Ever heard about unintended results ? Call it whatever you want. It certainly left me in tears! Blissful ones of course!!
The old lady must have been of my mother’s age. I noticed her chagrin face and stooped figure when I visited the Seniors Care home in Wayanad with two of my friends.
As I was about to leave the place, she approached me to check if I had some time to listen. I agreed to spend half an hour.
Her story of being abandoned by sons were quite painful indeed. Having picked up few bright pieces of her otherwise sad narration, I reframed it and asked her if it made sense. I could see flashes of light and a shy smile.
She took my hands, placed them on her head to bless and pray. After obliging her I knelt down requesting her to bless me. Seeing the hesitation, I encouraged her “as you would do to your son”.
Weeks after that day, this morning I had a call from Mabel as the true caller id indicate. It was the same old lady sounding so exuberant. She shared the most beautiful gift I ever received for Christmas!
Mabel told me the good news of her recovery from depression and ill health.
Little did I know how to respond to her question, “Were you not asking me to forgive when you knelt down and asked me to bless you in my son’s place?”
I confessed that I never planned that way but at the inspiration of the moment followed my heart’s prompting. I thanked her profusely and affirmed the insight she received!
The wellness and peace she felt came from the FORGIVENESS she extended through the act of blessing me in the place of her son! The words of Ireneus : Glory of God is humans fully alive echoed in me. Humans are fully alive when they receive and give forgiveness and peace.
The old lady’s vibrant voice revealed that the scar in her heart has turned into a star.
Rumi wrote: “The wound is the place where the light enters you.”
May the GLOWING PEACE of Christ Childtransform our scars to stars!
Can a morning walk turn you into a pray-er (one who prays) or transform you into a prayer-in-locomotion ?
During today’s stroll, the presence of creation suddenly exploded on me. Did I say ‘suddenly’ ? I could be mistaken.
Possibly it was there already happening like virus coming on to me! But then I’ve become resistant and immune !
The quiet gentle presence has always been there, slipping in and moving out like the silent breath unnoticed. Now through the birds’ chirp, insects’ whisper, the flowers’ smile, the sun’s kiss, wind’s hug, the leaves’ nods, the dew drops’ wink, it took me out to a different space!
It slows you down first. Roped in to a rhythm that sets apart from the ‘used to’ style, you are surrounded by an unusual swirl of energy! The rush of time has left you! You are just yourself and remain relishing each sight, each moment, each delight!
A different movement and mood seeps into you. The promenade is no more an exercise to shed your weight or follow some health regime. You are transported to a different manner of seeing, feeling, and being with. Your tiredness disappears!
You are invited to be open to everything, each element, each person -good, bad, sad, mad -with a delicateness! Not just a fascination of the other or excitement of the exotic!
The PRESENCE – not tangible yet a felt reality is the face you recognize in each and every thing or person! It looks at you, through you and at each of them with a kindness and tenderness! As you perceive the dance and the dancer, at once still yet dynamic, you become soft within. A childlike simplicity guides you to wonder at yourself and others. Call it anything you like -love, compassion, freedom, enlightenment ! It is accessible to all.
One experiences expansiveness and inclusiveness! It stretches you to THE INFINITE both beyond and within. It leaves you with a sense of connectedness that harmonizes without being obsessed with perfection.
This presence is elusive of anyone who tries to possess it or claim monopoly. It neither possesses nor is possessed! It leaves you with a porosity, a hollowed out feeling of emptiness.
Blessed are those who walk with porosity and allow the presence to flow in and through them!
A smart 23 years old young man suffering from the pull and push of expectations from his family, his college, and his girlfriend was introduced to me by a doctor. I took him for a walk and made him relax. As a good rapport was established, he was open to talk. The initial session followed by online conversations saw him get through a series of job interviews. As the euphoria of selection for a prestigious MNC subsided, he was in a low mood over his girlfriend’s reaction.
Having realized that the online session was not leading him to the desired result, Ajay (name changed) wanted to come and spend a weekend with me for further guidance. Seeing his initiative to complete the process, I kept aside my work and suggested a nature trip to Vagamon.
Ajay announced that he is owner of a new home – a portable tent! He was game for the adventure. In few hours time we were riding to the destination on his motorbike. Our first halt was at the hermitage of Mitraji at Vellilapilly, Ramapuram.
The homemade Rose apple arishtam (a spiced Indian fruit beer) and the food supplies provided by Mitraji kept us refreshed for the rest of the trip. The tiring bike ride through the poor roads on the hills finally ended.
Walking the forest path to Manishada cottage near Murugan mala refuelled us with fresh air.
Our visit to Pazhayakadu and meeting with Swami Ananda Thirtha was an unforgettable moment. The adventurous solo trips in his Mahindra jeep to Pangong lake and through risky roads of Kashmir as narrated by Swamiji made us stare at his puny figure in awe. The stories of how he was protected and cared for by people belonging to other creed gripped our hearts. It echoed parallels to our own life journeys.
Swamiji invited us to share his rice porridge with pickle, and papad. It tasted heavenly with his endearing ways of serving! Ajay remarked Swami’s childlike simplicity and love filled up his heart before food could fill his stomach!
Back at Manishada Ajay was in a mood to listen to some music. I drew his attention to the two snakes resting in the crevices of a wall in the common hall. I assured him that my old reptilian friends were paying a visit to me and they were harmless. Discreetly leaving the hall, we went to occupy another empty room.
The night must have been tough for Ajay till he poured out his heart. I noticed its resemblance to the kind of music he was listening to – blues! So many of us like Ajay search for safe space and time to bare our inner struggles. If there is a non-judgemental space and person who can accompany, we find clarity in serenity, guided by the inner compass. Giving him a relaxation exercise, I went to sleep.
Next morning as I was choosing my spot for a sunrise meditation, Ajay followed me. Enjoying the warm caress of early sun, I gave him a writing work called “life-line”. It demanded some quiet recollective moments. The psychodrama to get rid of negativities demonstrated by me inspired him to go on top of a hill nearby and work on his emotional baggage in solitude.
I saw a smiling Ajay whistling and descending from the hillby noon! He showed me a snap of his stripped clothes on the rock! A refreshing dip in the stream down and a joyful sharing around brunch revealed that he had basked in the sunshine of God’s love and felt free to forgive those who hurt him!
Though Ajay was my guest, I felt he hosted me in the sacred space of his heart!I met Immanuel (God with Us!) at work in Ajay! Who can lead humans to forgiveness unless divine grace works in human heart.
No sermon preached, no advice given. The trip of trust I shared with Ajay and few steps of interior cleansing of negativities as I did in my life, did its work. The words of my spiritual guide resounded: “Unless you burn you cannot pass the flame!”
No one can save anyone! We may share ways we are open to the presence of really real, from our limited angle. So much to learn from each other- even elders from youngsters, as it happened to me! As long as there is something to learn, life is exciting!
As the snakes do the sloughing off old skin, we are led to a process of shedding our old habits, familiar patterns and be ready for new beginnings! If we can regain the sense of wonder lost in the course of growing up, we are reborn!
The recent incessant rains in many parts of South India brought the lakes, ponds and wells overflowing after 16 years in Bangarapet, Karnataka. I visited Sparrows’ Nest at Bangarapet to meet its founders Gloria and Joe who had generously offered me an underground hermitage there in 2019. I loved to spend time there, in meditative living surrounded by mother earth reminding that I am dust and I will return one day to the soil !
Sparrows’ Nest is an Ecological Ecumenical Aaram (place of rest) founded on the dream of God’s Kingdom in the gospel, inspired by Sinsung nim (guru) KIM JUN HO a late hermit in South Korea known as the King of Beggars! Gloria who became his disciple after a healing at this holy man’s hermitage carried on the gift she received and shared it along with Joe Patmury her life partner, in India.
My last stay at Sparrows’ Nest was in March 2020 before the lockdown declared in India due to Corona virus. I had a very fruitful time there, attending an online international conference on Enneagram – a great psycho-spiritual tool developed by ancient Christian hermits in the deserts of Egypt and later on by Sufis.
This year I was planning to visit Sparrows’ Nest hearing about the illness of Gloria. I learnt from Joe’s Whatsapp message, that my hermitage was flooded in the rains! The video clip below (recorded by Inko their daughter) shows that it has become a swimming pool for the children to have a good time.
My certificates, books, torch and gadgets were all turned into useless waste! The kids who swam in there could save 3 drenched books and a bag of wet clothes!
When I received the news in Kerala, it was indeed shocking. I remained with a sense of loss with sadness swirling around me. A lot of other feelings-fear of future without credentials to prove, anger at my stupidity, self-pity etc. surfaced. They came in waves one after another. I observed them come and go paying attention to my breathing. I allowed them to wash over me without denying them and yet not being pulled down. All of a sudden in the middle of the whirl pool of emotions, I could sense certain stillness. The more I focused on this still point, the more it drew me to rest at the center, and I noticed silently the feelings gradually subsiding losing its force!
In the restful quiet awareness, I noticed the transitory reality of everything around. All which I think belong to me, do not really belong to me! They have been given to me or entrusted to me! The space I used to stay is no more my room but has become swimming pool for kids. It can be a pond for fish and other aquatic creatures today. I began musing on this truth, smiling at my foolishness in considering them as possessions. Nothing is permanent. Everything is changing! Even my own body!
In fact we are reminded of this truth if we care to take time to be still to observe. While I was admiring the painting of the family and inquiring, Inko made a revealing statement that she looked different every time in the pictures taken!
The maya (illusion) as many Indian philosophers termed it, can become leela (play) if we have the freedom to be aware and not get sucked in and be deluded! Watch this accidental video captured by a photographer. It makes us wonder at our taken for granted feel of constancy and permanency about our place on earth.
Earth’s rotation captured accidentally
During this Christmas season my gift to you is based on the above realisation:
The place where Christ was born (the cowshed adored as crib) at Bethlehem, offered to his parents temporarily was not his home. Very soon he was on the road to a strange land as refugee! Later he must have wandered with his dad in search for job.
It is a privilege to take part in the experience of Christ child who took in the reality of “anithya” (impermanence) and learnt to live with it further in his life owning nothing. At the end, dying with empty arms outstretched, he told John, “Here is your mother!” He did not say, I entrust you my mother! He turned to Mother Mary and pointing to John, said, “Woman, here is your son!” Ultimate gestures of understanding giftedness and passing it on!
The recent events of life have given me a felt sense of being freed from the weight of belongings. This insight had been growing in me since some time after the floods of 2018 in Kerala. It had made me to thankfully refrain from accepting a gift of land (1 acre 40 cents) and introduced someone else who could take care of it. Now that the Universe has confirmed this intuition, I am growing in contentment and gratitude!
Dear Br Charles, How did you receive the news of you being declared a saint? I ask this since your thinking and being went beyond the conventional ways. I am also aware of the fact that the official church did not respect your last will and transferred your remains to a Christian cemetery.
You had renounced the title of “Père”(father) and preferred “Frère” (brother) even though you were a priest. In Algeria, people called you a Christian marabout but you proved to them that you were their brother by receiving everyone especially the marginals in your abode. Revising the rule you wrote for the envisioned congregation, you cancelled the word ‘hermit’ and replaced it with brother.
Br Charles with freed slaves
The zest for universal fraternity made you go extra mile to protest slavery. In spite of that, did you allow yourself to be a pawn in the hands of political powers with hidden agenda? Did you have a different plan though you had to take their support? Or is it that you were docile to the Master planner who outwitted you always? In any case it is evident that you gave up the military translator and took guidance of an expert linguist Motylinski to return to the basics of learning. You seemed to have been consumed by a love that cleared a new path of fraternalizing. You were in for a new adventure to the inner landscape of the blue people listening to their proverbs and songs. 10 years of your labour with metal nib dipped in camel urine on paper, brought to birth a dictionary, grammar and a book of poems inTuareg language.
The Little Sisters staying in a hut at Madiwala slum, Bangalore, introduced me to your prayer and biography in 1984. The abstract texts on the philosophy of the other I was grappling with those days became palpable for me thanks to your life! The dream of universal fraternity had been sown in me by a one-act play Brother Wolf by Laurence Houseman from my college days. Lupo’s transformation from a man of violence to peace by the brotherliness of St. Francis tugged me away from my ambition of a career to truth seeking! The trace sketched by that story in my heart got a face when I understood how you went alone to live among total strangers in an unknown land of hostile conditions.
Your discovery of the taste for prayer among those who did not share your religion and culture confirmed for me the human capacity to relate to The Presence beyond name and form. Disenchanted with the church ceremonies, it was the solitude under the starry night sky that kept this precious gift alive in me. The vastness of universe glimpsed in total darkness left me in awe! Was it not the same infinite expanse that caught you unaware and turned your life upside down during your expeditions in sub-Saharan Africa?
The pilgrimage to the land of Jesus took you to an intuition that became a compass in your journey. I had my chance to get a peek into what you could have gone through during an International meeting of Franciscans at Jerusalem in October 2011. Bored up with talks and the guided tours, I took time out to soak in the ordinary daily life of people there.
With Arab family
The Peace pipe
Friar Louis Bohte who worked for peace and justice among Palestinians and Jews took me for such a stroll in Bethlehem. I noticed a protected cavern with a trough by the side of stairs to a house. It brought the Christmas scene alive in my inner eye. Invited by an Arab family in the refugee camp who shared their meal and the peace pipe, I could visualize where and how your passion for “leading the hidden life of Nazareth” sprang from.
I tried again to get into your sandals when I walked from Jerusalem to Jericho through the Palestinian desert much against the warning on the risks involved, by my confreres. Obtaining the needed permission, I set out on a one day pilgrimage on foot. The experience of losing the trail midway from Wadi Qelt to Jericho, opened my eyes to something which one learns only in helplessness! The kindness of Israeli soldiers and few bedouins helped me to get back on my path. I was reliving the parable of Jesus with a new twist – several good Samaritans! I began to get a feel of what you deciphered – the genetic code of the kingdom of God in human hearts!
Pilgrim in Judea
Caves, Wadi Qelt
The caves in the Wadi Qelt reminded me of the hermits who took distance from the Christian church domesticated by the Roman Empire. What led you into desert in spite of your wish to lead life of Nazareth? Did you battle with the dilemma of belonging or departing from the colonial ‘churchianity’? This tension is lived by many independent seekers whom I met personally – Yogi Kappen, Sadhu Videhi, Poojaji, Ananth Maash and Avadhut Joseph . It convinced me to learn from those who dared to go it alone in India: Sadhu Sundar Singh, Brother Thampi, Peter Reddy, Vandanaji and Prasanna devi.
You were a genius to live this paradox of finding wings to go beyond barriers, and put deep roots to touch the underground stream of universal spiritual quest. I try to emulate that difficult balancing act you were good at- to be free from organizational controls and find diverse expressions of unity.
Caves, Bellary hills
Cave terrace, Spiti
Your fascination for the desert is something we share in common. The solitude in the wilderness of the hot Deccan Rayalaseema and the stillness in the cold wilderness of Himalayas at Tibetan border exposed me to a naked reality of nature as well as own self.
What did desert signify for you? Was it a space to connect with inner self, away from the society which validates and rewards pretensions? The stories of desert hermits indicated to me this reality. My own experience of those who came and laid bare their inner turmoils revealed that people are looking for ‘safe spaces’ where they can be themselves and face their painful struggles without fear or shame. I sensed that your tent in the desert modelled after the Muslim Zaouias rather than a monastery held such a space of welcome.
Wherever you pitched your tent, you practised the nearness of that enveloping Presence with your spiritual guide’s accompaniment. Your restless kinaesthetic energy found hinges on which your life revolved- “food for the way” and the nourishment for neighbours. Was there a role reversal when you were nursed and clothed by thoseImohag sisters and brothers when you were sick to the point of death?
Elderly Br Charles
As a co-pilgrim with them you met the life giving sacred in the mundane! Did those graced moments lead you beyond the divisions maintained at great costs by organizational religions? Did you go through a dying and rising to new life that you needed no more the external symbols of the cross and rosary you used to wear on your gown?
The pandemic has exposed unseen masks of our social life! We live in new deserts of unsure care givers, lost leaders, vacant temples, insecure homes, clueless kids and virtual relations. Fears, anxieties, losses and traumas are all out there without disguise. You will understand the churning going on in many of us by the pulls of life’s transitoriness on one side and the treasuring of loving kindness on the other.
You came to terms with the fleeting life and yet found that buoyancy to celebrate it! You transmitted an authentic beauty of human bonding and healing which institutions and organizations fail to bring about. It is so relevant today more than ever.
I recall a scene from the film Life of Brian where a crowd comes to Brian declaring him messiah. Each time he denies, the crowd find all sorts of signs to prove that he is messiah. Finally the frustrated Brian says, “Ok. I am the Messiah… (the crowd prostrate). Now… all of you f***k off !” Fed up with our ceremonies and celebrations, would you tell us something to that tune? In the same scene, few from the crowd with confused faces ask: “Lord, please tell us how do we f***k off?” Hope you will not hear such petitions from us. I am sure you must be having a good laugh and praying that we value ourselves as Kintsugi bowls with our chinks and cracks as beautified by the Almighty artist!
With all your inconsistencies, you remind an insight lost to us the pedestal makers: our faults and failures cannot hurt God who sees our hearts! As a perfectionist, I am consoled to learn from your life that genuine holiness is enduring imperfections patiently- my own and others’.
Funny… I could not see clearly. Faces, figures all blurred in spite of blinking several times. I sat helpless and puzzled.
The flight from Kochi to Mumbai takes two hours. A panic began to creep in me. I checked with my co-passenger if she is having the same funny feeling. She replied affirming the same, saying, “Looks as if I’m in an operation theatre!” Meanwhile her son asked her, “Shall I help you?” He peeled off a thin film from her face shield. I frowned and wondered what was happening.
The thin film stuck to protect the face shield from getting scratches and dust was the culprit. I hurried to pick up and remove it from mine. Neither of us saw the blushing faces of each other. Ah.. the face shield has not only served hygiene purpose but was also face saving!
My vision got corrected. I noticed my co-passenger becoming more beautiful as she had a good laugh at our ignorance. I joined her to laugh together! It not only lightened but also brightened us!
Most of us wear face shields (personas) in life for the sake of traveling together. But many of us do not bother to peel off the film stuck on it and keep whining.
Checking or comparing with others’ experience as I did, need not improve the quality of our lives. But the following bring change in us:
Being aware of what is taking place.
Being relaxed and open
Smiling at oneself
Blessed are we to wake up and enjoy the life journey laughing at our foolishness!
This picture from pre-covid times, I noticed only few days ago! It has haunted and acted on me like a radioactive drug used in PET scan to detect the dis-ease within!
The above words of Pope Francis with one lung, gives an insight into the compassion which leads him to fraternal meetings with the ‘disfigured’ in our society .
All who suffer need not necessarily feel compassion. There are some who undergo a kind of transfiguration in passing through suffering. They become capable of a love that transforms the fear and aversion they undergo to empathy.
And soon all those around can warm up in its glowing
That’s how it is with God’s love once you’ve experienced it
You spread the love to everyone
And you want to pass it on
A wrestling was going on within me since sometime on how to accept a homeless person given shelter by my friend. It took a while to welcome him in my heart as a brother when I realized that I share the same homelessness and I have been shown mercy by so many!
I took time to enter the darkness and uncertainty he is going through and allowed myself to pass through it without reacting to the negative images of reports about him by others.
A new sense of love and freedom to relate grows in me as I took a small step to invite him to cut a cake gifted to me! It has become food for way forward.
As the preparation of Christmas season begin, I wish you a time to pause and move forward welcoming the faceless whom you meet.
Heard of Kogis – the guardians of the last functioning civilization alive from the past ? These indigenous people live in Columbia, South America. Ever since I heard about them from two of my visitors, I longed to learn more about them.
It’s only recently I came across a documentary film made at their request by the former staff of BBC Alan Ereira. The film is ALUNA (a 2012 documentary film sequel to the 1990 BBC documentary) done with Mama Manuel Coronado, Mama Francisca Zarabata, Mama Shibulata Zarabata – the leaders of this ancient hidden civilization. The mamas (shamans) travel with an aging Alan and 400 kilometers of gold thread to trace invisible connections in nature and show humankind how to avoid destroying the planet.
The first documentary From the Heart of The World: Elder Brother’s Warning, showed to the world an ancient Tairona civilization safeguarded by Kogi tribe (the Elder Brother) who offer their concern for people of the modern world (Younger Brother). We were cautioned to change or suffer environmental disaster. After offering the warning the Kogi retreated to their isolated community in the triangular mountains of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, 5 miles high on the Colombian-Caribbean coast.
The Kogis have made the recent documentary film seeing us drowning in our own shit! To help us avoid the destruction of the world that they are trying to protect, and of ourselves they came up with Aluna which means conscience! Eight years after having raised their voice today we are alarmed by an insignificant virus choking our throats and lungs!!
I am no more proud to say that I am native of a town on the banks of river Periyar, where I was trained to swim at very early age by my wise mother who cut banana trunks and floated as life support. The same river very soon turned into a poison lagoon where we saw the dead fishes and tortoises floating !
Living since last 3 years at Vagamon, one of the sources of river Meencahil, I got involved in Save Meenachil River movement. In order to support the cause, along with some renowned artists I organized a workshop so that new generation will resist the indiscriminate development of tourism. The mobilized students and other enlightened people have been instrumental in forming a network of ecofriendly persons through Whatsapp group. They have been very effective to see to implementation of laws against pollution, and also to protect people from floods and landslides by prompt communication and mobilization.
pictures from Save Meenachilaar
We have seen the urgency for an understanding of life different from what we learnt from the mechanical text book learning at school to an organic interactive education with environment where art and spirituality became resourceful.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Albert Einstein
There is a touching scene in the film Aluna, where the Kogis after a respectful moment of silence and homage by the riverside, enter into the river bare bodied. The embarassed Britisher later removes his shirt in respect. It was a moment of realization that he was standing on the holy waters. Wisdom lesson!? To relate to nature we need to strip off our “used to” habits. It takes a naked reverential attitude to reconnect our true nature with the environment.
URGENT RETHINK
Dr Leonard Shlain M.D a neurosurgeon through his research on alphabetization, its effect on civilization and human brain showed that reading and writing had some unintended consequences on literate civilizations. Would the developments of the 21st century with its preference for audio-visual communication and greater openness to other dimensions of reality lead us to a more balanced thinking?
Could Android smart phones and google mapping tools empower indigenous people to raise awareness around the world and enable them to take their destiny in their own hands? The Sotori tribe in Amazon has mapped and measured carbon in their trees on their traditional lands and have sold their offsets in the carbon market bringing millions of dollars to their tribe to resist illegal mining! Read more Chief Almira was quoted in the press as saying, “The Sotori don’t know much about technology, but Google doesn’t know much about the forests, and we do, and together we can form a stronger partnership for the benefit of the people and the environment of the rain forest.”
Thus the way forward for our world is listening to each other and rethinking together so that a common home is possible! “Every violation of solidarity and civic friendship harms the environment” reminds the papal document Laudato Si.
Artists: Robert Athickal sj & Vincy Kallidukkil hsm
Do the middle-aged men muck up their lives? I mean… make the same mistake again and again? This witty enjoyable rom-com reveals one such fallible creature!
The Rewrite deals with a theme which is in short supply on screen. It is about a man learning to be an adult and in desperate need to take advantage of second chances in life.
A 54 year old Oscar awarded screenwriter now at the low point in his career, is forced to take up a teaching job. “I hate teachers. They’re frustrated losers who haven’t done anything with their own lives, so they want to instruct other people!” he said grudgingly taking up the only job available. Little did he realize that, for all purposes, he is exactly that.
See You tube (2m 23sec). Click the settings on the Youtube screen and activate the autogenerated subtitles
Keith Michaels (Hugh Grant) is waging an inner war with cynicism. The new chapter in Keith’s life could be over before it’s started, because of the awful gaffes he commits.
What if you miss the second chance and no third chances are coming your way? Is there hope?
Keith gradually rediscovers his soul thanks to his students and colleagues. There is one student who sees through him, “You are trying to fill a spiritual vacancy with alcohol and young women!”
The way out is within! Wisdom from the Bible reminds, ” But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it” (Deuteronomy 30:14)
Keith, who’s divorced with an estranged son, will go from bad teacher to revered professor as he bungles his way, finding himself in the process. As he guides his students respectfully helping them to find their unique expressions and blossom, he begins asking right questions to connect with himself, bursting the bubble of mid-life disillusion.
Interestingly the writer’s block in him disappears as he opens up to a new idea to write on himself as a washed-up writer who goes to teach in an out-of-the-way University! Having learnt from his mistakes, Keith is a changed man who does not wear honesty anymore as mere ornament. Connecting with students, colleagues and himself in an authentic way, the valuable relationships bring him more than just a salary and unearned prestige.
The film is in a way about third acts. A must see for both men and women who are going through mid-life transition.
AFTER THOUGHTS
Being one such fallible creature myself, this film provoked in me a soul searching:
“In times of great change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped for a world that no longer exists” Eric Hoffer
We learn by doing. We are all creatures of habit. Habits were taught in the family by mother the first teacher. Then father played his role in reinforcing them and initiated new ones. The significant others came in to add more habits to build up.
Today virtual socialization by streaming images shape young minds and bodies exposed to screen constantly. It is raising questions on education. Ever since the corona virus has sent our habitual world into a stand still, remodeling of education is being taken up in urgency.
Are we too late in addressing the role of schooling, its means and methods?
See The Case Against Outdated School System
Youtube (6min)
Unintended Effect
The summer camp I organized for rural youth at Nagpur back in 1997 had an unintended effect. They had an interesting scouting of the city with cameras, papers, sketch pens etc for mapping the terrain. The youth who came from villages of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand while interviewing the city dwellers discovered that most of the people never knew that the stinking stagnant big drain in the city of Nagpur was originally a river! They remarked, “We are not sure what kind of water we are drinking !” Many of them wanted to do some quick shopping and get back home to their villages.
The city youth who were voluntary helpers were ashamed that they too were ignorant of the history and geography of their immediate world! The free dental tests given by the medical association made things worse. Dentists exclaimed that most of these rural youth had admirable teeth whereas our city youth had poor dental health! The Gandhian doctor from Wardha nailed it when he addressed the participants of the camp and said, “Most of our schools do not teach the basics of self care!”
Can a doctor be a teacher? At least that’s what happened in my case. Dr T.P. Remesan led me to unlearn some of the old food and sleep habits by which I mistreated my body. He coached me to learn ways of listening and attending to body with reverence. It has not only brought improved health but also set me on a spiritual path of living in harmony with my nearest nature- my body, which Christian religion had failed to teach.
Dr Remesan guided me through a course of discipline- scientifically guided fasting and “nishkriya vyayamam” (non-active exercise)- of 10 days, to get rid of my bronchitis. I bid bye once and for all to the 34 year old ailment in 2011.
Dr T.P. Remesan
+91 82816 61381
+91 94478 30138
remeshnavajeevnam@gmail.com
Ecological Conversion
Besides good health and change in life style, I gained a precious insight ! Let me put it in the words of Doctor: “Thank your body wisdom! Doctor and medicine do not cure diseases. They may assist you to co-operate with your body’s intelligence. It is your body wisdom that has healed you! Do not come to me again as a patient !!”
I stared at the doctor finding difficult to believe what I heard. He went on: “This is not a clinic or hospital. It is Arogya Vidyalayam – school of health! I’ve trained you to take care of yourself. Continue listening to your body and take care of it“
St Francis of Assisi underwent various conversions in his lifetime till he became the second Christ. One of his last conversions was asking sorry to his body for mistreating it cruelly! (Wikipedia) Ironically I was being initiated to an ecological conversion by an atheist doctor who never heard about Franciscan spirituality!
Though the former pope John Paul II (now a saint) had spoken about Ecological conversion in 2001, it was only in 2015 this became part of official church teaching with Laudato Si (more details here)
A leaf of lesson from Dattaguru
Photo by me of Dattatreya temple, Vagator-Chapora Road , Goa
I was fascinated by Dattaguru ever since I came across a Dattatreya temple in Chapora, Goa. Being the embodiment of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva, Dattatreya is the Guru of gurus who lived as a fakir owning nothing but on alms received . In the conversation between King Yadu and Dattatreya found in the eleventh book of Srimad Bhagavatha Mahapurana, Yadu asks: “Why are you happy though you are a beggar?” “I am happy because of what I am, and not because of what I have” “I am a student of nature.”
Imagine the Guru of gurus claiming to be a student! Who were his gurus? The earth, water, air, sun, moon, honey bee, vulture … he lists 24 such gurus! King Yadu was astonished and asked: “What does it mean? What did you learn from them?”
Dattatreya answered: “Earth is my Guru, because I learn the lesson of immense, unlimited and unsurpassed patience from the earth. You may spit on the earth, you may defecate, you may walk with shoes over her or you may kick her. Still, Mother Earth does not complain. How patient is this earth! All the dirt we throw on her face, but still Mother Earth does not complain. How stable she is! I have learnt patience and stability from earth. So earth is my Guru and I am her student.” and thus he goes on to mention the other lessons. (See Wikipedia)
Maybe on this teacher’s day we who pretend to be masters need to humbly ask the corona viruses and other microorganisms, “Be our invisible gurus! Teach us to unlearn habits which do not serve anyone and relearn sane habits to make life better for ourselves , others and all creation!!”
