Natya Yoga: The Science of Dance

All streams of education that took birth in India have the ultimate goal of spiritual enlightenment of the student. The primary purpose of education is to lead towards the union of our individual self (microcosm) with the universal self (macrocosm). Tagore reiterates this "The highest education is that which does not merely gives us information but makes our life in harmony with all existence." Classical Indian dance is a refined and comprehensive system of education with the same end goal. The practice begins with the training of the physical and mental to culminate in the spiritual.

In my opinion, no other form of education integrates at once the complete development of an individual. Training in dance not only cultivates all the faculties; the body, the senses, the mind but also awakens the sense of beauty, harmony and rhythm lying latent within us and found universally around us. No wonder why the knowledge of classical dance (natyaveda) is considered the ultimate knowledge (panchamaveda)!

na tat jnanam na tat shilpam, na saa vidya, na saa kala
naasau yogo, na tat karma naatye asmin yanna drishyate 
There is no wisdom, no sculpture, no stream of knowledge, no art,
no science and no action that does not find reflection in Dance. - Natyashastra 

Odissi, where my heart saunters and lingers..

Odissi dancer

Time and again I am drawn to the world of Odissi. Though I am a student of Bharatanatyam, it is Odissi that tugs at my heart with its beauty and grace. This subtle, refined, sensitive and sensuous dance form agrees so totally with my sensibilities.

The mesmerizing beauty of Odissi is crystallized in the dancer Vrinda Chaddha. She transcends technique to exude the grace and beauty of Odissi in every step, in every eye movement. Her inner stillness and composure, perfectly timed execution without any superfluous movements, her complete fulfillment of every step is an exquisite feast to the viewer. Watching her perform takes me to into those rare heavenly states of aesthetic bliss where beauty, harmony, rhythm, movement and expressions all come together into one fulfilling whole.

Rasa (aesthetic bliss) is an experience of the bliss that is the eternal. Raso Vai-Sah!

Creativity and worship ..

No other culture in the world lays as much emphasis on creativity as Hinduism. Creativity and worship are so entwined that there is no way to distinguish one from the other. Temples are the centers of culture, where art, music, dance, poetry, plays and dramas are nurtured and offered to the gods. Ranjoli is the offering of art, Geetanjali is the offering of music, Nrityanjali is the offering of dance.

Creativity lies at the very core of Hinduism urging us to fulfill our creative potential every single day. Creativity is the highest offering to the divine. To be immersed in a creative act is worship!!

Fulfilling our creative potential is worship

Human Body: Our very first instrument

 "The practice of yoga induces a primary sense of measure and proportion. Reduced to our own body, our first instrument, we learn to play it, drawing from it maximum resonance and harmony"  I just put down the book "Unfinished Journey" the memoir of violinist Yehudi Menuhin. His words on the human body drew out some of my own insights.

It was when I started learning Indian classical dance in my late thirties that I became painfully aware of the lack of strength and rhythm in my body. There was lethargy and clumsiness in my body and all its movements. Most of us are born with the gifts of grace, elegance, symmetry and harmony of the body but we lose them over the years by gross disuse. The inactivity built into our over civilized world has become a curse to the human body.

In my slow journey towards reversing the negative impacts of decades of neglect, I have realized that a fine-tuned, lithe and agile body requires physical labor and the discipline for lifelong cultivation. Irrespective of age, we must embrace a discipline like yoga, martial arts or classical dance forms to build and sustain strength and agility in the body way into old age.

"It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.” - Socrates

Beauty, life and love are eternal - 'Snowflake' Bentley

Bentley's words contain some profound messages for all of us. He studied the science behind snowflakes and that lead him to a deeper understanding of life and a fascination for nature. Similarly in all our learnings, we must go beyond the mere facts and figures, to develop a feeling of wonder for this miracle that life is!

Bentley's labor of love ..

“The snow crystals . . . come to us not only to reveal the wondrous beauty of the minute in Nature, but to teach us that all earthly beauty is transient and must soon fade way. But though the beauty of the snow is evanescent, like the beauties of the autumn, as of the evening sky, it fades but to come again.”

"One has the pleasant certainty that in her deep reservoirs Nature keeps an endless source of beauty and that, over centuries, storms will continue to flood the surface of the earth with new and beautiful jewels that will entertain and delight everyone that loves beauty."

"this exquisite beauty so lavishly scattered over the earth and yet there should be no despair for this miracle like unto the miracle of  the springs awakening will come and come again for all time..either here or somewhere in the universe. For beauty, life and love are eternal. The things that make the universe worthwhile and justify its existence."

"The deeper one enters into the study of Nature, the further one ventures into and along the by-paths that, like a mystic maze, thread Nature's realm in every direction, the broader and grander becomes the vista opened up to the view."

"There is a need of a greater love for, and appreciation of such things, of the beautiful and wonderful in nature...There are oceans of enjoyment, soul satisfying pleasure to be had in Nature's art and beauty, as shown freely to us in the common things all about us."

"I am a poor man, except in satisfaction I get out of my work. In that respect, I am one of the richest men in the world. I wouldn't change places with Henry Ford or John D. Rockefeller for all their millions! And I wouldn't change places with a king; not for all his power and glory. I have my snowflakes!

It isn't what we have, it's what we do and enjoy that makes life worth living.  - Wilson A Bentley