ISSUE No . 70JULY- SEP 2011

Ramakrishna Mission Singapore

MICA (P) 014/09/2010 ISSN0218-7183

in this issue...Swami Nikhilananda describes Sri Sankaracharya as “the keenest intellect the world has seen.” In his short life-span of 32 years in 8th century CE, the Acharya travelled the length and breadth of India, established four monas-teries in strategic locations and wrote scholarly commentaries on Bhagavad Gita, the Brahma-sutras and the principal Upanishads. While each of his work can be described as a jewel, Vivekachudamani is the brightest of them all.

Mr S.V. Unnikrishnan, a retired Auditor General of Kerala, India, pre-sents this jewel in a simple and easy to follow style for the benefit of those keen on realizing the Ultimate Reality envisaged by Sri Sankara. (P.3)

In the continuing series on Swami Vivekananda, Dr Achuthan recalls the deep passion Swamiji nourished in reforming India’s educational system. He had wanted the “degree-chasing” system to be changed into a “man-making” education. More than a hundred years after his Mahasamadhi and more than six decades into independence, that remains a pipe-dream. (P.10)

As has been the practice for some years, our Singapore Centre ob-served 1 May as the Volunteer Appreciation Day. We have a report .(P.16)

On the international horizon, World Water Day was observed on 22 April with due emphasis on problems faced by host countries. In Singapore, the otherwise municipal affair was lighted up with the International Reli-gious Organisation, a grouping of all major religions practised in the Re-public, joined the relevant authorities to make it a colourful day. (P.19)

The Mission’s Belgaum centre held a four-day celebration of spir-itual, religious and cultural activities in February. Thousands of devo-tees and friends attended the various functions such as the opening of the new spacious auditorium by Mr L.K. Advani, senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a Youth Convention at which former In-dian President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam was the Guest of Honour. (P.21)

Bharata finally succeeds in his resolve to find Rama. The Royal family has a poignant reunion. . ( P.23)

State of Spiritual enlightenment or illumination. Nirvana releases humans from the cycle of birth, suffering, death and all forms of worldly bondage.

Edited and Published by Swami Muktirupananda, President, Ramakrishna Mission, 179 Bartley Road, Singapore 539784 Tel: 6288 9077 Fax: 6288 5798.email: office@ramakrishna.org.sg, Website: www.ramakrishna.org.sg Print Production: EAZI Printing Pte Ltd

Uddhava GitaTranslated by Swami Madhavananda

Śrī bhagavān uvāca

Snānadanatapo’vasthā vīryasamskāra karmabhiḥMatsmrtyā cātmanaḥ śoucam śudhaḥ karmācared dvijaḥMantrasya ca parijnānam karmaśudhir madarpaņamDharmaḥ sampadyate şadbhir adharmastu viparyayaḥYatoh yatoh nivarteta vimucyeta tatastataḥEşa dharmo nṛnām kshemaḥ śokamohabhayapahaḥ

The Lord said:

Ablution, charity, austerities, ceremonies and observances performed according to stages of life and strength, and remembrance of Me, serve to purify a person. Thus purified, a twice-born should perform religious acts.

The purity of a Mantra consists in its being duly understood; that of work in being offered unto Me. The purity of the above six factors leads to piety, and the reversed of it to impiety.

From whatever one abstains, one gets rid of that. This is the righteous conduct that leads to the well-being of men and removes their grief, infatuation and fear.

Uddhava Gita, XVI, 14,15,18.

(To be continued)

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WisdomPearls of

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Which one plays the greater role in shaping the human behaviour and character, nature or nurture? Nature works through genes and environment functions through nurture. There is no clear

answer which one is the more determining factor, genes or environment. Because scientists are divided in supporting one or the other theory the debate still persists. Various experiments conducted by both the groups have either supported the influence of heredity or environment. But now there is growing evidence that genes influence environment and in turn environment has bearing on genes. They are dependent on each other.

For example, a person’s inborn intelligence or talent cannot flower without proper environment and adequate facilities. They remain in an underdeveloped state. This is the common phenomenon in poor countries, where socio-economic environment is unhelpful. As a result, there is no notable improvement in succeeding generations. Contrary is the case in wealthy and developed countries, where stimulating conditions and modern facilities are available. A person’s inherent intelligence, skill and talent find a fit outlet to express and flower. Each generation becomes better and better than the previous one. It is not enough if one has athletic, musical or intellectual genes. Genes need a proper environment to express and grow. Nurture plays a vital role in shaping genes. The constant interaction between heredity and external conditions determine human nature.

All are not born equal, one person is different from another, it is true. Some are more skillful, capable and intelligent than the rest. It is also true all do not get equal opportunities to grow and develop due to socio-economic conditions. Those who are at the lower rungs of the ladder of the human society are not inferior beings. On the contrary, they do not get right enriched environment or outlet to unfold their inherent qualities. Therefore enlightened governments try to create equal opportunities for all people. Rest depends on an individual’s attitude and aptitude. The arugument that heredity is the only decisive factor or external conditions are solely responsible sounds unconvincing. In shaping human personality they contribute equally.

Nature versus NurtureEditorial

source of eternal sorrow, as life is a series of changes in which one is lost as in a wilderness.

Leading a purely worldly life of the senses is bondage; to get rid of the bondage, one should know the Reality which is unchanging and which sustains the apparent unreality. Knowing this Reality, we stand on firm ground, from where we can witness the chang-ing world as dispassionate spec-tators. To know this Reality and be rooted in it is freedom from bond-age, or, liberation. Man has to strive for it as that alone can deliv-er him from sorrow and suffering. Hence the philosophical search for Reality. Only human beings can undertake this enquiry as they alone among all the species, have the capacity to question, an-alyze and arrive at conclusions. So the great teacher Sankara says; a human birth, the desire for liberation and the protection and guidance of a great soul – these are rare blessings obtained by the grace of God alone (verse 3).

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Vivekachudamani of Sri Sankarachaya is a rare jewel of Vedantic litera-

ture. This work in 584 elegant and profound verses takes the spir-itual aspirant to the very heights of spiritual realization through the path of reason and analysis. As such, the follower of any reli-gion can benefit from this work. Here we try to give a brief sur-vey of the contents of the book.

Viveka means true knowledge and discrimination – the power of distinguishing between the Real and the unreal. The Real is that which is eternal and unchang-ing at all times; the transient and changing is unreal, though it has an appearance of reality. Hence the world is unreal, though it has an empirical reality which enables us to deal with it in our day-to-day life. However, it is transient and constantly changing. Something like that should have an unchang-ing basis, which we call the Real. The unreal can be understood only in terms of the Real. Get-ting trapped in the unreal is a

VivekachudamaniThe Rational Path to Reality

S.V.Unnikrishnan

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In the words of Srimad Bhagav-atam (1.2.11), the Supreme Truth is non-dual Consciousness, called by different names as Brahman, Paramatman and Bhagavan. Ve-danta holds that the Reality of the Universe, Brahman, and the Reality of the individual, Atman, are identical. This is the declara-tion of the Upanishads. Libera-tion is not possible by any means other than the realization of this identity, declares Sri Sankara (Verse 6). In Verse 204, he reit-erates that true knowledge is the realization of the identity of the individual Self and Brahman. One who desires true freedom should realize this identity. The means to that end is to realize one’s own True Nature which is hidden deep within one’s personality, as any search outside in the ever-changing world will be fruitless.

A mountaineer desiring to scale the Everest has to undergo tre-mendous training and needs the assistance of an experienced guide. So too is the quest for the Absolute – it needs great prepara-tion on the part of the aspirant and the guidance of a teacher who is a realized soul. The various ele-ments of the preparation required of the aspirant have been enu-merated by Sri Sankara. They are referred to as the four-fold disci-pline -sadhana chatushtaya- and

are most essential for an earnest seeker. They are 1) discrimina-tion between the Real and the un-real; 2) absence of any desire to enjoy the fruits of one’s action in this life or afterwards; 3 ) the six spiritual treasures, namely, con-trol of the mind and the senses, withdrawal of the mind from ex-ternal objects, great forbearance, faith in the truth of the words of the scriptures and one’s guru and concentration of the mind on one’s goal , namely, Brahman; and 4) the desire to attain true freedom from the bondage of the ego, mind, senses and the body.

Extremely accurate and classi-cal definition of each of these el-ements is given by the Acharya. They cannot be achieved without sustained effort over a long period. This is the essential training re-quired in the quest of the Absolute.

Bhakti is termed as the most im-portant means of attaining lib-eration; it is defined as seeking, or meditating upon, one’s true nature. An aspirant who has to a great extent mastered the above mentioned disciplines and who has a deep desire for liberation should approach a competent guru. The main qualification of the guru is that he should have realized Brahman and is ever established in that awareness.

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He should also be free from all desires and have unconditional mercy towards eager souls ap-proaching him for guidance. When an aspirant approaches him with due humility, and seeks the way out of bondage, the guru will extend his protection to him and assure him of prop-er guidance.

The aspirant now becomes a disciple. The guru tells him that by medi-tating on the Vedantic truths, one gathers spiritual knowl-edge which would make him free from the sorrow caused by phenomenal existence, The Upanishads de-clare that the means of attaining liberation are faith, devotion and medita-tion. Knowledge of the Self is hidden by ignorance (avidya) and removal of this ignorance is the means to achieve freedom.

How did this bondage come and how to remove it? – asks the disciple. He also wants to know

about the Supreme Self. The guru says bondage is due to mistak-ing the non-Self for the Self and when this wrong identification is given up, the Self will shine forth. Knowledge of the non-Self is, therefore, essential. To know the non-Self in one’s own personal-

ity, the guru adopts two me thodo lo -gies. First, he analyses the three aspects of the human body – the gross, the subtle and the causal. The physical body is the gross body; made of the five el-ements and full of un-clean sub-stances, it is easily perish-

able and is just like the house in which the soul lives. The subtle body consists of the five senses of knowledge, the five senses of action, the vital airs, the inner or-gan i.e. the mind, the intellect, chitta and ego. Ignorance of the Self (avidya) and consequent de-sire for sense-objects and corre-sponding activity also form a part

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of the subtle body. This is what binds the Self. The causal body is Maya, the primordial ignorance and the power of God consist-ing of the three Gunas. It has got two powers – the power to cover or hide the Self and then to pro-ject the Universe. All these three bodies have no independent ex-istence and are therefore, unreal and the non-Self. They derive their existence and power from the Self. Since we identify our-selves with these three bodies, the Self remains hidden from us.

The guru proceeds to explain the nature of the Supreme Self. He is the eternal knower, and everything exists due to him. He is the basis of the sense of “I” in everyone but remains hidden in the cave of the intellect (heart) by the veiling and projecting powers of Maya. Even though, as the ultimate Knower, he cannot be “known” in the or-dinary sense, he can be experi-enced by following the process of ‘pancha-kosa-viveka’, distinct ex-amination of the five sheaths cov-ering the Self. This is the second methodology adopted by the guru.

The five sheaths covering the Self are the physical sheath, the vital energy sheath, the mental sheath, the knowledge sheath and the sheath of bliss. On analysis, it would be seen that all of them

are non-sentient and dependent on the Self. They draw their ex-istence and sustenance from the Self. A detailed study of these five sheaths is an education in human psychology and behavior and is the sure means of gaining a deep understanding of oneself. After analyzing them and finding that they are not the Self, but only de-pendents of the Self, they should be discarded as unreal. The guru had earlier stated that on remov-ing the five sheaths, the eter-nally blissful and self-effulgent Self will be revealed (Verse 153). However, the disciple now faces a great difficulty – on discard-ing the five sheaths, he can see nothing within him, except the ab-sence of everything. Then, what is there to be known as the Self?

Here comes the most crucial part of the whole work. In another verse (212), the guru had said that when all the sheaths are ne-gated, consciousness, the eternal witness, remains and that is the Self. The disciple probably did not grasp this point! This is what happens to most of us. When we look within ourselves, we see only darkness, or some imagined form. The Self, which is subtler than the subtlest, is hidden deep within the core of our personality. So a guru is required to point out the Self to us. The disciple has come

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to that critical point. The guru says: Earlier you experienced the ego and other modifications; now you experience their absence. He who experienced both these, but who Himself is not experienced (as an object), that Knower is the Self (Verses 215,216). In other words, the observer is the Real-ity, not the observed object. There should be someone to experience the absence of everything – that is the Self. Knowing and identify-ing oneself with this Reality, and detaching oneself from the body, mind and everything else, is the way to liberation (Verse 224).

The next section of the text is devoted to establishing the iden-tity of Brahman and the individual Self. First, the nature of Brahman is described with reference to the Upanishads and the significance of the statement “Tat-tvam-asi” is explained. Brahman alone is real and the perception of multiplic-ity is unreal; hence everything is Brahman. Nothing can exist apart from it and any appearance of dif-ference is only an illusion. In ten inspiring and illuminating verses (255-264), the guru describes the nature of Brahman and earnest-ly asks the disciple to meditate in his heart that he is that Brah-man. After realizing one’s iden-tity with Brahman in this manner, one has to remain steadfast in

that experience and get rid of all the vasanas (desires) and thus find true freedom. We are all un-der the control of three types of vasanas – lokavasana (desire to gain appreciation of others), sas-travasana (desire to be a master of scriptures and thus to be known as a great scholar) and dehavasana (desire to nourish and maintain the body in perfect shape). They are strong chains which bind us to the world and have to be cut by constantly keeping the mind on the Self. This exercise leads to the dissolution of the mind and consequently to the destruc-tion of the identification with the body, mind, senses etc. The exer-cise has to be continued until the identification with the ego, which hides the Self, is fully removed.

The guru now cautions the disci-ple about a great pitfall that the realized Soul faces – careless-ness about Reality. He should not forget the Self even for a mo-ment and allow his mind to turn towards the sense-objects which will drag him down the slope of Maya, leading to bondage. There-fore, carelessness is verily death! He should give up attachment to all the sense-objects and be en-gaged constantly in meditation on the Self. For total destruction of the ego, he should practice nir-vikalpa–samadhi, steady, unmov-

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ing and total absorption in the Self. Constant meditation will lead to this deep state of absorption in the Self and it is of infinite value. Brah-man is fully realized only by that.

Therefore he should control his speech and mind and merge the mind in the Self; he will then attain absolute peace. Dispassion and awareness of one’s identity with Brahman are like the two wings of a bird; with their help, one can attain liberation. Firmly con-vinced of this identity and giving up all attachment to the ego, one should remain a dispassionate witness of the world of objects.

At the final stage of the illumina-tion, the jnani attains a universal personality – he realizes that he is the entire universe; he is all the gods; there is nothing that is dif-ferent from him (Verse 390). He realizes himself as the all- per-vading, Supreme Brahman. All sense of difference is due to ac-tivity of the mind; when the mind is merged in the Self, ignorance and sense of difference are de-stroyed. The body, thereafter, is of no undue concern to such a jnani.

The characteristics of a liber-ated person (jivanmukta) are then described. They generally correspond to those of a sthita-prajna described in Chapter 2 of

the Gita. He is in constant bliss and the world remains practically forgotten. Eventhough his mind is dissolved in Brahman, he re-mains alert, but free from body-consciousness. His awareness of objects will be dispassionate.

The final advice of the guru is: “The gurus and Upanishads point out the way to liberation: with a pure intellect, enlightened by the grace of God, you should cross the ocean of phenomenal exist-ence. The individual soul as well as the entire universe is Brahman – this is the conclusion of the Ve-danta. Liberation is to remain as Brahman. And, Brahman is non-dual as reiterated by the Upani-shads ” (Verses 480 and 482).

Following the teaching of the guru, the disciple is absorbed in samadhi for some time, experi-encing the ultimate Reality, Brah-man. Coming out of samadhi, he exclaims that he has become fully enlightened, having experi-enced his identity with Brahman (Verses 485-523). “I am Naraya-na, the undivided consciousness and the witness of everything. I am the infinite ocean of bliss in which the universe arises, ex-ists and dissolves. I am free from bondage of the body. I am Brah-man, the substratum and support of everything. Prostrations to the

great guru who has restored me to my true nature.” The tremen-dous expansion of the heart re-sulting from this realization leads to the development of universal love and sympathy, of which Sri Sankara himself is an example. The guru gives the final teach-ing describing the way of the realized soul, who has attained total freedom from the bondage of the body and the world and advises the disciple to follow his

teaching at all times. With this ends the great Vivekachudamani.This is too brief a survey of the great text. The path shown here is utterly rational, with no resort to blind faith and obedience. Every spiritual aspirant can gain from this non-sectarian and hu-manitarian teaching. The Su-preme glory of Sri Sankara as a Vedantic teacher is fully re-vealed here. It is sure to benefit all earnest seekers of the Truth.

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References: 1.. Vivekachudamani – Commentary in Malayalam by Swami Siddhinathananda (Ramakrishna Math, Trichur)2. Message of Vivekachudamani – Swami Ranganathananda ( Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata )

Adi Sankara Janmabhoomi in Kaladi, Kerala

Vivekananda-4

His Educational Vision Dr P.Achuthan

It is true that Swami Vivekanan-da was a many-splendoured and ideal hero-figure who drew

to himself all those who happened to fall within his magnetic field. But essentially, he was the chief disci-ple of Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna Deva and His apostle who awak-ened the whole world with the life-giving message of his Master. No doubt, he did glance at a variety of subjects such as the pathetic condition of the Indian masses, the callous indifference of the rich and ruling classes, the tyranny of orthodoxy and exclusiveness freely practised by the Hindu re-ligious leaders and so on. One such subject which engaged his critical and indignant attention was India’s educational system.

Of course, Swamiji was no edu-cational expert in technical terms. However, it was from the vantage point of the Vedantic outlook that he examined India’s educational scene as he did all other matters. Therefore, Swamiji’s educational vision, both at the conceptual and implementational levels, achieved an integration and rounded per-fection sadly lacking in our educa-tional system. Incidentally, it might

be pertinent to point out here that our educational planners and ad-ministrators would do well to make a deep study of Swamiji’s thought on education, particularly in the context of the all-round anarchy prevailing in our academic field.

No wonder of it, because educa-tion in Independent India is just a continuation of the old English system without any correction in terms of educational goals or methods of teaching. And Swa-miji was never tired of pointing out its defects and inadequacies and their ruinous effects on the Indian youth. “In the first place,” says Swamiji, “it is not a man-making education, it is merely and en-tirely a negative education… The child is taken to school and the first thing he learns is that his fa-ther is a fool. …. By the time he is sixteen, he is a mass of nega-tion, lifeless and boneless. And the result is that fifty years of such education has not produced one original man in the three Presiden-cies…” 1 He draws our attention to the same deficiency again, “Take your universities. What have they done during the fifty years of their

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existence? They have not pro-duced one original man. They are merely an examining body.” 2

However, it was in his letter ad-dressed to his friends in Madras from Yokohoma that Swamiji had voiced his indignant protest against the evil impact of English education on the Indian youth when he became sadly con-scious of the progressive outlook of the Japanese in sharp con-trast to that of the Indian: “Come, see these people, and then go and hide your faces in shame. A race of dotards… What are you? And what are you doing now? ... Promenading the seashores with books in your hands – repeating undigested stray bits of European brainwork… Is there not water enough in the sea to drown you, books, gowns, university diplo-mas, and all?” 3 Swamiji found that the English system of educa-tion in India was a failure because it failed to make the educated self-reliant, manly and resource-ful; it failed to endow the students with essential human virtues like a reverence for life, love and sympathy and fellow-feeling and a sense of renunciation and ser-vice for the well-being of society. In short, there was nothing Indian in our education; it was all Eng-lish or European, body and soul.

And Swamiji was quick and ready

to show us a way out of this predic-ament, this educational calamity. “The ideal, therefore,” he says, “is that we must have the whole edu-cation of our country, spiritual and secular, in our own hands, and it must be on national lines, through national methods as far as practi-cal.”4 However, he strikes a note of warning to the would-be edu-cational planners of India, “… but if you attempt to get the secular knowledge without religion, I tell you plainly, vain is your attempt in India, it will never have a hold on the people. Even the great Buddhistic movement was a fail-ure, partially on account of that.” 5

At the same time, Swamiji’s ap-proach to education was very dif-ferent from that of the orthodox, partisan enthusiasts who stood for ‘Sanskrit and Vedic education only’! It was very liberal, balanced and practical, an educational phi-losophy in which the secular and the spiritual were held in a hap-py harmony. “What we want are western science coupled with Ve-danta, brahmacharya as the guid-ing motto, and also sraddha… But the root is religion. Religion is as the rice, and everything else, like curries.” 6 Here, one is in-clined to make more than a pass-ing remark that in Independent India when we had the freedom to fashion our educational sys-tem with Indian-ness at the core,

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both in letter and in spirit, as was shown by Swamiji, it was a thou-sand pities that we let slip that opportunity in the name of secu-larism and a composite culture! Consequently, education, which should be the key to the solution of all national problems itself be-came the most vexing national problem, the epi-centre of violent ‘youth-quakes’ in our country!!

Now then, Swamiji’s justly famous definition, “Education is the mani-festation of the perfection already in man.” 7 brings into focus his faith in the Vedantic truth that, as in the case of divinity, perfec-tion or fullness of knowledge is already and always lodged in man. No one can or need give to man any knowledge which is not already in him. In fact, education is not so much a process of put-ting in as of taking out, not stuff-ing the brain but training the mind. All growth is from within to without which is true also in the case of the growth of one’s knowledge into fullness. It is like the growth of a plant, says Swamiji, which is determined solely by the innate strength and vitality of the plant. All that the gardener can do is to give it some negative help in the form of removing the stones and thorns, the grass and weeds that choke its growth as well as wa-tering and manuring it. But for all that, the growing has to be done

by the plant itself. So also in edu-cation, the teacher and the text-books, noble thoughts and ideas only help as in removing what covers and hides the knowledge within us and prevents it from re-vealing itself. They, no doubt, are strong promptings in awakening the ‘educability’ in us. But what really matters is the flaming up of the inner illumination, the fire of knowledge leaping up from within us. It is as Swamiji puts it, “We are to put the chemicals to-gether, crystallisation will be done by nature according to her laws” 8

Again, the process of education is very much like the digging of a well. By digging, we do not pro-duce even a drop of water; dig-ging helps us only to reach the water already stored up deep down the earth. It removes the layers of mud and sand-stones which cover up the under-water stream, and we find the water already existing there. In other words, digging only helps us in un-covering the hidden water storage. The same is true with ed-ucation in which we dig and dive deep within ourselves to discover or make manifest the knowledge already within us. Here, the sharp drilling instrument used to dis-cover the Light within is our own concentrated mind. Swamiji il-lustrates the point with Newton’s discovery of the Law of Gravita-

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tion. Where did the scientist get the law from – from the earth or from the apple that fell on his head or from his hairless head? From nowhere except from within himself with the help of his own concentrated mind. The falling of the apple only prompted him to go on an enquiry within. This is the process of education, secular or spiritual, as visualised by Swamiji.

As a wandering monk, Swamiji could see for himself the large-scale poverty and misery of the In-dian masses. So pitiable was their condition that they hardly thought that they were human beings. Swamiji thought that they were in that plight primarily for want of proper education. And when he saw the progress and prosperity of America largely linked to the education her people were get-ting, he was convinced that In-dia’s salvation lay in giving educa-tion to her ignorant millions. “The chief cause of India’s ruin has been the monopolising the whole education and intelligence of the land… among a handful of men. If we are to rise again, we shall have to do it in the same way i.e., by spreading education among the masses.” 9 Swamiji was main-ly concerned with the condition of the masses. “Can you raise them?” , he asks. “Can you give them back their lost individuality without making them lose their

innate spiritual nature?” 10 Again, “A few thousand graduates do not make a nation… Ninety percent of our people are without educa-tion – who thinks of that – these Babus, the so-called patriots?” 11

Swamiji now goes on to define the educational objectives relevant to Indian conditions. He says, “We must have life-building, man-making, character-making as-similation of ideas.” 12 This state-ment looks simple enough, but in terms of the goals it sets down, it is comprehensive. It speaks of three essential functions which any system of education worth its name should perform. Educa-tion leastways must give to the student such knowledge and skill as to make him self-reliant and resourceful in order to enable him to earn his livelihood with the sweat of his honest brows. Manly independence is the hall-mark of an educated person. The next higher function of education is to make him a man of char-acter, i.e., one endowed with a socially-oriented will. His motto in life will be renunciation of self-interest for the sake of offering loving service to others. He will be concerned more and more with the performance of his du-ties to society than with the enjoy-ment of his rights and privileges.

The primary goal of education

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is to earn enough strength and skill for survival. When that is en-sured, the next one is to scatter the grains in society from where he has gathered them. These two goals are associated with the so-cial life of man. But the highest ed-ucational goal is to reach the state of the man of wisdom which is a whole heaven above the loyalties and affiliations pertaining to soci-ety. That is where the lower edu-cation, aparā-vidya, leads man to the threshold of the education par excellence, the parā-vidya, which is phrased by Swamiji as the “life-building assimilation of ideas.” This is reaching perfection, the summit of life’s fulfilment, by the progressive unfoldment of the knowledge inherent in man. This is attained by a ‘voyage within’ and by overcoming the forces of our own inner nature by the pro-cess of refinement and culture.

Human life moves at three levels – the physical and sensate, the mental and intellectual and finally, of the soul or spiritual. It is like the movement of the three hands in a wrist-watch. The hour hand moves the slowest, almost imperceptibly; but its movement is the deter-mining factor in telling the time. Similar is the spiritual level of life in determining the true measure of man, which is not the much-glorified egocentric individuality but the egoless personality or the

universality of man. This can be attained not by the information-gathering education but by the one that transforms man’s being, or by the ‘life-building assimilation of ideas’ as Swamiji puts it. “To me”, says he, “the very essence of education is concentration of mind, not collecting facts.” 13 He touches on the same point again in a half-humorous, half-scornful vein, “If education is identical with information, the libraries are the greatest sages in the world, and encyclopaedias are the Rishis.” 14

And, how do we get this kind of real education; what is the meth-od, the way of getting properly ed-ucated? Swamiji says, “My idea of education is personal contact with the teacher – guru-grha-vāsa. Without the personal life of a teacher, there would be no educa-tion.” 15 Life with the teacher and constant companionship with him enables the student to absorb and assimilate the noble thoughts and ideas lived by the teacher. The teacher not only conveys ideas but communicates the experience of an ideal life to the pupil. Like the good seed, the fertile soil and the expert farmer coming together to yield a rich harvest, guru-grha-vāsa brings together a good stu-dent, a conducive atmosphere and a great teacher to yield a rich edu-cational harvest. By this method, the student is able to get his own

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torch lit directly from the brightly-burning torch of the teacher. In short, the most effective methodof getting education is sat-

References: 1. Lectures from Colombo to Al-mora, Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata, 2006; Pages 232 – 233.2. Vivekananda, His Call to the Nation: Education and Society, Advaita Ashrama, Calcutta, 1992; Page 53.3. Letters of Swami Vivekananda, Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata, 2007; Page 37.4. Lectures, Page 233.5. Lectures, Page 140.6. Vivekananda, … Education and Society, Pages 52 – 53.7. Ibid, Page 49.

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sang, companionship with the teacher, like what Swa-miji, ‘M’, Girish and others got from the great Master.

8. Letters, Pages 63 – 64.9. Ibid, Page 328.10. Ibid, Page 64.11. Ibid, Page 95.12. Lectures, Page 233.13. Vivekananda, … Education & Society, Page 49.14. Lectures, Page 233.15. Vivekananda, … Education & Society, Page 53.

Vivekananda University , Belur

16

The recent spurt in the fre-quency and devastation wrought by natural dis-

asters in several parts of the world has alerted Volunteer-ism to the urgent need of keep-ing up with the challenges.

In Singapore, protected as it is against typhoons, tornados or earthquakes, the problem is more of the traditional variety. And volunatary organizations are on the alert to rush to the aid of the needy at home and also fan out to less fortunate neighbour-

ing countries such as Indone-sia, Cambodia and Myanmar.For the Ramakrishna Mission, founded by Swami Vivekananda in India in 1897, service is one of its two key mottos – “for one’s own salvation and the welfare of the World” which means service. And Mission centres in India have always responded speedily to floods, typhoons and earthquakes.

At the Mission’s Singapore cen-tre, 1 May has been observed for some time as the ‘Volun-teer Appreciation Day’ to wel-

Volunteers’ Day‘Raise Your Antenna a Notch’

17

come and thank our volunteers, some of whom are committed to more than one organisation.

The function on 1 May 2011 started with an invocation and bhajan (devotional song) by our Saturday bhajan class chil-dren. It may be noted that the class is conducted by a group of Volunteers.

In his welcome address, Swami Muktirupananda, President of the Mission, noted that service may not bring any gain or mate-rial benefits to the volunteers. “But it has its own imperceptible returns in the form of silent ben-efits. Man, by nature, is selfish, but this selfish character is gradu-ally eliminated as he continues to offer voluntary service. The ego

in man gradually disappears as he realizes that he is but a part of the inter-connected world.”

The Swami noted that generally people grumble a lot about the quality of life and the perceived lack of this or that facility. “But look around , and we see half the world do not have access to a meal a day or the chance of some much needed medicine or other assistance. Then we realize that our complaints are so petty compared to the prob-lems of mass poverty, illness, lack of access to clean drink-ing water or basic medical care.”It is this realization or under-standing that leads some well-heeled academics and profes-sionals and others to venture

18

into poverty- stricken areas to provide whatever help they can. How else can we explain their decision to leave their sumptu-ous surroundings to slog in mud and filth in affected countries? He concluded by saying, “Take a broad look at the problems. I would say it is an opportunity, a challenge, for all of us to expand our horizons, make the whole world our own. Apart from help-ing others as best as we can, it will widen our horizons, in-crease our empathy and give us a sense of satisfaction in more ways than the material sense.”

The group watched a Power Point presentation on the breadth and depth of the services Mission cen-tres in India offer. It then split into groups for an in-depth discussion of the subject. After lengthy dis-cussions and inputs from a large

number of participants, it became clear that the basic contours of service were fairly well-known among the volunteers. And us-ing past experience as a guide, the primary objective ahead was to “up the antenna one notch” , i.e. to improve, refine and retool our activities so that maximum benefit can be obtained by the recipients, while the volunteers derive maximum satisfaction.

Volunteers listed their own re-turns as satisfaction of return-ing to the society at least a part of the help it gave them, reduc-ing one’s egoistic feelings and increase the “togetherness” bringing the society itself closer.

Before breaking for lunch, Swami Muktirupananda distributed tokens of appreciation to all participants.

19

It took the international commu-nity decades of environmen-tal degradation and neglect

to discover the innate truth and potency of these ancient prayers.

Thus was born the World Water Day through a declaration of the United Nations General Assem-bly in 1993. The World Water Day has since been observed with programmes and emphasis tai-

Water , Water

lored to solve the environmen-tal problems of host countries.

United Nations member states and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have focused attention on critical water issues. Each year a particular theme is focused, such as quality or quantity of water, pu-rity of water, conflict zones etc.

This year the water section of

May the Goddess Waters be auspicious for us to drink Maytheyflow,theyflowwithblessingsuponus May the Divine Waters which grant us blessings sustain us. - -Shukla Yajur Veda, 36.12

20

the Food and Agriculture Or-ganisation (FAO) had highlighted the theme: Responding to the challenges of water for cities.

In the city state of Singapore, which depends on its neighbour Ma-laysia for part of its water supply, the day was marked by em-phasis on a series of well-planned measures such as augmenting local catchments, desalinated water and Newater.

What is normally a bureaucratic event, this year’s observance as-sumed a religious flavour with the active participation of the Inter-

Religious Organisation (IRO). The IRO, grouping all the major religions practised in Singapore, including Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam, was marking its own 62nd anni-versary and joined in the obser-vance with the Republic’s national water agency and civic groups.

Senior Minister Goh Chok Thong helped launch a massive multi-coloured kite imprinted with the IRO’s logo after witnessing a taiji display by some 700 prac-titioners from Taoist temples.

Belgaum Centre

The Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama in Belgaum, In-dia, hosted a four-day pro-

gramme of spiritual, cultural and social events early in February.

Among the highlights were the

inauguration of the newly con-structed Open Auditorium on 4 February by Mr L.K. Advani, sen-ior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The function was attended by Swami Smaranana-nda, Vice-President of the Ram-

21

22

akrishna Order, some 200 monks from all over India and a public gathering of some 4000 people.

Early next morning, amidst chanting of Vedic texts by monks and singing of bhajans by devo-tees, the newly constructed Gopuram on the existing Univer-sal Temple was ceremoniously consecrated. Swami Smara-nananda performed the Arati of Sri Ramakrishna at the shrine after which senior monks offered Arghya (ritual Hindu worship).

India’s former President, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, was the Guest of Honour at a day-long Youth

Convention, the last of the main events. The theme of the con-vention, held in three sessions, was how to energize the youth of India based on the inspiring words of Swami Vivekananda.

The cultural programmes of-fered were of top-class. There was a flute recital by the interna-tionally acclaimed Hariprasada Chaurasia, bhajans by the well-known singer Smt Anuradha Paudwal and a musical mono-act on the life of Swami Vive-kananda by Shekhar Sen (who, incidentally, has performed in Singapore to a sell-out crowd).

23

A Poignant ReunionN.Narandran

(Continued from last issue)

The Ramayana - 20

As the sun rose Bhara-ta and Satrughna be-gan their search for

Rama’s cottage aided by re-ports from small search par

ties that they had noticed signs of human inhabitation such as pieces of clothes on bushes and thorns and firewood nearby

24

On the banks of the nearby Man-dakini river, Rama, Sita and Lak-shmana were ruminating on the last one month they had lived in the cottage they themselves had built. “I have no doubt lost a king-dom in Ayodhya,” said Rama, “but have we not gained a more beautiful one in Chitrakuta?” Casting an affectionate glance at Sita, he continued, “Sharing the fresh fruits and honey and the pure water , O Sita, I have no de-sire to go back to Ayodhya even after the fourteen-year exile.”

As he said this he noticed a cloud of dust to the north and wondered whether it was a hunting party. He asked Lakshmana to climb a tree and find out. He promptly did so and shouted in excitement, “It is not a hunting party, but a very big army with horses, elephants and chariots.” Rama wondered whose army it could be and asked Laksh-mana to look for any tell-tale signs.

It was a furious Lakshmana who came back with this response, “O, perfidy! It is Bharata, the son of Kaikeyi, who is marching on us with his army. I can see him marching in front. He is coming to destroy us, I am sure.” He added quickly, “Let’s get our bows and arrows, we will kill him.”

Rama now tried to pacify an excit-ed and furious Lakshmana. “Re-

member I had promised to give the kingdom to Bharata and now you want me to kill him!” Trying to calm down the excitement, Rama suggested that probably Bharata did not know what happened in Ayodhya till he reached there. “He is very attached to me, and may be he is coming to see me.”

Lakshmana felt ashamed of his outpourings. Meanwhile Sita sug-gested they all return to the cot-tage and await developments.

Meanwhile Bharata’s party ap-proached the cottage and saw the altar and sacred fire and spot-ted Rama, Sita and Lakshmana seated on blades of kusa grass. Bharata ran and prostrated at the feet of Rama crying, “O my broth-er, O my brother.” He was so emo-tionally choked he could not utter another word. Satrughna followed suit. Rama lifted up his brothers, embraced them, kissed them on the head and asked, “Why did you leave our father and come to the forest? Is he alright? How are oth-ers in Ayodhya? I hope everything is going on well in the kingdom.”

Controlling his emotions, Bharata said, “O Rama, our father is no more. He died a few days after you left. I was away at my un-cle’s and returned to Ayodhya after a message from Vasishtha.” Bharata let go his pent-up emo-

25

tions. He continued, “What have I to do with Ayodhya? You are the king and we are all your servants. You should take the place of fa-ther. That is our family tradition. Come, let us go to Ayodhya. We must see you crowned at once.”

But these remarks were lost on Rama. He was virtually knocked out on hearing of his father’s death. He was in such deep emotional stress that there were no tears in his eyes. He was al-most in a stupor. Sita and Lak-shmana were deeply worried. They sprinkled cold water on his face and helped him rest a while. Slowly he came back to the world of realities and began sobbing.

Rama blamed himself for his fa-ther’s death. “I have not done my duty as a son. You Bharata and Satrughna, you have done yours.” He suggested that all of them go to the banks of river Manda-kini and offer libations of water and simple fruits to their late fa-ther, all the time conscious of the poor quality of offerings to a no-ble king. The mourners then re-

turned home in their wet clothes.

Soon after they left the river bank, Vasishtha passed that way lead-ing the queens to Rama’s cottage. They did not fail to notice the re-mains of the libations offered to the late king. Kausalya, the lov-ing mother of Rama, remarked in a sober mood, “We offer to gods what we eat… So this is the food that my son eats in the forest.”

In a short while they reached the cottage. As they neared the gate, Rama rushed out and prostrated in the dust before his mother. She took him in her arms and kissed him affectionately. Look-ing at Sita close behind, Kaus-alya exclaimed, “O, how emaci-ated you have become, my child. What a life for the daughter of King Janaka and the daughter-in-law of the king of Kosala!”

It was not all tears, though. The joy of reunion of the royal family, albeit in the remote for-est, was evident on their faces as they began to sit down and converse till late into the night.

(To be continued)

References:1. Ramayana by C. Rajagopalachari2. Ramayana by Kamala Subramaniam

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