THE SPEAKING TREE NEW DELHI, JANUARY 13, 2013 Magical ... fileNEW DELHI, JANUARY 13, 2013 As my...
1
DADAJI T he sub- stance is One and that alone is the eternal substance. There is no vanish- ing, no destruction of it. It is the supreme integral existence.We are the eternal substance of that unfragmented Supreme Being. Still you think, at death, a person has gone somewhere. One does not go anywhere. There is something called death as we describe it. But it is God who leaves the body and He doesn’t go anywhere. His vi- bration stops in the body.But until the individual mind function is over, the mind remains dissatisfied. Unless this mind is fully satisfied, it will continue to come into this world.People who were together, come together again. Infinite Within In the vacuous region of the heart, which is the Infinite within, two sounds are constantly chanting.When these two sounds of Mahanaam,or God’s name go off, the mind shrinks, a person dies and gets merged in pervasive existence.When the mind can resort to another body,it buds forth again. Life has no death. It is eternal.What we call death or end of life is actually a phase and is concerned only with the body. Body consists of matters which dissolve in time to their original form. But the Self has no dissolution.You have come for a few days, not forever.Why should you bother for anything? No one has a right to put a violent end to one’s own life.Live a normal life doing your work,without coveting the wealth of others and enjoying Him. When God leaves the body,He does not go anywhere.And we, a bunch of fools, do all kinds of funeral ceremonies for His benefit! Such rites are only for mercenary interest.The deceased for whom we perform rites receives noth- ing. Funeral rituals are meaningless and full of superstition. It is a business for priests and it takes us away from Truth. How many days we can or do live is not important.How we lived or live is important.Keep it in mind. We have come to another’s house.We must leave it someday.He will come and take you off. The Divine play is intrinsically bipo- lar,having positive and negative,ups and downs, good and bad. Oscillations be- tween them provide the basis for all cre- ative possibilities of His play.When the game is over,the two poles coalesce into mere existence,all existents having dis- appeared.Action and reaction hold the stage.When the reaction gathers mag- nitude,one cries for succour.Then comes death. But the reaction persists and that leads to rebirth. Just A Change Reincarnation? What do you mean by that? When we give up the body, then and there He catches the mind. After that it is a question of time,maybe just now, maybe one day, maybe a few years later, you come back in a differ- ent body.Unless and until one’s prarab- dha — destined unfolding process of one’s life — is full, until one is merged with God,one’s mind will have to come back in a body in this world. The elements of the body transform and change.The combination of hy- drogen and oxygen form water, again under certain conditions, oxygen and hydrogen separate and go back to their former condition.We feel nothing for oxygen or hydrogen, so we feel noth- ing about their transformation or change. We feel sorry for the death of our moth- er,father,or whoever it may be,because of an attachment. Death is nothing but a change or transformation.Try to un- derstand the origin. If you catch hold of the root, then you will understand the branches. ■ Today is Dadaji’s birthday.His name as a householder was Amiya Roy Chowdhury, www.dadaji.info THE SPEAKING TREE NEW DELHI, JANUARY 13, 2013 As my artist’s statement explains, my work is utterly incomprehensible and therefore full of deep significance — Calvin to Hobbes I t was 4.30 am. Signs of dawn were just emerging. Some women had just begun their day — sprinkling water on their front courtyards and sweeping them clean. In a while, the whole street would be decked up with beautiful white drawings on the floor. I picked up my own little contain- er of kolam powder and began draw- ing in front of my apartment. As the geometrical pattern unfolded, I knew my day had begun on a positive note. Welcome to the world of kolams, a traditional passion that almost every Tamil household indulges in all through the year — but specifically during the Tamil month of Margazhi: December 15 to January 14. Margazhi Special Kolams are line drawings done with rice powder.The idea is to feed birds, insects and ants with the rice powder, besides beautifying your doorstep with decorative lines.Although kolam is gen- erally drawn in the morning — some do it in the evenings also — they are special during the month of Margazhi, when pumpkin flowers perched on cow dung balls are placed on the kolams to enhance the beauty of the intricate de- signs. Next morning, they are removed, made into cow dung pies and left to be dried in the sun. After Margazhi, the next month in the Tamil calendar is Thai:January15 to February 15.Tamils celebrate the first day of this month as Pongal, a harvest festival.On this day,the 30 days’collec- tion of dried cow dung pies with pump- kin flowers are used as fuel to cook the special delicacy, pongal in an earthen pot in a clay oven. The smoke from cow dung pie keeps off bad bacteria from the atmos- phere.Though the tradition of using cow dung pie as fuel has almost disap- peared,the kolams have survived,adopt- ing notes from different cultures along the way. Kolams today have shades of colours — literally — with flower petals and colour powder. An integral part of any celebra- tion, kolam symbolises happiness and prosperity.It is also a sign of welcome. Perhaps, the belief that kolam invites Lakshmi — the goddess of wealth — into your home is one main reason why this tradition continues with so much fervour! Today,kolams have cut across social milieus, becoming an occasion for pri- vate and public participation.There are kolam competitions in almost every neighbourhood in Chennai and other cities of Tamil Nadu.Kolam today has many male enthusiasts as well. Even as Chennaites take a dip in the river of music during the annual music festival, their mornings herald the joy of creativity with ko- lams — often done with light- hearted competitiveness when each household competes with the other to draw the best and biggest kolams. So much so, many would try to upstage their neighbours by waking up ear- ly and filling a major chunk of the street with their kolams. Some smarter ones would finish the drawing the previous night itself! Exercise For The Brain And on special occasions like festi- vals, the white lines would be high- lighted with red borders, called kaavi or chemman — a powder made from red soil.The red border is not only a sign of cheer and prosperity, it is also believed that the red-bordered kolam keeps evil forces away. On special occasions, the design of the kolam gets special too — there are kalyanakolam, or wedding kolam, and pandikaikolam or festival kolam. An- other variation is izhaikolam, drawn on some festival days like Janmashtami and Karthigai Deepam — the festival of lights in the Tamil month of Karthi- gai. Instead of dried powder, wet rice paste would be used to draw patterns. For Janmashtami,drawing the toddler Krishna’s tiny footsteps with wet rice paste is a delight for many.Certain ko- lam designs like Hrudhayakamalam, Ku- berakolam and the seven differ- ent kolams of the week have spiritual value. On another side of the spectrum, kolams are brain teasers like Sudoku.And the kolams drawn by joining dots are excellent exercise for the brain. Although kolam is seen more as a Hindu tradition, modern kolams have no caste barri- ers. Modern motifs and themes could include Christmas, Independence Day and New Year.You have kolams high- lighting noble causes too — like AIDS or education.The themes vary de- pending on individual creativity. It is believed that a bare door en- trance without any kolam symbolis- es negative energy or mourning. Don’t worry if you are caught up in the pressures of hectic schedules and have no time.Kolam stencils in a wide range of designs are available in the market.All you have to do is dust ko- lam powder on the stencil sheet to get a beautiful design at your doorstep. Easier still, you can try colourful sticker kolams.You have to just stick them on the floor at the entrance to make sure that Lakshmi stays with you! ■ [email protected] Magical White Lines Kolam, an integral part of all celebrations, symbolises happiness and prosperity, says ARUNA SRINIVASAN Lemongrass According to an ancient Malaysian legend, warriors believed that if they rubbed lemongrass on their bodies, while reciting a special prayer,they would be shielded by an impregnable magical cloak. According to another south-east Asian belief, planting lemongrass around the house protects residents from dragons and serpents. It is also believed that drinking lemongrass- infused tea develops psychic abilities and divination. Myths apart, the plant is a super-herb and has been used for thousands of years for both culinary and medicinal purposes. Lemongrass is a tropical grass that smells like lemon.A native of southern India, the plant grows in abundance in other south-east Asian countries like Thailand,Vietnam and Malaysia. Lemongrass contains many compounds, oils, minerals and vitamins that are known to have anti-oxidant and disease preventing properties.The leaves and stems are high in folic acid, vitamins A, B1, B5, B6 and C, besides potassium, zinc, calcium, iron, manganese, copper, and magnesium. Lemongrass helps reduce pitta and kapha doshas and neutralises vata dosha. Some medical journals claim that lemongrass even kills cancer cells without harming normal cells. SACRED HERB S SATHISH A KOLAM COMPETITION IN PROGRESS ON THE STREETS OF CHENNAI (FILE PHOTO) © ILLUSTRATION WORKS/CORBIS EVENTS Sangeet-Nritya Mahotsava Swami Haridas and Tansen music programme followed by dance recital at Sri Sathya Sai International Centre, Pragati Vihar, Lodhi Road January 13, 6.30 pm Satsang Ramesh Bijlani to talk on Swami Vivekananda at Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Hauz Khas January 13,10 am to 11.30 am Call 26567863 Cultural Renaissance International conference and exhibition on the life of Atisha Dipankara Jnanashri at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, 11, Man Singh Road January 16-18, 11 am onwards Call 23388155 Inner Engineering Isha Yoga programme with Sadhguru at Thyagaraj Sports Complex, INA January 18-20; call 9650092100 Osho Sanyaas Day Swami Ravindra Bharti to organise Osho Sanyaas Day at Oshodham 44, Jhatikra Road, Pandwala Khurd, January 19, all day Call 25319026 This Week January 13: Lohri, Bogi Pandigai January 14: Makara Sankranti Pongal, Makaradi Snana Tila Sankranti, Magha Bihu Birthday of Sant Parmanand Purna Kumbh begins in Prayag January 15: Mattu Pongal January 18: Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti (Gurpurab) Where To After Death?
Transcript of THE SPEAKING TREE NEW DELHI, JANUARY 13, 2013 Magical ... fileNEW DELHI, JANUARY 13, 2013 As my...
DADAJI
The sub-stance isOne and
that alone is theeternal substance.There is no vanish-
ing, no destruction of it. It is thesupreme integral existence.We are theeternal substance of that unfragmentedSupreme Being. Still you think, atdeath, a person has gone somewhere.One does not go anywhere. There issomething called death as we describeit. But it is God who leaves the bodyand He doesn’t go anywhere. His vi-bration stops in the body. But until theindividual mind function is over, themind remains dissatisfied. Unless thismind is fully satisfied, it will continue tocome into this world.People who weretogether, come together again.
Infinite WithinIn the vacuous region of the heart,
which is the Infinite within,two soundsare constantly chanting.When these twosounds of Mahanaam,or God’s name gooff, the mind shrinks, a person dies andgets merged in pervasive existence.Whenthe mind can resort to another body, itbuds forth again.
Life has no death. It is eternal.Whatwe call death or end of life is actually aphase and is concerned only with thebody. Body consists of matters whichdissolve in time to their original form.But the Self has no dissolution.You have
come for a few days, not forever.Whyshould you bother for anything?
No one has a right to put a violentend to one’s own life.Live a normal lifedoing your work,without coveting thewealth of others and enjoying Him.
When God leaves the body,He doesnot go anywhere.And we, a bunch offools,do all kinds of funeral ceremoniesfor His benefit! Such rites are only formercenary interest.The deceased forwhom we perform rites receives noth-ing.Funeral rituals are meaningless andfull of superstition.
It is a business for priests and it takes usaway from Truth. How many days wecan or do live is not important.How welived or live is important.Keep it in mind.We have come to another’s house.Wemust leave it someday.He will come andtake you off.
The Divine play is intrinsically bipo-lar,having positive and negative,ups anddowns, good and bad. Oscillations be-tween them provide the basis for all cre-ative possibilities of His play.When the
game is over,the two poles coalesce intomere existence,all existents having dis-appeared.Action and reaction hold thestage.When the reaction gathers mag-nitude,one cries for succour.Then comesdeath.But the reaction persists and thatleads to rebirth.
Just A ChangeReincarnation? What do you mean
by that? When we give up the body,then and there He catches the mind.After that it is a question of time,maybejust now, maybe one day, maybe a fewyears later, you come back in a differ-ent body.Unless and until one’s prarab-dha — destined unfolding process ofone’s life — is full, until one is mergedwith God,one’s mind will have to comeback in a body in this world.
The elements of the body transformand change.The combination of hy-drogen and oxygen form water, againunder certain conditions, oxygen andhydrogen separate and go back to theirformer condition.We feel nothing foroxygen or hydrogen, so we feel noth-ing about their transformation or change.We feel sorry for the death of our moth-er,father,or whoever it may be,becauseof an attachment.Death is nothing buta change or transformation.Try to un-derstand the origin. If you catch holdof the root, then you will understandthe branches. ■
Today is Dadaji’s birthday. His name as ahouseholder was Amiya Roy Chowdhury,
www.dadaji.info
T H E S P E A K I N G T R E EN E W D E L H I , J A N U A R Y 1 3 , 2 0 1 3
As my artist’s statement explains, my work is utterlyincomprehensible and therefore full of deep significance— Calvin to Hobbes
It was 4.30 am. Signs of dawnwere just emerging. Somewomen had just begun theirday — sprinkling water ontheir front courtyards andsweeping them clean. In a
while, the whole street would bedecked up with beautiful white drawings on the floor.
I picked up my own little contain-er of kolam powder and began draw-ing in front of my apartment. As thegeometrical pattern unfolded, I knewmy day had begun on a positive note.
Welcome to the world of kolams,a traditional passion that almost everyTamil household indulges in all throughthe year — but specifically during theTamil month of Margazhi: December15 to January 14.
Margazhi SpecialKolams are line drawings done with
rice powder.The idea is to feed birds,insects and ants with the rice powder,besides beautifying your doorstep withdecorative lines.Although kolam is gen-erally drawn in the morning — somedo it in the evenings also — they arespecial during the month of Margazhi,when pumpkin flowers perched on cowdung balls are placed on the kolams toenhance the beauty of the intricate de-signs.Next morning,they are removed,made into cow dung pies and left to bedried in the sun.
After Margazhi, the next month inthe Tamil calendar is Thai: January15 toFebruary 15.Tamils celebrate the firstday of this month as Pongal, a harvestfestival.On this day,the 30 days’collec-tion of dried cow dung pies with pump-kin flowers are used as fuel to cook thespecial delicacy,pongal in an earthen potin a clay oven.
The smoke from cow dung piekeeps off bad bacteria from the atmos-phere.Though the tradition of usingcow dung pie as fuel has almost disap-peared,the kolams have survived,adopt-ing notes from different cultures alongthe way. Kolams today have shades ofcolours — literally — with flower petalsand colour powder.
An integral part of any celebra-tion, kolam symbolises happiness andprosperity. It is also a sign of welcome.Perhaps, the belief that kolam invitesLakshmi — the goddess of wealth —into your home is one main reasonwhy this tradition continues with somuch fervour!
Today,kolams have cut across socialmilieus,becoming an occasion for pri-vate and public participation.There arekolam competitions in almost every
neighbourhood in Chennai and othercities of Tamil Nadu. Kolam today hasmany male enthusiasts as well.
Even as Chennaites take a dip in theriver of music during the annual musicfestival, their mornings heraldthe joy of creativity with ko-lams — often done with light-hearted competitiveness wheneach household competes withthe other to draw the best andbiggest kolams. So much so,many would try to upstage theirneighbours by waking up ear-ly and filling a major chunk ofthe street with their kolams. Somesmarter ones would finish the drawingthe previous night itself!
Exercise For The BrainAnd on special occasions like festi-
vals, the white lines would be high-lighted with red borders, called kaavior chemman — a powder made fromred soil.The red border is not only asign of cheer and prosperity, it is alsobelieved that the red-bordered kolamkeeps evil forces away.
On special occasions, the design ofthe kolam gets special too — there arekalyanakolam, or wedding kolam, andpandikaikolam or festival kolam. An-other variation is izhaikolam,drawn onsome festival days like Janmashtamiand Karthigai Deepam — the festivalof lights in the Tamil month of Karthi-gai. Instead of dried powder, wet rice
paste would be used to draw patterns.For Janmashtami,drawing the toddlerKrishna’s tiny footsteps with wet ricepaste is a delight for many.Certain ko-lam designs like Hrudhayakamalam,Ku-
berakolam and the seven differ-ent kolams of the week havespiritual value.On another sideof the spectrum, kolams arebrain teasers like Sudoku.Andthe kolams drawn by joiningdots are excellent exercise forthe brain.
Although kolam is seenmore as a Hindu tradition,
modern kolams have no caste barri-ers.Modern motifs and themes couldinclude Christmas, Independence Dayand New Year.You have kolams high-
lighting noble causes too — like AIDSor education.The themes vary de-pending on individual creativity.
It is believed that a bare door en-trance without any kolam symbolis-es negative energy or mourning.Don’t worry if you are caught up inthe pressures of hectic schedules andhave no time.Kolam stencils in a widerange of designs are available in themarket.All you have to do is dust ko-lam powder on the stencil sheet toget a beautiful design at yourdoorstep. Easier still, you can trycolourful sticker kolams.You have tojust stick them on the floor at theentrance to make sure that Lakshmistays with you! ■
Magical White LinesKolam, an integral part of all celebrations, symbolises happiness and prosperity, says ARUNA SRINIVASAN
LemongrassAccording to an ancient Malaysian
legend, warriors believed that ifthey rubbed lemongrass on theirbodies, while reciting a special
prayer, they would be shielded byan impregnable magical cloak.According to another south-eastAsian belief, planting lemongrass
around the house protects residentsfrom dragons and serpents. It is alsobelieved that drinking lemongrass-
infused tea develops psychicabilities and divination. Myths
apart, the plant is a super-herb andhas been used for thousands of
years for both culinary andmedicinal purposes. Lemongrass is
a tropical grass that smells likelemon.A native of southern India,the plant grows in abundance inother south-east Asian countries
like Thailand,Vietnam andMalaysia. Lemongrass contains
many compounds, oils, minerals andvitamins that are known to have
anti-oxidant and disease preventingproperties.The leaves and stems arehigh in folic acid, vitamins A, B1,B5, B6 and C, besides potassium,
zinc, calcium, iron, manganese,copper, and magnesium.
Lemongrass helps reduce pitta andkapha doshas and neutralises vata
dosha. Some medical journals claimthat lemongrass even kills cancer
cells without harming normal cells.
SACRED HERB
S SA
THIS
H
A KOLAM COMPETITION IN PROGRESS ON THE STREETS OF CHENNAI (FILE PHOTO)
© IL
LUST
RATI
ON
WO
RKS/
CORB
IS
EVENTS
Sangeet-Nritya MahotsavaSwami Haridas and Tansen music
programme followed by dance recitalat Sri Sathya Sai International
Centre, Pragati Vihar, Lodhi RoadJanuary 13, 6.30 pm
Satsang Ramesh Bijlani to talk on Swami Vivekananda at
Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Hauz KhasJanuary 13,10 am to 11.30 am
Call 26567863
Cultural RenaissanceInternational conference and
exhibition on the life of AtishaDipankara Jnanashri at
Indira Gandhi National Centre forthe Arts, 11, Man Singh RoadJanuary 16-18, 11 am onwards
Call 23388155
Inner Engineering Isha Yoga programme with Sadhguruat Thyagaraj Sports Complex, INA January 18-20; call 9650092100
Osho Sanyaas Day Swami Ravindra Bharti to organiseOsho Sanyaas Day at Oshodham
44, Jhatikra Road, PandwalaKhurd, January 19, all day
Call 25319026
This WeekJanuary 13: Lohri, Bogi PandigaiJanuary 14: Makara Sankranti
Pongal, Makaradi Snana Tila Sankranti, Magha BihuBirthday of Sant Parmanand
Purna Kumbh begins in PrayagJanuary 15: Mattu Pongal
January 18: Guru Gobind SinghJayanti (Gurpurab)
Where To After Death?
