The Brahmin Ideals

The immense contribution of India's Brahmin community towards knowledge, culture and heritage is predominantly due to the ideals that are inherited, safeguarded and transmitted from generation to generation. Brahmins are the pursuers of knowledge.

Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan in his book 'The philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore' sheds light on the Brahmin ideals.

About the class of Brahmins, it is his (Tagore's) opinion that every good society should have a section corresponding to it.  ... The Brahmins are the trustees of tradition and the conservers of the religious spirit. ...a class set apart for artistic production and spiritual discovery.. 

Members of this class are to discover and bring home to the community the joy of art and spiritual beauty. .. the members of this class are the purveyors of spiritual health and joy to the community. These are the leaders of society, regulating the things in which the community ought to take pleasure, exerting great moral influence on them. Those who are in the thick of the strife of the world have not the time to think of the welfare of the whole community or to contemplate the higher thinks of life. 

The Brahmins, according to the ideal, count poverty a privilege, consider learning their calling, and pursue the ideals of spirit with self-sacrifice and in a disinterested manner. Scorn of wealth and the pursuit of spirituality, regardless of praise or blame, are their characteristic features. 

The highest place (in Indian society)  is given to the philosoper who finds his lifework in search of truth, artistic creation, and moral endeavour.

Guided by conscience alone

The light within

Having long abandoned organized religion with their stifling rules, hierarchies and complex rituals, I feel liberated with the realization that the only guide one needs is ones own conscience. "When I do good I feel good, when I do bad I feel bad, and that's my religion"! As it was for Abraham Lincoln so it is for me.

All of life's great treasures family, love, friendship, nature, health are bestowed freely and equally. So is the moral conscience. The conscience is the ever present guard and guide! Before every action, we must listen to the judgement of the conscience and then act accordingly. There is no need for external authorities, sermons, temples, churches, priests or religious texts.

Mind the light of God in your consciences,
which will show you all deceit;
dwelling in it, guides out of the many things into one spirit,
which cannot lie, nor deceive.
Those who are guided by it, are one. - George Fox

"For my mother, the highest law was man's own conscience" - Pablo Casals 

My Heart Soars ..

Every day, I have urged my children to see, feel and love the nature around them. So finding this picture of my daughter wearing a goose plume on her hair like the aboriginal people makes my heart soar and reminds me of this poem by Canadian aboriginal Chief Dan George

My heart soars ..

The beauty of the trees,
the softness of the air,
the fragrance of the grass,
speaks to me.

The summit of the mountain,
the thunder of the sky,
the rhythm of the sea,
speaks to me.

The faintness of the stars,
the freshness of the morning,
the dew drop on the flower,
speaks to me.

The strength of fire,
the taste of salmon,
the trail of the sun,
And the life that never goes away,
They speak to me.
And my heart soars 

Tagore: Honor the spirit within ..

A poignant song where the poet feels deeply remorseful for not honoring the spirit that dwells within. Even in the midst of all worldly activities, we must seek times of quiet solitude to recognize and honor the living spirit which makes everything possible.

Aamar hiyar majhe lukiye chile dekhte aami paai ni
Tomay dekhte aami paai ni.
Bahir pane chokh melechi,aamar hridoy pane chaai ni.
Aamar shokol bhalobashay shokol aaghat shokol aashay
Tumi chile aamar kaache,ami tomar kaache jaai ni.
Tumi mor aanondo hoye chile aamar khelay-
Anande tai bhule chile,keteche din helay.
Gopon rohi gobhir praane aamar dukkhosukher gaane
Sur diyecho tumi, aami tomar gaan to gaai ni.

You lie hidden within me, yet I failed to see you ..
Casting my eyes outward, I didn't look within
In all my adorations, all hurts, all aspirations
You were with me; yet I didn't come to you
You were the joy in all my plays
Oblivious in joy, I let the days fritter away
Buried deep in my heart, to songs of my lifes joys and sorrows
You gave the tune, and yet I sang not thy song ...

Serve the Spirit within

To impart knowledge of the soul or spirit that dwells within, the ancient Greeks used the "allegory of the queen bee" and the ancient Hindus used the "allegory of the chariot"

Allegory of the Chariot (Katha Upanishad)
Know thyself as the soul, the master of the chariot; the body as the chariot; the intellect as the charioteer; and the mind as the reins; the senses as the horses. The soul associates with the body, intellect, mind and senses to experience the world. They all must serve the soul, the life within. Devoid of knowledge, the bewildered intellect looses control, the mind is unsteady, the senses are uncontrollable, as wild horses. Endowed with knowledge, the intellect keeps the mind steady, the senses controlled as trained horses taking the soul to its final destination which is the highest goal of life.

ātmānaṁ rathinaṁ viddhi
śarīraṁ ratham eva ca
buddhiṁ tu sārathiṁ viddhi
manaḥ pragraham eva ca
indriyāṇi hayān āhur
viṣayāṁs teṣu gocarān
so ’dhvanaḥ pāram āpnoti
tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padam

Allegory of the Queen Bee  (Letters from a Stoic by Seneca)
See that the spirit is well looked after. Our thoughts and our words proceed from it. We derive our demeanor and expression and the very way we walk from it. If the spirit is sound and healthy our style will be firm and forceful and virile, but if the spirit tumbles all the rest of our personality comes down in ruins with it.
The queen unharmed, the bees all live at one; 
Once she is lost, the hive's in anarchy

The spirit is our queen. So long as she is unharmed, the rest remains at its post, obedient and submissive. If she wavers for a moment, in the same moment the rest all falters.

"You are not a human being in search of a spiritual experience. You are a spiritual being immersed in a human experience" - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

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 

Tagore: Uplift my soul ..

Tagore, poet and sage 

Today I’m lost in the meditative hymn by Tagore ..Antaro mamo bikoshito karo. A sublime prayer in which the poet seeks to be uplifted ..to become pure, beautiful and joyful.

Lyrics
Antaro mamo bikoshito karo antaro-taro he
Nirmalo karo ujwalo karo sundaro karo he 
Antaro mamo bikoshito karo antaro-taro he 

Jagrato karo, udyhata karo, nirbhayo karo he
Mangalo karo, nirolaso, nishamshaya karo he 
Antaro mamo bikoshito karo antaro-taro he 

Yukta karo shobara shonge, mukta karo bondha
Sanchara karo sakhalo karme, shanto tomaaro chhondo
Antaro mamo bikoshito karo antaro-taro he 

Charan padme mamo chitta,nispondito karo he
Nondita karo, nondita karo, nondita karo he 
Antaro mamo bikoshito karo antaro-taro he 

Nirmalo karo ujwalo karo sundaro karo he 
Antaro mamo bikoshito karo antaro-taro he 

Meaning 
Uplift my soul, O Innermost One
Make me pure, radiant and beautiful
Uplift my soul, O Innermost One

Awaken me, raise me, make me fearless
Bless me, energize me, make me doubtless
Uplift my soul, O Innermost One

Unite me with everything, liberate me from all shackles
Let your peace permeate all my actions
Uplift my soul, O Innermost One

Keep my mind steady at your lotus feet
Make me joyful, joyful, joyful
Uplift my soul, O Innermost One

Make me pure, radiant and beautiful
Uplift my soul, O Innermost One