Simhâvalokanam (August, 1919-20, pp. 103-104) Yoga and Nature By Swami Ramakrishnananda Books are nothing other than the records of men’s experiences about Nature; so in reality Nature is our teacher. Whenever Nature teaches us,we become really learned and gain something thereby not only for ourselves but for others. When young James Watt studied the action of steam in the boiling kettle before him, he made a valuable contribution to the progress of the human race. When Benjamin Franklin was flying the kite and detected the existence of electricity in the clouds, he gained a new and most useful servant for man. Similarly by studying Nature George Stephenson was able to invent the locomotive engine. All these incidents clearly show that Nature is the book the study of which gives us the greatest return. Our Indian Yogis, knowing this, deeply studied the book of Nature and ultimately found out the methods which took them beyond Nature. Through the study of the inner aspect of Nature they opened a channel of unlimited knowledge; they could subsist without food any length of time; and they gained supernatural powers which our modern science cannot even dream of. That a man can become practically all-knowing they seem to have at first learnt from studying the property of a convex lens. Ordinarily the solar rays have no burning power; but if brought together at the focus of the lens, they will begin to burn. This burning power is brought about by the convergence of the scattered rays of the sun to a single point. This fact suggested to the mind of the Yogi that because the mind is distributed through the senses and as such is scattered in all directions, it has only the ordinary power of knowing what is visibly going on in this world and of knowing that but very partially. If, however, he could call his mind back from all external pursuits and concentrate it on one idea or at one point, as in the case of the focused solar rays, then why should it not be able to perceive both these ordinary things and many extraordinary things also? He made the experiment and was successful. This intense increase in the power of the mind was learnt also from the current of a stream. If we build a dam across a flowing stream, keeping only a very small aperture in the embankment, the water which then comes out of that aperture has a thousand fold more power than the ordinary current of the stream. This suggested to them the idea that if by shutting up all other outlets of the mind, it is made to flow through one outlet, it must acquire powers unknown to it before: In this manner the Yogi discovered the extraordinary powers which mental concentration can produce. T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i ~ 2 9 0 ~ A U G U S T 2 0 0 9
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Yasodhara Ashram resident, Deborah Pohorski speaks during Satsang about relationships and cultivating a relationship with the Divine. … Yasodhara Ashram Yoga Satsang relationships divine karma lightwaves study course kootenay bay british columbia
Prof.Francis X.Clooney Courtesy The Hindu Of 14th Aug 09 Srivaishnavism is an interesting tradition, philosophically and theologically. The coming together of any two religions for most of us could mean raised voices and bloodshed… quite paradoxical to what all religions preach. But Prof. Francis X. Clooney, S.J., Harvard University, and author of several books, has a different perspective. Prof. Clooney spoke about his book ‘Beyond Compare: St. Francis and Sri Vedanta Desika on Loving Surrender to God’, during a talk organised by Prakriti Foundation at Madras Terrace House recently. In his work, he compares the two preceptors who were from different times and countries, and practised different religions, but who were united in their approached the concept of surrender to God. Prof. Clooney pointed out that since his work was like the interpretative work of a dancer or a musician, there was a great deal of practice and hard work that went into it right from the choice of subject. “It took me several years to narrow down on whom to compare”, he said. He added that “the minute you compare to celebrate one over the other, or compare to just get common quotes, it is not comparison in the real term.” So what does Vedanta Desika, the 13/14th century preceptor for Vaishnavites, have in common with St. Francis, a 17th century Catholic priest from Geneva? Both valued writing and in their written work, they hoped to pursue the devotee to perform a religious act itself. Both sought to transform the reader and used older texts to reinforce their message. Most important, both urged the reader to introspect and find out what it takes for him to surrender unconditionally to God. The book has several interesting passage on these topics. The audience was treated to a few enthralling readings. Catching up with Prof. Clooney after the session for a short interview, helped put the book in a greater context. Excerpts: Tell us a little about your research. I work in certain traditions of classical Hinduism, including Mimamsa Vedanta and Srivaishnavism. Of course, my work as a professor leads me to write on other topics and themes at times, but these are my areas of focus in the study of Hinduism. Beyond these, I am also a comparative theologian, and so, I reflect on what I learn from Indian traditions alongside my understanding of my Christian bearings. And, to understand comparative study, I am also a bit of a historian, studying how Western Jesuits over the centuries have understood Hinduism. What got you interested in Srivaishnavism? It is a very interesting tradition, philosophically and theologically, and it shows us a complete religious way of life. The fact that Srivaishnavism flourishes in both Tamil and Sanskrit makes it all the more beautiful. The poetry of Divya Prabandham in particular is very lovely. I also appreciate the Vaishnava temples, their architecture, imagery, and the worship that takes place there. In many ways, I have found Srivaishnavism to be parallel to Roman Catholicism, with a similar depth, breadth, and wholeness. What is your mission on comparative religious studies and what forces do you see helping/hindering it? I am a professor at one of the oldest and best universities in the U.S., and also a Catholic priest and Jesuit. So my mission is academic — scholarly writing on topics of religious importance, and doing comparative study. It is also spiritual, in the sense that I believe that inter-religious truths and understanding are valuable to one and all. If my work helps people appreciate and learn from other religions, then I think I would have succeeded and will be very happy. If people become more convinced of the truth of their own tradition, with deep faith, that too is very good. Since there is a lot of religious misunderstanding and intolerance today, my hope is that my work will probably show a way for people to relate to other religions more constructively and positively. Your future plans and interests… I have several book projects in mind, including more work on the Srivaishnava Bhagavatha Visaya, certain songs and commentaries compared with medieval Christian commentary on the Biblical Song of Songs. I have also been doing research on the Jesuit tradition of inter-religious learning in India, and may soon have something more to write on that. Click on the picture to see a larger Image
Sri Ramakrishna Mission Temple (August, 1919-20, pp. 103-104) Yoga and Nature By Swami Ramakrishnananda Books are nothing other than the records of men’s experiences about Nature; so in reality Nature is our teacher. Whenever Nature teaches us,we become really learned and gain something thereby not only for ourselves but for others.When young James Watt studied the action of steam in the boiling kettle before him, he made a valuable contribution to the progress of the human race. When Benjamin Franklin was flying the kite and detected the existence of electricity in the clouds, he gained a new and most useful servant for man. Similarly by studying Nature George Stephenson was able to invent the locomotive engine. All these incidents clearly show that Nature is the book the study of which gives us the greatest return. Our Indian Yogis, knowing this, deeply studied the book of Nature and ultimately found out the methods which took them beyond Nature. Through the study of the inner aspect of Nature they opened a channel of unlimited knowledge; they could subsist without food any length of time; and they gained supernatural powers which our modern science cannot even dream of. That a man can become practically all-knowing they seem to have at first learnt from studying the property of a convex lens. Ordinarily the solar rays have no burning power; but if brought together at the focus of the lens, they will begin to burn. This burning power is brought about by the convergence of the scattered rays of the sun to a single point. This fact suggested to the mind of the Yogi that because the mind is distributed through the senses and as such is scattered in all directions, it has only the ordinary power of knowing what is visibly going on in this world and of knowing that but very partially. If, however, he could call his mind back from all external pursuits and concentrate it on one idea or at one point, as in the case of the focused solar rays, then why should it not be able to perceive both these ordinary things and many extraordinary things also? He made the experiment and was successful. This intense increase in the power of the mind was learnt also from the current of a stream. If we build a dam across a flowing stream, keeping only a very small aperture in the embankment, the water which then comes out of that aperture has a thousand fold more power than the ordinary current of the stream. This suggested to them the idea that if by shutting up all other outlets of the mind, it is made to flow through one outlet, it must acquire powers unknown to it before: In this manner the Yogi discovered the extraordinary powers which mental concentration can produce. The above article is from the Archieves of Vedanta Kesari
Emerson: The Boston Brahmin By Courtesy Prof. A. V. Narasimha Murthy,Former Head,Department of Ancient History & Archaeology,University of Mysore Sir William Jones (1746 – 1794), the father of Indology, brought to the Western gaze the rich cultural, philosophical and literary heritage of India. The Western scholars, who had considered vedas as a mad man’s utterances, began to read them and discovered sublime thought in them. Kalidasa’s Shakuntala, Bhagavadgita and Puranas were translated into English. All these indological developments began to reach America through England, particularly Boston, the most important town of New England area which played an important role in American Independence movement. Commercial City: Boston, the Capital of Massachusetts State, was not only a great commercial city but also a center of music, literature and culture. The world famous Harvard University and MIT are located here. This city had a group of intellectuals with liberal outlook and penchant for freedom. This group became famous as Bostonians or Bostonian Brahmins. At this juncture was born Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1803. His father was a clergyman, an enlightened person and founded a cultural club which published a monthly magazine called The Boston Review. Though a Christian padri, he had collected a large number of books on Indian Philosophy and religion. The young boy Emerson was attracted towards these books and began to read them. Fortunately, he got admission in Harvard University which had the richest collection of books on Indian philosophy and history. After obtaining a Master’s degree from Harvard, Emerson joined as a clergyman in one of the churches in Boston. He became a popular Minister (padri) and his church became famous. The people were greatly attracted by his novel and attractive way of preaching Bible. Thus his fame spread in Boston. However, Emerson felt that there was no creativity in his work. Hence he resigned his job and went to England. There he met Coleridge, Wordsworth, Carlyle and other stalwarts and this changed the nature of his thinking. He became a liberal thinker and evinced interest in the study of other religions. He was particularly impressed by Bhagavadgita translated by Wilkins, and Vishnupurana translated by Wilson. He also took to the study of Vedas and Upanishads. As he had an open mind, he saw universality in all religions. He came to the conclusion that all great men and all religious teachers spoke the same language. Gita & Emerson: The Bhagavadgita appealed to Emerson most. When he was asked to deliver a lecture on religion, he said God is not separate from creation: God manifests himself in this universe through creation. Thus there is no duality in religion or philosophy. Thus he hailed Advaita as the essence of the word. But he never criticised any other religion and hurt their feelings and asked the people to follow any religion of their choice which took them closer to God. These ideas were taken from Bhagavadgita. He was also a poet and wrote many poems. One of them is very significant because it is titled Brahma. This poem though short is a successful summary of Upanishads and Bhagavadgita. The influence of kenopanishad is easily seen in this poem. Emerson did not believe in the Saguna form of worship as practiced by most of the Hindus. He believed in Nirguna form of worship in which God is formless, nameless, colourless etc. In fact this is the peak of Indian metaphysical thought which portrays the concept of Brahman (not four – faced Brahma). Generally this poem is recommended to readers who cannot read the original Upanishad in Sanskrit, to understand the concept of Brahman. Emerson’s aunt Mary became an admirer of Emerson and she happened to read a poem “A hymn to Narayana” written by William Jones. She was greatly impressed by this poem and sent a copy of it to Emerson. Emerson copied this poem in his diary because he wanted to read it again and again whenever he opened his diary. He thanked his aunt profusely and wrote “that all books of knowledge and all the wisdom of Europe twice told lie hidden in the treasure of Brahmins.” Nobody either in India or abroad has paid a better tribute to Indian philosophy and metaphysics. Emerson believed in the transmigration of soul and the concept of rebirth. He asserted that body alone decays but not the soul. This idea is taken from the Upanishads and the Gita. Emerson had a good library of Indian classics and he used to lend them to his friends so that they could read these books and get acquainted with Indian philosophy. Due to an accident, a portion of his house was destroyed in fire and it was rebuilt by the spontaneous public donations of more than 18,000 dollars in 1872. A Writer:Emerson was not only an indologist but was also a writer. His works include Nature (1836), American scholar (1837), two anthologies collected in 1841 and 1844. He again went to England in 1847 – 48 and wrote a book called English Traits (1856), analyzing the character of English people. His next work was Representative Man (1862). Books which made him famous were Nature, The Conduct of Life, Self – Reliance, American Scholar and Over Soul. He condemned the practice of slavery and differentiation on the basis of colour, creed and race. Emerson died in 1882 at the age of 79 at Concord and unprecedented number of admires paid homage to this great friend, guide and philosopher. The church bell tolled 79 times to mark his 79th year. I had the good fortune of visiting both Boston and Concord about fifty years ago. Emerson is no longer with us today but he will remain in our minds for ever. A great historian has said: “Emerson had all the wisdom and spirituality of Brahmins and perhaps he was the best Brahmin outside India.” Most Brahmins are so by birth but Emerson was a true Brahmin by culture. Bhuvani now you can see Brahmins not only in Naganallur but in Boston also, you can go to a website called Brahmins university Boston and will know more about Brahmins of western world.
