture. It is called the National Seminar, a biennial event, the topic of which this year is “Some Responses to Classical Yoga in the Modern Period.”
Swami Veda for health reasons could not come and sent me in his place to read his paper. It is a rather strange position to be in, but the circumstances are, as usual, educational. In fact, I am being rather flooded with intellectual stimuli that are already threatening to shortcircuit my almost always overloaded circuitry. Only relaxing into the Holy Name and mantra are a recourse, even though processing everything and then sharing it publicly is always in the back of my mind.
Last night was the inaugural session, prior to which all the principal participants were present and introduced to one another. I was already chuckling to myself as I was the only one in traditional Indian dress besides the swamis—everyone else was in suits and ties—and we were sitting in a very Western style drawing room sipping tea and munching on cake and cashews.
The inaugural session was held in the Vivekananda Hall, which is a large auditorium, much like what you would expect to see in a North American high school with a high stage on which a table was set up for the speakers, a podium, a screen for Powerpoint presentations, etc.
Throughout the session, I was constantly wishing that I could sit on the floor, or at least samaM kAya-ziro-grIvam as Gita tells us. It seemed most ironic that the entire event was being conducted in a way that catered to the Western intellect, with all the trappings of Western culture, and with seemingly only a nominal concession to the culture that it was presenting, i.e., the introductory prayers, which were chanted with what seemed like considerable discomfort, at least at first, by the brahmacharies of the Math.
The most interesting of the main speakers at the inaugural session was B.R. Sharma, who is the assistant director of research and head of the department of Philosophical Reasearch in Yoga at the Kaivalya Dham Yoga Research Institute in Lonavla, which I may or may not have to tell you is a very well established and prestigious institute. Founded by Swami Kuvalayananda in 1924, it has done a great deal of scientific work in studying the benefits of yoga as well as applying them in a therapeutic manner. Dr. Sharma is a Sanskritist and his main interest is in studying, preserving, and publishing the yoga texts in a scholarly fashion and some of the most reliable and authentic yoga texts are coming out of Lonavla.
We had an enjoyable talk afterward also. Sharma (I never found out what B.R. stands for) himself is from Badrinath. He is a very productive writer and has published many papers. It seems that everything you say elicits the response, “I have written a paper about that.” In particular he came to my room afterward and downloaded an article on Yoga-sutra 1.23 about the use of the word vA, arguing against the contention that worship of God (ishwara-pranidhana) is an optional and that its removal from the Yoga-sutras would have no negative impact on the work as a whole. I will read it through as soon as I get a chance.
The other two speakers of interest were Swami Prabhanandaji, the current general secretary of the RK Mission. He impressed me in the way that highly placed Catholic priests and bishops, etc., tend to. His paper was learned, but did not draw any deep lines in my consciousness. Of course, the main thrust, as is to be expected, is centered on Vivekananda’s contribution to the topic.
There is so much to digest. It will be days before it really sinks in. Mostly such a conference results in one or two impressions being made on the mind. I kind of wish that I had been there in my own name speaking about something quite different. I have to do my work. I have to do my work. I cannot be a parivrajaka all my life, flitting like a butterfly and not stinging like a bee, or rolling like a stone and not gathering any moss, to mix a metaphor.
So here I am for two more days. I went down the street yesterday . Feeling a little downward turn in consciousness after the intensity of the day. This is Ballygunge, what seems to be a high end part of town. In the dark I saw little, but I have decided to walk through town to the more central part of town and see what is to be seen. I did neti after my walk, as the nose is starting to feel smog-clogged.
Swami Veda for health reasons could not come and sent me in his place to read his paper. It is a rather strange position to be in, but the circumstances are, as usual, educational. In fact, I am being rather flooded with intellectual stimuli that are already threatening to shortcircuit my almost always overloaded circuitry. Only relaxing into the Holy Name and mantra are a recourse, even though processing everything and then sharing it publicly is always in the back of my mind.
Last night was the inaugural session, prior to which all the principal participants were present and introduced to one another. I was already chuckling to myself as I was the only one in traditional Indian dress besides the swamis—everyone else was in suits and ties—and we were sitting in a very Western style drawing room sipping tea and munching on cake and cashews.
The inaugural session was held in the Vivekananda Hall, which is a large auditorium, much like what you would expect to see in a North American high school with a high stage on which a table was set up for the speakers, a podium, a screen for Powerpoint presentations, etc.
Throughout the session, I was constantly wishing that I could sit on the floor, or at least samaM kAya-ziro-grIvam as Gita tells us. It seemed most ironic that the entire event was being conducted in a way that catered to the Western intellect, with all the trappings of Western culture, and with seemingly only a nominal concession to the culture that it was presenting, i.e., the introductory prayers, which were chanted with what seemed like considerable discomfort, at least at first, by the brahmacharies of the Math.
The most interesting of the main speakers at the inaugural session was B.R. Sharma, who is the assistant director of research and head of the department of Philosophical Reasearch in Yoga at the Kaivalya Dham Yoga Research Institute in Lonavla, which I may or may not have to tell you is a very well established and prestigious institute. Founded by Swami Kuvalayananda in 1924, it has done a great deal of scientific work in studying the benefits of yoga as well as applying them in a therapeutic manner. Dr. Sharma is a Sanskritist and his main interest is in studying, preserving, and publishing the yoga texts in a scholarly fashion and some of the most reliable and authentic yoga texts are coming out of Lonavla.
We had an enjoyable talk afterward also. Sharma (I never found out what B.R. stands for) himself is from Badrinath. He is a very productive writer and has published many papers. It seems that everything you say elicits the response, “I have written a paper about that.” In particular he came to my room afterward and downloaded an article on Yoga-sutra 1.23 about the use of the word vA, arguing against the contention that worship of God (ishwara-pranidhana) is an optional and that its removal from the Yoga-sutras would have no negative impact on the work as a whole. I will read it through as soon as I get a chance.
The other two speakers of interest were Swami Prabhanandaji, the current general secretary of the RK Mission. He impressed me in the way that highly placed Catholic priests and bishops, etc., tend to. His paper was learned, but did not draw any deep lines in my consciousness. Of course, the main thrust, as is to be expected, is centered on Vivekananda’s contribution to the topic.
There is so much to digest. It will be days before it really sinks in. Mostly such a conference results in one or two impressions being made on the mind. I kind of wish that I had been there in my own name speaking about something quite different. I have to do my work. I have to do my work. I cannot be a parivrajaka all my life, flitting like a butterfly and not stinging like a bee, or rolling like a stone and not gathering any moss, to mix a metaphor.
So here I am for two more days. I went down the street yesterday . Feeling a little downward turn in consciousness after the intensity of the day. This is Ballygunge, what seems to be a high end part of town. In the dark I saw little, but I have decided to walk through town to the more central part of town and see what is to be seen. I did neti after my walk, as the nose is starting to feel smog-clogged.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Jagat Jindagi
For good reason, I have decided to split my current English blog into two sections, one dealing with theology, etc., the other with more current events. Let's see how that goes.
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