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THE AWAKENING RAYvol.16 issue 4

THE TEAMEDITOR

Ameeta MehraCO-EDITOR

AnuradhaPRINTED & PUBLISHED BY

Anuradha AgrawalOWNER

Ameeta Mehraon behalf of The Gnostic Centre

PRINTING PRESS

Gokul Offset Private LimitedD-159A, Okhla Phase 1

New Delhi-20PLACE OF PUBLICATION

The Gnostic CentreH-401 Som Vihar Apts.

Sangam Marg, New Delhi-22

The views & thoughts expressed inthe articles are those of the authors

and therefore the editor shall bear noresponsibility for them.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust,Pondicherry:

* All quotations fromSri Aurobindo and The Mother

* Material (including photographs)from the Ashram publications* The Awakening Ray image

(artist: Krishnalal)

the awakening rayv.16, issue 4 : jul-aug’2012

• Editorial

• The Awakening Ray

• Simple Questionsof Life (a poem)

• Can Mind provideall answers?

• In Search (a poem)

• When doesLearning stop?

• I reflect ...

• How to Choosecorrectly?

• Gratitude

• Why is it so difficultto be Free?

• The Role ofTherapist in Healing

• To Act or not to Act?

• Events: Jul-Aug

• The Descent (a poem)

• Can one stay Detachedin Enjoyment?

• Can Ahimsa workin every situation?

• Ahimsa: AnInterfaith Perspective

Picture Credits

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Anuradha 4

The Mother 5

Chhaya S Chaudhry 6

Akanksha Verma, Manu Arya,

Stefan Stautner & a Student 8

Shibani Dara 12

Akanksha Verma, Rajesh Menon,

Sergio Zenere & a Student 13

Seema Agrawal 17

Mukul Gulati, Mini Suresh Babu,

Bhargavi Pukkella & a Student 19

Phalguni Freeman 22

Shibani Dara 23

Matthew Rich, a Student

& Atul Goswami 27

Mitesh Tank &

Chhaya S Chaudhry 30

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Monica Gupta 32

A Student, Sameer Sharma,

& Atul Goswami 33

Mini Suresh Babu, Bhargavi

Pukkella & Rajalakshmi Malhotra 35

Dr. AK Merchant 37

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Editorial

Dear Reader

Simple questions of life have answers hard to find...

Truly so?

Theroetically, perhaps not, for there is a collective wisdom over the ages, and India,

especially, is a storehouse of such wisdom.

But, it is the Practice that counts. And there, one begins with small steps. It takes time to

translate Wisdom into Action.

This issue of The Awakening Ray shares such small and simple steps taken by professionals

from diverse walks of life - as documented in their self-reflective responses in ICIS course

assignments.

How does one choose between the ‘good’ and the ‘pleasant’? Is Action the key to liberation,

or is it Inaction? Can one Enjoy yet be Detached? What can transform Human Evil? Is Mind

capable of giving answers? and so on...

The range is vast - the reflections touch upon our daily existence - from shopping for clothes

to handling issues of marriage, career, finance, and matters pertaining to inner and higher life,

sadhana, living from a consciousness higher than mind.

Discover your own life experiences woven in these... ...

✍ Anuradha

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“A drop of practice is better than

an ocean of theories,

advices and good resolutions.”

The Mother

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Simple Questions of lifeHave complex answers we find

Transgress, transformBe free, not bound

Dive deep withinRaise consciousness without

Just you, just youThere is all around

Drop the webSink into the being

Soar into the silenceSeek all that is

Be infinite be freeExpand and grow

Be aware every momentLive life and be free

Simple Questions of Life

Don't hold, don't claspDon't cling, don't grasp

Create laughter and joySpread peace and bliss

Don't react or regretDissolve the ego and just be

You are infiniteYou are limitless

Don’t ask or tellJust be just be

Just live, just liveAnd find your ecstasy

No questions to answerNo answers to give

Just live, just liveExpand your ecstasy

✍ Chhaya S Chaudhry

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‘Do you think the ordinary mental consciousness is able to give us a sure answer to our problems?’ - Thequestion forms an assignment in the ICIS online course: ‘Introduction to Integral Studies’, facilitated by Dr.Monica Gupta. The students responded in different ways, alongwith reflection & application to oneself.

“The best way to understand is always to rise high enough

in the consciousness to be able to unite all contradictory ideas

in a harmonious synthesis.”The Mother

Giving up the Egoistic stance

The Mother says whenever there is a problem and you are seeking a solution or there is adisagreement, one should not remain closed up in own thoughts and opinions but open up toother’s point of view too and instead of fighting who has a better solution, a path breakingand more creative idea should be formulated which incorporates both points of view in essence.The kind of approach that fits here is “I am ok you are ok” approach crafted by Thomas AHarris. What we need is a heart big enough to realize our mistakes and learn from them, aheart big enough to feel gratitude for someone who showed us the right path. We should beable to move on from petty quarreling and the naive disagreements which are nothing butclever play of the ego. It is high time we let go of our antiquated ideas, customs, rituals andtradition which cause hatred, fear, anxiety, distrust and judgment and soak ourselves inappreciation of life and understand the interconnectedness, interdependence, unity andcompassion.

There is always an opportunity cost for every choice we have

made ever in our life, what cost we choose to pay in return of

what is an individual call.If that individual call is linked with a broader picture, a choice which incorporates the

good for society, environment, other species or world as whole that would mean that we arelearning to be inhabitants of this planet in true sense. The Mother’s words can be contemplatedin the narrow sense in our daily lives too. The problem solving technique that we use today –the fish bone or Pareto analysis which take a number of solutions for the root cause of aproblem – the need is to incorporate this attitude in our daily lives too, thinking about prosand cons of every choice, every action we take in a sense that it becomes kinesthetic in us andwe always weigh them in the balance for broader good against sole personal gain.

Can Mind provide all answers?a few responses from ICIS students

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Personal anecdoteThe problem that I can think of is not recent but dates to four years ago – the story of mymarriage. It is quite a Bollywood saga!

Two people in love decide to get married; inform parents. On both sides after a series ofinitial confrontations and disagreements we get both sides to meet each other. Things go bad;ego hassles between the two sides take toll on our daily lives, at work and strain our relationship.To counter all this we decide to get married in court and inform the same to our parents. Bothsides reluctantly agree, one says go ahead and do it and reception date is finalized, on the otherhand other side tells us to wait and get married in their style only but at a future date. Wedecide to go against this and get court married. This was our solution to put an end to all thechaos that was affecting our daily lives.

Today after four years the things are alright with both of us at our individual places. Iam welcome at his place and vice-versa but a void that is created between the families lies therestaring at us never to be covered I guess. The opportunity cost of our marriage with each otherwas the distance between the two families. Things are progressing but at a very slow rate; wehope that things improve but the wait is longer than expected.

Looking back we can say that our reaction in haste costed the union of two families.Had we been more patient and tried to come with a creative idea to involve the essentialpoints of both sides, things would have been at a better place. We don’t regret marrying eachother, neither do our families, but yes, the process or the ‘how’ could have been better.

This is what The Mother is trying to explain: to look at the full view of the problemand with a better understanding we need to rise up from our egoistic stances and must be ableto look at everyone’s point of view and take it as a challenge to synthesize all and come upwith a creative solution which leads to harmony and peace.

- Akanksha VermaHotel Management & HR

❅

The Mind needs to be Quiet & Receptive

Ordinary mental consciousness does not have the strength orcapability to perform such a task [i.e. give sure answers]. It needsto be nurtured to do this. At every step, our inconscient self needshand-holding and guidance towards the right path.

Personal anecdoteI recently had to advise my supervisor on a major controversy.The issue was big and everyone was scared and confused. We hadall sorts of different and contradictory suggestions from severalpeople. I myself had different thoughts floating in my mind and

I could not decide what advice to give as my advice could make or break the situation. I satalone for five minutes, closed my eyes and tried to seek the help of what my intuition told meto do. During those five minutes I only heard my voice with all the contradictions put together.

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But at the same time, I could see logic and reasoning more clearly. I finally gave my inputs andthose were greatly appreciated.

All contradictions are within us. They all stand united against us. When we look atthem as a whole, we find our solutions.

- Manu AryaCulture & Public Diplomacy, Media Relations

❅

One needs to rise to a Higher Consciousness

The Ordinary mental consciousness is able to sort out smaller problems, but cannot give sureanswers to all our problems, if we do not rise above this mental consciousness we will keepfacing problems, keep fighting with them and never find a solution.

I have faced many difficult problems recently and if I try to analyse, I have realised thatonly when I have risen to a higher consciousness have I found the true solutions. It has notalways been easy, because ordinary consciousness always pulls you down and wants you tofight back, but it is this superior consciousness that gives us the right answers to all ourproblems, because it is here that we are able to unite all contradictory ideas in a harmonioussynthesis and try to understand the root cause of the problem and the best solution.

- Toolika GuptaTextile & Fashion Designer & Associate Professor

❅

From high up we can get a better perspective. OftenI was troubled with thoughts and I did not comeup with a solution. The harder I tried the less Ireached a conclusion. But in a real practical way Idid rise high, as a paragliding pilot, climbing amountain and flying. And while flying the thoughtswere gone, no time to trouble yourself with suchthoughts and then I realized that for some problemsthere is not one solution, perhaps not even a solution. When I reached the ground again I wasmuch calmer and restful and could enjoy this rare moment of insight.

- Stefan StautnerDevelopment work, Lecturer & Sociologist

❅

For simple problems such as how to physically get from one place to another the ordinarymind is capable of providing answers.

For more complex problems involving personal or social issues or interaction with othersthe ordinary mental consciousness is usually more of a hindrance than a help. (In most cases itwould have been the cause of the problem in the first place!). This is because of the identification

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with the false ego – the ego likes to find problems as they reinforce the illusion of separateness.So for any problems that do arise the mind will not focus on solving the problem but ratherfocus on proving the “little me” to be right (as usual!). Of course if there are other peopleinvolved then they will probably also be operating from the ego-consciousness and there willbe all kinds of conflict with each mental construct dueling with the other mental constructs.

Personal anecdoteI could describe numerous examples of difficult problems that I have dealt with at the ordinaryego-consciousness level – all of which have basically ended in tears. But I would like to mentionone problem that seemed to solve itself without “little me” getting in the way. About threeyears ago I was basically financially independent. I had nearly all of my money invested in thefinancial markets. I ignored the warning signs and when the markets crashed I lost most of mymoney. The strange thing was that I had no strong reaction to this – no worry or fear or anger.But I did feel a kind of opening up inside and a kind of liberation in this. I proceeded to takecertain steps to cut my losses and find some new income streams but these steps were takencalmly like I was operating at a higher level. I wonder if the external stress level was so highfrom the market crash (although I didn’t experience any internal stress) that it would havecaused an overload and my consciousness just opened up a bit to the higher plane? In any case,I often tell people that losing most of my money was the best thing that ever happened to me.By working at the higher level of consciousness the problem was truly answered because Ithen understood that there was really no problem at all.

- a Student

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In Search

A simple question in life

What am I searching for?

✍ Shibani Dara

I am searching for a meaningI am searching for a clueI am searching for a hint

I write on a blank page of paperThe ink is the blood in my veinsThe pen is the guide of my soul

The paper is my life

Crumpled , folded , hidden

I dare to openI dare to unfold

I dare to see

Sunlight eyes stare out in the forest woodSpace , infinite

Tempest leaves for a neighborhoodNo one in sight

I sat lonelyA very familiar gesture ancient

In solitude , feeling homelyCalm and patient

In this vast solitude , why am I searchingThere is nothing here but spaceTiny birds on thinly sticks are perchingStaring questingly at my face

Go find yourself in the mad rush of citiesThere the deafening noise will make you

aware of your selfThere you will realize your cruditiesHere you will dissolve into a tiny breath

of an elf

Don’t pretend - tweets my companionfrom the branch

All change takes place in turmoilThe surface breaks only by the rumbling

of an avalancheCome down from the air and return to

the soil

All is clear , I pick up my bag , and returnto myself

For in the crush of daily experiences ,Will I see the true form of ThyselfAnd understand what they call as Bliss.

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“To rise into the new consciousness, the first condition is to have enough modesty

of mind to be convinced that all that you think you know is nothing in

comparison to what yet remains to be learnt. All that you have learnt outwardly

must be just a step allowing you to rise towards a higher knowledge.” *

The Mother

Modesty & Humility : Key to Learning

The above mentioned statement reminds me of a saying by Plato: ‘The learning and knowledgethat we have is, at most, but little compared to that which we are ignorant of…’

The Mother laid stress on continuous learning and emphasized on all kinds of educationthrough the quote in context. She says that a man should never stop learning, we can learnfrom everything, from every second that life goes by. We spend too much energy in planningout hours and days that we forget to live the minutes and seconds and the learning they canbring. Nobody shall learn anything until it is learned with humility. There should be an innerfire to continue to know more and the mindset that I need to learn more and more. AlbertEinstein had said, ‘the only thing that interferes with my learning is education’. The ego whichinterferes with our learning, the ‘know it all’ attitude is dangerous and hampers true evolution;we must guard against it. We need to be ready to think out of the box, think of possibilitiesbeyond what the cognitive learning dome of the laid education has imprisoned us in.

‘Learning never exhausts the mind’ was a famous saying by Leonardo Da Vinci, whichalso tells us that the capabilities and capacities of our mind are far from being optimallyutilized, forget about fully utilized. We must strive to learn and the will to do so should comefrom the bottom of our heart as otherwise everything learned shall be perilous.

The time the quest of learning ends the man becomes old no matter if he is twenty or eighty.

The fire in belly for the quest to know more should be an eternal

flame not to be dowsed by outwardly education.One scope of learning should not be the basis of ridiculing other forms of learning.

Scientific, technological and spiritual learning should be harmonious with each other, oneshould not demean the other as it brings negativity which is certainly not the domain ofeducation. Integral education envisioned by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother based on thefivefold aspects – the physical, vital, mental, psychic and spiritual – also talks about modestyin learning, in fact, it terms modesty as a first condition of learning. Whatever we learn fromour daily lives or through formal schools of education should act as a catalyst for furtherlearning and not hinder in the process. We must learn to accept that there is a long way to go

When does Learning stop?

* The assignment in the ICIS online course: ‘Introduction to Integral Studies’, facilitated by Dr. MonicaGupta) invites students to contemplate on these words and reflect why such an attitude is necessary.

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from where we are and the process that never ends is learning; whether consciously orunconsciously we learn always. We need to be humble, modest and be ready to accept otherideas and knowledge which may not necessarily concur with our mental being. We shoulddevelop a mindset which compares our learning with the tiny drop of an ocean and a pathwhich has a long way to go. A statement by Mahatma Gandhi covers the essence of theMother’s quote beautifully:

Live as if you are going to die tomorrowLearn as if you are going to live foreverThe above mentioned attitude is necessary as it can

be the only way we can learn to be more human andlearn the meaning of evolution. We are going away andaway from the ultimate aim of evolution, the dawn oftruth consciousness. The Mother said, ‘all nations andcontinents, there is only truth or abyss’… we are surelymoving towards the abyss. All nations and continentsare sitting on bombs: atomic, nuclear, and biological orhumans as all are boastful, proud of their weapons ofmass destruction. The same energy and resources can beused to make something good for whole mankind butthe environment of distrust, hatred and superiorityeradicates the emergence of such thought. There erupts a cold war when one nation developsa weapon of mass destruction but no one mimics what a nation does in the name of humanity.Humanity is losing its grace in the wake of current events.

The education we receive tells us to use knowledge strategically to get a good placementand thus we forget to learn the knowledge; we commercialize it for the sake of our success inthe society or to climb the corporate ladder. We are afraid to share our knowledge as it mighttake away our unique employment advantage from us. This leads to reinvention of THEwheel over and over again thus wasting precious time and energy of numerous human minds.

The need of the hour is learning without pressure, learning with whole mind, body andsoul, learning with modesty and humility and to share it unconditionally to lighten the pathof as many as you can as you go forward. This approach is a necessity rather than choice intoday’s circumstances.

- Akanksha VermaHotel Management & HR

❅

Ascension of the Mind

Fixed notions, pride, prejudice and arrogance born out of petty achievements or possessionsare the prison walls within which the Subconscient mind incarcerates itself due to ignorance.The winds of true knowledge rattle its cumbersome doors but instead of appreciating anopportunity to free itself, the Subconscient complains of noise; further cloistering itself intoinner confines of petty past bred notions. The irony is apparent as the mind itself possesses thekey with which to throw the prison gates open!

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The ostrich buries its face in sand in the face of danger; the subconscient hides within itsself created prison of narrow ideas when it feels threatened byilluminating and invigorating thoughts. It is sandwichedbetween the Inconscient and the Superconscient. The pull bythe nether forces, the inconscient are formidable; thepossibilities of sinking further appealing to the body and mind,regulated and shaped to lethargy through eons of conditioning.

Evolution of man from half animal to the divine beingis the inevitable desire and ultimate consequence of the forcesof nature. The role of man however is as an active participantand not as a passive bystander. Our heart and mind, our verylife should become conscious of this great objective and ridourselves of the outward knowledge which is the prime factorwithin us resisting change, hindering the gradual 4 step ascension of mind to ultimate summitof Supermind or Divine Gnosis.

Outward knowledge restricts our very vision. It views the slices

and chunks of the Universal Truth but never the whole truth.

This fragmentation of knowledge and vision prevent the totality

of truth seeking which is pre-existent.It need not be proven by statistical means and collection of data. The Divine within us

is not attainable through acquired knowledge since it is a thought; a self revelation of eternalwisdom. The supreme goal of the soul is to attain Sachchidananda, ‘existence’, ‘consciousness’,‘bliss’. To attain the same, we have to get away from surface habits and petty tricks of ourmental being resulting from our shallow knowledge.

A true ‘gyani’ would be one who accepts that ‘he knows nothing’. As rightly too pointedout by the Mother, the journey from darkness towards divine light and true self realizationstarts with the first step of accepting your place in the lower realms of evolution towardsbringing the Supreme Divine on earth. The entire journey of mind’s ascent from Subconscientto Higher Mind, Illumined Mind and Intution into Overmind and beyond, to Supermindand ultimately to Sachchidananda, is a very long process which demands patience, forbearance,resolve and discipline.

- Lt. Col. Rajesh MenonArmed forces & Management

❅

Graduality & Continuity

The Mother is basically right in imparting this sound advice. There is another allegory thatmight suit: in order to receive higher knowledge (of any sort), we should be ready to discardour preconceptions and pre-existing baggage. In other words, if we were to receive a full glassof higher knowledge, we ought to first discard the quarter of a glass of disparate knowledgewe already possess, lest higher knowledge goes to waste.

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Sri Aurobindo preaches gradual ascent towards higher knowledge: ‘Instead of rejectingall to burst forth in mid-air, the seeker has patiently climbed every rung of the being so wellthat the bottom one remains linked to the top, without any break of continuity.’

We might compare the attitude hereby prescribed with that of Hinayana or the Buddhisttradition that privileges endless soul-searching and work upon the self to the detriment ofsudden enlightenment that lies at the core of Vajrayana – or Tibetan Buddhism – for example.

Nothing could be truer.There are essential or spiritual statements I personally had been exposed to in the distant

past. I now hold them as absolute yardstick, whereas in the past I probably either overlookedthem, or thought them less worthy than they are.

Truth needs time to sink in.- Sergio Zenere

Self-employed; student of Eastern & Western Philosophy

❅

Search for Truth

The Mother is asking us to be modest which in effect amounts to being truthful – to recogniseand acknowledge that our current level of understanding is infinitesimal compared with thevastness of true Knowledge.

The Mother also instructs that our externally focused knowledge, so valued by modernscience, is just a small step in the evolutionary path to higher knowledge.

The outer knowledge is a mere tinkering with the forms arising

in the play of manifested pure consciousness but the inner higher

knowledge is pure consciousness recognising itself as Reality.This attitude of modesty is necessary because without it we would be demonstrating

that we believe that the ordinary human consciousness is capable of knowing all there is toknow about the universe, capable of mapping and producing general theories about every

aspect of reality. It would also mean that webelieve there is no metaphysical reality andno evolution of consciousness, that reality isout there as we find it and we are well on ourway to a scientific theory of everything.

The persistence of this way ofthinking will lead to the continued Ignorancein the world and the wholesale waste of lifefor the sake of the false ego – something thatdoesn’t even exist. The modesty that TheMother talks of is really a disassociation withthe false ego and the truth that that liberationbrings about.

- a Student

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I was asked when does one stop learning?I say one never stops learning.

My question is what is learning?In my view learning brings a change in the existing pattern of thinking and behaviour

and so it leads to progress. For knowingly or unknowingly whenever we come across a newsituation, a new thought, a newpattern, a new form… we observe,we assimilate and somethingchanges within us. Sometimes it isthrough contact and relationships,sometimes through a movie, aperformance, a book; it could be anyexternal or internal influence that wefeel inspired, touched and imbibesomething new and different fromthat exposure and we learn and have made progress. Many times we’re not even consciousoutwardly but the inner consciousness has observed and made a note. And it is that whichmakes us move forward in life.

Learning, to my mind, is a fourfold process. First is the observation & receptivity throughany one or all our senses, second is the receptivity of the mind and positioning of the informationreceived in the mind, third is its assimilation and conclusion. And lastly, its translation intopractical application.

I think, we’re constantly learning as we’re continuously acting but most often we do notlearn as much as we can in a given situation, and definitely we also ignore its multi dimensionalpotential. We may pick up something from the situation which is important enough to takeus forward but at the same time we might have ignored other gleams of light that wereshining because we had not looked and observed deep enough.

Life is full of complex situations and circumstances and it is

how we deal with these that marks our level of growth and it

also takes us to the next level.All depends on our readiness. Some of us are slow learners and some are fast. Some need

same lessons to be repeated before they can go to the next level and for some once is enough.These people progress very fast.

I reflect ...

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So I ask myselfwhat makes one slow

rather than when does one stop learning?I feel it is our lack of consciousness

that determines our scope and speed oflearning. It is when we’re lazy or do notcare to observe properly, or the mind istoo inert to evaluate and assimilate thatwe lose the opportunity to learn. Themoment we become closed to experiment,

to try something new and different or when we continue to act from our old and narrowhorizon, we’re then at that moment itself closing doors to knowledge. To learn actively weneed to widen our approach, open the windows of our mind, become conscious and receptive.

To make our learning dynamic, we need to come out of our

stereotypical formations of thought and belief, surpass our

conventions, go beyond our comfort zone and be ready to take

on new challenges and face the risk with aspiration and sincerity.Here the key is also to let go of our

expectations for the outcome may not alwaysbe the one desired but still something newemerges that requires fresh evaluation andassimilation which then determines the pathto be followed. It is actually all about faith andhumility. For we’ve to have faith in our learningand accept that we do not know all.

To learn, we need to have a scientificapproach. A scientist begins his experiment withfaith as his basis and even if it fails, he does notlose heart but starts afresh with his unsuccessfulexperiment done earlier, as the starting point.

There can be no room for fear or doubtor laziness for a true and dynamic learner.

✍ Seema Agrawal

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How to Choose correctly?

Arjuna’s Dilemma - in our lives*

In our day-to-day life, we invariably find ourselves contemplating about choices. Startingfrom very small things such as getting up in the morning, what to wear, what to eat, where togo etc., and big decisions of life such as taking up a job in foreign countries, marriage, raisinga family etc., we are constantly making choices. The intensity is no doubt incomparable withwhat Arjuna’s dilemma is in the Gita but this is what happens to us every time.

More often than not, we ourselves are responsible for these situations as our expectationsare rising day by day. For example, when I started my career, my first salary was a paltryRs.2,500 and I used to think that when it would be Rs.15,000 then I would be happy andcontent. However, today when my salaryis many folds, I sometimes fail tounderstand where all the money is going.I sometimes feel even more miserable thanI used to, when I started my career. Thepoint I am trying to put forward here isthat we always try to justify our actionsthat are based upon our insatiable desiresand self-created fears.

If we become conscious of these choices and take actions based

on our need and not based on our greed then most of our

mental sufferings would vanish.Another thought which is somewhat related to this situation is that we unnecessarily

dwell upon the possible outcomes before even initiating the actions. When we all know thatlife is about making choices then we should try and take action which we feel is ‘right at thatparticular moment’ and should not think too much about the outcome. The point of emphasishere is to decide ‘what are the right choices/actions?’ and the basis to decide is what we aretrying to understand with this study of the Bhagawad Gita.

- Mukul GulatiManagement

❅

For any important decision in life, a human being undergoes the same confusion and crisis asthat of Arjuna. The decision making is important, at the same time it is confusing to understand

* The assignment in the ICIS online course: ‘Study of the Bhagawad Gita in the light of Sri Aurobindo’,facilitated by Dr. Sampada Savardekar asks the students: ‘The situation confronting Arjuna is one that hasnever happened to him before. Thus, he is at a loss as to how he should deal with it. Could this happen toany of us, possibly with some difference of intensity? If yes, why do you think so?’

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the right path. There will be always an optionwherein you can choose what is good and whatis the most enjoyable or pleasant. But the choicealways makes it all the more difficult. Theproblem comes in different intensity dependingon the personality and psychological sensitivityof the person. Finally, the decision taken or theroute chosen completely depends on his choice.The right path always will be hard and difficultand it will be the route to the truth. The pathof dharma can be attained only through sacrifice,devotion, love and trust.

Arjuna’s trust in god could be best illustrated through certain verses of the Gita thatillustrate Arjuna’s dependence and trust in God; he mentions that he is His disciple and hissoul needed to surrender unto Him. If all the being approaches God in a similar way, GodHimself will provide the solution to all his miseries.

Such confrontations have always been there in my life, a recent one being the crisis Ifaced myself in leaving my job for the sake of my children. I had been a professional, generatorof added income to my family. While my son and daughter needed some personal attention,I had to leave my profession for their good. The decision making was very hard and I believeI had opted for good rather than the pleasant option.

- Mini Suresh BabuQuality Audit, IT, Admin

❅

Choosing between the Good (sreyas) & the Pleasant (preyas)*

I have been facing many situations at every moment of my life to decide on “the good” and“the pleasant” or in other words, “the needs” and “the wants”!

The wants always give you pleasure and the needs are in doing good to yourself.Honestly, I always want to spend on my wants than on my needs.Recently, I had a beautiful offer to do a course related

to personality development and boosting up confidence,which is announced on concession from Rs.3000/- toRs.1000/-. I was left with Rs.1000/- by the end of themonth. I had many things to buy like a pair of decentsandals (though I have one to wear at the moment), 3kurtas as I feel am short of clothes, a good sports waterbottle and so on. . . I found it so hard to decide as I havebeen postponing this list since 4 months but could nevermake it.

Every time I get a chance to buy I always had to decide on spending it on sensible thingswhich would give me knowledge, peace and inner strength.

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I try my best to take the wise decision into action as soon as possible. This helps notonly to stop thinking about the wants but also see the actions turning out fruitful in my life!!!

- Bhargavi PukkellaOnline Vedic Mathematics teacher

❅

Even at the summit of the ordinary mental consciousness, there is no

solution to the problem of the kind Arjuna was confronted with.*

Arjuna’s problem is to decide between two actions with seemingly equally deplorableconsequences. As Annie Besant notes: “To break family ties was a sin; to leave the people incruel bondage was a sin; where was the right way? ... The answer is the burden of the book”.

The kind of problem confronting Arjuna cannot be solved at the ordinary mental levelof consciousness (even at the peak of such consciousness) because the problem itself has arisendue to the Ignorance of identification with the false ago. The false ego creates “problems” inorder to continue the illusion of duality, separateness and its own apparent existence. To try tosolve the problem through some action in the same realm of ordinary mental consciousnesswithin which the problem arose amounts to the ego dealing with the ego – simply movingthings around, making a noise within the confines of the limited ego-self.

As Mohinim Chatterji writes in his commentary on the Gita, “no conditioned creaturecan cease to be conditioned by any act. It can only be changed by a new consciousness arisingfrom a source different from the conditions which seem to limit the ego.”

- a Student

* Study of the Bhagawad Gita in the light of Sri Aurobindo, facilitated by Dr. Sampada Savardekar : courseassignments.

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Gratitude

One day my three year old daughter asked me about a dress she was wearing. She asked,“Mama, who gave me this?” And I said, “Your aunt did”, and as her face lit up she said,“Thankyooooo, thank yooooo,” gratitude drooling from all over her being. (This continuedfor many weeks, everything she wore or played with begot the question, “Who gave me this?”or “Did so and so give me this?” followed with a ‘Thank you’ drooling with sweetness andgratitude. Each time this happened it warmed my heart and a smile would break across myface. She does not say thank you all the time right away when she receives something fromsomeone, or when we want her to say ‘Thank you’; and although I prompt her each time, Iam not miffed when the words don’t seem to make it out of her mouth. I am glad, though, that she has experienced the feeling that gratitude creates and howbeautiful it is to express gratitude when shereceives something. I hope that it is thisfeeling that will stay embedded in her for therest of her life and when the time comes whenshe starts using ‘Thank you’ more frequently,it will have the rasa of her experience ofgratitude. In my experience whenever I havebeen truly grateful I have got that warm,fuzzy feeling in my heart and I can see thesame happening in the other person as well.

Gratitude opens up the heart and makes our inner being smile.When we express gratitude, as we thank another, we build a bank of goodness within

our own being. And as we put more and more in this bank, we can’t help but be boosted bythis goodness even in trying times or when we are discouraged or feeling down. Again this reservoir of warmth and positive energy is created when gratitude is expressedwith genuineness, when we really mean it; otherwise it is like asking for coconut water andgetting only the shell. I once read somewhere that some people wrote down in their journal at the end of theday one or two things they were grateful for and really benefitted from the exercise. Some people choose to share their gratitude with others by writing a letter, sending acard or an e-mail. Some do it through flowers, some like to give donations, or some like tooffer their services. The expression of gratitude can take many forms or can be expressed in a simple andgenuine ‘Thank you’. Whatever expression it takes, it is definitely deeply fulfilling.

✍ Phalguni Freeman

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A simple question in life

Why is it so difficult to be FREE ?

I ponder .......

FREEDOMA concept so simple to ask of - yet -

an experience so complicated to realize

I have 1 simple question in life ...

WHY CAN’T I BE FREE ?Right from childhood we have been advised of rules, right and wrong.Boundaries in family, relations, schools, education, work, direction, paths, everything .....

Why is it so difficult to be Free?

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What is freedomDefinitely not – doing anything you want, Irrespective of surroundings ....

The freedom I am seeking is the freedom of my soulThe freedom to experience my soulThe freedom to feel my soulThe freedom to be free

Not bound by karmaNot bound by inheritanceNot bound by expectationsNot bound by needs and wants

So simple ... To be free ....Am I ready to be freeAm I ready to break outAm I fearlessAm I sincere

I ask my self this simple question in lifeWhat is stopping me to be freeFearEaseJustificationsInsincerity

An answer my soul seeks from withinA resistance which stops from withoutA DilemmaA question ?

✍ Shibani Dara

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“The client’s consciousness is, of course, the centre of the therapy process. But ofequal importance is the therapist’s consciousness. For transpersonal psychotherapyis defined not merely by the theoretical framework but by the practitioner’s owndeepening spiritual journey, which gives meaning and life to the framework. It isthe therapist’s own actual experience of opening to the divine (whatever form orpath this may take) that provides the atmosphere to support the client’smultidimensional growth.”1

❅

Consciousness is Contagious*

Positive change in the client is a result of an evolutionary shift in consciousness. This changein consciousness is brought about as a result of the client interacting with the more evolvedconsciousness of the counselor / psychotherapist.

The reality of the matter is that consciousness in general - and

psychic consciousness in particular - is contagious and so the

client’s consciousness evolves as a natural result of interacting

with the therapist.Obviously for this transformation to take place meaningfully it is essential that the

psychotherapist concerns herself with the constant development of her own consciousness.This requires ongoing sadhana. Only when one has reached a place of wholeness is it possibleto lovingly usher others into this state.

- Matthew RichEducator, Scholar, Writer, Activist

❅

In Freudian-based Psychoanalysis the therapist typically sits behind or at a distance from theclient. There are many parallels between Freud’s approach and Newtonian physics, and thephysical separation of the analyst from the client is in keeping with the presentation ofPsychoanalysis as the science of the unconscious. In line with the positivist-objectivist paradigmFreud believed that the mind could be mapped and scientific laws induced from objectivelyobserving the content of the subconscious through analysis of talk and dreams.

The Role of Therapist in Healing

1 Brant Cortright. Psychotherapy and spirit: theory and practice in transpersonal psychotherapy. New York:Albany, 1997. Cited in ‘Indian Psychology’ course book.

* The students were asked to discuss ‘It is the consciousness of the therapist interacting with the consciousnessof the client that brings about a positive change in the client’ as an assignment in the ICIS online course:‘Indian Psychology’ facilitated by Dr. Suneet Varma.

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Carl Jung took a different viewhowever. From his own vast experience hewas convinced that “only if the doctorknows how to cope with himself and hisown problems will he be able to teach thepatient to do the same. In anythoroughgoing analysis the wholepersonality of both patient and doctor iscalled into play. There are many cases whichthe doctor cannot cure withoutcommitting himself. When importantmatters are at stake, it makes all the difference whether the doctor sees himself as a part of thedrama, or cloaks himself in his authority.”

More recently M. Scott Peck has stated that “it is almost impossible for a patient toexperience significant personality growth without a ‘therapeutic alliance’ with the therapist”.

It is the therapist who has worked on himself, who has walked the path and confrontedand overcome the typical problems of everyday life, who brings not his techniques and degreesbut his expanded consciousness to the therapy session, who the client will trust and positivelyrespond to.

- a Student

❅

“Spiritual traditions speak of the importance of spiritual seeking becomingconscious. People seek the Divine unconsciously at first, but at some point thequest becomes conscious and engages the person’s intention. When being on aspiritual path becomes a conscious decision and pursuit, everything changes. Othercircumstances begin to yield to the inner spirit and the Way opens up. Consciousnessbecomes engaged in its own transformation.

The state of consciousness of the therapist has a far-reaching effect on thetherapy process. Consciousness is seen as a field which influences, mutuallyinterpenetrates, and provides a facilitating medium for the client’s inner unfolding.This is something that most religious traditions have upheld for centuries. Thetraditions of guru, spiritual guide or influence, support the idea that the presenceof a spiritual teacher is helpful in allowing others to contact the spiritual realm.Consciousness is contagious.

This is not to say [now here the transpersonal therapy would differ a little bitfrom the spiritual approach or the guru tradition] that the therapist is in the positionof guru, merely that for a transpersonal therapist to be actively pursuing a path ofspiritual awakening allows him or her to be an energetic influence as well as toempathize with and recognize the terrain that is likely to be encountered by others.”2

2 ---.

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Transformation of Human Evil*

We will start by taking the definition of evil from M. Scott Peck. In his words “evil personis a person who does not for some reason work towards his or her own growth and deliberatelyobstructs the growth of the others”.

I believe that every emotion or effort towards exhibiting an emotion is contagious, so ifI start loving everyone around me, everyone around me will start feeling love from theirsurrounding or at least start seeking the same emotion everywhere. In the same manner if Ispread evil around me, everyone around me will start being cautious, start acting defensivelyin every situation, and may be, start harming othersaround them in order to protect their own selves.

So if these acts or emotions are contagious,how can a therapist provide unconditional love andcomplete acceptance to the client who is evil? Asper the author, it is incredibly difficult to stayunaffected in this kind of engagement and stayfocussed with firm belief that it is a battle betweenlove in the heart of therapist and evil in the heartof client and if the therapist lets evil emotions orintentions of the client to affect him/her, then thetherapist will not be able to help the client.

With this understanding the therapist has to stay focussed on helping the client with hisundying love, and make its impact more powerful than the client’s evil emotions and let theclient get that contagion effect of therapist’s love than the other way round.

This contagious nature of love is the only tool and method which can transform thehuman evil, even if it is most difficult to achieve.

- Atul GoswamiExecutive Coach (Management)

❅

Carl Jung wrote that “touching evil brings with it the grave peril of succumbing to it”.According to M. Scott Peck the opposite of love, the great impediment to spiritual

growth, is laziness - the attempt to avoid legitimate suffering. Laziness is effectively the originalsin, the inherent evil in all of us.

Noting that mainstream psychology in general has acted “as if evil did not exist” Peckhas nevertheless reached the following conclusions regarding the nature of evil:

1. “evil is real” (although people acting in an evil way are not doing so consciously withawareness);

2. “evil is laziness carried to its ultimate, extraordinary extreme”; “truly evil people ...actively ... avoid extending themselves”;

3. “the existence of evil is inevitable (at least at this stage in human evolution)”;

* The students were asked to discuss ‘Love & Transformation of Human Evil’ as an assignment in the ICISonline course: ‘Indian Psychology’ facilitated by Dr. Suneet Varma.

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4. “while entropy is an enormous force, in its most extreme form of human evil it isstrangely ineffective as a social force”; a soul destroyed leads to a soul saved; one’spersonal fight against evil becomes an essential part of one’s spiritual evolution.

Peck defines evil as “the imposition of one’s will upon others ... in order to avoid extendingone’s self for the purpose of nurturing spiritual growth”. He believes that love has the capacityto transform human evil - in fact “probably the only truly effective way to deal with evil is totransform it though love”. If the therapist is unable to feel love for the evil person and shunsthem then there is no change and evil remains in the world. Instead there must be a sacrifice -the therapist must willingly “absorb the evil”. For reasons which the logical mind cannotcomprehend, the good is not destroyed or cancelled out in this process - the love remains.

- a Student

❅

Our most natural response to the presence of evil is to recoil in disgust, but if thepsychotherapist is to transform evil it is necessary that she transcends this reaction. Instead shemust choose to respond to evil with love (indeed this is the only way that it can truly betransformed). This requires a willing sacrifice by the therapist on the client’s behalf. When sheis willing to offer love in the face of evil her soul becomes a battleground for the transformationof evil. Evil is absorbed by love and only love is returned. When the healer is willing tosacrifice herself in this way something utterly mystical transpires and she can only but emergevictorious.

- Matthew RichEducator, Scholar, Writer, Activist

❅

“The healing of evil – scientifically or otherwise – can be accomplished only bythe love of individuals. A willing sacrifice is required. The individual healer mustallow his or her soul to become the battleground. He or she must sacrificiallyabsorb the evil. Then what prevents the destruction of that soul? If one takes theevil itself into one’s heart like a spear, how can one’s goodness still survive? Even ifthe evil is vanquished, thereby will not the good be also? What will have beenachieved beyond some meaningless trade-off? I cannot answer this in languageother than mystical. I can say only that there is a mysterious alchemy whereby thevictim becomes the victor. As C. S. Lewis wrote: “When a willing victim who hadcommitted no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the table would crack anddeath itself would start working backwards.”

I do not know how this occurs, but I know that it does. I know that goodpeople can deliberately allow themselves to be pierced by the evil of others, to bebroken thereby, yet somehow not broken. To be even killed in some sense and yetstill survive and not succumb. Whenever this happens, there is a slight shift in thebalance of power in the world.”3

3 Peck, M. Scott. The Road Less Travelled (1978). Morgan Scott Peck (23 May 1936-25 September 2005) wasan American psychiatrist and best-selling author.

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To Act or not to Act?

Karma, Liberation & Action

WHEN DOES KARMA HAVE NO CONSEQUENCES FOR MEN?WHY SHOULD MAN STILL WORK HERE IN MANIFESTATION

WHEN HE IS FULLY LIBERATED?*

The freedom of men does not depend upon inaction. Rather the doing of works in thismaterial world and a full acceptance of the term of physical life are part of its completeness.Man is also in the body for self-fulfilment by action only. Being in the body or any kind ofbody, it is idle to think of refraining from action or escaping the physical life.

The idea that inaction in

itself can be means of

liberation, is part of the

Ignorance which supposes

the soul to be separate entity

in Brahman.Action is generally shunned as it is thought that it is not consistent with the idea of

freedom. It is assumed that when man is in action it has to be necessarily entangled in thedesire behind the action. It should be understood, that the chain of Karma only binds themovement of Nature and not the soul which, by knowing itself, ceases even to appear to bebound by the results of its works.

Thus man should still work here in manifestation as chain of Karma only binds themovement of Nature. Karma has no consequence for men only in the case when they attainthis self-realization.

- Mitesh TankWorking with an NGO

❅

Karmas have no consequences for men only when they go beyond the ego and material self.Man should still work here in manifestation when he is fully liberated because only then willhe truly be part of manifestation as the Lord. The Lord, fully free and liberated bound himselfand fell into the inconscient so it is the responsibility of man to participate fully in creationeven after being fully liberated. Man has to do his duty as he has the body. For manifestationto continue, continuing to manifest is essential. We have to realize that we are Him and we

* This question forms an assignment in the ICIS online course: ‘The Upanishads in the light of SriAurobindo’, facilitated by Dr. Vladimir Yatsenko.

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have to apply it and manifest by and through ourselves. When one is free from the object ofenjoyment then Karma has no consequences on man. One should have only one attachment,that is, to fulfill the cycle of life.

Karma will have no

consequences if one lives with

the freedom of consciousness.When one has the Lord’s consciousness one

should stay and reveal the Lord. One should bring thehigher consciousness on earth. Karma does not stickto man when he reaffirms: Don’t lust after anything.Don’t lust to acquire. Don’t lust after anyone’s wealth.Enjoy yourself by renunciation.1 You enjoy yourselflike the Lord by being free from the object ofenjoyment. The whole universe is for your enjoyment.Don’t lust after it. Don’t grab anything because it is all yours. You have the lord within whohas it already. We are all representing the Lord here. We are here growing in his habitat. Weshould wish to live for a hundred years. We must finish the work we came to do in thismanifestation. If we get attached to the world, our ego and all we have and do, we destroy theLord within and are slayers of the soul.

- Chhaya Sanjeev ChaudhuryBusiness Professional (Enterprise management)

1 Enjoy yourself with that renounced, - thus it is said literally, tena tyaktena bunjithah; and not byrenunciation, as it is interpreted by Sri Sankaracharya. (Facilitator’s comment)

PICTURE CREDITS• pp.5,10,23,24,32: Shibani Dara, New Delhi, India• The Awakening Ray logo: artist: Krishnalal, Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry, India• The Gnostic Centre bird: artist: Neera Goyal, New Delhi, India• Back cover (The Gnostic Centre photo): Franz Fassbender, Auroville, India

July 17, August 22Insights into Integral View (workshop forgroups of interns from VIMHANS)Facilitator: Anuradha

August 11New Creation of Society study groupFacilitator: Ameeta Mehra

Events: Jul-AugAugust 15Special meditation: Darshan daySri Aurobindo’s birthday &India’s Indendence day

Saturdays : 9am to 10am‘Savitri’ study groupFacilitator: Ameeta Mehra

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Mystic Absoluteslassoed the enraptured soul...

Cadences Supremetextured the dreamed-Delight...

A whisper Divinedumbed the noised-world...

Grace rained down- brilliant-spears

The Descent

✍ Monica Gupta

hunting fiercelyportions of the Being- deep-surrenderedto consume and be consumed...

Spirit-Life unfurled its shy tendrilscompelled- Sun-drawn...Sweet Love- mystery-glancedenticed the Divine Lordto wed itmastered and complete...

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When we watch a film or a play, we often identify with the characters and experiencetheir emotions and even pain. However, in real life, we might display a greater self-control or detachment. Similarly, a person who is quite emotional in daily life, mightstay unaffected through a film or play.

In the ICIS online course ‘Paradigms of Psychological Knowledge’, facilitated byDr. Suneet Varma, the students were asked to reflect upon how the enjoyment ofaesthetic experiences can be understood on the basis of ego detachment. Their responsesshed light on how one can actually train ego detachment in oneself through aestheticexperiences and apply it in real life situations.

Aesthetic Experiences & Ego Detachment

In a broad sense we could define “aestheticexperience” as a concentrated perceptioninvoking a vivid experience in the perceiver.

In the example of live theatre or a motionpicture an audience member may authenticallyfeel the emotions being displayed by the actors- feel the fear, romantic love, sadness, joy orwhatever is being acted out at the time. In orderfor this to happen however the person needs tobring a high level of concentration to theexperience.

The audience member may even find the experience of negative feelings to be enjoyable.Also emotions may be experienced during the drama which he or she does not normally feelor display outside the theatre. What seems to be happening is a separation in the consciousnessof the person between what is real (i.e. what he or she believes to be true) and the fiction of thedrama. So the emotions are felt but they are moderated and not full blown. This can be seenas a kind of disengagement or ego detachment - there is limited or no identification of theperson with what is happening in the drama.

Concentrated perception facilitates the vivid experience of the emotions from the drama(the aesthetic experience) and the detachment of ego allows for the enjoyment of even thenegative emotions thus experienced (as they are not identified with). If the protective frame ordetachment mechanism has not been learned, say for example in a young child, then the childmay identify with the drama and will experience the emotions evoked by the actors as beingreal.

- a Student❅

Can one stay Detached in Enjoyment?

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For years I have tried to solve this mystery of un-controllable emotions.• How one of my friends, who shed not a single tear at her own wedding, would shed

tons in a movie theater, when a similar scene was enacted! She was as mystified butcould not control. Seemed to get carried away by the moment.

• Sometimes while reading novels one gets so involved that we smile or shed tearsdepending on the matter being narrated.

• I’ve seen my grandfather cry while watching ‘Ram Lila’ in our village in Punjab. Infact he would even touch the feet of actors playing Ram and Sita.

Finally the mystery has been solved. ‘Ego detachment’ – where we can think and feelwithout really involving the self (with all its complexes and prejudices). What does this egodetachment involve? To answer we have to go right to the start of life. Our self /ego is definedby the play of natural (genetic) factors and social factors.

• Crying is taught to be a sign of weakness. ‘Cry and you cry alone’.• Boys in India are constantly goaded to be strong and not to show girlie traits, like crying.My friend, who did not cry at her wedding, saw no reason to cry as she had a love

marriage and marriage would not end her association with her parents. This is just an examplehow our ‘self ’ comes into action in direct dealing with a problem. But when we are in atheatre/play/reading a book, at times, we get caught up in the story and the play of emotionstherein. One can feel the distress, joy, happiness, sadness, loss in the story, as at that time ourself is not threatened (by direct dealing - nobody is watching us - of that reality). Hence wecan enjoy the aesthetic experience.

- Sameer SharmaEducation & Administration

❅

An interesting thing here is that there is a kind of a self-distancing or an ego-distancing;almost as though there is an ego transcendence and what is even more fascinating is thatthough in real life we may not feel certain emotions to any significant degree, say for example– there are many who may not feel ‘love’, yet in the aesthetic situation the emotion of love isevoked in their consciousness, though in their personal life it does not figure. So what ishappening? The implication of this is profound because this perspective suggests that we allhave the capacity to experience these major emotional states and to go into these majoremotional states. Yet, because of experiences in life the corresponding emotions in the contextof our personal life history may be very specific, we may be experiencing much more of anger,bitterness, fear or sadness and some people may have more of positive emotions in their life.Many emotions are not evoked to a significant degree because there is a kind of identification.So we respond to life situations in a fixed manner. Our capacity in real life to experienceemotions gets extremely delimited. There is a tendency to re-live similar experiences in ourlives because of this kind of ego embeddedness. This suggests that we can consciously work atdistancing ourselves from our own emotions, realising that it was a particular state of experiencein a situation because of an interpretation and because of a certain kind of identification - thenotion of who I am.

- Atul GoswamiExecutive Coach (Management)

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“... there is continually a struggle between right and wrong, justice and injustice,the force that protects and the force that violates and oppresses, and when this hasonce been brought to the issue of physical strife, the champion and standard-bearer of the Right must not shake and tremble at the violent and terrible natureof the work he has to do; he must not… betray his cause and leave the standard ofRight and Justice to trail in the dust and be trampled into mire by the blood-stained feet of the oppressor, because of a weak pity for the violent and cruel anda physical horror of the vastness of the destruction decreed. His virtue and hisduty lie in battle and not in abstention from battle; it is not slaughter, but non-slaying which would here be the sin.”1

❅

In many situations, Ahimsa – harmlessness and non violence will not be a solution. As SriAurobindo had discussed, action, war and revolution are required to bring in dharma in place.This however does not involve unmindful killing of numerous individuals but is requiredwhen adharma, injustice and falsehood would come in the path of truth. The same has beenapplied during our war of Independence. Even though Gandhiji was following the path ofnon-violence, it is movement in offence against injustice that led to our freedom. Dharma ofcourse is intractable term in Hindu philosophy and the whole world is held together in righteousway due to this dharma.

Ahimsa cannot work in all situations specially nowadays. Recent mission of social activistAnna Hazare against corruption is the best example of fight against Adharma. If there is nomovement and fight against Adharma, it will continue as it is and path to the truth will beburied in falsehood. Same is the case with Arjuna, where Lord himself asks to fight becauseunless the fight occurs dharma would never win over Adharma. Even though Ahimsa is adivine quality, lord does not favour ignoble weakness of the heart, for that reason, whenahimsa is sattva guna in an individual Arjuna’s inertia can be considered as Tamas and theUpdesha is nothing but awakening from the Lord himself to fight and win protecting justiceand Dharma.

- Mini Suresh BabuQuality Audit, IT, Admin

❅

Can Ahimsa work in every situation?

The students were asked to reflect on Ahimsa, based on their own experiences, as an assignment in the ICISonline course: ‘Study of the Bhagawad Gita in the light of Sri Aurobindo’, facilitated by Dr. SampadaSavardekar.1 Sri Aurobindo. Essays on the Gita ‘The Creed of the Aryan Fighter’. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram.

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Ahimsa to me means “winning without hurting anyone” and sometimes it also means “beingpatient at your actions”. In certain situations, Ahimsa becomes vital at the beginning of anyaction. But not all situations can be dealt with Ahimsa.

According to Sri Aurobindo… he quoted Ahimsa as “Harmlessness” which is a divinequality.

My mom would always advice “the one who bears the pain/sufferer is not the weak one,in fact he/she is the strongest.”

In my Graduation first year, being 19 I was a girl who would never hesitate to give itstraight on face on someone being indecent at conversation. I had a couple of heatedconversations with a couple of students who tried being indecent using slang language. Thismade it a reason for me to be bullied by all my class boys all throughout the years.

They would tease saying Shorty!! everywhere, anywhere in the college. I never liked itand I always threw my frustration at my parents about this humiliation and the stupid collegeand always asked them to take an action. But they would always console me asking me to bestrong. After 3 years of vigorous humiliation I waited with good patience but one fine day Iwent straight to the boys and gave them one serious warning and also to get ready for any kindof action that might take place. They understood that this time I am really serious and wouldburst to action; since then they stopped bothering me and also apologized to me after clearingthe misunderstanding between us.

Though what I gave is a simple example but three years were the worst period where Ilost my confidence facing humiliation every moment.

When a situation crosses its limit, one needs to revolt or rather

defend themselves.- Bhargavi Pukkella

Online Vedic Mathematics teacher

❅

Belonging to the Gandhian era “Ahimsa” has been a word we’ve grown up with. At that timeand period it represented an ideal, a movement, a national fervour, a struggle, a patriotism, abonding which swelled across the whole of India. Ahimsa meant non-violence Gandhi said -we believed and behaved. Ahimsa meant sacrifice in life, in food and clothing, it meant sharing,it meant equality - everybody was in the same dilemma - the freedom struggle. The violenceof partition marred that and ahimsa gave way to a reprehensible violence of bloodshed whichstained our history books for ever. With Partition India gained freedom, freedom of speech,freedom of action and freedom to do as you will. Over the years I have watched the decay inour value system; it is no longer a struggle for freedom but a struggle to survive. “Ahimsa” islost in the swell of humanity. The new generation has no time, no tolerance, boundaries arebarb-wired with suspicion. How can Ahimsa survive? It is an obsolete word and confined inthe archives of history books. To me Ahimsa has a meaning only for people who have valuesand I’m happy to say that most of the people from my generation have left a little of thatgolden charm to our children. Now it is for them to pass on the legacy.

- Rajalakshmi MalhotraHome-maker

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The interfaith declaration entitled “Towards a Global Ethic,” produced by an assembly ofreligious and spiritual leaders from virtually every major world religion and spiritual movementat the 1993 Centenary of the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago, USA, appears to bean excellent document for addressing the topic of this article: “Can Ahimsa work in everysituation?” The declaration of 1993 states: “We affirm that a common set of core values isfound in the teachings of all the religions, and that these form the basis of a global ethic. Therealready exist ancient guidelines for human behaviour which are found in the teachings ofreligions of the world and which are the conditions for a sustainable world order.” “Do untoothers as you wish others to do to you,” has at its core the virtue of non-violence. If ourthoughts towards others are kindly and loving and peaceful there is no question why Ahimsashould not work in every situation that confronts individuals in everyday living.

However, for the stability and peace in the society whether it be bilateral and multilateralrelationships among the comity of nations or between communities of different ethnic, religiousand linguistic groups Ahimsa will have to be cast in broader framework. It will have to bebased on the principles of justice, equity and the rule of law. Hence the subsequent Parliamentsof the World’s religions addressed these issues as well. At the 1999 conference held in CapeTown, South Africa, the theme document was titled: “A Call to Our Guiding Institutions.”The next one was held in Barcelona, Spain in July 2004 and it was themed: “Pathways toPeace: the Wisdom of Listening, the Power of Commitment.” The last one held in December2009 at Melbourne, Australia, December 2009 declared its theme as: “Make a World ofDifference: Hearing each other, Healing the earth”. The foundational principle of the meetingsof the world’s religious and spiritual leaders from time to time suggests that much progresshas been made to create common ground to promote Ahimsa and get the peoples of theworld to work in harmony to save our current and succeeding generations from mutualannihilation. Decision makers are jolly well aware of the danger posed by “the rising fires ofreligious prejudice”, and have collectively appealed for decisive action against fanaticism andintolerance. Therefore, it is high time religious and secular leaders demonstrate their sincerityby breaking away from impulsive patterns of behavior resorting to senseless violence and openthe way for society to address equally corrosive prejudices of race, gender, caste and nation.Whatever justification that exists for exercising influence in matters of conscience lies in servingthe well being of humankind. At this greatest turning point in the history of civilization, theneed for such service could not be clearer.

Thus it is evident for humanity to move to a higher plane the thought of war will haveto be overcome with a stronger thought of peace, and the thought of hatred must be destroyedby a more powerful thought of love. Only then will the power of Ahimsa or Non-violencebecome the dominant paradigm among the peoples of the world.

✍ Dr. AK MerchantGeneral Secretary, The Temple of Understanding-India; Chairperson, Sarvodaya International

Trust-Delhi Chapter; National Trustee, Lotus Temple & Bahá’í Community of India

Ahimsa : An Interfaith Perspective

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