‘Aum’ continues …

The real ‘Aum’ is heard when all words disappear, all noises cease. When mind and intellect, thought and word all come to an end and silence begins, then an extraordinarily subtle vibration remains, which is ‘Aum’. When the immense emptiness comes into being, it has its own sound, its own music. It is called the anahat, the unstuck and the uncaused sound. As mentioned earlier, the English language has three words: omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent- all of which are constituted with the word Aum. Philologists may not be aware or understand; but after meditations and listening to anahatha, I feel, omniscient means that one who has known the Aum, omnipresent means the one who is present in Aum and omnipotent means the one who has become powerful as Aum. 

The Aum has been found in many forms all over the world. It is available in both the ancient sources of religion- Hinduism and Judaism. If there is anything common between Hinduism Buddhism and Jainism, it is Aum. Aum is a universal word as Amin, which are not manmade but heard in the depth of meditation. It is the cosmic sound. Zen sages ask their disciples to go and find the sound of one hand clapping. The sound of one hand clapping is something unheard of! This is Zen’s own way of saying the same thing- the anahatha, the unstuck sound. The real Aum is an explosion; it emerges from the depths of your innermost being. And it happens. 

Centre for physics and meta-physics, Switzerland, world’s foremost organization of authority in Basic sciences have found that the sound rhythm of Aum creates a pattern. This design is similar to that of ‘Sri Chakra’, of the Indian monk Adi Shankara. The resonance of Aum is deeply penetrative into the sub conscious and unconscious mind. Aum is proved to bring out the maximum potential of human mind and helps in crossing the frontiers of possibilities and so called impossibilities. 

A, U, M, sounds of the Aum are the primordial sounds of Humanity. Dr. Deepak Chopra, world renowned Cancer specialist and modern day Guru and the Dr. Dean Ornish- pioneer in ‘Reversing heart disease program’ use the power of ‘Aum’ meditation in their therapy. So it is not a surprise to know that Krishna strongly advocates to the humanity about the importance of ‘Aum’ in this life and after. Let us understand Krishna to understand Gita!

Wishing you all health and Happiness,

Dr. Dwarakanath, Director, Mitran foundation- the stress management people

Half Dilemma Gone

Today, the society in general is facing a great dilemma about the values of life. The environment around us seems to be so vitiated that a wrong belief that ‘values don’t work’ has taken deep roots. This belief persists at all levels and the youth is no exception. But when youth becomes the victim of such a dilemma, it becomes a matter of serious concern. Their dilemma should be removed at the earliest and all those who are seriously concerned about the future of the society should make efforts in this direction. The fact is that if addressed correctly, it is not very difficult to do so. My personal experience and belief is that the youth responds better to any discussion on values than any other group. And in this fact lies the hope for the nation and perhaps the whole society.

I am narrating here one such experience I had a few years back. Once I was on a visit to an educational institution and it was the beginning of the session. The educational institution had courses in engineering, management and computer sciences. When I was in conversation with the Vice Chancellor in his room, he suddenly asked me whether I would like to meet the first year students of engineering, as it was the beginning of their session. Since I had some spare time with me, I accepted the offer and an interaction session was organised.

During the interaction, I chose to speak on the question of values only because I thought it was appropriate to the occasion. So after initial pleasantries, I straight away put a question to the group of young boys and girls whether they had a dilemma in regard to whether values work or not. To my surprise, all of them faced such a dilemma as was evident from the hands raised by them. Almost all of them raised their hands and there were many who raised both their hands, such was their dilemma. This was a great challenge to me as removing such a dilemma was not an easy task, more so with the little time available to me for the interaction. Still, I resolved to do my best.

With this background, I started interacting with them. It was a participative interaction, which made my task a bit easier. Having myself gone through such a dilemma, finding an answer in due course was my conviction and I was sure of passing this conviction to them, if not fully then at least partially. I found the young students very responsive and my reasoning or logic in favour of living a value-based life was received by most of them approvingly. Still, there were many genuine doubts, which I tried my best to remove. Our interaction went on for about an hour and I was quite satisfied with it.

Having finished, I again put up the initial question whether they were still in dilemma about values. Now the response was quite different in the sense that less than half the students raised their hand and those who had raised both the hands initially now raised only one hand. To me it was an indication of the fact that at least half of their dilemma had gone. I think it was quite a good success for a debut effort. More than personal joy, it was hope that I got from the youth. Surely, there is need for more effort in this direction. 

Rakesh Mittal I A S

Treaty Violated

The members of Khusaa tribe ran to Mecca and took refuge in the house of Budail Bin Warqua. They complained that the Meccans and the Banu Bekkar tribe violated the terms of the treaty with Mohammed. Amr Ibn  Salim went to Medina in haste to inform Mohammed about the violation of the treaty. When he came there, Mohammed was sitting in the Mosque along with his companions. Amr Ibn  Salim reported the matter to Mohammed and sought his help. Mohammed said that the Muslims would certainly come for their rescue. Following Amr Ibn  Salim, Budail Bin Warqua and some others also came to Medina. They informed Mohammed the story of the  attack and the support rendered by Banu Bekker for the attack. Mohammed was convinced about the violation of the treaty by Meccans. Mohammed thought that conquering Mecca is the only solution for the violation of the treaty by Meccans. Mohammed asked all the Muslims to get ready for conquering Mecca. 

Some elderly people among Meccans realized the danger of the steps taken by Aikrima and some youth. They have violated the treaty at Hubaidiya. They also realized that the strength and command of Mohammed was increasing day by day. They pondered over what would happen if Mohammed attacked Mecca in support of Khusaa. They sent Abu Sufian to Medina for meeting Mohammed and asking to renew and extend the terms of treaty for ten years more. He met with Budail Bin Warqua and his people at  Ishphaan on his way to Medina. Abu Sufian feared that Warqua would have informed Mohammed about the attack on them and that would make his mission more difficult. Budail denied his talk with Mohammed. But Abu Sufian was intelligent enough to learn from the members of his tribe that he was returning from Medina. Therefore, he thought that before meeting with Mohammed it would be better to meet his daughter Ummu Habedbaa who was the wife of Mohammed. Though Ummu Habedeba did not know about the decision taken by Mohammed about attacking Mecca, she knew the general feelings of Muslims and the feelings of Mohammed and his companions. Abu Sufian who reached the residence of Ummu Habedeba was about to sit on the sheet used by Mohammed, which was prevented by Ummu Habedeba. Abu Sufian enquired about this conduct. She replied that Abu Sufian was not qualified to sit on the sheet used by the messenger of God. Abu Sufian got angry and left the residence of Ummu Habedeba. He went straight to Mohammed and wanted to extend the term of the treaty. Mohammed did not seriously take him. 

Frustrated, Abu Sufian went to Abu Bekker and requested him to intervene and speak to Mohammed about his mission. Abu Bekker also was not ready to oblige to him. When he met Umer, Umer was also not prepared to help him in this matter. Finally, he approached Ali and  explained the situation. Ali also was not ready to help him. He also requested to Fathima the daughter of Mohammed and wife of Ali to support him in the matter of his peace mission. She also expressed her helplessness. He asked Ali what he should do in the matter. Ali replied that he did not find any suggestion. He further said that utilizing his status as the head of Khimana tribe he could contact the people and return to Mecca and he did not find any other solution for this problem. Abu Sufian declared before the people gathered in the mosque that he came with peace mission and thereafter he left for Mecca. He was very sad about the conduct of his daughter and his people who were giving him great respect before Hijra. 

Justice P K Shamsuddin

Papal Dynamics 4

The last blow to the papacy came from the butler of Pope Benedict who leaked secrets related to the very inner workings of running the Catholic Church. The problems facing the Catholic Church are enormous and currently, beyond the critical stage, and require very urgent and effective solutions. These solutions have to come from the teachings of Christ as revealed in the Gospels. Many anti-Catholic speculations and gossips related to the resignation of the pope, unfortunately, are floating. I trust in the reasons that the Pope who will be 86 in April 2013 gave: “…My strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry.” Reports insinuate that by his resignation he might be also intending the eventual removal of some of the papal Curia who were out of control. The unkindest cut of all after his resignation was the resignation of Cardinal Keith O’Brien amid claims of sexually inappropriate behavior with a seminarian and three priests. O’Brien who publicly acknowledged his sexual misconduct and apologized for the same was scheduled to attend and vote for the new pope as the only representative of the United Kingdom in the papal conclave due to meet in Rome in March 2013. As one of the 115 or 116 cardinals voting and being voted for, he himself could have been electable as a pope. Ironically, O’Brien has been an outspoken critic of gay and lesbian rights, denouncing plans for the legalization of same-sex union/marriage as “harmful to the physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing of those involved”. O’Brien’s resignation is all the more poignant in a Church rocked recently by sexual abuse scandal.

There is not a single cardinal who has not been appointed by the conservative popes, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. This is not the way to run a 1.2 billion strong Church that needs to be represented  by a cross-section of people. The Church in its governance needs representation from traditional, conservative, progressive, and liberal quarters. No pope is entitled to pontificate God’s will. The election of a pope is done in a conclave. A conservative conclave is likely to produce another conservative pope. A notable exception in recent history was Pope John XXIII who did not think of being elected as he had a return ticket to Milan. The conclave, a locked in setting coming from the phrase cum clave (with a key) in Latin where the electors,  cardinals below the age of 80, are secluded in the Sistine chapel of the Apostolic Palace, and are not permitted to leave the place before the pope was elected. In the last conclave they were able to leave the Sistine chapel for their living quarters nearby. They are forbidden to have any contact with the outside media. They are able to interact among themselves. Since 1970 only cardinals under the age of 80 could elect the Pope. Currently there are 115 such cardinals.  A two-third majority of cardinals present is required for the election. Pope John Paul II changed the procedure, and required only a simple majority after the fourth ballot. Pope Benedict reverted to the previous procedure of two-third majority. No cardinal is allowed to canvas for himself or any other cardinal. The conclave begins in the Sistine Chapel. The cardinals celebrate a Mass for electing the pope in the morning. That afternoon, they  begin the election process. They draw lots to select three members to collect ballots from the infirm, three to count the votes, and three others to review the results. After the ballots are duly marked they walk to the altar in order of seniority and make pledges to perform their duty with integrity, and drop the ballots into a chalice. The ballots are tallied, and the result is read to the cardinals. If a cardinal receives two-thirds plus one of the votes, he is the new pope. If there is no winner, a maximum of three more votes may be scheduled for that afternoon. Pope  John Paul II was elected at the eighth ballot. Pope Benedict XVI was elected after the fourth.  When a pope has not been elected, the ballots are burned with a chemical to produce a black smoke.  When a pope has been elected the ballots are burned alone to produce a white smoke. The white smoke emerging from the chimney of the Vatican Palace will announce the election of the pope for those assembled in St. Peter’s Square. (To be continued).

Swami (Dr) Snehananda Jyoti

Beware of Silence!

The story goes on saying that there once was a farmer who discovered that he had lost his watch in the barn. It had sentimental value for him. After searching high and low among the hay for a long while; he gave up and enlisted the help of a group of children playing outside the barn. He promised them that the person who found it would be rewarded. Hearing this, the children hurried inside the barn, went through and around the entire stack of hay but still could not find the watch. Just when the farmer was about to give up looking for his watch, a little boy went up to him and asked to be given another chance. The farmer looked at him and thought, "Why not? After all, this kid looks sincere enough. So the farmer sent the little boy back in the barn. 

After a while the little boy came out with the watch in his hand! The farmer was both happy and surprised and so he asked the boy how he succeeded where the rest had failed. The boy replied, "I did nothing but sit on the ground and listen. In the silence, I heard the ticking of the watch and just looked for it in that direction.” 

Silence is a much discussed possibility in life. The story of the farmer tells us how silence was effectively utilized in recovering a lost watch. Generally, the purpose of silence is limited to maintenance of some sort of inner peace. However, silence can be meaningless and at the same time meaningful; silence can also be positive or negative, inner or outer.  For me, silence is not simply a situation of no sounds or absence of any communication. I believe in the theory that silence begins where mind and intellect ceases. It is in silence that we establish our connection with the subtle elements of existence and I am talking about a world beyond rational assumptions, where silence is a state of total communication. Whenever I brood over the concept, it comes to my mind that silence is the most powerful force in the world. A big roar can be dealt with a loud boom. But, how shall we deal a person who consciously practices silence in life? Shall I say, beware of silence? Silence is so powerful, the more we eat it the more it will swallow us.

Joseph Mattappally

Learn To Listen

      

  “The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people.” Woodrow Wilson

The first step in teach ability is learning to listen. American writer and philosopher Henry David Thoreau wrote, “It takes two to speak the truth - one to speak and one to hear.” Being a good listener helps us to know people better, to learn what they have learned, and to show them that we value them as individuals. Listening shows respect, builds relationships, increases knowledge, generates new ideas and builds loyalty. Herb Cohen, often called the world’s best negotiator, says, “Effective listening requires more than hearing the words transmitted, it demands that you find meaning and understanding in what is being said. After all meanings are not in words, but in people”. To listen with your heart, your listening has to be active.

Abraham Lincoln was one of the most teachable presidents. He was always an avid listener, and asked nearly everyone he met to send him their ideas and opinions. As the old saying goes, “There’s a reason you have one mouth and two ears”. Listen to others, remain humble, and you will begin to learn things everyday that can help you to expand your talent.

The world-renowned Opera star, Madame Ernestine Schmann-Heink went through a very traumatic experience. Early in her career, her husband deserted her. She found herself almost penniless with four children to look after. She decided to kill herself and the children under a running train. Late one night she sat on the railway track with her children clutched tightly her arms, waiting for the Express Train to run them down. Suddenly her little daughter called out: “Mummy, I love you, please let us go home”. This tiny voice brought her to her senses. She abandoned her desperate plan and decided to give life another shot. It did not take her long to rise to fame and be acclaimed as one of the greatest singers of all time. Yes God’s voice reaches us in very different ways from those we may not imagine. If only we could spend time in silent reflection each day listening  to His voice speaking to us through peoples and events, what a difference it would make.

Sr (Dr) Lilly Thockanatt SJL

Aum- the cosmic sound and Krishna!

Krishna says, “If someone can remember me in my ‘Aum’ form and live in Aum at the time of death, he will attain to the ultimate, the eternal- Moksha”. The word Aum is an extraordinary, rare word. It is extraordinary just because it has no meaning whatsoever. Every word has some meaning, this Aum has none. For this reason, the word Aum cannot be translated into any other language of the world. Being meaningless, finding equivalent is impossible, beyond translation. People who discovered Aum were in search of something which could be a bridge between the word and silence. While any word has a meaning, the silence is neither meaningless nor meaningful; it is beyond both, it is the beyond. Aum is constituted with the three basic sound forms: a, u and m. A, u and m are the basic sounds of the science of phonetics. All other letters of the alphabet are their extensions and combinations. Although Aum was not written in the as a word; it remains a distinct and distinguished symbol.  Aum in its original form is available in Sanskrit, where it is in the pictorial form, it is neither a word nor a letter. Aum represents the space where the finite world of the words- sounds end and the infinite world of the silence begins.  It forms the frontier, the border line between the word and the wordless; there is no word beyond Aum. Therefore Krishna says if someone can think of him in his Aum form- which is beyond word and meaning – at the moment of death, he will attain to reality, the truth. Because Aum is at the boundary line of the world and beyond; one who can remember at the time of departure from the world is destined to be carried to the beyond. 

Aum is not even needed to be uttered and chanted; it has to be really heard and experienced. When we go into deep meditation, when all words disappear, the sound of Aum will begin to vibrate. This real Aum is heard when all words disappear, all noises cease. When mind and intellect, thought and word all come to an end and silence begins, then an extraordinary subtle vibration remains, which this country has interpreted as Aum. When the immense emptiness comes into being, it has its own sound, its own music. It is called the sound of the cosmic silence; it is called the anahatha, the unstruck- the uncaused sound. The clapping of hands or the sounds of drums are created. But meditation is a journey into silence; when all sounds disappear, when there is no duality, when you are utterly alone, then the causeless sound comes into being. India’s sages have called it Aum.

Similar sounds of importance are found in other lands, languages and religions. Christians use a word amen, Mohammedans say Amin. Every invocation of Upanishads begins with Aum. The English language has three words: omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent- all of which can be constituted with the word Aum.

More about the cosmic sounds in our next meeting…

Wishing you all good health and happiness,

Dr.Dwarakanath, Director, Mitran foundation- the stress management people