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 

The mind must remain a servant

My aunt recently sunk into depression for a brief period. A few of my friends are also battling mental illnesses.

I think one of the likely causes is that.. while most of us exercise moderation in eating, drinking and other aspects related to our physical bodies, we neglect aspects of  our mind. Moderation in thinking is absolutely essential for a sane mind. Over thinking is a disease on the same level as overeating. The mind or any of the senses running amok spells doom. The intellect must have a tight reign on the mind and the five senses.

Writer David Foster Wallace, who battled depression for decades nails this in his writing ..
“The really important kind of freedom involves attention and awareness and discipline ...that is real freedom...The alternative is unconsciousness, the default setting .. 
“Learning how to think" really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience. Because if you cannot or will not exercise this kind of choice in adult life, you will be totally hosed.”

"The mind is a wonderful servant but a terrible master" - Robin Sharma 

A quick dip into Tranquillity ..

It is with great joy that I am reading the book titled "Meditations" by the great Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius. To understand the Greek stoic philosophy and discover that it echoes the exact thoughts of ancient Indian philosophy is such a joyous revelation!!

Marcus Aurelius - Stoic philosopher

Here he shows us how to quickly return to a state of tranquillity no matter what perturbs the mind. Tranquillity can only be sought within and not in vacations or other escapes.

Men seek retreats for themselves, houses in the country, sea-shores, and mountains; and thou too art wont to desire such things very much. But this is altogether a mark of the most common sort of men, for it is in thy power whenever thou shalt choose to retire into thyself. For nowhere either with more quiet or more freedom from trouble does a man retire than into his own soul, particularly when he has within him such thoughts that by looking into them he is immediately in perfect tranquillity; and I affirm that tranquility is nothing else than the good ordering of the mind. Constantly then give to thyself this retreat, and renew thyself; and let thy principles be brief and fundamental, which, as soon as thou shalt recur to them, will be sufficient to cleanse the soul completely, and to send thee back free from all discontent with the things to which thou returnest.

Tranquility is nothing else than the good ordering of the mind - Marcus Aurelius 

Upanishads: Mind rests on the Breath!

Stress or anxiety stems from the uncontrolled stream of thoughts in the mind. The quickest and easiest way to clear the mind and cope with stress is to become aware of ones breathing. The "mind and breath connection" was so clearly understood by those wise sages of ancient India who expounded this connection in the ancient masterpiece, the Upanishads written around 500 BC.

‘As a bird when tied by a string flies first in every direction, and
finding  no  rest  anywhere,  settles  down  at  last  on  the  very  place
where it is fastened, exactly in the same manner, my son, that mind after flying in
every  direction,  and  finding  no  rest  anywhere,  settles  down  on
breath; for indeed, my son, mind is fastened to breath. 

Upanishad: "Quality of food = Quality of mind"

For eons, the highly learned Brahmin communities in India have attached immense importance to the quality of food one consumes. Sattvik (ie freshly cooked, warm, wholesome, tasty, mildly spiced) food is recommended at all times. Stale or even slightly old food is abhorred.

Even in this age of fast food, refrigerated, packaged and processed food, some folks like my mother-in-law are insistent on cooking every meal fresh despite the inconveniences. The reason for this fixation goes back to the ancient religious texts ie the Upanishads written way back in 500BC

"The food when eaten becomes threefold; its grossest portion becomes feces, its middle portion flesh, its subtlest portion mind" - The Upanishads (translated by F. Max Muller)

The Upanishads reveal the extent to which the mind is influenced by the food that is consumed. A person's mental constitution and thinking is fed by food. In the purity of food there is purity of mind;  Clarity of thought and a firmly grounded, pure intellect can only arise from a pure mind. Hence the great emphasis on pure or Sattvik food.