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1 | Gurukula E-Magazine

Contents 1

Gurukula Convention 2

Editorial

A keynote address 5

Guru Muni Narayana Prasad

Education, Root & Fruit 31

Educational Psychology in the Light of Narayana Guru’s Philosophy

Dr. Peter Oppenheimer

Himalaya by Kālidāsa 58

Nataraja Guru

Gurukula News 60 2 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

Gurukula Convention

The annual Narayana Gurukula Convention will be held from 23rd to 29th of +December at the Narayana Gurukula, Varkala. Preparations are already underway.

What is Gurukula Convention all about? The Convention is an occasion for those who are interested in studying the philosophy of Narayana Guru or his vision of life, including its value in living terms. For perusals and discussions to this end, people gather together every year for week. All participants are expected to spend the whole week at the Gurukula if they can.

To understand the nature of the Guru’s philosophy in all its deeper and broader implications, an attempt is also made to evaluate all the prevailing philosophies and religions; and these in turn to be understood in the light of the unique non-dual vision of the Guru. For this purpose, a group of scholars present papers covering a set of specially chosen topics, which then can be subjected to detailed discussions. These papers are delivered in seminars spread out through the period of the Convention. Over and above the seminars, Muni Narayana Prasad will give talks based on the Vedānta Sūtras of Narayana Guru every morning after the customary and symbolic fire sacrifice is made. Prayer gatherings and discourses are given every evening. Finally, there will be light entertainments given at night.

The studies made in the seminars are intended not merely to compare the various philosophies and religions of the world. It is crucial to realize in doing so that Reality Itself is always one, in spite of the variety of theories, philosophies and beliefs that concern It. This Reality can be but one because it concerns the world which itself but one. One world can only have one Reality underlying it.

Of course comparative studies are regularly being held in most universities and some āśrams in India. Such studies should help us develop clearer ideas about the teachings of each religion or school of thought, and yield an understanding of what realms of life they respectively deal with, where they find common ground, and where they differ. Yet Narayana Guru’s vision is unique in that it has another dimension. It goes beyond the bounds of all existing religions and schools of thought, as it perceives the one Reality as the Reality within oneself, as the Self. It gives no room for any difference of opinion about what Reality is.

The Guru reveals the nature of this vision in his most important philosophical poems Ātmopadeśa Śatakam (One Hundred Verses of Self- Instruction), Darśana Māla (Garland of Visions), Aṛivu (Consciousness Examined), Advaita Dīpika (Lamp of Non- Duality), Vedānta Sūtras (Aphorisms on Vedanta), Brahmavidyā Panckam (Science of the Absolute in Five Verses), and also various hymns, which altogether number sixty-two. 3 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

Narayana Guru’s vision is avowedly of the non-dual Reality. But it is not the philosophy of non-dualism we see in the traditionally available Vedanta text books about non-dualism, where it is treated as one among the various schools of thought. All of them attempt to condemn the stands of the other schools, and try to prove that advaita alone is the genuine philosophy. Such text books also are meant to help us develop a clearly conceivable notion about the ultimate Reality, as can also be seen done in the textbooks of other schools, of both the East and West. But quite different is the vision we arrive at upon when pondering contemplatively over the words of the Guru. A clear and definite understanding is not what these words take us to. Though the method resorted to is clear, distinct, conceivable, and rather scientific, the conclusion we land upon is the mahas (mysterious and charming Brightness) that is Reality. The seeker finds himself lost in the being of that Brightness-Reality; finding himself speechless to express It. Thus the words of the teaching reach him and resound within him in a state brimming of meaningful Silence. Similar expressions of this unique non-dual vision can be found in a few of the Upaniṣads and also in certain Tamil Vedantic texts like Oḻuvil Odukkam (The Remainder after Negating), as well as in the words of certain mystics. When the Bible expresses God’s name with the statement, “I am That I am”, the meaning of that Great Silence could be heard re- echoed.

The Guru himself states conclusively towards the end of his Ātmopadeśa Śatakam, “Without directly experiencing, this cannot be known, the stuff of pure consciousness, the Silence-filled ocean of immortal Bliss.” This experiential level of understanding, or no understanding, is beyond the reach of any recognized method of thinking and pramāṇas (valid means of knowledge), and is even beyond the bounds mental conception and verbal expression. Upon reaching there, we will perceive intuitively how all the theories of Reality taught by various schools of philosophy and sciences, and by the various religions, do find together their non-difference in the all- inclusiveness of this non-dual vision. Put otherwise, even the multiplicity of religions and schools of thought lose their discreetness in the non-dual Consciousness-Reality. This one Consciousness-Reality in its functional state, as we know, finds expression as the world’s various theories, philosophies, arts, sciences, religions, and all other disciplines. As such, this Consciousness-Reality is merely experienced in oneself as pure Brightness in essence. It is by keeping this always in mind that the scheme of studies for the Seminars is formulated and how the studies progress.

Anyone interested in such a study is welcome to join this programme. The only conditions are that they should find time to participate in the studies themselves, and regularly participate in the three series of seminars conducted every year—one at Ooty in April, one at Kanakamala (Thalassery) in October, and one in December at Varkala. As the seminar is primarily meant to be a learning experience, there is no 4 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e point in a person merely presenting a paper and immediately leaving. Listening to the papers of others and holding discussions, formally or informally, are also what is meant by participation.

Anyone from the public who is interested in being present during these deliberations is also welcome to participate in the Gurukula Convention. Of course, there will be certain inconveniences natural with the camp-style life that will be going on during the week. Food and meagre accommodations will be available at the Gurukula premises. Food from the kitchen of the Gurukula during these days will be shared with the local people in the hundreds. Those who prefer to have more convenience can arrange for hotel accommodation in the Varkala Town.

For greater ease, we would greatly appreciate that everyone informs us in advance of their arrival. Contact numbers for doing so are: 0470-2602398; 9037755310; 9446708545.

Muni Narayana Prasad

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A keynote address

(Delivered by Guru Muni Narayana Prasad at The Indian Institute Of Advanced Study Conference on ‘The Philosophy, Vision And Work Of Narayana Guru’ as An Instrument of an Egalitarian Society at Shimla on 7th June, 2011.)

Introduction

Himalayas, the top of the world, is where we are gathered together now. This land is traditionally well known as the abode of ṛṣis. Ṛṣis, means “seer”, a ṛṣi is a seer of Reality. The ṛṣis and their eternally valuable words of wisdom are wherein India’s hoary culture is firmly rooted. The great poet Kālidāsa poetically imagines this land to be the boundless source of gems (ananta-ratna-prabhāva). What was in his mind could be the gems of wisdom, which in no way was scare in this fertile land. The words of the sage-bards Vyāsa and Vālmiki are of that order. Narayana Guru, born in South India in 1854, was more than a continuator of this glorious tradition. He re-polished this wisdom-gem and presented it to the world in all its pristine brightness, beauty and value.

The purpose of this gathering is to probe the extent and nature of this cleansing of the wisdom-gem done by Narayana Guru, and to see how he applied this wisdom in finding remedies to the social evils then existing in Kerala, and to explore the possibility of applying the same wisdom to deal with the social problems presently prevalent in India and the world. 6 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

Narayana Guru is now well known all through Kerala, but is usually categorized as a social reformer. This has happened because most of the learned people who speak and write about the Guru are simply socially or politically minded. Even among those who vehemently stick to honouring him as a social reformer, there are some who think that he was not radical enough as a social activist. He appears to be so only because he never gave up being an enlightened master nor did he lose the natural inner peacefulness this brought. Such admirers do not feel the necessity of dwelling deep into the clarity of the grand vision of Reality the Guru had when he kindled and brought about the very same unprecedented social changes they are glorifying. Because of their aggrandizing of the Guru for this reason, he is known, if at all in North India, merely as a social reformer. Even if a spiritual dimension is given to the life and work of Narayana Guru, it is usually as the guru of a particular community.

Those who are religiously devout consider Narayana Guru as god-incarnate, and thus they sanctify and worship him, with no awareness of what he taught. In this age of politicization of religions, Narayana Guru is often considered by some simply as a much- learned Hindu sannyasin and a scholar of Advaita Vedanta and appropriated into different political camps. Those who are interested in literature, see in him a poet par excellence. All such admirers, so to say, consciously or not, are quite ignorant of the Guru’s noble wisdom and the grand vision of life that made him proclaim his most important motto “One in Kind, One in Faith, One in God is man (oru jāti, oru matam, oru daivam manuṣyanu). At the same time, there are also a few who see in him an enlightened Master, whose vision is timeless and all-encompassing.

In this seminar, we are making an attempt to understand the nature of Narayana Guru’s all-embracing, timeless, transparent vision of Reality; how he applied this vision to actual human life situations, and in what manner present generations can use the Guru’s vision as an instrument to build an egalitarian society.

Generally speaking, wisdom helps humans to attain liberation in life. This attainment can be seen to have two facets. One is the sense of liberation felt within. In this experience of liberation, one finds oneself having gone beyond all dualities such as happiness and suffering, success and failure, being and non-being and even cause and effect. Such a state of attainment is portrayed by the Guru, in the concluding verse of his Ātmopadeśa śatakam, as a very gentle experience:

Neither that nor this am I, Nor the meaning content of existence; But sat-cit-amṛta (Being – Consciousness-Immortality) am I 7 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

Attaining this lucidity, emboldened, With no attachment to being and non-being, Let one gently gently merge into sat AUM. The Guru’s interest in the other facet of attaining liberation is poetically represented in verse 12 of his “Subrahmaṇya Kīrtanam”. The verse, translated, reads as follows:

Evidently vanished is The moonlight, and the sun risen, Making the moon disappear. Let us wait to be guided. To the transcendental space brilliant. Alas! Are these people sick? Or, are they sleeping, drunk? O, Wake up, wake up! Act at once; It is time now to have a deep dip in the river!

Many are the disciples of Narayana Guru, who enjoyed the former aspect of liberation. Being a purely personal experience, this aspect of the value of wisdom taught by the Guru naturally did not find place in the annals of history. It was not so with the other aspect, which is directly reflected in the social attitudes and behavior of humans. Being social animals, humans may, at certain junctures of history, feel stifled by many social prejudices, restrictions and discrimination, many of these having some questionable religious sanction. There were many such during the time of Narayana Guru, particularly in Kerala. Straightening these out and showing humans their own dignity, required, on the one hand, an inner clarity of the complexity of the situation, and on the other, a compassionate willingness to see the sufferings of fellow humans as one’s own, as well as a practical sagacity to arrive at a readily acceptable solution. Narayana Guru had all these traits; he could even bring to such situations a welcome touch of humour. This facet of the Guru’s application of wisdom and its value to dealing with social problems found an important place in the annals of the history of Kerala, and that is mainly the reason why he is often described a social reformer of the cadre of an Ambedkar or a Raja Ram Mohan Roy.

Even as all such evaluations exist, the real Guru remains incomprehensible and unapproachable to these evaluators, as the Guru makes it clear himself in a humorous way, in the guise of his praise of Paśupati: 8 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

Not knowing well who Pati is, O my Pati, many a seeker here Do meander in search of you, Confounded and reaching not Anywhere, for undue contentions, Not noticing you as they go around. Such was the nature of the wisdom of which he was an embodiment.

A Brief Life-Sketch

Like Bādarāyaṇa, Narayana Guru was also born into the lower strata of the caste-ridden social order of India. We may feel it to be a mystery that the two most prominent figures in Indian spirituality-- Vyāsa and Vālmiki--came from the lowest rungs in the Indian caste system. This was also the case with Narayana Guru, who can be considered the Bādarāyaṇa or Vyāsa of the Twentieth Century.

Narayana Guru was born in the village of Chempaḻanti, on the outskirts of Trivandrum, then the capital of the princely State of Travancore, and now the capital of Kerala. The year was 1854, and the birth took place during the night of the last day of Onam, the state festival of Kerala. His father was Madan Āsān, who taught in a single-teacher school. He was born when the matriarchal system prevailed in Kerala and hence, the family affairs were taken care of by his uncle Kṛṣṇan Vaidyar, an Ayurvedic physician. His primary education in his own village was Sanskrit-based.

Naughty Nāṇu

Even as a boy, Narayana Guru, or Nāṇu, as he was called, showed signs of his inclination towards spirituality while being a radical reformist; he showed in his own childish way, how caste discriminations are meaningless. Once, a wandering sannyasin arrived at his village, his unkempt appearance prompted the village boys to taunt him and pelt him with stones. Nāṇu also was amongst them, but instead of doing the same, he began to weep. The sannyasin noticed this and, “Why are you crying?” to which Nāṇu’s reply was “Because I am unable to stop them harassing you.” These words touched the heart of the sannyasin and lifting Nāṇu onto his shoulders, he told him to direct him to his house. When they reached there, the sannyasin set the boy down on the ground in front of the mother and then said, “This boy will grow up to be a great man”.

On another day, Nāṇu was walking past the humble hut of a member of the lowest caste; he noticed a cooking pot boiling over. The rules of caste did not allow Nāṇu - himself belonging to a low caste - to enter this house, but seeing no one there 9 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e to remove the boiling pot from the fire, Nāṇu went in and did so without hesitation. He could not bear the thought of the poor family being left without anything to eat. Just then the housewife walked in. She could not believe what Nāṇu had done and immediately reported it to his mother. When Nāṇu reached home, his mother refused to allow him to enter without taking a bath to ‘cleanse’ him of the pollution caused by touching an untouchable. Nāṇu ran over to his mother and touched her as well. This meant she also ended up having to bathe. Thereafter, this became one of Nāṇu’s regular pranks.

Once, his mother worshipfully placed in a secluded room a good meal served on a plantain leaf, as a part of the rituals of ancestor worship. Nāṇu went into the room and ate it; when his mother caught him and questioned him, his answer was, “If I am pleased, our ancestors will also be pleased.” Such was the radical nature of the young Nāṇu.

One day, a member of the joint family died. Nāṇu saw all the relatives particularly women, sitting together and lamenting loudly. The cremation was over; the very next day, he saw the same relatives preparing and eating a feast, laughing and talking all the while. This behaviour of the relatives puzzled and disturbed Nāṇu – he went off into the wilderness and began to meditate on questions that formed in his mind “The bonds of human relationship are so weak. What is life? What is death? What is birth? Why do we become sad when someone dies? Should we do so? Nothing is clear.” This was the beginning of his long-time search for an answer to such questions, and his enlightenment was a finalized answer.

A budding poet

Grazing cows in the nearby jungle area was one of the daily duties of Nāṇu. One day his uncle noticed him singing a beautiful song, when he asked whose composition it was, Nāṇu said he was simply singing a song he had made up by himself. The uncle saw in him a budding poet needing encouragement. So he decided to send him for higher education in Sanskrit.

The school found out was in Kayamkulam, nearly a hundred kilometres north of Chempaḻanti. It was a single-teacher school run by a scholar named Kummampilli Rāman Pillai Āsān. Free boarding facility was also found in the nearby rich joint family of ‘Vāraṇappally’. When Nāṇu was leaving home, his uncle offered him some money. He humbly refused to accept it, saying, “A family losing one of its members and its wealth together is not fair.” Raman Pillai Āsān, though belonging to a caste group higher than the one to which Nāṇu belonged, was willing to teach any competent student regardless of his caste. Still, in the class room, the upper caste students were allowed to sit on planks, while those of the lower castes were seated on palm leaves. 10 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

Unaware of this, Nāṇu on the first day sat on a plank. The upper caste students came and asked him to get up and to move to the palm leaf seat. Nāṇu, while complying, asked them “Could you please tell me from which side I should breathe in air?” The Āsān (teacher) realized how gifted Nāṇu was, and allowed him to attend any class he liked.

The first poem

Later, one day Nāṇu was found in a state of trance, finally falling down. The teacher afterwards asked him what was happening to him. The reply was in the form of a verse surcharged with mystical ecstasy. This is the first fragment of the poetry of Narayana Guru recovered to date. Translated, it reads as follows:

All repeated becoming has ceased, The phenomenal world having disappeared in sat, The ambrosial inner murmurings Also having died out, One beaming lamp-flame alone Shines, all splendor everywhere! The veil of māyā is removed, And within the gem-like setting shines He whose body’s bluish luster Is like a just-bloomed kalaya flower, And the neck of Him shines well In the radiance of the kaustubha gem, In His divine festivity!

Evidently what he visualized was the glorious form of Vishnu. Nāṇu could not complete his higher education as he was compelled to return home due to serious illness.

Nāṇu Āsān and Nāṇu Bhaktan

Back home, he became himself the teacher of a single-teacher school. Thereafter, he began to be known as Nāṇu Āsan, (Nāṇu the teacher). In the meanwhile, his close relatives arranged for his marriage and it was held in proxy, his sister going and performing the ceremony in his place. Not much is known about the wedded life. One day, Nāṇu told his wife, “Everyone comes to this world with a 11 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e specific role to perform. Mine is different from yours. Let me leave home.” And he immediately did so.

Thereafter, his life was that of a wandering seeker. Not much is known about this stage of his life. From his indications later, it is presumed that he spent his days along with the fisher-folk of the coastal area, and travelled widely in Tamilnadu. When he begged for alms, he made certain that it in no way affected the daily needs of the family; it is said that he had sustained himself even by eating the rice thrown out into cattle-feed-buckets. People began to call him Nāṇu Bhaktan (Pious Nāṇu).

Chattampi Swami

During Nāṇu’s early wanderings, he was influenced by Kuñjan Pillai Chattampi, popularly known as Chattampi Swami. He had been a ‘chattampi ‘or monitor of the Sanskrit school, which Nāṇu had attended to finish a course in Sanskrit rhetoric. Later, Chattampi Swami became an elder brother and a companion in Nāṇu’s wanderings. In fact, this senior companion - who represented the solid native wisdom of the soil – was at the heart of a renaissance in literary, cultural and spiritual realms in the Travancore of the early nineties. Chattampi Swami recognized early the potential of Nāṇu and consciously encouraged him to unfold and open out, by intelligent and authoritative guidance and thus helped the shy, young and retiring Nāṇu. “One of the early compositions of the Guru called “Navamanjari”, begins by noting that it was written at the instance of the “śiśu-nāma-guru”, which is the Sanskrit designation for the name “Kuñjan Pillai”. Chattampi Swami also introduced Nāṇu to Thaikkattu Ayyāvu, an expert in Hatha Yoga, which also he practiced for some time.

After a few years of this unknown wandering life, Narayana Guru was found undergoing tapas (austere self-enquiry) in a cave at the top of the hill Maruthvamalai, situated at the tail end of the Western Ghats, near Kanyakumari. Once in a while, he would go to the downhill to beg alms; mostly he survived on the roots, leaves and clear water available on the hill top. Legend goes that once he woke up from a long meditation at midnight and felt very hungry, but had no way to get anything to eat in that darkness, and at that moment, an old leper appeared with a packet of pounded rice and water, which both of them partook of, and then the old man disappeared into the darkness.

Nāṇu at that stage began to be called Nāṇu-siddhan by the villagers; they began to approach him with their worries and problems, asking for solution. While living at Maruthvamalai, he composed one hundred verses praising Śiva. This work is known as “Śiva Śatakam”. Perhaps because he preferred a lonelier place undisturbed by villagers, he disappeared from this area before long.

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Aruvippuram

Thereafter, some cowherd boys of Aruvipuram, a riverside wild area near the town Neyyattinkara, about twenty kilometers south of Trivandrum, noticed the presence of a yogi lost in meditation in a cave by the side of the rapids of the river Neyyar. It was Narayana Guru. When not in meditation, he would ask one of the boys if he could bring him some tapioca baked in embers and the boy would readily bring it and offer it to Guru. What was he meditating on? Was it a practice of some technique of concentrating? The answer to these questions can be gleaned from the one hundred verses in Malayalam he wrote as an expression of the outcome of the fulfillment of his prolonged tapas. This work was later published with the title Ātmopadeśa Śatakam (One Hundred Verses of Self Instruction). In it, Narayana Guru presents his philosophy in his own original way, adopting a methodology in sync with that of modern science.

The boy - Keśava Pillai- who had offered Narayana Guru roasted tapioca, later became his first disciple and was renamed Śivalingadāsa Swami. Slowly, Narayana Guru began to appear in public. The local people began to approach him seeking solutions to their personal problems as well as certain social issues. Their main common complaint was that the prevailing caste system did not permit them to offer worship in temples. Their children were denied admission to schools for the same reason.

These overhanging problems made the Guru think of finding a solution in the light of his attainment of non-dual vision and the way out that he selected was not to fight religious orthodoxy, but to find an acceptable and creative alternative: open new temples that did not discriminate against anyone, and encourage people to start new schools, which admitted children in the same way.

Narayana Guru readily agreed to start a new temple at Aruvipuram itself. The installation of the deity was to be performed by himself, because his state of enlightenment gave him the confidence of being fully competent to carry out an assignment that had so far been the monopoly of those born as caste Brāhmins.

The deity (Śiva-liṃga) was simply a piece of oblong rock the Guru had selected from the depths of the river. It was to be installed on another flat rock on the river bank, over which a temporary, decorated roof was erected. It was the Śivarātri night of 1889. Thousands of peasants and villagers gathered there to witness the unusual event. To some of those present, it all seemed strange and suspicious. Nataraja Guru describes this scene as follows:

He (the Guru) stood in the centre, his face eloquent with expression and with eyes lifted in silent prayer: “Let increased blessing come! Let the poor and needy be comforted! Let them prosper and let not their daily bread fail them 13 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

from day to day! May they learn to be truthful and seek ways of happiness each in co-operation with the other! May they learn to be cleaner day by day! Let all hatred and dissention vanish from among them! Let them learn to respect the feelings of the least little creature of God! Let at least a portion of the Great Truth dawn on them and bring them consolation. Such was the compassionate mind of the Guru as he installed the deity with tears! (Nataraja Guru, The Word of the Guru)

This was a revolutionary step that Narayana Guru had taken. Though his authority as an enlightened one could not openly be questioned by anyone, a murmur of protest prevailed for some time among the orthodox Brāhmins, who considered themselves to be the only ones entitled to undertake installation of idols. When he heard of it, the Guru’s simple response was, “It is not a Namboodiri (Brāhmin) Śiva that we installed”.

A permanent temple was later built around the deity and in course of time an āśram and a school grew around it. It was here that the Guru put up the legendary sign, that said: An ideal place this is Where all live in brotherhood, With no caste discrimination And also no religious hatred. On one of those days Dr. Palpu, then working as the Chief Medical Officer in Mysore state, visited the Guru. Though born in Trivandrum, he was being denied a government job in Travancore state because he belonged to a low caste. Dr. Palpu was visiting the Guru to present before him the case of those belonging to the lower strata of the caste system being denied the opportunity to get an education, to be employed in government services, to enter temples and even the ordinary human rights like that of walking freely along thoroughfares. Dr. Palpu had first approached Swami Vivekananda with this problem, whose opinion was that only a movement supported by a person of spiritual authority, living in Kerala would succeed in such matters. Narayana Guru was such a person, of unquestionable authority. The Guru was very sympathetic to the movement that the doctor had in his mind. The Guru’s idea was that an organization should be formed in which, all, with no caste discrimination joined together for their spiritual and worldly betterment. The popular organization thus formed was named Sree Narayana Dharma Paripālana Yogam (The organization to uphold the dharma of Sree Narayana Guru). The poet Kumaran Āsan, who by that time had become one of the Guru’s disciples, became its first General Secretary. Educated volunteers of the organization travelled across Kerala and enlightened 14 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e people about the crucial need for self-respect, self-effort, education, economic growth, cleanliness, piety and spiritual awakening. The organization initiated the setting up of schools and temples at various places. This movement triggered a sort of gradual social change in Kerala. When this body in due course, degenerated into the organization of a particular community – something the Guru never intended it to be – he dissociate himself from its activities. As a result of the growth of the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripālana Yogam, other communities also followed suit and set up organizations that undertook similar activities, resulting in a general re-awakening in society. The general social change was energized by the educational movement initiated by Christian institutions. The SNDP is the largest social body in Kerala.

At least some of the followers of the Guru have nurtured the idea that the Guru gave up the path of tapas and spiritual enlightenment, and came down into society simply in order to reform it, especially to uplift the downtrodden. This is not true – Narayana Guru never gave up his tapas and the life of active wisdom, as is evident from his later philosophical works and way of life; on the other hand, his enlightened state made it impossible not to perceive himself in everyone and everyone in his own being, and to see everyone’s suffering as his own and this compassion of the Guru was not confined to the downtrodden, but spread its rays equally towards all beings.

The best way that the Guru prescribed, for eliminating casteism from society is the negative way of “Ask not, think not, speak not, of caste” because the emergence of this evil phenomenon in society is caused by the ignorance of people, a negative state of knowledge. He also suggested a variety of other actions in order to rid society of the caste limitations such as inter-caste marriages. Guru also suggested to never put caste identities in official records, but ironically, this is now becoming more impractical because of the reservation rights that backward communities enjoy!

Śivagiri

After sometime, Narayana Guru felt that his presence was no longer needed for the progressive existence of the institution at Aruvipuram- his first child, and he decided to leave, but the compelling force for his leaving was, as always, his natural love for secludedness and wandering.

He then found solitude in the hillock now called Śivagiri, not far from the Varkala Cliffs. Slowly an āśram grew up in Śivagiri also. Again, his days became busy with more visitors and even groups of people requesting him to install new temples at their places. This movement resulted in the coming up of eighty such new temples across Kerala and outside. At Śivagiri itself he took initiative to establish a new temple of the Goddess of Wisdom (Saraswati or Śārada). The simplicity and attractiveness of these temples as well as the deities indicate his innate sense of beauty. 15 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

Aluva

At the Śivagiri āśram also many came to become disciples; some outcaste boys were also admitted as inmates. As this āśram also became a busy place with many temple-worshippers and devotees visiting the Guru, he set off to find another quiet place to stay. This time it was a piece of land on the banks of the river Periyar in Aluva that he chose as his abode. He named the new āśram, ‘Advaita Āśram ’reminiscent of his affiliation to the great Śankara, whose birth place was not far from Aluva. The intention behind this was that this āśram should be a purely contemplative centre, with no temple.

Narayana Guru’s 60th birthday was celebrated all over Kerala with much éclat by his disciples and followers. The great poet Rabindranatha Tagore visited him at Śivagiri in 1922. Two years later, Mahātmā Gandhi also visited him there. It was after this visit that Gandhiji decided to include eradication of social caste discrimination as a policy of Indian National Congress; he even changed the name of his newspaper ‘Navajeevan’, into ‘Harijan’ (God’s Children) indicative of his change of mind.

Narayana Guru took an innovative step in the context of installing idols, when he had a big mirror with the words “Om shanti” inscribed on it installed in a new temple, in the place of the idol. In another temple, he installed a plaque with the words, “Om Satyam, Dharmam, Daya, Śanti”. In another temple, the idol was a lit oil lamp, signifying the brightness of wisdom. The Guru was well aware that the existing rivalry among religions was caused by the ignorance of people about the real wisdom taught in one’s own religion as well as in others. Intending to make this clear to the people, he organized, in 1924, a Parliament of Religions at his āśram in Aluva, the first of its kind in the history of Asia. He had written, in bold letters, at the entrance to the venue: “Not to argue and win, but to know and let know.” And at the conclusion of the Parliament he gave the message to the people, “All should learn all religions.”

Narayana Guru was well aware that it was ignorance and absence of thoughtfulness of the people that caused improper social customs, caste prejudices and superstitions. So he encouraged people to establish more and more schools. He gave equal importance to traditional Sanskrit education and modern English education – establishing a Sanskrit school at Aluva and an English school at Śivagiri. Along with teaching pure Wisdom, he encouraged people to work towards economic self-advancement through agriculture, trade and cottage industries. He went to the extent of starting a weaving center as part of the āśram at Śivagiri itself.

In 1918 and 1923, Narayana Guru, with some of his disciples visited Sri Lanka. His disciple, P. Natarajan M.A., L.T (later Nataraja Guru), started the new institution 16 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

“Narayana Gurukula” in 1923. Its sole goal is imparting the Wisdom teaching revealed by Narayana Guru and showing the world how this wisdom can applied in the actual life of mankind. Narayana Guru had himself taken the first step towards such a continuity of teaching, when he sent his disciple, Natarajan to Europe for higher studies - the intention could have been that only such a disciple would be capable enough to re-present his wisdom in a way understandable to the mindset of the Age of Science.

In 1928, Narayana Guru founded a body of his sannyasin-disciples to carry the body of Wisdom he had shaped to future generation, and to take care of all the properties and charitable institutions that had grown around him. This body is now known as “Sree Narayana Dharma Saṃgham Trust.”

Narayana Guru attained mahasamādhi on the September 21, 1928, at Śivagiri. His birthday and Samādhi day are both state holidays in Kerala.

Works

Narayana Guru was a born poet of the classic style. Equally free with the three languages, Sanskrit, Malayalam, and Tamil, he showed his poetic genius only in the fields related to spirituality. Thus in one way his works could be classified language- wise as Sanskrit, Malayalam and Tamil. His Sanskrit works number 18, Malayalam works 39, and Tamil works, 5. Topic-wise, they can be classified into hymns, philosophical poems, works of moral import, translations and prose works. Most of the hymns praising Vināyaka, Viṣṇu, Śiva, Devi or Subrahmaṇya, were written on the occasion of installing deities in newly-founded or renovated temples or at related events. While praising the concerned deities, all the hymns are soaked in a non- dualistic vision either directly or through poetic suggestions.

Narayana Guru’s most important philosophical work in Malayalam is Ātmopadeśa Śatakam (One Hundred Verses of Self-Instruction). His analysis of the functions of an individualized consciousness, by classifying them as sama (the same) and anya (the other), as far as I know, is an original contribution to philosophy in general and Indian Philosophy in particular.

Yet another exposition of various aspects of consciousness as the essential content of Advaita Vedanta, are seen in his unparalleled work Aṛivu (Consciousness Examined).

Other aspects of the functional self-manifestation of Consciousness, both individually and universally, and ranging from the grossest level of material experiences to the subtlest level of turīya experience, are explicated in his Sanskrit work Darśana-Māla (Garland of Visions). He wrote this thoroughgoing Sanskrit text 17 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e on Vedanta at the request of certain of his disciples. It adopts a hitherto unused method to expound the philosophy of non-dualism. It is the method of visualizing the non-dual Reality from ten different philosophical vantage points. These visions are strung together to form a sort of garland that then allows the seeker - who adorns himself/herself with this garland - to intuitively and experientially attain the non-dual state with these ten visions as indicators.

These details will be gone into in the papers presented here.

Narayana Guru’s other philosophical works are ‘Brahmavidyā-Pancakam” (The Science of Brahman in Five Verses), “Advita-Dīpika” (Lamp of Non-duality), “Daiva- Daśakam” (Ten verses on God), “”Homa-Mantram (a Chant for Fire-Sacrifice), and Vedanta-Sūtras. Of these, the last one deserves special mention.

Various schools of Vedanta took shape as a result of the different ways in which one and the same Brahma-Sūtras of Bādarāyaṇa were interpreted by different ācāryas. Their bhāṣyas have created dismaying confusion in the minds of the open-minded seekers who rely on Brahma-Sūtras to learn Vedanta. Narayana Guru also could have written a new commentary of his own on Bādarāyaṇa’s Brahma-Sūtras. Such a commentary would only have made the situation all the more confused. Moreover, writing commentaries on any existing sourcebook was foreign to his way of thinking and style of writing. He chose instead to write a new Vedanta Sūtras text to reveal the essential content of Vedanta with no room for differing interpretations. He did this in twenty-four simple Sūtras (aphorisms). Narayana Guru’s Vedanta Sūtras is the first written sutra text on Vedanta since the time of the ancient ṛṣi, Bādarāyaṇa. He could thus be counted as the Bādarāyaṇa of the Age of Science. The Guru also translated the first four sections of Tiru Valluvar’s Tirukkural from Tamil to Malayalam, and the Iśavāsya Upaniṣad from Sanskrit to Malayalam. His short prose works are five in number.

The English translation of his complete works is now available in print with The National Book Trust of India, and the English translation with commentaries of all the philosophical poems, published both by D.K.Printworld, New Delhi and Narayana Gurukula, Varkala, Kerala.

The Philosophy of Narayana Guru

What was the essential content of the wisdom that enlightened Narayana Guru, which he taught through his various philosophical poems and hymns, and to a few disciples, directly? 18 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

The eternal questions that all philosophy tries to answer are: “Who am I?” and “Whence this World?” A clear answer to these questions ultimately becomes a clear awareness of the meaning of life.

“I” being an integral part of the whole, what is ultimately real in “me” or the real essential content of oneself has to be the same as that of the whole world, or all the worlds. Therefore, the best, and easiest way to know what is the ultimate Reality from which the world emerged, is to search for what is ultimately Real in oneself. Knowing oneself is a search inwardly-directed.

When everything that is considered as “mine”, such as “my body”, “my senses”, and “my soul” etc. is set aside, what remains is only consciousness: that to which all these belong is simply a consciousness. And the realization is born that “I am, thus, consciousness in essence.”

By adopting an experimental method, Narayana Guru also arrives at the very same conclusion, as is portrayed in his Ātmopadeśa Śatakam. The experimental situation is that of two persons sitting in a dark room. Suspecting the presence of someone else, one asks, “Who are you, sitting there?” “I”, the other man replies, and in turn asks, “Who are you?” to which the first replies “I.” The datum collected from this experiment is that both give one and the same answer “I”. What follows is a set of calculations and deductions to arrive at the nature of this common “I”, that arrive at a new definition of “I” or ātmā, which is:

“That which is conscious of itself Even when in darkness, is the “ātmā.” It is pure Consciousness And it manifests itself as all names and forms As all mental faculties and senses, As all karmas and their doers. So and behold! What a great magic all this is!” To arrive at this conclusion, Narayana Guru makes use of the method of analysis most popular in modern science. He summarizes in his Advaita Dīpika (Verse -3) thus:

“Cloth is nothing but yarn; Yarn is nothing but fiber; Fiber is nothing but primeval Elements clinging together; 19 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

Thus searched for on and on, Reveals that everything becomes apparent Out of one Consciousness, And are like water seen Flowing in desert land. Ultimately what exists thus Is Consciousness alone”. This basic stand is seen in all the Guru’s works, whether philosophical poems, hymn or other. Underscoring this stand, at the very middle of the Ātmopadeśa Śatakam, he says;

Earth, water, air, fire and space And likewise the I-sense, knowledge and mind, Along with waves and ocean And more, all the worlds, All become sublimated and attain the status Of being pure Consciousness”. This Consciousness-Reality is what assumes the form of myself as well as the world I perceive, from the subtlest of all phenomena - the life-principle in me - to the gross phenomenon of the physical body, as well as the entire body of the endless physical world. Phenomena like the life principle and mind are the subtle manifest forms (bhāna) of the Consciousness-Reality, while the physical objects are the gross manifest forms of the same.

The How of the World

How does the Consciousness-Reality appear in this manner? The answer is that this happens because of the indomitable and mysterious creative urge, called māyā, inherent in that one Reality. The assuming of these bodies is also a sort of veil that hides the Reality from view, causing the mistaking of apparent phenomena as real. Therefore a true seeker has to overcome this māyā to intuitively perceive the Reality: perceive oneself as Consciousness in essence.

The Why of the World

The next major question is, “Why does this world continue to emerge from the one Consciousness-Reality?” The simplest answer is that it is for the sheer joy of seeing for Itself the actualization of the immense potential hidden within the one all- inclusive Consciousness Reality. How this happens is an ineffable mystery. Perhaps 20 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e we can seek to understand it by comparing it to a small child at play, when left alone in an open yard. The child creates many things and destroys it immediately to make something else. Why does it do so? Simply for the joy of seeing actualized the creative potential within. The child does not like any interference of grown-ups. In fact, it is the one Consciousness Reality functioning in the child that makes it do all this. Seen in its universal aspect, the innate urge to see the potential hidden within Itself, the Consciousness-Reality brings them out one by one and revels in enjoyment – resulting in a never-ending appearance of the changeful world. Narayana Guru makes this clear in his Ātmopadeśa Śatakam as follows:

“Pure Consciousness (ātmā) In order to actualize the potentials hidden within, Transforms Itself, assuming the forms Of various specific manifestations such as earth. Like the glowing figures seen from a spiraling fire-stick As it turns up and down And round, back and forth, Making many an apparent form emerge. (Verse 33) Put otherwise, the entire world, the phenomenon of life in the world, our own lives, the ups and downs in it, are all nothing more than “ …a divine sport going on beginningless in the one pure Consciousness”, as the Guru himself portrays in following verses. Consciousness or Ātmā enjoys its own sportive self-display. In other words, by doing so Ātmā enjoys its own Ānanda (Happiness) content, by actualizing it.

Here Narayana Guru, fully agrees with the traditional definition of Ātmā as sat- cit-ānanda. As Consciousness in essence, It is cit. Being the one all-underlying eternal Substance, It is sat or Existence. Always experienced as Happiness, It is ānanda also, in essence.

It is the very same Consciousness-Reality that functions in all of us, finding self- expression as all of us. What we need, then is perceiving everything that forms part of our life - ups and downs, happiness and suffering, success and failure - as part of the divine sport of the one and only Reality. Sport is always to be enjoyed, never to be fretted over, nor lamented for. We need to learn to view our own life as such a sportive self-display of Ātmā. 21 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

A comprehensive vision of our own lives, including the problems of birth and death, and the meaning content of our own existence, is portrayed poetically in verse 53 of the Ātmopadeśa Śatakam as follows:

Individual forms, like waves in the ocean, Emerge in sequence, and so do they merge. When will this process come to an end? Oh, this is nothing but the karma going on In the ocean of primal Consciousness! We then intuitively perceive one Ātmā alone existing manifestly although our lives. This itself is the ultimate Liberation one can achieve in life. It is Liberation to be achieved living here and now rather than to be attained after death. This final attainment of Liberation in life is portrayed by the Guru in the concluding verse of the Ātmopadeśa Śatakam quoted at the very beginning, which I prefer to quote once again here:

“Neither that nor this am I, Nor the meaning content of existence, But sat-cit-amṛta (Being-Consciousness Immortality) am I – Attaining this lucidity, emboldened, With no attachment to being and non-being, Let one gently gently merge into sat AUM. The Essence of Advaita What then is the essence of advaita, visualized by Narayana Guru? It is nothing but the inseparable oneness of the Consciousness-Reality and the phenomenal world in the form of which It constantly finds self-expression. This world includes everything in it, ranging from the life-principle in each of us to the ever expanding universe. Without finding expression as this world, the Consciousness-Reality or Ātmā never exists. Without this Reality for its substances, the world also cannot appear to be. It is possible to think and conceive of the two as separate, but the two never really exist separate. This could better be understood with the help of the gold and ornament analogy. Without assuming the form of the ornaments or something else, or even the form of dust, gold cannot exist as a substance. Likewise, ornaments and all such forms can never appear to be, without having gold for their substance. Closely and intuitively visualized, one sees that the very same non-duality is what the Upaniṣads and the Bhagavad Gītā also try to reveal. Narayana Guru was a continuator and re- evaluator of that tradition. 22 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

Why does the phenomenal world appear to be existing even after we become aware that the one Consciousness Reality alone really exists, and the apparent world is unreal? This question is answered by the Guru in his work Advaita Dīpika (Lamp of Non-duality). This happens only because of nescience or avidyā. Because of it, one forgets to see everything phenomenal as the Ātmā existing manifestly. On becoming free of this avidyā, one would perceive only Ātmā existing in various assumed forms.

A Living Philosophy

The one Consciousness-Reality is a living Reality, not an inert one. The phenomenal world in the forms It appears in, is also a living one. Hence the realization of It, in its true sense, is a living experience, not the inert, abstract conceptuality of armchair philosophizing. As a living experience, it is felt within the being of the one who realizes, as portrayed in the concluding verse of the Ātmopadeśa Śatakam, already quoted twice. As the external expression, It has to function as the guiding principle or norm in all human affairs. It is here that the application of wisdom in the social life of humans becomes meaningful. Unless guided by this one absolute Norm, human affairs in their social aspect are likely to be left to the vagaries of chance, in historical development. The ‘free will’ of humans is also endowed with a tendency to turn into greed and possessiveness unless guided by this same Norm.

One of the peculiarities of Narayana Guru was that he could achieve this social aspect of the applied wisdom in a very spontaneous, original and often light-hearted way. Let us now look at aspects of this applied wisdom.

Casteism

We have already dealt with this social aspect of wisdom. The word ‘jāti’ is usually translated as ‘caste’. But Narayana Guru conceives it in its original sense of ‘kind’ or ‘species’ to be understood in a scientific mode. Every human being belongs to one ‘kind’ or ‘species’. The proof of it is that the male and female of any race or community, could, by mating, beget a child. Thus the so-called Brāhmin and Pariah belong to one jāti or kind. This is the simplest basis for the jāti concept of Narayana Guru. He wrote two works Jāticintanam (Critique of jāti) and Jātilakṣaṇam (Jāti Defined). He asked people to acknowledge this principle to guide them in respect of jāti. It is in the former work that his famous motto, “Oru jāti, oru matam oru daivam manuṣyanu” (Of one kind, of one faith, of one God is man) appears. This call of the Guru, when brought to the attention of people by certain organizations, brought about gradual change in the social dealings of people of different castes.

Having come under the irresistible commanding power of the gentle but authoritative words streaming from Narayana Guru’s unapproachable and incomprehensible enlightened state, made many devotees think of him as an avatāra 23 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

(incarnation of God). The Guru knew that this was happening and once, half- jokingly said, “If some want to treat me as an avatāra, then let me be considered as one that is intended to kill the demon called casteism”.

One Religion

Religion has always been a cause for much human blood shed and wars all through the history of the world. Today, this rivalry, mingled with certain vested political and economic interests, has assumed many forms, most frighteningly that of extreme international terrorism. Its tentacles have gripped the body politic of India as well and Kerala, hitherto known for its religious tolerance and peaceful community co-existence, has also started showing signs of unrest between religious communities. Even when religious followers were not hesitant to cause unruly riots and carnage triggered by insignificant reasons, in other parts of India, Kerala has usually held onto to amity between different religious groups. In the context of communal and religious harmony, the gentle presence and forceful influence of Narayana Guru that once created tremendous social upheavals and reform, has continued to be remembered in Kerala.

Narayana Guru was well aware that religious sentiments were in ferment, when he convened the Parliament of Religions in Aluva, as already mentioned. Even much before that, he had clearly delineated the philosophy and psychology behind the religiousness of mankind, how organized religions remains entirely as if in water- tight compartments, and how the essential content of all religions is one and the same, in his most important philosophical work Ātmopadeśa Śatakam, in verses 43 to 49. In conversation, he once mentioned that the common goal of all religions is enabling man to have an upward orientation in life (ūrdhva mukhatva). Having an awareness of this makes anyone tolerant in respect of religions, even inspiring a love of all religions. Such an attitude towards religions is what he expected of people.

Some people raised the question of why Narayana Guru installed deities only in Hindu temples; his answer was that if others had asked him to, he would have done so gladly.

Was the ‘one faith’ or religion that Narayana Guru mentions in his famous motto ‘oru jāti oru matam oru daivam manuṣyanu, the Hindu faith/ religion? Or had he nurtured the idea of starting a new religion? The Guru’s answer to this was clear: “We, on our own, do not intend to start a new religion.” It was not of the Hindu religion he spoke either – he had, much earlier defined this ‘oru matam’ in verse 49 of his Ātmopadeśa śatakam, which reads: “Everyone in every way strives always to actualize self-happiness”; “this faith (religion) is one alone in all the worlds”. 24 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

Though casteism and religious hatred were the immediate problems that Narayana Guru had to deal with, it does not in any way mean that the applicability of his wisdom is confined to these two domains. Rather, since his realization meant an understanding of the reality of Consciousness that underlies everything, the wisdom about that Reality is applicable in every field in which that Reality finds self- expression. There are numerous such areas of human interest that already suffer in the absence of a guiding Norm. For this reason, instead of ensuring unhindered happiness, these areas of human interest often create un-resolvable problems. Let us consider some of these problems. We may not be able to suggest an immediate workable solution to these problems of global dimension, but it is at least possible to suggest ways in which such an absolutist Norm can be brought to application in these fields.

Politics

Current multi-nationalism is an extended version of the racial identities and neighbourhood identities of tribal societies. The world has shrunk into a global village in the wake of modern international trade relations, communication and transportation facilities. The need for treating the world as a single political unit thus becomes immediately and urgently relevant. The oneness of humankind as a species and the oneness of human aspirations also calls for a political unification of the world, but political leadership all over the world insist on nationality and national boundaries as essential markings of political power, though these divisions are to be seen only on political maps, never on the surface of the earth. A great deal of human energy, economic resources and destructive powers are used up for the upkeep of these boundaries and identities. Thousands of young people are destined to sacrifice their lives also on this count. Wars of regional and world dimensions break out unexpectedly. Even the United Nations that was created mainly for the purpose of doing away with such war-situations is now compelled to give permission to one nation to attack another. Is it not possible to find an end to this human folly?

It remains a fact that all wars first arise in the minds of men. Why can’t we make the same minds well aware of the basic oneness of mankind and the oneness of the world, and formulate a political system that derives from such a feeling? Why can’t we conceive of a One-World Politics or Geo-Politics, and of a World Government? Admittedly, the idea of a World-Government had been nursed by many open minded politician like Jawaharlal Nehru, yet it remains an unrealized dream. Should it be thought of as unrealizable? Only if discussion and dissemination of these concepts becomes more and more wide-spread around the world, can we dream of such a world at least in some remote future. Let each us also become instrumental in this attempt.

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Economics and Ecology

Economics as a science aims at ensuring human happiness at its material level. It enables humans to make exchanges, in kind or through money – for the things that they find desirable, useful or necessary. These commodities could either be those that arise directly from nature or things manufactured, using natural resources as raw materials. In either case, the abundance of the produce of nature is at the base of all such exchanges and is what enables the never-ending continuance of an unfailing economic system.

Present-day economics is basically a mercantile one, in which money is more valued and the abundance of natural resources is destroyed in some cases and over- exploited in others. In the former case, this notion of money-based economic well- being results in a limited group of people accumulating enormous bank balances at the cost of many in others starving. And in the latter case, monetary gains of the present generation results in denying the future generations their natural right to enjoy the same resources of nature. This kind of money-oriented economics could be called the Economics of Opulence. Unless a balance between the abundance and opulence sides of economics is struck, this science in itself could turn out to be a dismal one.

The necessity of conserving natural resources has caused the emergence of Ecology as a separate discipline. Economics and Ecology really are intrinsically related.

Let us think of re-visualizing Economics, instead of allowing it to become a dismal science, to remake it as a science that helps the entire human race of the world to get the rightful opportunity to enjoy happiness at the material level. In other words, let us re-visualize Economics as a Value Science, with human happiness for its basic Norm.

Education

Education is primarily aimed at bringing out the best in every individual human being, and at enabling him or her to lead the happiest possible life. This is achieved when each person sees himself or herself as one with the whole, or in political terms, when one becomes a world citizen.

The present day state-controlled education, on the other hand, aims at making of every person a citizen loyal to the state concerned.

The modern trend in education is to groom students to become effective human resource for economic development by treating each person as a money-making 26 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e machine. There is no concern for the development of human qualities.

Let us probe how far the advaitic vision of life would help us provide this field of education with a corrective Norm, and thus save the young generation from the psychological stresses and strains they unwittingly fall into.

Let us now turn to some of the crucial problems India as a nation faces presently.

National Integration

India admittedly is a nation of multiplicities; for this reason, retaining the integrity of India as one nation has always been a problematic issue. In this context, I suggest four suggestions for discussion, and - if upon deliberation, found suitable- to be recommended to the Government of India.

 Casteism and social discrimination against fellow human beings has always been a bane of the Indian social order. Highly educated people are not exempt from being highly caste-prejudiced; even religious communities, which by definition ought to be free of such prejudices are not free. As was stated earlier, this was the one thing Narayana Guru uncompromisingly fought against. He has also written two poetical works approaching the problem in a strictly scientific way. Of the two, one is named Jāti Nirṇayam (Critique of Caste). Its first verse is in Sanskrit and the remaining four verses are in Malayalam. The work reads as follows when translated:

Man’s humanity marks out the human kind, Even as bovinity proclaims a cow; Brāhmin hood and such are not thuswise; None do see this truth, alas!

One of kind, one of faith and one in God is man; Of one womb, of one form; difference herein none.

Within one species (jāti) is it not that offspring truly breed? The community of man, thus viewed, to a single jāti belongs.

27 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

Of one human jāti is even a brāhmin born, as is the pariah too, Where is difference then in jāti as between man and man?

In bygone days, of a pariah woman the great sage Parāśara was born, As even he of Vedic aphorism fame, of a virgin of the fisher folk.

In many parts of India, routine massacre of human beings takes place, the only crime of those thus killed being that they were born into an ‘out-caste’ community. Eradicating this evil from society can only succeed, I feel, through making the young generation grow up with a mind free of caste prejudices. To achieve this end, I suggest that the above mentioned simple poem of Narayana Guru be translated to various Indian languages and included in the curriculum.

 Mutual hatred among the followers of different religions is another vexing problem in India and the whole world. A possible solution to this problem that the Guru suggested as the conclusion of the Parliament of Religions he organized at Aluva in 1924, was that everyone should learn the essential teachings of all religions. As a step towards this end, he declared the decision to open a “Great School of Religions” (mata-mahā-paṭasala) in his own āśram at Śivagiri. I feel this advice of the Guru should be given serious consideration by the Government of India. The Government should make use of all the available media to create awareness of the necessity of everyone learning all religions. Along with this, facilities sponsored by the Government should be provided across the country through libraries to make such knowledge available to one and all.

 India, admittedly has achieved tremendous economic growth during the last two decades, even to the extent of becoming capable of facing firmly the worldwide economic recess that began in 2008. Tremendous advancement of technical and professional studies has also been happening enabling this economic growth. Facilities have reached even the weakest sections of the society to avail opportunities for such studies. And as a result, almost all those of the topmost intellectual gift have turned to such studies. While helping the achievement of economic growth among such, this tendency gradually results in a sort of cultural and moral degeneration of the society in general. It is because those who take to humanities in their higher studies are simply those who are thrown out from all the technical and professional courses. The creative and cultural thinking that could be expected of them is very little. 28 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

 On the other side, the cultural and moral degeneration of the technically and professionally educated happens because they are denied the opportunities to know about life and human life in particular. Whether doctors, engineers, scientists, or any other professionals, they by necessity have to live in this world as humans. To enable them to do so, they have to gain a basic understanding of what life is, what the meaning of existence of this world is, and what the meaning of one’s own existence is. The only academic subject that enables us to gain this knowledge is PHILOSOPHY. My suggestion, therefore, is that Philosophy should be made a compulsory subject in all under-graduate studies whether technical, professional, science, arts, or any other field of study. We know, English is already given such a status.

The question that arises then is, which philosophy should be taught. India being a secular state, the Government compelling the people to learn the philosophy of any particular religion or school of thought won’t be fair. My suggestion is that a new textbook of Philosophy that answers all the basic problems of philosophy should be newly written. It should not lean towards any religion or school of philosophy. Let us name that book “Pure Philosophy Simplified for Youth.”

It should contain two parts. The first part should teach what one should know about oneself and the world, by relying simply on our love of truth and common sense. The second part should teach how to apply this philosophy in our actual activities in the day to day life. My long time familiarity with the Philosophy of Narayana Guru assures me that it can guide us well in developing such a neutral Philosophy. In case a positive decision in this matter is taken, I assure that Narayana Gurukula would be willing to help in giving shape to such a textbook.

 India being a nation that prepares itself presently for a total revamp in the structure of the sector of higher education, I suggest also that the following points be basically keep in mind while planning the above said total re- structuring: (a). First priority in higher education should be given to bring the real and total human being out of the individual concerned to its a utmost possibility. (b).Second priority is to be given to grooming up an individual as a loyal citizen of the nation. It is a real human being that has to function as a loyal citizen. (c). Only last priority should be given to treat an individual as a human resource for the economic advancement of the country.

These are some examples of how we might make value applications of Narayana Guru’s philosophy in the context of the country’s welfare; possibilities of such applications globally, already been pointed out. Discussing all possibilities is beyond 29 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e the scope of this Conference. All such are merely the extended version of the one Value or ānanda aspect of the Guru’s enlightenment which he calls brahma-bodhodaya.

We are all likely to feel disturbed when dwelling on the evils of the world, but let us remember that for a peaceful world, individually peaceful minds are the basic building block. Let us begin by achieving our own equanimity and then let us try and the above problems with an advaitic attitude. This is the ultimate goal of Advaita Vedanta. By seeing the world and its problems as not separate from ourselves, let us focus on the general good.

Let me conclude this address by quoting the last verse of the Guru’s Sanskrit work Brahmavidyā-Pancakam (The Science of the Absolute in Five Verses) wherein the experience of brahma-bodhodaya is expounded.

Prajñānam tu aham asmi tat tvam asi tat brahmāyām ātmeti sam- gāyan vipracara prāsanta-manasā tvam brahma-bodhodayat prarābdham kvanu sancitam tava kimā- gāmi kva karmāpy asat tvayyadhyastam ato’ khilam tvam asi sa- ccinmātram ekam vibhuh. (“Pure Consciousness indeed am I,” “You (also) are That,” “This ātmā is that Brahman indeed,”- Singing this joyously With a mind properly calmed, Resulting from the dawning of Brahman-enlightenment, You may move around Properly in all specific ways; How could there be then for you Karmas whether they are Those already begun (prārābdha), Accumulated from the past(sancita), 30 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

Or those yet to be accumulated (āgāmi); Karma is itself unreal; All such therefore are Mere conditionings superimposed On the ātmā that you already are. You really are the one vibhu And in essence sat and cit.)

Once again, I request everyone to dwell on the suggestions that will arise from this conference and to explore more possibilities of the applications of the Wisdom of Oneness in our actual life. * * *

Illustration Courtesy: MONET, Claude - Waterloo Bridge, Effect of Fog

31 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

Education, Root & Fruit

Educational Psychology in the Light of Narayana Guru’s Philosophy

Dr. Peter Oppenheimer

The Self is honey to all things

And all things are honey to the Self.

The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad

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Introduction

First off, what do we mean by ‘educational psychology’? Just as human psychology purports to diagnose the health of an individual person and, if found lacking, prescribes therapeutic measures, so educational psychology must diagnose whether an educational system is healthy, and if not, then prescribe helpful measures to address those deficiencies.

As humanity enters the 21st century, we are facing a global crisis of biblical proportions. War, genocide, environmental degradation, climate collapse, poverty, corruption, despotism, exploitation, alienation, disenfranchisement and various kinds of structural and interpersonal abuse are threatening not only the health, well-being and progress of human society, but the very existence of the entire intricate web of life on earth. It is not too big a leap to proclaim that at the root of this global crisis is a failure of the current educational system. As a life- long educator and holder of a doctorate in education, I have come to the conclusion that the nature and scope of the world crisis is a mirror reflection of a disease at the very root of what passes for education in the so-called modern sophisticated world.

It is ironic that sophistication itself is held up as one of the goals and end products of the current approach to education around the globe. Few stop to ponder the fact that the very definition of sophisticate is “to render artificial, to mislead or corrupt, to adulterate, to falsify by deceptive alterations.” By definition one who is sophisticated is “deprived of natural simplicity, is pretentiously wise, superficial, artificial, and corrupted.” Is it any wonder that a world that holds sophistication as a positive ideal would have lost its bearings, harmony and moral compass?

Whether made explicit or remaining implicit, at the root of any educational model there have to be existential notions of reality: who we are; what is the reality of this world; what gives life meaning, purpose, direction and fulfilment; what is the nature of the person to be educated, and in what ways will that person, society and the earth be benefited by that education. These are the philosophical and metaphysical foundations of education, which quite frankly, at present are rotten to the core.

At the very outset a strong distinction is to be drawn between Education and Schooling, similar to the distinctions that are too often overlooked between Spirituality and Religion, Sport and Athletics, Wealth and Money. Sport is at once purposive and playful; athletics need not, but all too often, become grimly serious sources of aggression, malice and self-recrimination. True wealth includes such things as good health, rich soil, clean air, pure and plentiful water, companionable friends, an inspiring natural environment, etc. Money, when treated as an end in itself tends 33 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e to actually destroy these sources of true wealth. Spirituality is an acknowledgement and celebration of that mysterious life force that courses as sap and blood through plants and animals, including humans and which we experience as animation and illumination. The spirit is thus, in truth, the most universal, all-inclusive unitive factor in all beings. And yet, religions have come to be exclusive and divisive, sharply segregating ‘believers’ from ‘non-believers’. Spirit is also the most fluid and spontaneous element in life, whereas in religions, one often sees rigidity and insistent codes of acceptable behaviour, many of which when viewed from outside appear rather arbitrary.

Education should have more to do with such things as wealth, sport and spirit than money, competition and social codes of behaviour, as is more the norm in the prevailing form of schooling. Education, in its deepest sense, is about how the spirit comes to know, direct, express and fulfil itself. Any educational psychology worth the name must ask not only about what we learn, but who we are, how we learn, and what is worth learning and why.

Before the current capitalistic global economy could be spread throughout the world, the factory model of education (which serves as its handmaiden) had to be globalized. The first thing industrial society required was a mechanization of the human being to serve on mind-numbing assembly lines or perform cookie-cutter jobs within a for-profit business. Secondly, capitalistic societies - in which meaning and success in life are attributed inexorably to financial status - require consumers with ever expanding appetites.

The modern system of schooling as practiced in virtually every modern mercantile society is a perfect match for this system. Children are generally made to feel like cogs in a machine or rather as raw materials on an assembly line conveyor belt being assembled into cogs. The most important qualities to be imparted into these cogs, or kids, are obedience to authority, deference to a virtual tyranny of expertise and rote memorization of facts and tasks. The underlying message seems to be, “We know what is best for you. Now sit quiet and take your medicine.” As outlandish as this sounds, I know too many people for whom it will ring all too true of our own journey through school.

I started visiting Kerala State in the south of India in 1971 before it became a capitalistic consumer culture. Back then people had not yet come to associate the accumulation of money as the highest purpose in life, and when they thought of their children’s education, there were other values they wanted to see imparted and different aspects of their children’s characters to be cultivated and exercised. 34 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

Now, when I listen to parents in Kerala talk about their child’s education, all they seem to care about is how financially lucrative a job they will qualify for when they come out of the other end of this long 12-15 year process. How much time of a child’s life, and for how many years, is to be devoted to this one and only much- overrated pursuit? Early on, children are branded as being one of the few winners or many losers in this long drawn campaign for the top paying jobs. When being average is considered “simply not good enough,” we are condemning at least half of our children to a sense of disappointment and failure.

It wouldn’t be so bad if children looked at such a pursuit as one of many possible games to play and accepted that it may not be their cup of tea. But no, this capitalist-serving educational model is pretty much the only game in town. If you’re a loser in this game, you’re pretty much a loser in life. Even marriage prospects here in India have become intimately tied to one’s marks on standardized tests, which if truth be told, primarily measure one’s obedience, acquiescence and memorization skills.

For too long educators have blindly accepted these unspoken assumptions about who we are and the nature and purpose of human life. It is high time to question these assumptions and create a framework for learning that acknowledges and celebrates deeper strata of reality and a more promising vision of value and fulfilment.

In my two decades of schooling, leading ultimately to being conferred with a doctoral degree in Education and my nearly four decades of practice and observation in the field of education, I have found no better exemplar of a rock solid foundation and lofty aspiration for an entirely retooled approach to education than the South Indian mystic and visionary social reformer, Sri Narayana Guru. And nowhere is his vision of learning, from the fundamentals of basic education to the promising peaks of higher learning, more eloquently articulated than in his Ātmopadeśa Śatakam (One Hundred Verses of Self Instruction).

The discerning seeker can detect a radical note struck in the title of this work itself. For unlike in the schooling as currently practiced around the globe, the subject matter and object matter of study are one and the same. Self-instruction is here to be understood as instruction which both illuminates the nature, dynamics and fulfilment of the self as its object matter, while the process itself is encouraged to go on within the subjective nature of that same self.

Self-instruction implies a sort of “Do it Yourself” approach to learning whereby, although helpful hints may be given by outside instructors, the essential work of questioning, search and realization must of necessity happen within the student herself or himself. While at the same time, the prize to be gained at the end 35 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e of one’s search is also recognized and glorified as self-knowledge. As we will soon see upon taking up this challenge, self-enquiry in both the senses mentioned is by no means some solipsistic, socially irrelevant process of “navel gazing,” but as the self under question proves to be, in its deepest sense, the one and only all-inclusive Self of all, its realization and betterment at once implies the illumination, harmonization and uplift of society and the world at large as well.

In his Ātmopadeśa Śatakam, as in all of his works, Narayana Guru presents an entirely different narrative of the nature and evolution of the self than the prevailing one. In the prevailing paradigm each of us is an ultimately separate individual, competing for limited resources in a social darwinistic, dog eat dog world, which is alien, if not hostile, to our fundamental aspirations, a world in which if we are to learn how best to live, we must acquiesce to the whims and dictates of others who know better what is good for us.

Before going into the manner in which Narayana Guru both artfully and scientifically establishes the oneness in the absolute Self of all individual selves, I want to suggest how such a realization would dramatically and radically change our approach to education. Once such an ultimate unity at the deepest level of selfhood is established, the self-destructive nature of competition, which is the primary model that school both presents and encourages in human relations, becomes apparent. Competition as currently and almost universally practiced in schools sets up a mentality of “your loss can be my gain” approach to human relations. This mentality initially fostered through competitive grading of marks in school is, in the end, crucial to justify the exploitation of people as “markets” and “labour,” and the “dog eat dog” mentality of most corporate culture.

Let me share a story. A friend of mine wanted to do some good service to the “needy,” and so went to Arizona to teach on a “Red Indian” (more properly known as Native American) reservation where all government services, including the public schools, were substandard. For one year he taught in a classroom entirely made up of children of the Navajo Indian tribe.

When he returned to California I asked him what it had been like. One of the first things he remarked upon was how difficult it had been to keep the Navajo kids from “cheating” on exams. You see, for them, if their friend sitting next to them in the classroom during a test was struggling to come up with an answer to a test question and they themselves knew the answer, then it was most natural for them to share the right answer with the other. The white teachers were having the hardest time convincing the kids that this was a kind of “cheating,” and that they would in fact be better off to let their friend fail. They just could not grasp the importance of 36 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e competition over and above cooperation as the primary basis of human interaction. Which is the healthier approach to education and human relationship?

Competition need not be (and indeed once the oneness of all in the Self is established cannot be) the primary backdrop of education. For hundreds of years, without resorting to competitive modes, indigenous societies have taught farming, hunting, foraging, cooking, construction, and so on, a vast curriculum to be sure. Surely similar methods can be adopted for such subjects as math, writing and current events. Evaluating the breadth, depth and worth of one’s learning through competitions on standardized tests is not only a lazy way to accomplish such evaluation, it is actually often misleading and unnecessarily detrimental to the well- being of its participants, a well-being which should certainly be one of the primary concerns of any educative process.

In a profound analysis of the critical importance of reassessing the current approach to education, Joseph Natoli wrote the following:

The nature of critical thinking is not to pursue a logic which is impeccable and unimpeachable within the regime of being and knowing that has credentialed it. Rather critical thinking observes the dimensions of the reality frame we have constructed for ourselves, the box of being we are in, and seeks other and different framings within which other logics emerge. Other and different problems emerge, but the goal of critical thinking is to enable comparative weighing of consequences, so that less threatening problems emerge and less disastrous solutions are offered. There’s neither need nor time in the present to be less than direct about the lethal logic and politics of our regime of globalized techno-capitalism. It shapes what we perceive as problems as well as what we don’t….

We need to just look back and see what was meant by education before we went inside this big box of market values and collapsed our sense of a “good education” to the needs of our market regime.

-“Our Market Regime and Public Education,” Joe Natoli, Truthout.org, 2/7/2011

With this backdrop in mind, let us examine some of the salient features of the Guru’s alternative narrative that spells out who we are (epistemology), how we learn (methodology), how best we can relate with and contribute to others (sociology) and what constitutes our ultimate fulfilment (axiology).

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Epistemological Assumptions

In his One Hundred Verses of Self Instruction, Narayana Guru slowly and deliberately reveals the nature of the self to be of an entirely different order than that which is currently presumed and promulgated in Western Society. Before we discuss the implications of this vision of the self for education, social life, and self-fulfilment in life, let us take a look at some of the distinguishing features of this vision of the self. In the opening verse of Ātmopadeśa Śatakam, Narayana Guru lays bare an epistemological consideration fundamental to the educative process. The verse reads as follows:

Permeating the knowledge which brilliantly shines

At once within and without the knower

Is the karu; to that, with the five senses withheld,

Prostrate again and again with devotion and chant. (V1)

In this opening verse the Guru points to the core of the self as consciousness. It is this core of consciousness, which shines at once within and without the knower. Immediately the Guru is pointing out the union of subject and object in and as consciousness. This is a radical departure from the common western way of understanding the self as the subject separate from the object. In consciousness there is a union of subject and object, self and other.

Although this may seem counter-intuitive, in fact it is true to our own experience. Nataraja Guru, Narayana Guru’s successor, pointed out, “While in the sentence, ‘I see a tree’, it is grammatically correct to say that ‘I’ is the subject and ‘tree’ is the object, in the actual experience of seeing a tree it is impossible to say where the seeing I ends and the tree begins. The experience is all of a single piece. We do not experience any such division.”

There are 99 more verses in this single work on Self-instruction in which the nature of the Self will be convincingly clarified, but this is the first indication we get that the Self under reference is universal as opposed to merely individual.

In the second verse we are introduced to the two different orientations toward self that are possible, one horizontal and the other vertical. Here, as presented masterfully by Narayana Guru’s immediate successor, Nataraja Guru, the horizontal axis stands for all that’s spread out in the world of precepts and concepts. These factors belong to the world of becoming and can be seen to be both ever-changing and ultimately transient. Whereas the vertical axis represents pure being as opposed to becoming and hence implies that which is unchanging, universal, and eternal. 38 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

The psychic dynamism, the senses, the body,

The many worlds known by direct perception--

Everything, when contemplated,

Is the glorious embodiment of the sun that shines in the sky beyond;

This should be realized through relentless search. (V2)

The first orientation to the self is individual, separate, changeful and fleeting. The second is universal, all-inclusive, changeless and eternal. These are the horizontal and vertical views of the same Self. The former we will henceforth refer to as self with a small “s,” and the later as the Self with a capital “S.” The self consists of such factors as the body, senses and psychic dynamism, whereas the Self includes all that plus the many worlds known by direct perception and, as we shall see, the often overlooked or neglected vertical dimension besides. That Self is referred to here as the sun that shines in the sky beyond. This Self can only be distinguished from the other self and realized in itself by “relentless search.” Here we are put on notice that a lazy or half- hearted approach to Self-realization will not yield the fruit.

It is important to note here, that while the wisdom about the true nature of the Self is relevant to the alternative model of all levels of education, including the primary level, this is not something which is to be directly taught at the primary level. This particular study is to be undertaken by mature and earnest educators, so that the vision they have in the back of their minds of the true nature of the reality of the children sitting before them can radically inform their approach (which will then be communicated as surely as the presumption of the separate and competitive nature of self which currently prevails is communicated to students as a part of the pernicious hidden curriculum referred to above). These epistemological considerations about the nature of the self and reality are crucial to be understood first and foremost by the educator himself or herself.

The Guru returns to this same theme of discriminating between the self and the Self in Verse 12, which reads:

See the skin, bone, dirt and inner urges which end tragically

To which the I-identity is conjoined;

This which perishes is the other; oh, grant the cherished boon

That the great I-identity increases to perfection. (V12) 39 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

Here the distinction is made between that personal aspect of the self, which undergoes change, deterioration and death and the universal aspect of the Self, which is changeless and eternal. Elsewhere in this same work, Narayana Guru makes the case that what is ultimately True and Real must be true and real in all places and for all time (V79). Therefore that which undergoes change and dissolution cannot have that degree of reality. This is like saying that what is real in gold ornaments is the gold itself and that the ornament form is a provisional and temporary expression of that golden reality. We make a mistake, misplace our identity and forsake our well- being, when we mistake the form for what is real within the form.

Another favourite analogy of the Guru is that of waves and water. Each wave appears to be separate, though in truth none is in any way separate from the ocean nor hence from each other. What is real in each wave is water, and that one water is the same reality in every wave.

Existing outside and seen within, through an act of superimposition,

The five specific elements, like sky, when contemplated,

Should become like waves rising in rows from the treasury of the watery deep,

Without any separate reality whatsoever. (V3)

The bottom, the top, the end, that is real, this is, no, that is--

In this way people quarrel; the one primal reality is all that is;

All this inertial matter is transient;

Except as a form of water could a wave ever arise? (V19)

Like waves arising in the ocean,

Bodies one by one suddenly arise, then merge again;

Alas! Where is the end to this?

In the primal ocean of consciousness potent action is said to exist. (V56)

Without knowledge I do not exist;

Without me there is no knowledge; light alone is; 40 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

Thus, both knowledge and knower, when contemplated,

Are of one substance; there can be no doubt. (V59)

Similarly one can say that just as a wave can never be separate from the ocean, for wherever the wave goes, by definition, the ocean is there too, so it is impossible for anything at all which we experience to be separate from our own general consciousness. Therefore everything known is at once a part of the knower’s own Self. Such a vision results in a very different way of conceiving and experiencing one’s Self, which has dramatic implications for both the process and product of education as well as for the development of human relations in general, as suggested above and which we will examine in more detail presently.

One more analogy to clarify the unitive, universal and undiminishing nature of the Self is given as innumerable sparks emitting from a central fire:

Existing in knowledge, as the being of non-being,

Countless sparks arise, causing the appearance of the world;

So, apart from knowledge there is not another thing; thus one should know;

This knowledge bestows the state of oneness. (V89)

In addition to presenting these rather artistic and somewhat fanciful metaphors to establish the ultimate oneness of the Self with other selves as well as to whatever is known by the self, Narayana Guru resorts to a more modern scientific approach in Verse 10 of this same work:

“Who is sitting in the dark? Speak, you!”

In this manner one speaks; having heard this, you also

To know, ask him, “And who are you?”

To both the word of response is but one. (V10)

In this attempt to suggest the unitive nature of the Self, both within an individual (as indicated in the following Verse 11 through considering the succession of “I”s arising within oneself) and between one individual and another, the Guru creates a situation similar to a laboratory experiment in which the darkness referred to serves the dual purpose of controlling for or removing extraneous variables as well as suggesting that in seeking to know the nature of one’s Self one should be looking inward contemplatively as opposed to outward as is the case with the five senses. Elsewhere in the Ātmopadeśa Śatakam, the very definition of the self is given as “What 41 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e remains aware in darkness, the self indeed that is.”(V27) The Self is a light unto itself, which requires no external light to illuminate it.

Here the one Self, which is within each and all, is similar to the “I am that I am” of the Bible. There is an “I am” within each of us which is undiminishing, unchanging, unconditioned and unlimited by all the qualifying factors we attribute to it, such as “I am a human” or “I am a man” or “I am Peter” or “I am cold” or “I am generous.” That pure “I am” in the Bible is identified with the godhead itself and by Narayana Guru here as our own inmost Self.

The conclusion drawn by Narayana Guru in Verse 10 and the following verse is that just as the many different “I”s arising within an individual can ultimately be resolved into a single “I,” so is the case as between the “I”s of two separate individuals. The type of reasoning required to make this leap is dialectical rather than linear and is to be grasped through intuition rather than pure reasoning as such.

That such reasoning and insight is not easily attained is freely admitted by Narayana Guru in a later verse in this same work:

To subdue even somewhat the obduracy of the “other”

Is hard indeed without wisdom’s limitless power;

By such, do gain mastery over it and unto her who is Wisdom

The anti-sensuous One, close access attain. (V37)

And yet, at the same time, the Guru points out that all of us, to some extent, already have such a profound realization as to the oneness of self and other.

The dweller within the body from its existential body-view

In respect of all things, treats “that” or “this” as “mine”

Transcending physical limitations; when we consider this,

We should concede that any man immediate realization has. (V48)

In his commentary on Verse 48 Nataraja Guru writes the following;

It is usual to speak of immediate realization as a rare thing among men (sic). Here the Guru asserts the converse of this verity when viewed from the context proper to contemplative thought. All men have Self-realization already implicit in their relational life.

When a man says that a certain thing belongs to him, he is in reality establishing a relation between two entities, one of which is physical and 42 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

the other that has only a psychic status. His body, which is physical, cannot establish any direct (logical) relationship with another discrete body, because of the property of matter known in the textbooks of physics as impenetrability. A chair is not able to consider another chair as its own. We have therefore to postulate a subtler substratum of the physical body so that the bipolar interest-relation involved between the self and the non-self units of the situation may become understandable.

The only reasonable postulate that can admit the possibility of this inter- physical and trans-subjective or inter-subjective and trans-physical basis of interest or participation as between inert and living entities can be that the medium in which the interest thrives or can function is a neutral psycho-physical stuff. This neutral psycho-physical stuff can be neither totally material nor totally mental in status. It has, in fact, to participate transparently, as it were, with the very stuff of the reality of the Absolute itself on a homogeneous ground.

It is in this sense that we have to understand the Guru to assert that when we come to analyse the situation we lay here the very basis of all interest- relationship. This basis implies in principle Self-realization, which from the standpoint of the common man, is often thought to be a very rare or precious possibility in human life. We associate Self-realization only with people like Socrates. The Guru here asserts it to be every man’s prerogative.

-Nataraja Guru, Commentary on One Hundred Verses of Self-Instruction, Narayana Gurukula, 2006 pp.166-7

From this very simple example of our recognizing the possibility of declaring inanimate objects as “ours” or as a part of us, the Narayana Guru takes the same process of phenomenological reduction to very sublime heights in Verse 50 which states:

With earth and water, air and fire likewise,

Also the great void, the ego, cognition and mind,

All worlds including the waves and ocean too

Do they all arise and into awareness change. (V50)

This unitive nature of all, established in the consciousness of the Self, is true everywhere and for all times, whether we recognize it or not:

Even when knowledge to egoism is subject in any predication 43 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

And one is unmindful of the ultimate verity of what is said [above],

Yet as with the truth, however ultimate, such knowledge

Can never fall outside the scope of the knowing Self. (V60)

Narayana Guru posits the Self as the unchanging substratum of all that changes. Just as motion can only be detected and measured as against something which remains still, so all change and becoming must have as its background some beingness which remains unchanging. In Verse 66 of Ātmopadeśa Śatakam the Guru spells this out by saying that in the world of becoming things eternally arise, transform and then disappear. He declares that there is one alone that remains not subject to becoming (what in Sanskrit is referred to as sat-cit-ānanda – pure being, unconditioned consciousness and ultimate value). In the second half of this verse, the Guru asserts that knowledge, what is known, what we are and all others too are but conditioned and particularized forms of that one eternal and unchanging Self (i.e. sat-cit-ānanda).

Earthy factors shall come to be ever more;

One alone remains not subject to becoming;

What we know, what it is, what we are, are that same;

And all others too remain conforming to its form. (V66)

This establishing of the ultimate oneness within the self, between the self and seemingly non-self objects, and between apparently different selves, as indicated in the verses above, is not simply a sterile intellectual exercise. It has direct and dramatic implications for practically every aspect of social life in general and education in particular, as we will soon see.

Methodological Considerations

Before presenting some key interpersonal, ethical and sociological implications of Narayana Guru’s educational psychology and then concluding with the crowning glory of the values to be attained through the educational process as envisioned by Narayana Guru, I would like to pause and remark upon a few methodological considerations that will help in the process, pursuit and attainment of the highest goals of education.

In the very first verse of the One Hundred Verses of Self Instruction, the Guru sets forth some initial methodological suggestions. Once again repeating that verse:

Permeating the knowledge which brilliantly shines

At once within and without the knower 44 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

Is the karu; to that, with the five senses withheld,

Prostrate again and again with devotion and chant. (V1)

The methodological suggestions in this verse are implicit in the words “senses withheld,” “prostrate” and “chant,” and can have direct implications for the conducting of any fruitful educational endeavour. Withholding the five senses indicates that the direction in which to look for the deepest insights under study is not to be found simply through looking outward, but by turning our attention inward to our own core. Whether the subject under reference is an abstract one such as mathematics or as concrete as geography or geology, the process will only be enhanced by relating it directly to the self of the student and that student’s own particular nature, values, gifts, aptitudes and appetites.

The implications of “prostrating” here are simply that in order to get the full benefit of the ultimate wisdom to be gained (i.e. Self-Realization, which is the goal of the set of verses presented in this work) it is necessary to also be able to tone down one’s individual ego with its private complex of hopes and fears, desires and revulsions, in order that the deeper more universal and changeless version of the same self can make itself felt.

And by “chanting,” the Guru is indicating that the educational search we are embarking upon is to be treated not as something ponderous or merely academic, but rather of the nature of a song or a dance with elements of playfulness to keep it from becoming too heavy. Would that these three initial suggestions be adopted by our institutions of learning, whereby the process of education could be made both more fruitful and more enjoyable at the same time.

Another helpful tip to be kept in mind during any course of study is suggested in Verse 5:

People of this world sleep, wake and think many thoughts;

Ever wakefully witnessing all this shines an unlit lamp,

Precious beyond words, that never fades;

Ever seeing this, one should go forward. (V5)

The Guru is suggesting here that we discriminate between whatever is observed by the Self, which includes the worlds perceived through the senses and conceived as one’s own thoughts on the one hand, and the observing Self, also called the witness, on the other. This implies the initial steps in discriminating between the Self and the non-Self, whereby whatever is witnessed is considered non-Self, or not the Witness. 45 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

Ultimately one discovers that what is witnessed is none other than the witness’ own self, but it is helpful initially to identify this witnessing aspect of the Self, because it alone remains unshaken by the turmoil of success and failure, applause and criticism, pleasure and pain and any number of other dichotomies that otherwise rock the self and vitiate any search or project we undertake.

In Verse 7, Narayana Guru counsels us to adopt a neutral position between an overt exteriorized fascination with the outer world and a totally interiorized state of numbness, dumbness, dreaminess or inertia. He further characterizes this neutral state as “remaining as knowledge.”

The translation reads, “Do not wake any more, and without sleeping, remain as knowledge.” In our normal waking state, we are easily swayed by people, events and circumstances around us, whereas when asleep we easily mistake our own fantasies for reality or simply conk out altogether. It can be very helpful to undertake a certain discipline to adopt a neutral attitude that is free of the exaggerations of either of these two poles.

In Verse 13, we are again counselled to maintain a cool neutral posture, avoiding the over-heated responses of either reveling in the pleasant or wallowing in the unpleasant, which can otherwise cloud or distort our perceptions, reasoning and intuition.

Near the middle of Ātmopadeśa Śatakam, Narayana Guru presents a set of seven verses dedicated to the proposition that there are two fundamental movements within consciousness. The first is horizontal seeing difference and plurality wherever it looks. The second is the verticalized view of the same phenomena, which is capable of seeing the underlying unity and sameness of the apparently disparate items of experience, in and as consciousness.

He advises us to maintain a holistic view, which is capable of acknowledging the reality of both horizontal and vertical dimensions of experience and consciousness. But in Verse 38, he makes clear that these two movements within consciousness do not bear the same fruit and in that sense, one is to be cultivated above or beyond the other.

What appraises manifold variety, the “other” that is,

And the “same” is what unitively shines;

Thus understanding the state aforesaid, into that state

That yields sameness, melt and mix and erect sit. (V38) 46 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

In commenting on this verse, Nataraja Guru spells out the benefit accruing from following its advice:

Unitive vision and seeing plurality are twin aspects of reality, between which (the wise) choose the path of unity as against that which is based on plurality. Some pragmatic philosophers might be justified in insisting that plurality is as much real as the One of the idealists, but it does not follow that such an attitude which accepts the pluralistic manifold interests or motives gives any peace or happiness to man. Torn between rival interests, he would be steeped in the world of conflicts and sufferings. Philosophy should satisfy, not merely the intellectual or academically valid aspirations of man’s interest in truth, but must bring him nearer to happiness, which is his goal in life.

Multiple interests in the relativistic world of plurality spell troubles, and unitive interest in life in the absolutist sense spells peace. The movement in self-consciousness tending to reveal the underlying unity of realities may be said to be vertical, and the other which tends to reveal the multiplicity, the horizontal.

These two axes are to be recognized by what they lead to, rather than by any innate characteristic in themselves. In themselves they are just tendencies or movements in contemplative consciousness. As a tree is to be known by its fruits, the distinction is based on the end they serve in the contemplative life of man.

-Ibid. p. 144

Another discipline recommended by Narayana Guru as helpful in any educational pursuit is the ability to remain present to the here and now, without getting distracted by memories of the past or anticipations of the future. This may sound easy to one who has not tried it or noticed how difficult it is to accomplish. Our entire desire/fear complex is intimately connected to countless memories of past pains and pleasures, which then get projected onto an equally removed future. A classic meditation technique is to try to remain present with one’s breath simply for the count of ten breaths. This turns out to be very difficult and it is surprising how easily we get pulled off task into some other line of memory-charged thinking. Recognizing all this, the Guru advises:

Dismiss your memories of each object of interest,

Which cause a state of obstruction;

The vast expansive memory, which can reveal 47 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

The priceless ultimate knowledge, is not unjustified. (V64)

The one exception to this rule given in the final two lines of this verse is “the vast expansive memory, which can reveal the priceless ultimate knowledge,” i.e. the memory of our original oneness with the source of all, from which we have arisen as wave from ocean, fruit from seed or spark from central fire.

These then are a few of the methodological considerations, which taken separately or together can be seen to suggest a very different type of mental discipline as being conducive to learning than that which is currently adopted and promulgated as part of the educational systems prevailing today in the world at large.

Sociological Implications

Sociology deals with interpersonal relations and ways in which groups and communities are organized and relate within themselves and between themselves and others. No doubt the goal is the maximum fulfilment of the individuals making up a society with the maximum possible harmony between its members. All ethics and morality have this same end in mind of vouch-saving the good of each and the good of all. In spite of numerous ennobling exceptions, there can be little doubt that most societies today are riven with disharmony and discord both within their own boundaries and between themselves and other societies often seen as rivals if not adversaries and often referred to as “alien.”

Education should provide individuals with a worldview and moral compass that can mitigate these existing rivalries and hostilities between people. As mentioned above, the currently prevailing views of what it means to be an individual and definitions of success in life can be seen to contribute to the sense of rivalry, competition, exploitation and hostility threatening to tear the world apart. In fact, the biggest destroyers of harmony, the environment and human dignity are themselves the “success stories” of our current educational model. These are the captains of industry and masters of finance who have excelled in this competition for resources, exploiting both nature and their fellow men and women, as providers of cheap resources and labor on the one hand and malleable markets on the other.

It is no wonder then that the environment, the life-support system on which we all depend, has been seriously exploited, degraded and even threatened with extinction, while at the same time millions if not billions of people around the world are feeling held down, abused, disempowered and disenfranchised. The resultant epidemic of ill health, poverty and strife proclaim the ultimate judgment on the assumptions and systems which have produced it. 48 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

And it is here, as much as anywhere, that the alternative assumptions and suggestions of a sage and visionary such as Narayana Guru provide us with a promising antidote. The declaration of the unitive nature of the Self and its resultant appeal to “see one’s Self in all others and all others in one’s own Self” holds the promise of an entirely more peaceful and harmonious society. From the universally approved posture of “non-harming” to pro-active engagement in compassionate action, there is a whole spectrum of interpersonal values to be explored and navigated. Once we re-orient our idea of “basic education,” we can make this universal value scale a part of the curriculum based on an understanding of and appreciation for the unitive nature of Self.

One outgrowth of understanding that the Self is far greater than we’ve been presuming and perpetuating through education is that the Self has far greater potential to live creatively, harmoniously and joyously than we’ve been recognizing and aiming for. The vision of Self, illuminated by Narayana Guru, abolishes the age- old tension between selfishness and altruism. Once you see your neighbour in your own self and your own self in your neighbour, there can be no question of exploiting him or her for your own happiness, as you would literally be “bringing yourself down.”

This must be the reason that Jesus made the backbone of his approach to morality to “love your neighbour as yourself,” which is very different from saying something like “love your neighbour as if he were yourself.” The former is a far more potent statement than it has been reduced to in the so-called “Golden Rule,” of treating others as you would like to be treated. Perhaps the reason most of us often break this “Golden Rule” is that it is already pretentious. That is, it implies a separation and then asks us to pretend there were no separation. This is the call to love one’s neighbour as if he/she were one’s self. In order to whole-heartedly “love your neighbour as yourself,” you must first come to the realization that your neighbour is in truth yourself. This sets up an entirely different basis for morality and ethics than what we see in the diametrically opposed dog-eat-dog, social darwinistic, scarcity- ridden, competitive model of ultimately separate selves.

We therefore only falsely assume that one man can be made truly happy (or successful) at the expense of another’s suffering (or failure). It is in light of this deeper vision of the nature of the self, that it has been correctly stated that an injustice foisted upon a single person anywhere in the world is, in fact, an injustice visited upon the whole of humanity, and that when the dignity of even a few is trampled, the dignity of all is thereby diminished. Thus the basis of empathy does not become the ability to extend one’s concern beyond oneself but rather the cultivation of an utterly natural concern for oneself, arising from a more profound realization of the depth and breadth of oneself. 49 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

In his One Hundred Verses of Self-Instruction, Narayana Guru has several verses that underscore this revelatory and promising basis for social harmony, which could and should become the basis for teaching/learning about morality. The following mini-section of five verses is emblematic:

Endearment is one kind; this is dear to me;

Your preference is for something else;

Thus, many objects of endearment are differentiated and confusion comes;

What is dear to you is dear to another also; this should be known. (V21)

The happiness of another--that is my happiness;

One’s own joy is another’s joy--this is the guiding principle;

That action which is good for one person

Should bring happiness to another. (V22)

For the sake of fellow-man, unceasing, day and night

Unstintingly strives the kindly man;

The self-centred man, what frustration’s toil undertakes,

That is for his own sake alone. (V23)

“That man,” “this man”--thus, all that is known

In this world, if contemplated, is the being of the one primordial Self;

What each performs for the happiness of the self

Should be conducive to the happiness of another. (V24)

What spells benefit to one, while to another distress brings,

Such conduct is one that violates Self; Beware!

That spark of pain intense to another given 50 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

Into inferno’s ocean it falls, there to burn its flames. (V25)

In her masterly One Hundred Verses of Self-Instruction “Study Guide”, Nancy Yeilding makes the following clarifying observations about Verse 21, which then sets the stage for the following verses as well:

This verse begins a short section of verses that focus on ethical living, not from the standpoint of moral “shoulds,” but from the perspective of essence: knowing—as the Gita and the Isa Upanishad say—that one’s Self is the Self of all and the Self of all is one’s own Self. These verses offer us guidance in how to make our daily living our spiritual path, so that each instance of endearment can be a window into that. Guru Nitya often made the distinction between unitive and unified. Unified implies a number of disparate things brought together, whereas unitive acknowledges their intrinsic oneness. This verse notes both the fabric of our daily experience— in which we continuously are aware of and motivated by our preferences (both positive and negative), and the clashes with others that we experience as a result—and the universal context of our shared basic needs, shared primordial value, and shared essential identity.

And in his commentary on Verse 25 above, in which the obverse of the previous verses is given and one acts in such a way which cuts against the grain of the identity of all in one Self, thereby disrupting the natural harmony of society, Nataraja Guru makes the dynamics at work very clear:

Violation of the unitive Selfhood on the one side is equated here with its dialectical counterpart of a general fire of inferno for which the spark of pain given to a single individual could be the partial stimulus to create a wholesale reaction. Just as intense pain in the tip of one’s toe would suffice to upset the balance of the whole person in suffering, so is the subtle reciprocity implied here. The slightest discrimination between favourites or enemies brings unforeseen quantitative or qualitative effects. Consequences flare up into a general conflagration. The sum total of human suffering consists of small sparks of partiality shown by men somewhere or other, at one time or another. The general cause of war should be thought of in this way. Like one spark setting fire to the neighbouring faggot, the continuity of the process of evil effects is to be imagined as operating ceaselessly in the world of human relations. Clashes of clan with clan, time-old feuds, racial, national or other rivalries, 51 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

and preferential pacts, all work together to keep the flames of inferno constantly fed with fuel and burning incessantly.

When the dualistic attitude has once been abolished, and generosity spreads evenly like sunlight without distinction, on all human beings, even to the publican and sinner, that kind of generosity belongs to the context of the absolutist way of life and is one that, in the context of Self- realization, is very important to keep in mind. The self can itself become the worst enemy of the Self. This has been brought out with the full force of delicate dialectics in the Bhagavad Gita (VI. 6)

-Nataraja Guru, Commentary on One Hundred Verses of Self-Instruction, Narayana Gurukula, 2006 pp.115-6

This principle implied here is by no means empty philosophizing nor simply some kind of mind game. One only has to look at one’s own life and relations to confirm the sense in which our own happiness impacts those around us, as their suffering or joy impacts on the state of our own well-being. Furthermore there is the law of “instant karma” in relation to that other law of “what goes around comes around.” When we treat people with tenderness and affection, we immediately feel ourselves more at ease, whereas when we alienate another through cruelty or hostility, we ourselves become disturbed, even without or before that other person’s reaction. This principle can be taught at an early age and reinforced throughout one’s education, as surely as can the currently prevailing presumption that we are all ultimately separate and competing individuals, who can “get ahead” or somehow enhance our own well-being by triumphing over or exploiting others.

Axiological Glories

The two primary goals of education, in its broadest sense, can be stated as Self- Realization and Self-Actualization. It should by now have become clear that the Self under reference also has two basic aspects, one vertical and the other horizontal. In the vertical sense, we are all one, sharing a common essence of being/consciousness/affection. At the horizontal level, each individual is a totally unique expression of this universal Self, with its own unrepeatable bundle of gifts and goals, talents and perspectives, dreams and offerings. It is the realization of the former that at once confirms both the freedom and the courage to develop the later. Self- Knowledge therefore implies becoming familiar both with one’s universality and one’s uniqueness. Education, at its best, provides the opportunity to accomplish these joyous and adventurous tasks. 52 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

Just as in nature every bird has its own special song to sing and each flower it’s own unique shape, coloration and fragrance, each child should be seen to have her own inner structure and dynamics whereby at one and the same time she can fulfil her own aspirations and in that very process contribute her own unique “song” and “fragrance” to the general well-being of all.

If education is pictured as a great out-spreading tree, its root can be said to be the assumptions discussed above at length about the nature of the Self and the world, the overall goals of education, and an understanding of how best we learn. The trunk can be said to be what I would call “Basic Education.”

Basic Education would include such items as

(1) Self/Other Awareness (how am I feeling now, as well as an awareness of other people, their feelings, and the environment too),

(2) Self-Knowledge (who am I as a unique individual and what do I want to become),

(3) Self-Actualization (cultivating creative ways to express or manifest one’s self), and

(4) Self-Realization (what is the real and unchanging foundation of who we are that connects us to all others).

The branches and foliage of this tree could be called “Social Education.”

Social Education would include such items as

(1) Personal Hygiene

(2) Interpersonal Relations

(3) Community Engagement

(4) Eco-Consciousness or Global Consciousness

And in this metaphor the ultimate flowering of that tree would be what could be called “Higher Education.”

Higher Education would deal with

(1) Transpersonal/Spiritual Realms of Experience (2) Disciplines and Practices for Attainment of Same (3) Expressions of Mystical and Visionary Experience

53 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

The metaphor of a tree breaks down in the sense that in this construct of education, the fruits, are not simply some by-product to be enjoyed at the end of some long process, but rather can actually be tasted, enjoyed and felt as nourishing at each and every step along the way. The joy of search and discovery, of effort and accomplishment, of caring and sharing, are constant factors, turning the process of learning, when intrinsically motivated, into its own reward. This is why Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yati, when asked about what degrees were going to be conferred by his East West University, said “The only degree we are interested in at the East West University is the degree of satisfaction each student finds in his search and study.”

Although the vision laid out here focuses on the psychological import of education, it is not meant to imply a limitation of curriculum itself to the field of psychology. There is room in this approach to education for every possible subject to be taught and studied. It is simply that every subject should in some sense contribute to the enhancement of the dignity, integrity, clarity, capability and fulfilment of the students concerned and of mankind in general. There is an aphorism in Zen Buddhism which says, “The self goes forth and confirms all things. This is delusion. All things come forth and confirm the Self, this is enlightenment.”

In fact, the current emphasis on the cultivation of the intellectual capacity of students is to be supplemented by addressing other types of intelligence such as those identified by Herb Gardner, which include such aspects of our character as linguistic, logical/mathematical, spatial, bodily/kinetic, musical, interpersonal, naturalistic, intrapersonal, and existential. A well-rounded curriculum would address and cultivate each of these different types of “intelligence,” and not sacrifice them all on the altar of memorization and standardized testing, as is the prevailing practice.

At the very centre of the One Hundred Verses Of Self-Instruction, in Verse 49, Narayana Guru puts his finger on the one single value that can be seen to be the master motive of all human endeavour and at all times and climes, the happiness of the Self:

Every man at every time makes effort in every way

Aiming at his self-happiness; therefore in this world

Know faith as one; understanding thus,

Shunning evil, the inner self into calmness merge. (V49)

It is this underlying and over-arching goal, which Narayana Guru goes so far as to elevate to the position of the one universal “faith” of mankind, that should also be the guiding star of all education as well. Here it is very important to distinguish between what the Guru is referring to as Happiness (ātmānanda - the joy of the self) and mere pleasure. Pleasure and pain are both relative factors, fleeting and 54 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e alternating one after the other. Both are agitations of the nervous system. Happiness, on the other hand, can be discovered to be a constant, unconditional and unconditioned factor or fact of life, that is not dependent on circumstances.

In Verse 34, Narayana Guru introduces the concept and construct of life as a divine sport.

Mounted on the rotating wheels of a chariot which

Have half-moments and such for spokes, the world rolls on;

Know this to be the beginningless divine sport

That is ever going on in knowledge. (V34)

There are many possible analogies and metaphors to suggest a framework through which to understand life. Perhaps the most common in the modern world are to see life as a struggle for existence or a battle for survival. How different would be both our attitude and behaviour, if instead we saw life as a dance or as is suggested here as a divine sport. Sport is playful, not nearly as grimly serious as war. In play, ends and means are connected, and the goal is not something to be attained as a result of playing but rather is discovered in the joy of playing itself.

In the preceding verse (V33), in a similar vein, Narayana Guru posits, “Knowledge to know its own nature here has become the earth and the other elements [all this].” In such a spirit of lightness and sense of curiosity and adventure, education can become more joyful and easily adopted as a life-long pursuit, seen as an end in itself. In the very next verse, Narayana Guru compares the attainment of true knowledge, or wisdom, as like “the dawn all together of ten thousand suns.” Such should be the experience of students both in and outside of the classroom throughout the process of education.

The promise that Narayana Guru holds out for education, regardless of the subject, when the process is intrinsically motivated as related to one’s own value vision, is proclaimed in the following verse, which once again refers to the universal and eternal pole star, the Happiness residing at the core of the Self.

The effort that is made in view of something dear to one

As ordained too, remaining always constant and same;

That is a dear value, unborn, unspent, unpredicable,

One and secondless, which ever endures as one’s happiness. (V91) 55 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

As we approach the conclusion of One Hundred Verses of Self Instruction, Narayana Guru strikes a radical note of humility as at the same time he reaffirms the absolute nature of the Self as existence/consciousness/bliss:

We have not known anything here so far,

Having spoken of great happiness;

Even if intellect and such disappear,

The reality of the Self, without becoming disintegrated, will continue as knowledge. (V98)

Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yati’s commentary on this verse includes the following clarification:

In this verse Narayana Guru says you have not known anything so far. We are in verse 98, and he is saying we don't know anything yet! By saying "we" he includes himself in this state of affairs. Until now, we have not known a thing properly. Why? Because we have been saying "Oh, that was excellent. It was wonderful, superb!" All these implied comparisons are there because you have never known your true state, in which there is no good and bad. There are no superlatives and nothing to compare anything to. It's just bliss through and through. Only if something has aspects could you say, "In the morning it was like that, and after noon it became like this." There are no high and low tides in the joy of the Self. It's always the same. So we have to confess this is something we have not known.

- Nitya Chaitanya Yati, That Alone, The Core of Wisdom, DK Printworld, New Delhi, 2003, pp. 697-8

In the educational psychology implied in the works of Sree Narayana Guru, one can see an alternative epistemology, methodology, sociology and axiology to the present approach to education, which has become nearly universal and surreptitiously serves as the handmaiden for globablized capitalism. The approach suggested through his teachings is radically new, in that it differs in both essentials and practicalities from what currently exists. Yet, at the same time, it has behind it the sanction of ancient wisdom from the Upaniṣadic texts of India to the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Buddha, the poetic mystical insights of a Jalalludin Rumi, and the philosophical insights of a Socrates. It is fully in line with what Aldous Huxley termed the “Perennial Philosophy” of mankind’s greatest thinkers and benefactors.

As I hope to have shown, this orientation has direct implications for both content and approach from the earliest grades through primary, secondary and 56 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e graduate level education. But perhaps nowhere does it shine more luminously than when we reach to the lofty peaks of what one could justly call “higher education,” in which ultimate reality breaks through the veils of appearance and the timeless reveals its universal face within the very confines of the temporal and specific. It is of this final achievement of the phenomenological reduction of all into pure consciousness that Narayana Guru sings in the final verses of his One Hundred Verses of Self Instruction:

The atom will disappear in the vastness of knowledge,

Leaving no trace of its parts; on that day the indivisible will attain perfection;

Without experiencing, one does not know this unbroken consciousness;

It is the silence-filled ocean of immortal bliss. (V97)

As far back as the first quarter of the twentieth century, Narayana Guru was already able to sense the crisis and crying need of mankind. He made reference even then to environmental devastation, to the commercialization of human relationships, of man’s greed and man’s inhumanity to man. Narayana Guru made both his life and his teachings a response to this crisis and in effect, his words can now be understood to be a clarion call and a wholesale rejoinder to this crying need.

Nowhere is that need greater than in the field of education, and nowhere can the Guru’s teaching be found to be more of a balm and a bomb, a balm to soothe the fevered heart of mankind and a bomb to destroy the ignorance and greed that are at the root of the very many problems with which we today find ourselves faced. Our current system of education is very much at the root of many of our problems and a fresh approach to education based on a deeper understanding of the true nature and unparalleled potential of each and every human being can go a long way toward resolving those same problems, leading us, both individually and collectively, to a bright and long-lived future.

Conclusion:

Life is really very precious. Our life support system, justly capitalized as Nature, is so bounteous that each day witnesses the ripening of billions of fruits (not to mention vegetables, grains, cereals, etc.), enough to feed every man, woman and child alive on the planet (not to mention the countless other species, similarly provided for). Nature’s provisions are lavish, but owing to human ignorance and greed, many people are not getting their minimal fair share. Each person has his/her own dignity. Dignity need not and cannot be granted by another. But in many cases, through injustice and humiliation, it can be threatened by others. In fact, humanity could live in harmony, with people pursuing their own self-interests (enlarged by true 57 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

Self-knowledge) and thereby also contributing to the well-being of those with whom they live – family, neighbourhood, community, bio-region and up to and through state, nation, global, and ultimately the universal and absolute Self and Source of All.

The primary stumbling block to such a salubrious future is the severely alienated self-concept that has been warped by sophisticated society, schooling, similarly misinformed parents, advertising, salesmen and politicians. The supposedly separate self is necessarily crippled by a fundamental alienation whereby we do not see our own self in others and others in our own self.

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Illustration Courtesy: CEZANNE, Paul – Fruit (1879)

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Himalaya by Kālidāsa

(Translation of six stanzas from kumara-sambhava – the Birth of the War-God by Nataraja Guru)

Kālidāsa means to India what Shakespeare means to England, Dante to Italy or Goethe to Germany. He belongs to the order of poets of the universal. He is noted for his grand similes, many of which require some insight into the Indian back ground to understand. He lived during the golden age of Indian history and, although dates cannot be given precisely, he is generally considered to have been the most dazzling of the “nine gems at the court of Vikramāditya” at Ujjain, the ancient Greenwich of India, in the fifth century AC.

It is impossible to render the sonorous beauty of the original. Fortunately there is a gramophone disk (HMV- P. 10729) for those who would like to hear these verse in Sanskrit. Slightly marred by some tawdry tinkling introductory music the recording is otherwise quit good.

Writing of the birth of the War-God F. W. Thomas says “the asceticism of Siva is a sort of epic of the Indian spiritual philosophy and religion in its heroic struggle of intellect against passion: the fourth canto, the Lament of the Lady Dalliance, when in place of her husband, the Flower-God or Indian Eros, consumed by Siva’s glance of fire, she finds only a man-shaped heap of ashes is among most keenly appreciated expression of Hindu sentiment.”

The story concerns Parvathy who is also Haimavati, the daughter of the Himalaya she is to be married to Siva because the gods, being too good, always suffered defeat from the evil forces and therefore approached Siva at Kailas, his mountain home, to beseech him to have a son. How the great ascetic Siva with a middle eye that omits fire could think of marriage and be wedded to Haimavati, and 59 | G u r u k u l a E - M a g a z i n e

thus be the father of Kumara (otherwise called Subrahmaṇya in the South, or Kārtikeya or Skanda) who is to be the War-God in defence of the good, is the story of the epic whose opening lines are given below.

The work begins by tracing the ancestry of Uma Haimavati and naturally describes the Himalaya first as in nature, then as personified. The gradations between objective reality and the poetic subjective personification are covered in these verses.

To those who have been in the Himalayan regions, stanzas four and five must be of especial interest. This is a true picture drawn from actual experience. The sudden showers, the drifting clouds that weave in and out among the bamboos, and the whistling of the winds, are all familiar incidents to travellers in these mountains. It is easy for anyone who has visited even the lower ranges, to turn these elemental facts into personified Siddhas and Kinnaras.

I. With a soul celestial there reigns in the northern regions that emperor of mountains named the Himalaya; bounded fore and aft by oceans deep low! It stands- as if a measuring rod for the earth itself!

II. Whom all the mountains conspired to choose as a suckling calf, while mount Meru (chief of mountains), the milking expert, stood witnessing under the guidance of the emperor Prithu (ancient philosopher king), the earth goddess herself was milked, to yield radiant gems and rare medical herbs!

III. To one so gloriously endowed with infinite gems the snow is no blemish; as the moons markings are over covered by its own radiance, so this one defect – the snow – is immersed in the presence of a multitude of worthy virtues!

IV. Having denizened to the very limit in the shadowy valleys of drifting, lowering rain clouds, hastened by sudden showers to the sun-warmed Himalayan heights seek final sanctuary the Siddhas (hypostatic elemental spirits).

V. The very mountain (the Himalaya), by windy guess from caverns emerging, filling the cavities in bamboo stems, offers a basic note for the Kinnaras (spirits of music) who like to raise their voices in high-pitched song.

VI. That mind-filled maiden, friend of Meru(Himalaya), for the permanence of the race, existence-knower as he was- herself honoured even by silent holy hermits – that Mena, whose form matched his very self, respecting the laws ordained, he (Himalaya) espoused.

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Gurukula News

Muni Narayana Prasad: Will be at the Varkala Gurukula till the middle of January.

New Books: A commentary on the Dakṣnināmūrti Stotra of Śankara, written by Muni Narayana Prasad and published by the Kerala State Language Institute, and a totally revised commentary on the Brahmavidyā Pancakam of Narayana Guru will be released during the convention. Both these books are in Malayalam.

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Cover picture courtesy: van Gogh, Vincent Willem - Study of a Tree