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By Dr. Vidagdha Bennett
Most tourists arrive in Kolkata clutching the latest guidebook to India as if it were a lifeline tossed in a stormy and troubled sea. The 2007 edition from Lonely Planet, to take one popular example, is reassuringly crammed with well-researched facts on all the practical aspects of travelling in the sub-continent. The section on Kolkata prescribes exactly what to do, where to stay according to your budget, places to eat – and how to exit the city rapidly once you have exhausted the slender range of options that are listed. In practice, I found that this tome is, without doubt, a compendium of vital information should you happen to be a ‘casual’ traveller, someone who is just passing through the city on the way to, say, Darjeeling or Varanasi, someone who wants to skim the surface and cross Kolkata off the list of 100 places you hoped to see before you die.
But I was not. Kolkata has been such a rich and vibrant presence in my imagination for more than thirty years that my first trip to this cradle of spirituality, literature, music and art had become more a pilgrimage than an excursion. For me, Kolkata was not on the way to anywhere; it was a destination in itself. Having sacrificed valuable space in my suitcase for the whopping 1,236-page, one kilo Lonely Planet doorstopper, I consulted it religiously in the first instance to find somewhere decent and economical to stay. From its excellent maps, I memorised the basic layout of the streets. Then, a few days later, I sold it to a second-hand bookstore and launched into life beyond its carefully regimented scope.
After a month of exploring the city on my own, my experiences have led me to believe that Kolkata is one of those great destinations in the world that warrant a vastly different approach to tourism. To me, the worst aspects of our Western attitude to travel are summed up by Sir Edmund Hillary’s statement after he became the first person to summit Mount Everest: “We knocked the bastard off,” he declared when he arrived back at base camp with Tenzing after their victorious ascent of the world’s highest peak on May 29th, 1953.
Alas, how we waste
Our precious time
In the company of
Jealousy and criticism.
~
Each soul, each heart
And each life
Has something very special
To offer
For the betterment of humanity.
~
There is only one examination
That cannot and will not stop,
And that is the examination
Of self-improvement.
Poems Selected from Sri Chinmoy Books
Image by Abhishek, Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries
The immense remoteness of her trance had passed;
Human she was once more, earth's Savitri,
Yet felt in her illimitable change.
A power dwelt in her soul too great for earth,
A bliss lived in her heart too large for heaven;
Light too intense for thought and love too boundless
For earth's emotions lit her skies of mind
And spread through her deep and happy seas of soul.
All that is sacred in the world drew near
To her divine passivity of mood.
A marvellous voice of silence breathed its thoughts.
All things in Time and Space she had taken for hers;
Excerpt from Savitri
Book Twelve: Epilogue The Return to Earth Page 716
By Dr. Vidagdha Bennett
Jorasanko Thakur Bari
25th January 2008: It has been raining heavily all night – a solid, drenching rain with no intermission. Nor did it arrive with thunder and lightning. It just came; to deluge the alleyways and the little stalls of the street vendors, to wash the dust from buildings and rickshaws, to cleanse the air and give the parched city a taste of winter. I emerge to find that everyone has pulled out their humble assortment of vests, scarves, socks and black umbrellas. Our hotel guard is wearing a thick woollen khaki uniform that looks as if it may have done service in the British army long ago.
After greeting my new acquaintances – the old man who sells the English newspapers and charges four times the newsstand price, the manager of the internet shop who has taken pity on my inept skills, the moneychanger who waves enthusiastically from behind his counter when the dollar climbs up a fraction, the young cook who makes perfect lemon pancakes and milk coffee on a tiny, antiquated stove – I reflect on the day’s itinerary.
As if by design, my Lonely Planet Guidebook falls open at the map showing destinations to the north of the Maidan and my eyes light on two words: Tagore’s house. It is, without doubt, the perfect day to go to the house of the Poet.
“The sky is overcast with clouds and the rain is
ceaseless. I know not what this is that stirs in me – I
know not its meaning.”
- Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali 27
I catch a taxi to Jorasanko Thakur Bari, the distinguished seat of the Tagore family. It is located at 6, Dwarkanath Tagore Lane in north Kolkata. This vast and spacious red brick dwelling was built in 1784 by Prince Dwarkanath Tagore, the Poet’s grandfather. In his book, “Rabindranath Tagore: His Life and Work” (1921), Edward Thompson describes it intriguingly:
“The Jorasanko house is a vast, rambling congeries of mansions and rooms, representing the whims of many generations.”
Article by Dr. Vidagdha Bennett
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose
As January 23rd dawned in Kolkata, I did not have to think twice about my destination for the day. It had to be Netaji Bhawan, the ancestral home of the great Bengali freedom-fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. January 23rd happened to be his 111th birth anniversary and the whole of Kolkata was flooded with pictures of this iconic figure.
Every year, no matter where he was in the world, my spiritual teacher, Sri Chinmoy, used to celebrate Netaji’s birthday. “For a Bengali,” Sri Chinmoy said, “these things are in our blood.” Sri Chinmoy looked upon Netaji not only as the foremost national leader of his day but as someone who was imbued with great spiritual depth. He was “the beloved son of Heaven and earth,” Sri Chinmoy wrote. And, in the dedication to his landmark book on Netaji, published in 1997, Sri Chinmoy said:
Netaji, beauty of the Bengali heart you were. Netaji, responsibility of the Indian life you were. Netaji, capacity of the sub-continent-unity you were.
I wanted to experience the depth of this Bengali reverence for myself.
Unsure of my bearings, I took a taxi to 38/2 Elgin Road, South Kolkata. We pulled up just before Netaji Bhawan to find the street partially blocked and the house ringed by armed security guards in white uniforms. In fact, the whole scene was eerily similar to that fateful night of January 16th/17th, 1941, when Netaji made his Great Escape from the house – under the very eyes of sixty-two members of the British C.I.D. (Criminal Intelligence Department) who were supposed to be detaining him under house arrest.
Belur Math
Article by Dr. Vidagdha Bennett
There is an image of Swami Vivekananda that kept recurring to me when I arrived in Kolkata. Not the traditional image of him striding through India as an itinerant monk, dauntless in his quest, nor his fiery addresses at the Parliament of Religions, but something almost heartbreaking – the image of him scaling the locked gate to gain entry to Belur Math, the monastery he himself had created.
The incident occurred towards the end of Swami Vivekananda’s life, when his body had started to break down irretrievably. He had made his last tour to London and America, saying farewell to his dear ones and entrusting the responsibilities of his work to his Gurubhais Abhedananda and Turiyananda. Now, after a long absence, he just wanted to go home – to India, to Bengal, to his room at Belur Math. Unlike his earlier triumphant return, this time Swami Vivekananda did not inform anybody of his impending arrival. In his haste to reach India, he left the other members of his party in Cairo and travelled alone – in itself an unusual occurrence for someone with so many distinguished disciples.
Swami Vivekananda disembarked from his steamer in Bombay and caught the train to Calcutta (now Kolkata), a trip taking upwards of forty hours. Arriving at Howrah Station in the late evening of December 9th, 1900, in the garb of a sahib, he managed to locate a horse carriage for himself and his luggage. Then he started for Belur Math. Alas, when he arrived at last, the monastery was locked up for the night.
I came across this video of Shimshai and enjoyed the music.
Thanks to Poetry Chaikhana video channel for this
The Genius of India is a film based on a talk given by Sri Aurobindo about India. Sri Aurobindo talks about the inner characteristics and soul of India and how the body of India may evolve.
"Spirituality is the Master-Key of the Indian Mind"
As I wandered the forest,
The green leaves among,
I heard a Wild Flower
Singing a song.
"I slept in the earth
In the silent night,
I murmured my fears
And I felt delight.
"In the morning I went
As rosy as morn,
To seek for new joy;
But oh! met with scorn."
Image from Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries
Pure thinking is not escaping But Self-offering. Pure thinking is not observation But Self-transformation. Pure thinking is not experimentation But Self-perfection. Pure thinking is not God-fearing But God-becoming.
- Sri Chinmoy
- For a daily quote or poem by Sri Chinmoy, visit Daily Wisdom of Sri Chinmoy
- For Poetseers, Poem of the Day
"Always bear this in mind: Everything is in God's hands, and you are His tool to be used by Him as He pleases. Try to grasp the significance of 'all is His'. and you will immediately feel free from all burdens. What will be the result of your surrender to Him? None will seem alien, all will be your very own Self."
- Sri Anandamayi Ma
I came across this video of Sri Anandamayi Ma and devotees singing 'Hari Bol' By coincidence I notice Shane had posted another video of Sri Anandamayi Ma here previously
See video below.
This video is a very nice interview with Atmananda, one of the principal assistants of the great yogini Anandamayi Ma. Anandamayi Ma grew up in Bengal, which was also the birthplace of other great Masters such as Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, Paramhansa Yogananda and Sri Chinmoy. She spent almost sixty years of her life going from one place to another across the vast Indian subcontinent, where crowds of people would throng to see her in the blissful consciousness that gave rise to her name (Anandamayi='filled with bliss')
A video clip featuring personal reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda. Lillian Montgomery who had the opportunity to meet Vivekananda in person shares her experiences. In particular, two qualities she noticed were the power and poise of Vivekananda - an 'Ocean of Consciousness'
"Swami Vivekananda was so entirely different to anything we had known in America."
"As he spoke, veils just seemed to fall from your eyes, giving an entirely different impression of personality..."
The video was recorded in 1955
We are now able to offer a daily poem of the day. The poem of the day will be published here: Poetseers - Poem of the Day. You can subscribe by RSS and also receive an email notification of the poem
The Poem of the Day is hosted at Shortpoems.org a sister site to Poetseers.org
If you want to suggest poems for Poem of the Day there will be a feature to allow submissions and requests.
When I enter bookshops, I often see books discussing atheism.
As a spiritual seeker I don't have much interest in these books. Whether others believe in God or not is not of any concern. I rather like the quote of Thomas Jefferson:
"But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."
Also, through practising meditation, one realises that there are many states of consciousness that can not be described and explained by reason. Therefore, to discuss the existence of God, through reason and the mind only, inevitably has to be unsatisfactory.
I have no interest in proving God's existence to others - I feel this is a fruitless and unnecessary task.
However, these are a few random thoughts, ideas and quotes on the subject of atheism
Swami Vivekananda used to recount the tale of a Hindu Sannyasin who took a vow of silence. Unfortunately the sannyasin got caught up in the Indian mutiny. - As he was being stabbed to death by a British soldier, he broke his 15 year vow of silence; saying to the soldier:
"And thou also art He!" [1]
The philosophy of seeing God in all, usually seems an ideal far beyond our grasp. At times, seekers may have difficulty to see God, even in a Saint or Realised Master. However, the ability to see God in all is the hall mark of a realised soul and a constant theme of all spiritual traditions.
An ancient Egyptian poem:
God is the Spirit of spirits, of creation the Spirit divine. GOD is God from the beginning before all things were He was God.
I used to shun my companion if his religion was not like mine; but not my heart accepts every form. It is a pasturage for gazelles, a monastery for monkss, a temple of idols, a Ka'ba for the pilgrim, the tables of the Torah, the holy book of the Qur'an. Love alone is my religion, and whichever way its horses turn, that is my faith and creed.
Anonymous
From Music of a Distant Drum, Bernard Lewis - Classical Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Hebrew Poems
Last night I begged the Wise One to tell me the secret of the world. Gently, gently he whispered, "Be quiet, the secret cannot be spoken it is wrapped in silence."
- Rumi
- Whispers of the Beloved, Maryam Mafi & Azima Melita Kolin
- Rumi Poetry at Poetseers
Related Article
When Silence is the Best Philosophy by Tejvan Pettinger
Thursday, October 11, 2007 - A lifetime dedicated in the service of humanity has ended with the passing of Sri Chinmoy, the global humanitarian, meditation teacher and advocate of the boundless potential of the human spirit, at the age of 76 in his New York home. In the 43 years since he arrived in the America in 1964, Sri Chinmoy had turned his life into a living example of his firm conviction that, in his words, "the answer to the world's problems is for each one of us to go beyond our current capacities and become better". Even now, as people from all countries, religions, cultures and walks of life gather to pay tribute to him, it is not the death of his mortal frame that comes most to mind, but the immortal spirit that lay behind his tireless contributions to the evolution of human consciousness.
What truly sets Sri Chinmoy's work apart is the sheer variety of avenues through which he gave wings to this vision. In fields as diverse, art poetry, music and athletics, Sri Chinmoy left his own indelible mark that inspired all who came across it to in turn better themselves in their own sphere of talent. In exploring such a wide variety of endeavours, he sought to demonstrate that no matter where our talents lie, they can be put to use for the betterment of the world. In each field of activity, Sri Chinmoy embarked upon new challenges with an enthusiasm, poise and imagination that flowed directly from his deep inner awareness of the limitless capacity of the soul. His output in the creative fields was enormously prolific - 20,000 songs, over 100,000 poems and 200,000 pieces of mystical art, to name just some of his achievements: his inner feeling was that the quantity of his output need not be a hindrance to its quality, and so he kept on creating with the spontaneity of a child:
"If we know how to pray and meditate to gain a free access to the world of inspiration, if we have an inner communication with our Pilot Supreme, then quality and quantity can go together."
In addition, his many grassroots initiatives aimed at uniting his fellow beings behind the vision of a world based on harmony and oneness won him a unique position as a figure above political, religious or regional considerations, a person with truly the betterment of the world at heart. These initiatives included the World Harmony Run, an Olympic-style global relay which crossed the world seeing for themselves how the best qualities of humanity - kindness, empathy, largeness of heart - were qualities that could be found anywhere, and then spreading that message to everyone they met along the route. In 1990, he founded the Oneness-Heart Tears and Smiles humanitarian initiative, which provided aid to 24 countries with a philosophy based on recognizing that those we 'give' to are in fact giving us much more by enabling us to expand our heart. Sri Chinmoy was repeatedly honoured during his life, receiving the UNESCO Nehru medallion and the Mahatma Gandhi award, and being twice invited to hold the opening meditation for the Parliament of World religions in 1997 and 2004.
Every facet of Sri Chinmoy's work spoke of the timeless and eternal qualities of the human soul, a timelessness that feels alive and vibrant even now, even if its creator has left his mortal abode. He often spoke of life and death being merely two sides of the same coin:
"We have a short span of life, say forty, sixty or eighty years; then we pass behind the curtain of Eternity. There is an eternal Life. This Life existed before the creation, it exists now in the creation, then it passes through death and it goes beyond death and enters again into its own realm....It had no beginning and it has no end. It existed, it exists and it will forever exist. Through our meditation, when we realise God, when we stay in God, we become the possessor of that eternal Life. Consciously we go beyond the veil of death and we remain in the eternal Life, which has neither beginning nor end."
His last weeks on earth did not see any slowing down in his activities - in the middle of September, he had travelled to the Russian city of St. Petersburg to give concerts of meditative music, and just the day before his passing he was composing more songs to add to his existing total of over twenty thousand, as well as hosting a meditation function for his students.
In Indian spiritual philosophy the human soul is likened to the Lotus - a most beautiful flower that grows in a miry existence but emerges skyward, delicate petals unfurling at the touch of the suns rays, offering its beauty and fragrance to the heavens. The human soul too has to struggle in the watery bog of the material world - through the practice of prayer and meditation and the cultivation of all the divine qualities we can rise above this material condition and be fully conscious of our divinity.
There was once a bandit by the name of Ratnakara who carried out a life of thievery and deception until one day quite by chance he happened across the great sage Narada whose thoughts were constantly immersed in Lord Narayana. Narada looked on Ratnakara with qualities that were so foreign to Valmiki that he could not recognize them - love, and compassion. Baffled by these emotions which he had never received even from his own wife and family, he asked Narada the reason for it. Narada replied that his constant love and adoration was for his Lord Narayana whose image he saw in the hearts of all, including the bandit Ratnakara. Narada instructed Ratnakara in the ways of meditation and advised him to repeat the name "Rama" which is another name for God. Ratnakara's nature however was so tainted with sin he simply could not utter the holy name "Rama", thus Narada instructed him to repeat "mara" which is the word for tree.
I feel in all my limbs His boundless Grace;
Within my heart the Truth of life shines white.
The secret heights of God my soul now climbs;
No dole, no sombre pang, no death in my sight.
No mortal days and nights can shake my calm;
A Light above sustains my secret soul.
All doubts with grief are banished from my deeps,
My eyes of light perceive my cherished Goal.
Though in the world, I am above its woe;
I dwell in an ocean of supreme release.
My mind, a core of the One's unmeasured thoughts;
The star vast welkin hugs my Spirit's peace.
My eternal days are found in speeding time;
I play upon His Flute of rhapsody.
Impossible deeds no more impossible seem;
In birth chains now shines Immortality.
By: Sri Chinmoy
Photo by: Jogyata, Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries
I do not cease swimming in the seas of love,
rising with the wave, then descending;
now the wave sustains me, and then I sink beneath it;
love bears me away where there is no longer any shore.
From- (Diwan al-Hallaj, M. 34)
- Al Hallaj
Photo by: Unmesh, Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries
Arjuna:
Tell me of the man who lives in wisdom,
Ever aware of the Self, O Krishna;
How does he talk, how sit, how move about?
Sri Krishna:
He lives in wisdom
Who sees himself in all and all in him,
Whose love for the Lord of Love has consumed
Every selfish desire and sense-craving
Tormenting the heart. Not agitated
By grief nor hankering after pleasure,
He lives free from lust and fear and anger
Fettered no more by selfish attachments,
He is not elated by good fortune
Nor depressed by bad. Such is the seer.
Picture Stories of Krishna at Seattle Art Museum
"Sri Krishna was a teacher from the very beginning of his life. Even before he entered into the physical world he acted as a teacher. Before he entered into his mother's womb, he came to his father who had been imprisoned by the king and said, "I am now going to enter into the physical world. As soon as I am born, you will take me out of this prison-cell and take me to Nanda" (one of his relatives). His father saw Sri Krishna vividly before he came into the world of manifestation, and to everybody's surprise, all of a sudden all the doors and gates of the prison were wide open, and his father took him to Nanda's place. Here he started his teaching."
From: Krishna - The Eternal Mystery by Sri Chinmoy
"We must realise that a life of failure is never permanent."
"Patience is the most sublime progress in disguise."
"Life needs these three things: effort, perseverance and patience."
Photo by Tejvan, Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries
God's Grandeur
The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.
And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs --
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.
By: Gerard Manley Hopkins
Photo from: Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries
World Harmony Run in Iceland
Links for September 9th
- Sri Chinmoy Inspiration New blog on self improvement and self transcendence
- Life Voices weekly podcast with inspiring people at Sri Chinmoy.TV
- World's Largest Pencil unveiled in New York - A new record for Ashrita.
- How to deal with Anger - 10 ways to deal with anger.
- The Power of Simplicity
- The Secret of Happiness - Desire less, aspire More. At Shane Magee.com
- Peaceful simplicity at Zen habits
Meditation
- The role of statues and pictures in meditation at Meditation Workshop.org
- How Long should I meditate for?
Photo from: World Harmony Run in Iceland