basic reflections

Thinking About The Unspeakable

Lately some depressing books have been coming my way. Books about individuals being uprooted overnight from their homes, about lives being turned upside down by fate, about entire societies and countries being destroyed. The first of these was a book recommended by a friend, called “The Wave”. It is a first person account by a Tsunami survivor, Sonali Deraniyagala,  who lost her entire family while holidaying in Sri Lanka, including her husband, her two children and her parents, at one stroke. Just imagining the possibility of losing all that you have in life, at one go, gives me goose bumps and reading the author’s description of the event and of what followed, tore something apart in me. Watching one’s children being literally swept away, and in moments losing contact with one’s loved ones more than defies the strongest imagination and yet this is what happened and one doesn’t wonder at the ensuing madness and suicidal thoughts which followed this experience. Over the years a slow recovery of sorts took place whereby Ms. Deraniyagala was able to put together the pieces of her life and to go beyond the traumatic upheaval of the ill-fated vacation in Sri Lanka in 2004.

The second book which came my way - this one purely by accident - is “What is the what” – also a survivor’s tale. This time the survivor on whose behalf the book was written by Dave Eggers, is Valentine Achak Deng – a refugee from the Sudan. The escapades of these thousands of people, and their experiences of being flushed out of their own territories like animals, if anything, makes even more horrific reading than “The Wave”. In the first instance we are  dealing with a natural catastrophe, one of those which belong in the category of “the Unavoidable,” whereas in the book on Valentine Deng’s life, we are looking at unmentionable crimes being committed on each other today, by human beings, in the name of political freedom.

Every day the press reinforces the brutality human beings experience at each others’ hands, in the form of rapes, violent physical torture which is hardly imaginable, and heartless dispossession of the poor, by people in power.  For years, in fact till recent times, I fear I have been a part of the tribe of individuals who never really allowed themselves to be affected too deeply by these criminal goings on. Of course it was possible to express the horror of it all but it was all done without allowing oneself to be overly affected by the depth of the crime and the brutality. It often is like that, because to really feel into a situation which defiles all human sensibility, is to be totally shaken, to be affected to the core. It is something that persists somehow in your feelings and thoughts over days and months, a feeling that develops into  deep sadness at the human situation and our disinclination to resolve our difficulties with each other in a heartfelt and fair manner. It is the kind of feeling which most of us would rather not experience because finally, no matter how far removed you are from the scene of a particular crime, it makes you super conscious of your own pettiness, your own flaws, or injustices you may have inflicted on others, even if occasionally. The moments of impatience,  of hurtful things said, of minor instances of misusing our power over those more disadavantaged than us in life.

We are all influenced to a smaller or greater extent by the society we live in, which is by its nature, exploitative and discriminating. But perhaps to allow ourselves to be deeply touched by what happens not only in our own lives but the lives of others, is what initiates change, simply by creating in us a willingness to listen to something outside of our own personal needs, or more accurately said, the needs of our egos.

The story of Valentine Achak Deng, of the young woman in Delhi who was raped and mauled by five men who threw her off the bus, of the farmers today who are driven to taking their own lives because of the screwed up system we live in, all these are stories if we honestly face them, with the capacity to pull us out of our daydreams of security and the good life which a few individuals have the luck to experience, but who knows for how long. Anger and indignation, while being a natural outcome of what we are experiencing today, and which are the most frequent reactions, are not enough to turn the world inside out and to bring about the peace we are looking for. To allow ourselves to feel the horror and shame of belonging to the kind of society we do, of having in however minor a way contributed to its existence and growth, even if only through ignorance, is only the first step in going beyond it and effecting a genuine transformation. But it is a necessary step.

 Uma

The Slow Transition From Dream To Reality

A little more than two years after we began to dream, think and talk about it, Neredu Valley has happened. A place where we can now really feel at home, doing our work, inviting friends and generally people who are moving in the same direction, to hang out with us, attend sessions on meditation, music, creativity, dance and bodywork, yoga; to talk late into the night and to drink in the silence of the boondocks when the spirit invites us to. A place to feel free to really explore the inner world, to look at each other afresh, to try and re-design the way we live together.

In 2012 July seven of us each bought an acre  of land, in this distant area of Andhra Pradesh, far from any hint of civilization. The world being what it is, of course this bit of unvisited Paradise was not to remain the way we imagined or wished it would. Before the first year was over, plans were being made by the A.P government to set up an entire wind farm in the region, across the string of hills, to generate electricity. Our first reaction was utter dismay at the unsightliness of the project and the noise it would generate along with the current. But after thrashing out the pro’s and cons we decided to go for it all the same.

It is far easier and more pleasant to dream than to turn a dream into reality. Not that you don’t already know how it is, but just for the record, those of us who were closely involved with the project faced our share of ups and downs too. Now with months of struggle, of disagreement, of scrounging around for funds, Neredu has become operational even if in a small and most basic way.

Last week Basicindia conducted the first workshop on the premises with thirteen people, to test the waters and much to everyone’s surprise the place was an instant hit with all who visited. Thanks to Sharat’s relentless efforts, and to our friends in the Swiss community as well as to a few friends in India  who contributed their money, energy and interest into making it happen, four units have been constructed – enough for a comfortable stay for a small group: a kitchen (the most important building!)  two dorms, one of which this time round was used for our sessions, a housing unit with two rooms and a large meditation hall (the temple of emptiness as our friend Samuel has named it) where many of the participants slept at night.

 

In the coming months we will have to gear up for larger groups when our friends from Switzerland arrive and for this purpose we will need a lot more help both from our Indian friends as well as those from abroad.

Keep in touch with us and do contribute what you are able to, in terms of interest, work, materials and equipment or money.

Write to: [email protected]

Lesson from the Woolwich Slaughter

This article was contributed by Suresh Velu

Governments have a responsibility to facilitate Mass-transformation of the Collective Human Mind to the Next Level of Understanding

“Imagine if you carried on believing in Santa and the tooth-fairy in adulthood. And even killed and started wars over it. Ha ha ha, imagine that!!!” says a whatsup message.

If we really look into it, the above statement is factually happening today! People are butchering, and blowing up people in the name of “Holy Books” written centuries ago.

The Brutal beheading and butchering of an English ex-Soldier in broad daylight on the streets of London by a Radical Extremist is the final call for the Governments of the World to wake up and take cognizance of how Stupidity can be contagious and can corrupt individual minds. The killer in this case was a Religious Extremist, and we can dismiss the case as another avatar of home-grown Terrorism wherein a Religious man had differing Political point of view and chose Violence to express his point.

But as I see it, there is more to it. It needs to be stressed here that the individual was influenced by radical interpretation of his religious book.

This literal interpretation of a Religious book is a cause of concern, and till we don’t take active steps as Nations, Governments and Civilized Societies to shoulder our responsibility to stop this increasing stupidity that is spreading like a contagious disease in our midst, we would meet the fate of Pakistan – a Nation that was once the backyard of sponsored Terrorist Islamic activity in other countries but is now crumbling under the weight of Terrorism on its own roads and borders.

So how do we expand human consciousness so that vulnerable youngsters like the killer in London, do not forfeit their innocence for some literal interpretation of some holy book?

To explore the matter, let us take into account a fundamental question about the Human Mind.

How close are our Psyche to the Occult?

For I am sure that deep within the recesses of our Unconscious, where dwell the primitive urges and instincts, also lies the key to the mysteries of that in the Universe which lies beyond our Conscious mind. These mysteries if revealed to more and more people on this planet can unleash a total transformation of life on earth, by expanding our Consciousness and increasing individual level of Understanding. Knowledge is the only path to freedom of the individual.

What is there to learn, but to recall?

However English, the universal language today in which majority of the scholarly class deal, in my experience, is bereft of words that could contain the intricacies of the Psyche and the Universe. Perhaps the same is true for all the languages of the world.

At times, Poetry helps us to unveil certain mysteries of our Existence or emotions when it speaks to us between the lines.

No wonder then that when we read the parables of Jesus from the Bible, or when we read the treatises of the East, or mystic writings of holy books, we find ourselves helpless, for we cannot much decipher the deep philosophical and metaphysical secrets contained in their words. Only an adept, or an expert who has practiced and progressed on the path of that Spiritual/ Religious Order can interpret the real meaning of the cryptic words contained in their religious books.

Also, there was a time when Scholarly mystic texts were hidden away from the common man, available only to the Shamans, and a privileged few. Of course then, we did not have the concept of Equality of all men.

For today, with the advent of the modern concept of ‘Equality of all men by birth’, there is an increasingly easy availability of religious texts and occult material in our bookshops and on the Internet. These once inaccessible knowledge is now available to everyone and anyone who is curious enough to explore the world of Secret Knowledge or the Occult.

While with the advent of Science, we have conveniently swept off everything and anything that cannot be measured by our conscious and rational mind, under the carpet, I am sure that by doing so, we have only narrowed our Perception, and taken away the Holistic Approach one needs to have while investigating the nature of Reality and the absolute Truth.

All the men and women, as also the killer in Woolwich go through the Existential dilemma at some point in life, and this is as true as the menopausal phase, which if left unsorted can have serious repercussions- for e.g. neurotic disorders, suicides, crime or falling in the trap of Extremist Religions that propagate intolerance and violence.

Development of a Free Mind and Fresh Inquiry into the Occult needs to be pursued by Governments and all communities. We need to dedicate ourselves to freeing the Human mind which is today largely caught up in the pursuit of material pleasures and is ignorant about the Mysteries of our psyche and the Supernatural. I believe that such inquiry is the only way to helping humankind get rid of the Rise of Religious Fundamentalism, Terrorism and Ignorance which is largely based on literal interpretation of the Holy books like Quran and the Bible.

 It is time for us to grow to the next level.