http://fineartamerica.com/featured/wild-egret-sharon-stjoan.html
Elephants three
Rama, the squirrel, and the hope of the world
When Lord Rama and the army of monkeys led by Hanuman were extending a bridge to Sri Lanka so that Rama would be able to go to the abode of Ravana, the ten-necked demon, to defeat him and to get back his wife Sita, who had been abducted, a little squirrel played an important role in building the bridge. He ran along to the end of the bridge and shook sand out of his fur. This sand provided the binding material that held the building blocks of the bridge together.
The bridge did hold together, Rama killed Ravana, and Sita was returned safe and sound to her husband. In gratitude, Rama thanked the little squirrel, affectionately running his hand along his back. This is the reason that today the Indian palm squirrel has three stripes on his back.
Because of the squirrel’s hard work and devotion to Rama, squirrels today are protected by Indian households, and no one would harm them.
This story, and many others, are recounted in the book by Dr. Nanditha Krishna, “Sacred Animals of India”.
It is a true story. It is true because, of course, the incarnation of God on earth would feel love and appreciation towards a little, innocent creature like a squirrel. A squirrel is indeed very hard-working, and makes a positive contribution towards the environment and towards life on earth (thereby assisting in building a bridge to defeat the arch-demon Ravana, the author of evil).
Science, when it is true to its origins, respects and values all life from the squirrel to the eagle – from the mushroom to the ficus tree. All is valued and preserved.
But there is another kind of science – it’s a kind of pseudo-science, though it has in many ways taken over the place of the rightful, true science.
This pseudo-science began probably in Europe around the time of Francis Bacon and Rene Descartes in the seventeenth century – and its doctrine (it does have a doctrine, just like a religion) is that human beings are the dominant species and have the right to mastery over all other creatures on the earth. In order to pursue that goal more effectively, it is useful to deny that animals have any level of sentience or consciousness—and there is an implicit denial of any genuine spirituality.
There is really nothing “scientific” about that kind “science.” True science, meaning wisdom and knowledge, does something quite different in quite a different way. It observes, watches, notices, catalogues, and seeks to understand the natural world, with respect and open sincerity. Following from this approach, it values and appreciates the natural world, and as a consequence, it seeks to preserve it. This science, which is the real science, is oriented towards conservation, towards the preservation and restoration of eco-systems, of forests, of all the natural habitats of the earth, of the plants, the forests, the birds, the animals, the geological formations, the rocks, and the mountains, and ultimately the people because we need the earth too.
It’s a good idea for us to notice that these two kinds of science are not the same. They are in fact opposite. One seeks to understand. The other seeks to dominate, and when dominance is the goal, really, the less understanding there is the better, because understanding can only get in the way of carrying out that harmful goal.
If one’s purpose is to dig a mine on top of a mountain or a dangerous oil well deep into the earth or under the sea, then the less one knows or understands about these fragile eco-systems, the easier it will be to destroy them without a second thought.
One of these kinds of sciences is life-giving and life-affirming. The other, the false science, is death-dealing and is contributing to destroying the planet. It is helpful not to get them mixed up.
India has always been a life-affirming land, with a philosophy and a culture that values really everything, that sees the validity, the worth and the sacred nature of all things, all animals, and all people. It is a culture that gives warmth and inclusion, that recognizes the consciousness, the sentience, and the value of all beings on all levels.
The ancient Vedic science was alive and well long before the beginnings of modern “science” ever came into being. Many thousands of years in the past, there was an understanding of astronomy, of the stars and the planets, a system of medicine, a practice of metallurgy, cartography, and the development of a number system that the world still uses today. There were surveying instruments, navigation, advanced mathematics, and eye cataract surgery. Along with a great many other advances that we still may not recognize as having originated in India.
All this knowledge is laid out in the ancient Hindu texts. When we see clearly the antiquity and the source of much of the world’s knowledge, that will enable the life-giving essence that was always there within this true science to prevail over the forces of environmental destruction.
Then there can be life, energy, and a restoration of hope and well-being to the planet earth. Then we’ll be honoring the squirrel, and Rama, and the victory of goodness and kindness over evil.
Top photo: Ashraaq Wahab / http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ Indian palm squirrel
Second photo: Painting done around 1860 / Wikipedia / public domain / Rama
Third photo: Painting done around 1920 by an unknown Indian artist / Wikipedia / public domain / Ravana
Musical Treasures: Gospel and more
By Elizabeth Doyle
Mahalia Jackson —
My mother used to say, “Other Gospel singers sing to an audience. Mahalia Jackson sings to God. It makes all the difference.” My grandmother was a Mahalia fan as well. She used to talk about watching her perform, and how badly Mahalia Jackson would need a glass of water afterward, because she was so passionate in her song that she would break into powerful sweats. I always vaguely imagined that everyone grew up with Mahalia singing through the stereo in their homes. Yet, now that I’m grown up, I’ve discovered that not everybody even knows who Mahalia Jackson is! In fact, I would say that the vast majority of my neighbors, friends and colleagues don’t have the faintest idea. She died quite a while ago. Is it possible that her legacy hasn’t been well-preserved? Well, anyway, here she is – possibly the greatest American Christian Gospel singer of all time: Click here.
(Turn your volume way up – it’s an old, scratchy recording – but the more closely you listen, the more you’ll be able to feel.)
It’s also worth watching this video of her interrupting Martin Luther King, Jr. by breaking into song: Click here.
Yungchen Llamo –
Yungchen was given her name by a lama when she was just a baby. It means “Goddess of Melody and Song.” Born in a Tibetan labor camp, Yungchen was put to work in a carpet-weaving factory at the age of five. Tibetan singing was illegal, yet her grandmother taught her some devotional songs on the sly, careful that they weren’t overheard. Later, the family made a 1,000 mile escape from Tibet over the Himalayans, entirely on foot. They landed in India, where they were welcomed into a Tibetan refugee camp. Of course, they had no possessions. But Yungchen was free to sing. One day, His Holiness the Dalai Lama heard her sing! And it’s said that it was he who first suggested that she should share the beauty of her classical Tibetan singing with the rest of the world. Since then, Yungchen has become an international sensation. She sings a capella (rarely any instruments in the background), and she sings very traditionally. She’s a huge success. She’s put out many albums, she’s a well-known activist for a free Tibet, she’s given concerts all across the world, and sung with superstars like Sheryl Crow and Annie Lennox. I bet her grandmother’s glad she taught her those devotional songs! Click here.
Ofra Haza –
She was Israel’s first pop star. And interestingly, she had a huge fan base throughout the Middle East (still does, although she’s now passed away), and that has surprised a lot of analysts who might have thought an Israeli singer would not fare well in the charts of neighboring countries. Although she’s considered a pop star, her music was very traditional, even when she took it up-tempo for young people. Her songs were based in the Jewish tradition of Yemen, where her family lived before there was an Israel. In them, she celebrates her Jewish religion and heritage, as well as her heartfelt connection to the musical traditions of Yemen. She grew up the youngest of nine children in a very poor Tel Aviv neighborhood. But she died a celebrity, thanks to a beautiful voice and the celebrative nature of her songs, which made so many people happy and proud. Click here.
Top photo: Wikipedia / Public Domain / Carl Van Vechten / Mahalia Jackson
Second photo: Sharon St Joan / western Sichuan province, an ethnically-Tibetan part of China / prayer flags
Third photo: Jack Malipan / Dreamstime.com / Sanaa Old Town, Yemen
Anna Hazare — A turning point!
After twelve days of fasting in a park in New Delhi, Anna Hazare, (Anna means brother and is a term of respect and affection) brought his fast to an end at around 10 AM Sunday morning, August 28 (Saturday evening in the U.S.) by drinking coconut water with honey.
In the midst of hurricanes, earthquakes, the violent overthrowing of governments, explosions, gunfire, wars, and whatever else is taking the world’s attention, a truly remarkable event has taken place in India. In an astonishing moment in history that has gone largely unnoticed in the west, this one elderly man, solely by the power of his spiritual authority, has dealt a decisive blow to governmental corruption in his country.
Anna Hazare, 74, comes from a humble background, holds no official position, leads an austere life, and has no home of his own. He represents no special interests and has no powerful backers.
In the words of Dr. Nanditha Krishna, a well-known author in India:
Anna (brother) Hazare brought prosperity to his village, Ralegan Siddhi, by practising sustainable use of natural resources. He also stopped the consumption of alcohol, cigarettes and other tobacco products and non-vegetarian food in his village of Ralegan Siddhi by convincing the villagers to do so. He is a great practising environmentalist, who has stopped the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in Ralegan Siddhi. He is a simple man who owns nothing – no house, no land. He lives in a temple in his village and lives on his army pension. He has no bank balance.
Anna Hazare dropped out of the seventh grade in school due to poverty. He became a street fruit seller, till he joined the army as a driver after the Chinese attack of 1962. He is not part of the educated elite.
Several years ago, he formed the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Andolan (Anti-Corruption Movement) and has sent several politicians in Maharashtra to jail by “fasting unto death”. The Congress should have known that he would do the same this time too.
The arrest of Anna Hazare – first in April, followed by the latest arrest in August – has set off one of the most widespread mass movements in India, after Independence and the India Emergency in 1975-77, and shaken the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government….They called him corrupt – that did not stick. They said he had been thrown out of the army. The army denied it and said that he had been discharged after retirement and had received several honours. They arrested and took him to Tihar jail – where the corrupt and the killers are kept – and then tried to release him when the mobs surrounded the jail. He refused to leave the jail till the government agreed to let him fast indefinitely with no conditions. The government was forced to accede.
Over the past few days, we have been witness to innumerable demonstrations and marches in almost every neighborhood in Delhi, and in every city and town in India. There are huge crowds at the Ramlila grounds 24×7, where he is fasting – in public… even Chennai has witnessed huge crowds of support. Contrary to the general propaganda, this is not merely a middle class movement. The public outrage at the scandal-a-day record of governments of all political hues and the groundswell of support for concrete action culminating in the Lokpal debate is a welcome sign for our democracy. An old man has the youth of this country following him, taking leave from schools, colleges, and offices and supporting his movement in different ways. Amazing!
Most importantly, there has been no rioting, no violence. India has lived up to its heritage of ahimsa. Anna is surrounded by the singing of bhajans (religious songs) and cries of Inquilab zindabad (Long live freedom), Jai hind (Victory to India), Vande mataram (the national song of India,) and Bharat Mata ki jai (Victory for Mother India). There is 24-hour live TV coverage of this movement. We are watching history being made.
He and his associates want the Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen’s Ombudsman Bill) to replace the useless Lokpal Bill proposed by the government.
Anna proves that there is still hope left in a morally degraded world.
In every corner of India, massive demonstrations in support of this improbable figure have been characterized by candlelight vigils, peaceful marches, and the chanting of songs. Many have joined him in his fast.
Having fasted for many days, despite his growing physical weakness, the loss of around fifteen pounds (seven kilos), and the mounting concerns over his health by his doctors and followers, Anna refused to end his fast until all the anti-corruption measures he sought were guaranteed by government officials.
On Saturday Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sent a letter to Anna, agreeing in principle to all of his demands. The Indian Parliament has voted to accept his demands, though formal laws must be still put into place.
There had been a fear that Anna might fast to the death, and when, with typical humility, he stood up to speak on Saturday, asking the crowd’s permission to end his fast, they were filled with a great sense of joy, as was nearly all of India.
Anna’s anti-corruption campaign, which began in his village, Ralegan Siddhi, has spread throughout India. The major thrust of the campaign is to institute not just an ombudsman who would report to the government (which wouldn’t accomplish much, and would be like the foxes guarding the hen house), but what he calls a citizen’s ombudsman, Jan Lokpal – that is an ombudsman who has the authority to look independently into, and take action against, corruption on every level from the prime minister to lower public officials.
Why is there an outcry against corruption in India? (This is our problem in the west too, though we do not see it quite so clearly.)
Just about everywhere in the world, there is corruption, and public servants can be bought. (In the U.S. where we are fond of euphemisms, we don’t talk much about corruption. Corruption is here though; sometimes it is legal, well-regulated, and is known by more delicate names, like “campaign financing”). In India, less artfully, but more honestly, “corruption” is just called “corruption.”
All the same though, it is truly a widespread epidemic in India and is the cause of great suffering and inefficiency.
Corruption is a real, but hidden, reason why so many things just don’t seem to work in India. Laws are not enforced. City streets are not kept clean.
The effect of corruption on around a billion people in India, both the poor and the middle class, is oppressive, exhausting, and disheartening – little can be accomplished without paying a bribe or a kick-back. It’s not just a minor inconvenience; it can turn life into a painful obstacle course.
The environmental effect is catastrophic. In a land where people love animals, where there is an age-old tradition of sacred rivers, sacred trees, sacred forests, sacred mountains, and sacred animals – actually all of nature is worshipped in Indian tradition – it seems nothing can be done to save the environment—despite the presence of one of the most active and committed environmental movements in the world.
Tiger poachers can never be caught and thrown into jail, and so the tiger is widely thought to be doomed. Why? The answer comes down to corruption.
Cow slaughter is illegal in all but two Indian states, yet thousands of cows are slaughtered illegally. Laws against cow slaughter are not enforced because of corruption.
Great tracts of land are being destroyed by mega-companies. The air is unbreathable. There is poverty, the depth of which is hard to comprehend. Anything that could be done to change all this cannot be done because corruption stands like a roadblock in the way.
Injustice and hypocrisy, the underpinnings of corruption, have a way of turning people’s impulse towards life, growth, and transformation into dust and ashes. Corruption is profoundly demoralizing, and kills all it comes into contact with.
The lack of any redress causes, in turn, countless societal ills, and the whole country lives under a blanketing haze caused by the corruption of certainly not all, but a great many public officials.
Anna’s solution – a citizen’s ombudsman, with the power to hold officials accountable –would go far to lift this cloud of oppression.
Naturally, there have been countless objections to his proposal from law-makers and civil servants, including the charge that such an independent body might have the power to upset things. Upsetting the status quo and the entrenched reign of corruption is, of course, precisely the intent.
In an amazing and courageous campaign, Anna, backed up by his team, and supported by hundreds of millions throughout India who came out into the streets to show their support, has against all odds, won. He has won, not with bullets or violence, but by the oldest of Indian traditions – the self-sacrifice of fasting. Only in India could this happen.
Truly, this is a victory, not just for this one saintly man, and not just for his loyal followers and all of India, but for all of us — of truth over lies, of goodness over deceit, of courage over cowardice — of all that is spiritual over greed and fear.
In the west, comforted by our cars and our refrigerators, it can be easy to live oblivious to all the injustice, corruption, and the destruction of the natural world that surrounds us too. The problem is worldwide. Greed and fear rule and destroy the planet.
It is fitting that this act of heroism and this victory has taken place in India – a land whose history stretches back into the mists of time, before the world that we now know ever came into being –which, despite its problems and its all-too-glaring faults, is a land that has never abandoned its shining legacy of saints and holiness, of sacrifice and kindness, of great courage and wisdom, of spiritual leadership, and its abiding love of the eternal, the true, and the sacred.
Anna has not claimed victory, though the government has promised all the changes he demanded. He has seen too many times how promises made can be reneged on.
Yet this is a profound turning point in the era in which we live, where it seems so often that the forces of self-aggrandizement and corruption are gaining hold at every turn — that one man has stood up for the truth and has won.
There may yet be hemming and hawing, foot dragging, and even defeats and cataclysms. None of us can know which way the road will turn or what lies ahead.
Yet this is a great victory of truth and courage, not just for India, but in a way not yet fully seen, it is a victory for all the peoples of the earth.
Wherever the road may lead, what is certain is that there is a great light of truth shining through the darkness, one that is heaven-sent and can never be extinguished.
Photos:
Top photo: Mnsanthoshkumar / Dreamstime.com / August 21, 2011, Anti-corruption protest, Freedom Park, Bangalore
Other photos: Sharon St Joan
Here are some websites, to learn more, recommended by Dr. Krishna:
Please visit http://www.indiaagainstcorruption.org/ to learn more about the bill. The fight is against corruption which has pervaded our lives.
To learn more about Anna Hazare, please visit Anna Hazare on Wikipedia.
http://nagarcity.com/Annahazare.aspx is also worth reading – about a simple Indian who has rocked the powerful government boat.
Musical Treasures: Even more music…
By Elizabeth Doyle
Rastak — This is a group of Iranians who’ve come together from all corners of their country to revive old Persian music, with the goal of putting it out there in a brand new way. They have some extremely experienced musicians among them, deeply educated in their craft, and they did a lot of research to uncover all of these old songs. Their hope is that they can play them in a way that will earn a global audience, and help people from all over the world appreciate this magical, musical tradition. It certainly worked on me! Interesting to note: musical instruments have been found in modern-day Iran, dating back to nearly 1000 BC. Alexander the Great is said to have been mesmerized by the sounds of Persia.
Miriam Makeba – She was a refugee from South Africa, and soon became known worldwide as Mother Africa. She grew up in the 1940s and 1950s. Shortly after she began to sing, an Apartheid law was passed, forbidding people with her complexion to sing in any urban public hall. Fortunately, she was discovered by a foreigner who was visiting her country. She starred in a movie for him, and then went worldwide on a tour. As punishment, the South African government forbade her to return for her mother’s funeral. In fact, she wasn’t allowed to come home until Apartheid fell. That took decades! But in the meantime, she became an international sensation, and was the first African woman to win a Grammy. As well as singing some songs for fun, she also sang about the horrors of life back home. And later in life, she sang healing and divination songs she’d learned from her mother as a child. Miriam Makeba only recently passed away. Here she was:
Varttina — What’s Finnish folk music? I didn’t know, either. In fact, I don’t think very many people knew. Which may be part of why this band was formed. For many people, this is their first glimpse into the native music of Finland – the songs these Scandinavian villages have been singing for centuries. (It appears that humans have been living in Finland since at least 8500 BC, and probably longer.) The song topics span everything from young men who are thought to be poor village hunters finally proving everyone wrong, to women mourning that they weren’t born more physically handsome, but knowing that a spirit on the other side will love them for who they are. The songs show an interesting glimpse into the concerns and lifestyle of these old villages. You can really imagine what life was like for generations and generations of people who called these pale-skied lands their home. Some of the songs contain the group’s original lyrics placed on top of the traditional tunes, while others do the exact opposite, etc. But in this song, both the lyrics and the tune are ancient: Click here.
Photos:
Top photo: Jackmalipan / Dreamstime.com / A mosque at night, Isfahan, Iran
Second photo: Istinia Photography / Dreamstime.com / An impala in south Africa
Third photos: Stocksnapper / Dreamstime.com / View from Koli Mountain National Park Finland
Tibetan Invitation, one
Tibetan Invitation, two
Concert by Smt. Sumathi Krishnan
The Dark Dragon
Hallowed
Wings canted
Through the murmuring mist
Until
Disenchanted
By the dust
And soot
Of guile
And lies
The wild, dark dragon
Of bright, glimmering eyes
Slayed
The world with her
Silver-taloned foot
And never
Made
Another
For many
And many an eon
And all that while
Only the white petals of the moon
Drifted
Alone
On the still
Night of the glass sea.
Written around 1998
Photo: Chrisharvey / Dreamstime.com