A beautiful kind of madness...

Just so to update you, i am in the middle of getting my feet wet in the 2 most awaited events which i was looking forward to since a long time. The journey , though has just begun...
My desperate quest for knowing/understanding/learning Indian psychology has gifted me with a wonderful opportunity to be a part of a 4 day academic seminar and rigorous workshops ( http://www.ipi.org.in/events/delhimar13/tentative-schedule.php ) with some of the best practitioners in this field from East and West. It was my first day today, and I am already filled to the brim! No points for guessing, I have high hopes and expectations from these four days of immersion in my own cultural philosophy.

Also equally exciting is the Centre exhibition ( http://www.krcindia.org/Activities.asp ) which is to take place this weekend. I have, in  my own small ways, since many years, dedicated a part of my so called 'artistic abilities' to be manifested in any kind of re-cycling and re-using objects of daily use. There is a wonderful joy in just painting an old envelope or a paper bag to make it re-usable or using it as a canvas that  i can't explain!  This exhibition, primarily centering on just BEING (which i buy the way, absolutely love) is just another attempt to have fun with myself and self-absorb in some of the most simplest things i like to pursue which is making bookmarks, diaries, pens made of newspaper, and my newly discovered love of making fountain pens out of wood...

A sneak peek into my 'products' for this year! Hoping to have fun in this year's Exhi-sale !

A few hand made diaries, primarily reusing Wedding Cards

My quintessential bookmarks! =)

My newspaper pens! ;)

Newly tried old-styled fountain pens, for you to paint or try your hand at calligraphy! Made of simple nib, wood and feathers (self discovered and hand picked, i really love to pick up scraps from roads! :D ) Let's see how many 'mad' people like me are going to use it ! ;) 

Religiously restoring my sister's Tatting (threadwork jewellery) pattern-scraps to make make them into usable key chains! =)

Looking forward for other interesting stuff and feedback too ! more updates later!

Enjoy your weekend,

Love, Light and vibrant Colours!

bani

Our name is our virtue?!

I love my name... 'bani' or ' vani' literally translates to Speech. the term appears in many Hindu vedic texts as well as sikh texts referring to gurbani- that is, guru's speech. one of my earliest reference to my name that was taught to me is with regard to one of Kabir's famous dohas.

एसी बानी  बोलिए, मन का आपा खोय ।    

औरन को शीतल करे, आपहु शीतल होय ॥

aesi bani boliye, mann ka aapa khoy

auran ko sheetal kare, aapahu sheetal hoy...

Translation:

Speak such words, sans ego's ploy

Body remains composed, giving the listener joy.

Recently, while studying Kundalini and Chakras, i came across an interesting reference and description of bani, that i feel like sharing. The following is an interaction between Vimalananda and the author that i've extracted from the book Aghora I and Aghora II- Kundalini by Robert Svoboda, wherein the teacher is explaining the disciple, the FOUR LEVELS OF SPEECH:

Mantra is the energy which moves your vehicle (the yantra) according to the road map (tantra).

Mantra is a collection of sounds. When pronounced their vibrations provide energy to yantra. Sound appears on an electromagnetic spectrum as one variety of energy which can be manipulated by the Tantric. There are three main types of Mantra:

a)      Descriptive- usually in Sanskrit, these Mantra describe wither the process undergone, the desired goal, or both.

b)      Meaningless- aggregations of sounds which have no known meaning in any human language.

c)       Bijas- individualized nasal syllables.

Bijas means seed, and these ‘seed-sounds’ produce fruit according to the Bijavrksha Nyaya, or the Law of Seed and Tree. These frequent repetition of these Bijas eventually results in a sort of standing wave, permanently energizing either an external Yantra or some area for the aspirant’s brain, resulting in the continuous production of a specific effect, one which is coherent with the personality invoked. Four types of Vani or speech exist for the pronunciation of Mantra:

a)      Vaikhari- vocal speech

b)      Madhyama- nasalized speech

c)       Pashyanti- purely mental repetition

d)      Para- telepathy is speech, in which only the intention but not the sound is conveyed.

The more subtle the speech, the deeper its effect on both the individual and the surrounding environment. Just as a laser produces coherent light, a human brain can produce coherent energy when a single frequency (Bija) is selected and is amplified appropriately with Yantra and Tantra.

The four levels of speech are, from lowest to highest, Vaikhari, Madhyama, Pashyanti and Para.

Vaikhari, vocal speech, is only for mundane things; it is physical speech, which always has an external object. Madhyama, as the name suggests, is midway between the mundane and the spiritual. It is mental speech so its object is internal. Pashyanti is only for spiritual things. Pashyanti means ‘seeing’-seeing with the divine eye, clairvoyance. Actually it is not seeing, it is perception, because the physical organ of sight plays no part or a very minor part in it. The eye acts only as a vehicle for this perception. And para is meant only for Rishis. It is beyond perception; it is telegraphic speech, the highest.

Vaikhari, Madhyama, Pashyanti are predominated by Tamas, Rajas and Sattva respectively. Since the world we know it, Maya, is the result of these Three Gunas, the use of these three forms of speech is limited, imperfect because they all exist within Maya. The state beyond the Gunas is the state beyond Maya. That state is perfect because it is absolute, and that is Para.

Look at it with the help of syllable Om. The three and half coils of the Kundalini represent the three and a half letters of the word Om: a, u, m, and anusvara (nasalization) at the end. But Om also has a bindu (orthographic dot) over the anusvara. Anusvara and bindu cannot exist without one another. Bindu is a point: position without dimension, as they define it in mathematics. Anusvara is pronounceable in Vaikhari and Madhyama, but bindu van be pronounced only in Pashyanti and Para. How do you pronounce a dot? You can’t , but the intention to pronounce it can be present. Intentions counts for nothing in Vaikhari. Intentions counts for something in Madhyama, and for a lot in Pashyanti. But intention counts for everything in Para. In fact, para is nothing but intention: the purified intention of a purified ego, a Kundalini Shakti which has been magnified millions of times by intense penance. Bindu is used when the Kundalini moves from the Vishuddha Chakra into the Ajna Chakra, when Shunya begins. That is the very nature of bindu: emptiness, which is the source of all sound, the field from which sound arises.

Here is another way to look at it. What is the word for ‘sweet’ in Sanskrit?

“Swadu or madhura”.

“Of all sweet things in the world only honey is madhu, because only honey can offer sweetness to the body without being digested first. This is because honey has already been digested by bees. Madhura has an extra ‘ra’ in it; that refers to the Fire Element. Anything that is madhura must first be digested before its sweetness can be released into the system. Of all forms of speech only Para is truly madhu. Para goes directly to its target and exerts its effect immediately, just as honey does in the body. All other speech must first be digested by the hearer before its effect can be felt. Pashyanti is always madhura, atleast , and Madhyama usually is, which is why they are so useful. But vaikhari is only sometimes sweet, because it is under the control of all Six Tastes. This is why sometimes we speak sweetly, and at other times our words are sharp, or bitter, or sour, or salty, or cold and hard.”

More on Kundalini later... =)

Have you ever thought about your name? does it mean anything? does it hold any significance in your life?

Indian Psychology- Vedanta

Alter Ego.2011

Vedanta is one of the six major schools of Brahminical philosophy. It is one of the school of thought that makes me think and remains insatiable however more I read about it.Needless to mention, its concepts have certainly influenced my art(some of which I'll display later). Sharing the basic concepts of Advaita Vedanta as I use this space to 'practice' for my upcoming exam.

This Indian school of thought presents the Advaita or non-dualist Vedantic view of consciousness. Vedanta literally means the end of Vedas, the most ancient scriptures of Hindus. It represents the highest culmination of the philosophic thought of the Vedic sages. The Upanishads form the basic authoritative source of Vedantic doctrines apart from the Vedas. The third important source is Bhagvad Gita.  During the early 9th century, Sankara(788-820) wrote commentaries on all these sources of Vedantic thought.


The fundamental doctrine of Vedanta is that there is a single principle which underlies the infinite variety of forms that manifest themselves in the Universe. This principle is called Brahman which is said to be formless, without any qualities and essentially indescribable. The nature of Brahman has been described with a triology of terms Being(sat), Consciousness(cit) and Bliss(ananda). Atman or the self is identical with the Brahman, the cosmic principle. One realizes the identity of the Self with that of the Brahman or Universal Self(Paramatman) in a superior state of consciousness called Nirvikalpa samadhi.Sankara suggested that all objects of the universe are but illusory transformations(vivarta) of the formless Brahman. The world as we see it is thus considered to be a Grand Illusion or Maya.
Sankara describes two types of knowledge-Para vidya and apara vidya
Para vidya is obtained in the experience of the identity of the Atman with the Brahman in the state of Nirvikalpa samadhi. It is the highest form of knowledge where one transcends knower-known distinction.
Apara vidya refers to knowledge of the phenomenal world. In this domain, space and time(desa, lala) and principles of causality are operational. Rules of logic operate under apara vidya.

Further, the world of Maya is governed by the Law of Karma and the continual changes in the world are ascribed to the interplay of three 'strands' or gunas namely sattva, rajas, tamas.

The Vedantic concept of Jiva('life'. 'living being') is similar to the contemporary concept of personality. The Jiva represents everything concerning the individual and is viewed a s a multi-layered entity in which 5 layers are encased in one another as concentric sheaths of onion covering the Atman. These 5 layers are:
1) Annamaya kosa- The outermost shell is the body. It is called the sheath of food(anna), since it may perish for want of nourishment.
2) Pranamaya kosa- Prana means energy. It is the next layer inside, which literally means "breath of life" It is sustained by breathing-inhaling, exhaling etc. It is the physiological processed that organize the bodily functions.
3) Manomaya kosa- Mana means mind. It involves the sense organs and the mind coordinates its functions. It is the level of processing thoughts and emotions. It is considered a seat of egoistic striving. (ahamkar)
4) Vijnanamaya kosa- Vijnana means knowing. It constitutes the intellect and represents the cognitive aspects of self.
5) Anandamaya kosa- It is the innermost core of Jiva and the seat of the experience of the bliss.

According to Sankara we have a Gross body and a Subtle body. The Subtle body consists of 5 motor organs, 5 sense organs and then the innermost instrument consisting of:
1. Mind(manas)- involved in analysis of ideas, synthesis of ideas and desicion making.
2. The Intellect(Buddhi)- involved in planning and decision making.
3. Ego(ahamkar)- seat of self awareness and arrogance
4. Psyche(citta)- involved in remembering or storage of traces left behind by past actions and experiences.

Vedanta also describes Four states of consciousness:
1. Wakefulness (jagrti)- Where the gross as well as the subtle body remain active. Jiva is involved in the enjoyment of object of pleasure. Orientation is outward bound since it is directed towards external objects.
2. Dream (svapna)- It is the intermediary state between wakefulness and deep sleep. The Gross body and the senses are at rest, the jiva is cut off from the external world but subtle body is active. The intellect(buddhi) assumes the role of experiencer and doer and 'creates' objects for its own experience of enjoyment or suffering. Sankara emphasizes the illusory nature of dreams.
3. Deep sleep (susupti)
4. Fourth state (turiya)- which is used to refer to the trance state of nirvikalpa samadhi. One who achives this state realizes that the world as he saw it during wakeful state is also illusory or unreal. In the fourth state one transcends intentionality(directedness to an outside object). The knower of Brahman becomes Brahman. The person stands above pride and prejudice, manifesting the ideal human condition called sthitaprajna.

Means of attaining superior state of consciousness:
1. Discrimination between permanent and impermanent. Only Brahman is permanent, the phenomenal world is impermanent.
2. Involves maintaining an attitude of detachment.
3. Acquisition of 6 virtues:
a) sama- controlling the mind to rest it steadily on one objective
b) dama- withdrawing the senses from objects of pleasure
c) uparati- preventing the mind from modifying itself as modified when controlled by external objects.
d) titiksa- enduring hardships or pain without lamenting or becoming anxious.
e) sraddha- adopting an attitude of conviction that the theory explained by the scriptures and the directions provided by the teacher(guru) are the correct means for the knowledge of Reality.
f) samadhana- the firm resting of the mind of formless brahman without indulging the mind.
4. The fourth is the cultivation of the intense desire for liberation of the bonds created by egoism and ignorance.

Source: Paranjpe, A.C. Theoretical Psychology : The Meeting of East and West. (1894).Consciousness:The Two Indian views of Yoga and Vedanta.


P.S.- More on Vedanta may be later. The Readers are requested to please suggest some books for further reading on Indian Psychology.