Atma Shatkam Follow Up - 2

My friend Ishita asks:

"I am curious ... How does one apply this in day-to-day life ? Say for someone who is in a financial crisis (or undergoing any kind of hardship for that matter)".

In addressing this question, I guess its important to now verify the theory and see if there is any empirical evidence that supports it. In the process we can see how it relates to daily life in general. Its not hard at all to find empirical evidence for this if we just start looking around.

The identification process:

The identification process is pretty straight forward - from our personal experience as well as a glimpse at the profiles in any social networking site can give a good idea. More recently it has taken a more obsessive form of people identifying themselves with all these unreal identifications and even committing suicides (recent news of an IIM-Bangalore student is one of the examples) and a google search on facebook suicides gives enumerous links of people committing "virtual suicides".

Obsessive identification and downfall:

When we start identifying at gross level, and take it to an obsessive level, we begin to see great falls - of people in various walks of life. Identification with money and power - The Raj Rajaratnam scandal says it all. Rajat Gupta, Anil Kumar, Rajiv Goel and other cohorts in the game. I am not trying to be judgmental here. Although I don't see any remote possibility of me being so rich or powerful like them, say for example (one can always dream or free! comes at no cost:-)), if I do become like them, there is a likely probability of me falling similarly too. I can't judge unless I am in their shoes. I do respect them a lot. People with razor sharp intellect, hard working, super-human ambition and powerful. The point here is that one can easily get carried away by these obsessive identifications - money, power, status, pride in one's own achievements, etc. The case of Dominique Strauss Kahn also could be seen in similar vein. A man of great intellect, leadership qualities, charisma, and compassion (yes if you see the documentary Inside job you would realize his genuine concern for the poor and the frustration with the way the whole sub-prime mortgages were handled leading to the worst ever economic crisis in the recent times). Until I clean up skeletons in my own closet, I guess I shouldn't be too enthusiastic in judging :-)

Atma Shatkam and Hardships:

Now addressing hardships. The same principles above that may bring people down can also lift them up during hardships. Here the Buddhist idea of "This too shall pass" can be very apt (this applies to even happier times - neither they do last all the time). Obsessive identification with the hardship can end up doing otherwise - a fall from which one can never rise. So, is there an empirical evidence to this as well? The best example I can give is Viktor Frankl who pioneered the development of logotherapy.

His book "Man's search for Meaning" is a wonderful read. He describes life in concentration camps. How the first day they are stripped to their bare naked selves and all of their identifications so far are destroyed so to speak - all their possessions, family separated (most of them lost their parents, spouses and children), their degrees, their money, homes, everything that could be taken away from them was taken away. Only identification is their jati (Jews) is what they are left with for which they were forced to suffer. The closest of all identification elimination in its stark reality. They don't even have names in the camp - only a number that is given by which they are identified and recognized. They had no other option but to endure the suffering if they can or perish (and many perished while some survived). It is then after pondering on the existential questions, Viktor Frankl inspires himself and others that although life is full of suffering, and one need not identify with this state of affairs that are never permanent. Life beyond this suffering exists, every man should find the meaning of his life. Anything can be taken away but not the basic freedom of how we react to the hardship.

The other examples are Jonas Salk (inventor of polio vaccine) who refused to patent polio vaccine he invented and gave it away for free, the old wise investor - Warren Buffet, and if we keep searching we could find Zen masters like that in our very immediate circles - just look around and we will find them. I do.

Death also can be viewed dispassionately. Loss of kith or kin, or even fear of death wouldn't make any sense when when we are not this gross body any more. In any case if our life wasn't our choice, then why should death be?

Story of a Zen Master:

Sometime ago I read this small story of a Zen Master in Japan (I believe it was from Eckhart Tolle's Power of Now book). There was this Zen Master living in a small town in Japan. He was highly respected, wise sage and many people sought him for advice and guidance in all matters big and small. One fine day, a neighbor's teenage daughter becomes pregnant. Her parents (understandably) get exasperated, afraid of ignominy and embarrassment, threaten their daughter and force her to confess who the father is. The teenage daughter (understandably) being afraid quickly blames it on the Zen Master. The parents go to the Zen Master, ask him and abuse him and say that he should take the responsibility of the child. His response: "Is that so?". He eventually takes the responsibility of the child raises him like a loving father and time goes on. He is maligned, called a charlatan, and the very society that once respected him shuns him. One day, the daughter realizes her folly and confesses the truth that he is not the father. So, the parents and the daughter come back to the Zen Master and seek forgiveness. The Zen Master's response: "Is that so?" and returns the boy to them.

Moral of the story: Get on with your life being untouched by its vicissitudes.

It is definitely easier said than done but worth pondering and making an effort to live like one (Zen Master or also called as sthitha prajna).

Conclusion:

So, in conclusion an understanding and appreciation of the Atma Shatkam can give us an optimistic view of life, recognize the oneness and the perfection in the functionality of the world (which implies one need not be perfect - the interdependence of this world will take care of one's imperfections), recognize that we can choose to remain unaffected by life's vicissitudes, accept it as is, recognize the futility of things can be easily taken away from us (and given to us also - this is implied), the futility of being greedy, covetous, etc. Once we recognize we are not the vicissitudes we face in life, would it be any wiser to be bothered about them?

If we recognize and negate what we are at gross level, then it follows how unwise it would be to focus on those identifications and eventually suffer.

I may have sounded preachy enough already but I guess the topic itself is such. Am writing mainly for my own fun and refining my thinking.

That said, I am posting a recommended reading below:

http://www.deeshaa.org/2010/10/24/the-pale-blue-dot-2/

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/02/opinion/sunday/how-yoga-won-the-west.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=vivekananda&st=cse

Yoga

9/29/2011

Feel free to comment. Keep it neat, decent and respectful

Atma Shatkam Follow Up - 1

So this is a follow up post on the Atma Shatkam interpretation written previously. It generated sufficient interest amongst a group of my friends and I feel it requires a separate blog post (or two).

Before that I must admit I am enjoying this intellectual exercise. Engaging in discussions like this carries a danger of being perceived holier than thou - the last thing I want given my own fallibilities! So, just consider these posts as an intellectual exercise written to clarify my own thinking and my own benefit to begin with. So, I appreciate the feedback from my friends. That said, I am open to being corrected - if my thinking has flaws or if I have a wrong idea, do correct me. In short I am not impervious to learning:-).

My friend Deepak asks via email:

If it is consciousness, my natural next question is - what is consciousness or "Atma", I guess I have to become more spiritual to understand that... My analytical mind says consciousness = Mind and thought, but then Verse 1 rules that out - leaving me wondering what it is?

First off I don't believe that one needs to be "more spiritual" than one already is to address and/or understand these questions. Coming back to the main topic now. Consciousness by itself has been a subject of in-depth study. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consciousness gives an idea of this abstract concept. I couldn't really get a clear understanding of it. Seemed too detailed.

So what is Siva (in Sivoham = Siva + aham = I am Siva):

I may have been a bit callous in my previous post in interpreting Siva to be the eternal consciousness. I admit I don't have any expertise on Advaita to check what Sankara actually meant. However, thinking and probing the matter further and thanks to a good feedback and discussion from another friend of mine Arun (his troublemaking cynicism notwithstanding:-)), the closest we agreed was that the answer could be energy. The Shatkam does mention it somewhat in the last verse, that "I am the vitality behind the universe". So, the closest answer to "What I am?" could be energy after eliminating all what is not. The energy behind all the nature's existence and operations? And let's see why this could be so.

So, I went back to freshman Physics textbook (Feynman lectures vol 1) to refer to the chapter on conservation of energy. Quoting Feynman (bold emphasis mine):

"There is a fact, or if you wish, a law, governing all natural phenomena that

are known to date. There is no known exception to this law—it is exact so far as

we know. The law is called the conservation of energy. It states that there is a

certain quantity, which we call energy, that does not change in the manifold

changes which nature undergoes. That is a most abstract idea, because it is a

mathematical principle; it says that there is a numerical quantity which does not

change when something happens. It is not a description of a mechanism, or anything

concrete; it is just a strange fact that we can calculate some number and when

we finish watching nature go through her tricks and calculate the number again,

it is the same."

And further:

"It is important to realize that in physics today, we have no knowledge of what

energy is...It is an abstract thing in that it does not tell us the mechanism or

the reasons for the various formulas."

The key point is that (total) energy does not change - can neither be created nor destroyed. Now, the Atma Shatkam also in the attempt to define "Who am I?" also eliminates all those identifications that are not permanent (that can be created and destroyed). From the rudimentary knowledge of Advaita I have, it professes that anything impermanent can't be real - it is an illusion. What is real is what that does not change.

Prajnaparomita Hrudya Sutra and Atma Shatkam:

The Buddha also in his Prajnaparomita Hridaya Sutra espouses exactly the similar points as in Atma Shatkam. At some point I will dig up how tarka shastra (treatise on logic) describes what is the end point after all this elimination exercise. From this, it seems to me that energy is the end point of all this elimination exercise in finding the answer to "Who am I?". And to me it does seem logically consistent and could be explained easily now. In fact, we cannot deny that we are energy and all natural phenomena are because of this abstract concept called energy - which again no one has defined what is!

Isn't it a very enlightening and amazing feeling that we are actually the manifestation of an indestructible natural phenomenon and by being so, aren't we also invincible? Would anything else matter? Aren't we the omnipotent divine beings? Should we really look for someone up there residing in heavens to take care of us? Aren't we the ones who are in control of our destiny? Perhaps a good point to ponder...

Conclusion:

That said, probing further and further we can fall into the trap of missing the forest for trees and struggling ourselves to find the answer to "Who am I? - energy, then what is energy?..." will no more be helpful. The best we can do is to understand its manifestation and find a pattern. It may be a good intellectual exercise but of what use would it be?

So, the right question to ask is how to does this help in understanding human suffering, strife, life, death, the differences we see and relate to daily life. And this is where the question of another good friend of mine Ishita, made me thinking - which I will address in the next post.

Yoga

9/29/2011

Nirvana Shatkam (Atma Shatkam)

In one of the google groups I am a part of, one of my good friends Deepak, asked me to explain what I think of Nirvana Shatkam (also called Atma Shatkam). So, breaking the tradition of writing only poetry in this blog, I am attempting some prose for the first time...

The Atma Shatkam defines what one is by defining what one is not (typical way of defining some fundamental concepts in East Asian traditions). Zen is also defined the same way in his attempt to bring it to western world by Alan Watts in the book "The way of Zen". The best analogy is a sculptor carving out the sculpture from a stone by eliminating the "unnecessary" (what is not) stone to reveal his intended design (what is) such that what is manifests by itself when what isn't is removed.

Also note that it is Shatkam and not Shatakam (most websites make this mistake). Shatkam is a group of six verses while Shatakam is about a hundred verses. The beauty of Sanskrit - a small error can change the whole meaning.

The context:

So lets start with the context of the Shatkam. Legend says that Sankaracharya composed this when he first met his Guru Govindabhagavatpada. This journey by itself is consdered a very inspirational and eventful journey where Sankara traveled from Kerala in the south to the banks of Naramada in Gujarat. There is a separate treatise on this journey Sankara Vijayam or "The Victory of Sankara". It is considered to be very inspirational reading (unwavering dedication to achieve your goal). Coming back to the topic: Govindabhagavatpada asked Sankara who he was and he apparently answered him with this six verse group. What an elegant way to introduce oneself! It can be safely said that this is one of the best compositions that deals with the existential question of "Who am I?" in a very lyrical, concise and profound way.

Short Summary -

"I am not this gross body, nor the intellectual self through which I experience this world, nor the ego. I am not what I aspire to be in this world, what I compete to be, I am not my likes nor dislikes, where I come from, my jati, my institution, nor am I my profession. I have no birth, no death, I am no parent, nor teacher, nor student, I have no relations so to speak. Then who am I? I am eternal bliss, the consciousness that resides in all beings, the vitality behind all living beings". I would define eternal bliss as the "flow state" by which the entire universe works in perfection. The essence of the composition is a profound universal message in the oneness of all and the impermanence of nature. In that sense it makes me sometimes wonder, are we all really different? Are we just manifestation of the same consciousness in different forms from time to time?

You could perhaps skip to the concluding part after verse 6 below if you'd like :-)

More Details

A bit more into the details now. If we ponder on it, we realize that the Shatkam follows an interesting structure. It starts with mano budhyahankaara chittaani naaham...". If it is all about defining what one is not, then why should it matter how it starts? So, let's ponder on this for a bit. Seriously, just ask this question to yourself - "Who am I?" and after sufficient thought you may realize and appreciate the composition. The fact that we even can question implies we are thinking beings. So, it follows: are we our mind? Are we our intellect, thoughts, ego?...and the questioning can begin from there. I will write below what I think of the structure below.

Verse 1:

I am not my mind, my intellect, nor ego, I am not the sense organs. Now it is important to recognize the significance of this. Once we start thinking and questioning, we begin to realize that we experience this world through our sense organs and that is why the questioning is possible in the first place. So, are we the sense organs then? No... (nacha shrotra jihve na cha GhraaNa Netree...). It continues to say that I am not the five (gross) elements (panchabhoota) of nature (air, water, fire, earth, ether].

Verse 2:

I am not the praana vayu (the breath that sustains life), nor the gross body made up of bones, flesh and skin...I am neither my organs of action through which I sustain myself and procreate. Here Sankaracharya mentions panchakosa...I don't have a deeper understanding of Advaita to clearly define what it is, so it can be checked from the reference below to get a reasonable idea. I leave it to reader.

Verse 3:

Once the basic identification (and negation thereof) exercise of body is done, then the composition proceeds to basic emotions. Am I what I like and dislike? Am I the passions I have, Am I the greed, the cravings, the envy? Am I the arrogance, the frailties have, am I living for aspiring the purushaarthaas?. Unfortunately it is hard to define the purushaarthaas in plain English - I leave it to the reader (If you are an Indian, you might appreciate easily and if not write to me offline and I will do my best to explain or simply google!).

Verse 4:

Once the basic emotions are also negated, them am I my profession? Am I a collection of good and bad (deeds that I do), am I the vicissitudes of life that I go through? Am I my daily duties that I (have to) do? All these identifications are also negated.

Verse 5:

Then the identification proceeds to jati, birth, parents, guru, and students (or in today's context - the institutions we come from and/or where we work), our kith and kin, the different roles we play in different contexts. Am I all of them? Do they define my identity? This is negated as well.

Verse 6:

After negating all the above, here the definition of what is is attempted. I have no form, I have no thought, I have no attachments, nor am I detached, I am not definable, nor measurable - I am all inclusive. I am the eternal bliss and the consciousness behind all beings. A bit more detail here: the state of being without thought has eluded lot of seekers from time immemorial (the more recent mindfulness theory is also related to this). Yoga is being without thought - yogah chittavritti nirodhakah as defined by sage Patanjali.

Now come to think of it - how beautiful the composition proceeds! The logical sequence is amazing. Eliminating all the typical identifying factors that we consider when we start defining ourselves.

References/acknowledgements

1. http://www.svbf.org/journal/vol2no4/nirvana.pdf

2. Inputs from my mother Dr Sita (Retd Sanskrit Prof)

3. And of course my friend Deepak...

Feel free to comment. Keep it neat and decent and feel free to write to me if need be.

Yoga

09/27/2011

Poem for Yamini

The falls of Yosemite,

The hue of these Utah mountains

When hugged by the evening sun,

The colors of the Yellow stone...

I see them all

In your chatter, patter

And in those pranks big and small

Your cherubic smiles rain on me

Like the snow showers adorning the lone Shastha.

Your pristine innocence binds me

Like the silent Pacific bounding these turbulent shores.

These long roads that never seem to end

Are like my yearning to see you, and play merrily

As you snuggle into my arms...

And those cuddly hugs, the soft pecks

And the chirpy frolic-

Are memories that never fade

Like the notes of some songs

That I grow up with as life passes by...

Yoga

09-04-2011

PS:- Yamini is my dearest niece - the cutie pie born to my best buddy Narayana and his wife (and my dear sister) Divya on Aug 9th 2009. I've been thinking of writing a poem for her ever since I made a long drive camping trip to Yosemite and Yellowstone in July of 2010. I dream of going on a long drive with her - a trip across this beautiful country when she grows up to be a beautiful sweetheart and learn much more than I'd ever know...