Dance of Mâyâ

In Indian mythology, Mâyâ, the illusion, is considered as the sister of Lord Vishnu, the protector among the divine trinity: Brahmâ – the creator, Vishnu – the preserver and Shîva – the destroyer. They are the three important manifestations of the Nâdha Brahman, the ultimate reality, the origin of creation, which wears the form of sound. They occupy certain sort of ‘posts’ than being gods. Or, in other words, they represent three important phases of the life cycle of any objects: birth, existence, and death. A star born out of gaseous stellar clouds by acquiring gravity, starts to fuse hydrogen to fuel it’s existence, and finally dies either as supernova burst or neutron star, or black hole (one fine day even the neutron star or black hole dies out). This divine trinity applies from humans, five elements, protons to even the large scale cosmos.

Vishnu sometimes does the job of creation and destruction to maintain harmony (dharma), but it is more or less like a human body creates and destroys cells between ultimate beginning and ultimate annihilation, that is during its existence. He employs the power of his sister, Mâyâ, the illusion to fine tune his job to hide the secrets of birth, death and existence. And makes the humans a bunch of morons for thinking that they possess the dominating intellectual superiority among other beings.

Mâyâ creates an illusionary world, where a 4D space looks ultimately real for a being who is gifted to sense just only the 4Ds and this applies to 2D, 3D up to nD. In other words, whatever the capacity of a given species to sense things, it is unable to look beyond it’s capacity and the world within it’s range of ability looks supreme real to that species. Par example, for humans, what we see, sense, invent, our maths seem real, but for the species who can sense 6Ds, all our observations seem ridiculous and primitive.

The dance of Mâyâ is everywhere. Observe, how just the distance reduce our ability to see things differently. A sun or moon close to our earth, at the same time distanced by few astronomical units looks no more like a sphere, but a round two dimensional disk. The stars further away, look point like single dimensional objects. If I am a scorpion, from earth perspective the constellation may look like a scorpion. But if we bring the entire constellation in 3D or nD to our table, from X axis perspective it may look like a peacock and Y axis it may look like a tiger.

Strange even, how the same distance distorts the time and makes us believe the past as present when we observe the stars. A star viewed from earth dieing today is actually died out millions of years ago and the light simply took such a long time to reach earth due to the mind boggling intergalactic distance. But we see it as an event of that night!

The color of my red sweater looks red to you and me. But for an ox, which is color blind or for a butterfly, which can see even beyond the VIBGYOR spectrum, my attire looks differently. For a being which is equipped with sophisticated organs to see and sense 4Ds and much more see my red pull differently. So, the red garment looks red to only the human beings. But not forcibly for all the beings on earth, let alone other species of this entire cosmos.

It is just because of the dance of Mâyâ, Newton’s theory became false when Einstein revealed his models of relativity. One great day Einstein’s theory will definitely become absurd when someone starts to see things differently. It is just because of the dance of Mâyâ, so many technologies became obsolete. What we have devised so far, our modern mathematics, our modern science and research, all are just hopeless tools, which help us to lead just a comfortable life for humans (just only for humans) on this planet earth, but not to find the truth behind our life on this mighty cosmos.

Is it possible to find the elementary particle of this illusion? Just like the graviton for gravity? It seems that Mâyâ continues to dance her dance of illusion in this consumption driven stale modern mad world, which contributes a large number of devolution factors affecting our genes. That is why the wise Hindu philosophers said in one Upanishad:

Om, asato ma sad gamaya
Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya
Mrtyor ma mrtam gamaya

Om, Shanthi, Shanthi, Shanthi

Oh! Om, the ultimate reality, From delusion lead me to truth, From darkness lead me to light, From death lead me to immortality. Oh! Om, you who wear the formal form of music, the sacred sound of this mighty cosmos, Shanthi, peace, to the interior world, Shanthi to the exterior world, Shanthi to the world which I have no ability to sense.

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When love engulfs me...

It was one of my friends who asked me to write more as she wants to hear from me more. Since I have no time to write something afresh, I dusted down this poem written in early 2002, which I tried in French as I wanted to augment my vocabulary (which never worked anyway). I was in third level and it was after 160 hours of class in French (around 4 months) I wrote this poem entitled “Quand l’amour m’engouffre...” meaning “When love engulfs me...”.

I really have no clue at all about what will happen when love engulfs someone since it never ever happened to me. The Indian cupid, Manmatha, got bored of and turned his back to me very long ago, after trying with all his pretty interesting equipments: sugarcane as bow, line of honeybees as bowstring, five fragrant flowers as arrows, cuckoo and parrot as his companions and attended by nymphs, spring as his preferred season, breeze as his chariot displaying fish banner, rainbow as his horse or whatever and so on.

The poem pasted a smile on my face as I went through it. It was full of mistakes, naive and stupid words as any French can observe it from the very title, strong vocabulary in inappropriate place, etc. So, here you go. I didn’t change much while translating from the original. If it set a tiny smiley on your face, I would be more than happy.

When love engulfs me...

Melting are my heart and soul. Lakes turned tender long ago.
Arrogant are cherries of blossom. Care a damn bees.
To the humming, butterflies dance. Oh! Danseurs nobles!
I am hopping here and there. It is flower strewn trail.
Excuse me, calls someone. I scan trees for cuckoo.
I turn to see this girl approaching. Descending fresh from paradise.
Pretty shame, I lost my language. Beautiful! Just sighs my mind.
My heart does thousand leaps as she hops avoiding flowers down.
Are you lover of flowers, plays she harp. Carnivore eyes feed my heart.
Yes, never seen such huge flower say I searching her eyes.
She smiled, making flowers drop dead of shame.
We did the path together. Eyes crossed swords. Mind swung me to her.
Sun menaced to fall westward. Worried I of his envy.
It is time to go, said she making void inside me.

Sun showers gold on splendid landscapes, spreading warmth till heart.
We meet in park, speak a lot, discover days are short.
I strip my senses as her thoughts replace them, like serpent.
I occupy little space in this mighty world, but I traverse everywhere.
Day was drizzling. Sun set himself amber. There a rainbow in east.
That day, I told her I started counting all stars in sky.
I started counting all bubbles in my bread, she replied.
I live in cocoon, I revealed. Am I in your heart asked she.
Our troubled eyes met. She kissed me. I hugged her to my soul.
That moment we exchanged the parole of life. The language of heart.
Paths in heaven, clouds, moon, stars, all started to know me well.
Hillside, rocks, lakes, trees, feathery friends, started to know us well.
Fairies speak in my ears, nowadays. Always telephones speak to us.
Don’t ask me where I live. It is warmth of her heart.

Hill-scape turns sad as maples already caught fire.
Sombre clouds promenade together. Wind tries to hunt them down.
Vague desire grows like waves. Serenity disobeys.
Air is chill. Misty fogs embrace hill. But the pines seem negligent.
When rains we prefer go out under a single umbrella.
When is brumous we prefer chase-snailing inside one single jacket.
Fallen leaves ride wind-horse. Not forgetting their destiny, earth.
Some hides-and-seeks with breeze. Some plays with me. I await her.
There she is at distance. She replies me to my waving.
No, wait! She is not my girl. But she approaches me even so.
Who is she, a Venus? No doubt! Where goes the path, asks she.
I guide her. Thanking me she sends a kiss in air from distance.
I reply same. True beauty say I turning. There stands she, my other part.
Speaking null, menacing tears heavy in eyes, she left me ahead I utter word.

Sail-powered snow flakes combat storm. Pines bear whitey white caps.
Deafening silence all around. I am all alone. Worthless my explanations.
Far from her, bleeds my heart. I am no more in her heart, but head.
Frigidly frosty cruel love engulfs me. Take a pen I commence writing.
“Lakes get-go freezing. Glaciers turn emerald feeding on worthy algae.
The swan awaits his female. But, more glacial is she than icy poles.
Nevertheless he waits. Dying is he of biting cold. Bit by bit his soul faints.
Heart-mind distance pains his soul. No dreams. Painful wings. No flight.
Determined is he, will wait her forever. His life worth void without her.”
I cried aloud calling God! Fine sunshine warmth inside! Replied she finally.
“Nemesis at game. Swan turns dream, ethereal, thinning, thinks of you.
Fragile she dying chanting you. Send her breath, a word of mercy.
Present your presence, warmth of kiss. Lives she, hugging tight your soul.”
Glorious is sky. Wind opens window. Dripping are ice icicle.

Indian martial arts and Kalarippayattu

Kalari is a very tiny and surviving fragment of ancient Indian martial art called 'Varma Kalai'. Varma is the mother of all martial arts which spread across Asia through Hinduism and Buddhism.

Proof:

1. Similarities could be found in Chinese, Tibetan, Sri Lankan, etc. dance, music, martial arts with Indian arts. E.g. Therukootthu, Kathakali (flamboyant facial make-ups), Kerala Chenda drums, the rhythm all are adopted in China, Tibet, Japan and other south-eastern countries in the form of Lion, Dragon dances' flamboyant decorations, drums, rhythm, etc.
2. Similarities could be found between martial arts and Mudras (symbolic gestures) of yoga & Indian classical dances, and their movements. Probably dance, martial arts and yoga all might have evolved at the same time along with music, meditation, etc. They share the common property of being melodic.

There are several categories in Varma: NOkku (vision) Varmam, Thattu Varmam (deals with treatments and defense based on vital points), Chandra (moon) Varmam, Surya (sun) Varmam, usage of weapons on vital points, Varma treatments for animals, etc. In local tongue often Varma is called as "Marma", which may not be correct. The word "Varma" doesn't have a Sanskrit origin as in "Varn(m)a - color". Varumam in Tamil means vital points (there are other meanings too).

These techniques are extensively developed by Siddhas (well known for their Ayurvedic and alchemy works), who dwelt in mountains of South India, especially Tamil Nadu. Even today, there are legends around Courtralam, Suruli, Pazhani and Nilgiri hills, which speak about surviving Siddhas till date, who have eventually achieved longevity through their knowledge in Ayurveda, alchemy, meditation, etc.

Sadly, many of these techniques are lost due to the Guru's fear of misuse on co- species (as we humans are notorious for turning any scientific works, bar none, into weapons of destruction), and thus they refused to transfer the knowledge to others, including to their own descendants. This happened particularly, when Buddhism turned into political movement and the Buddhists started to learn these arts for their political gains.

However tiny fragments of Varma survived in the form of literature, mainly Tamil & Malayalam, and got the attention of Gurus in Kerala, a small state in south India, arround ~15-17th centuries, and became Kalarippayattu. This famous traditional training of Kalari of Kerala, is always done inside the Kalari (literally, threshing floor or battlefield), which is a specially constructed practice area. Payattu means 'exercise in arms or practice'.

A few centuries back in Kerala, quarrels between local kings were resolved by fixing an Ankam (war), a duel to the death, between two Ankachekavars (Kalari fighters), each ruler being represented by one Ankachekavar. The ruler represented by the surviving Ankachekavar was considered the winner.

For more details: Thamizhar Martial Arts

A glimpse of Kalari Payattu.

Song of a clapper from a distant evening church

Below is a poem I wrote late monsoon 2004 and got published in my former employer's magazine. It was after a trip to Koorg (State of Karnataka, India), where I got drenched till my heart content in the slapping, acupuncturing monsoon rain at Thala Kaveri, a serene place where the mighty Kaveri river takes birth and where the misty clouds give her a motherly hug. Always!

After the return, I sensed the emptiness and the deafening silence in the cities and in office, stacked with traffic, competition, politics, mud slinging, leg pulling, ignorance and the irritating long list of words which are the essential part of cities. So that goes here.

Clouds drizzle the rainy scent. Golden rays illumine the ornamental world.

There shines a rainbow.

With one single whip, greatest heights of the mighty city fall hastily

behind the noble horses.

Criers of war cry a war cry. Battle is taken as the gust of dust takes

the sand dunes.

It passes through the deaf carrion birds, the sour melody of sore death hymn.

Along goes the gentle breeze.

Not the whetted swords, the adept wrists wearing shinning bracelets

exhibit a dexterous brutality.

Flocks of migratory birds migrate. Painful wings let fall their feathers,

all the way down the windy town.

Leaving them dance a paper dance. Fingers spend lifetimes. Stanzas are re-refined.

Criticism engulfs the world.

Lungs gulp down blackened air. Gills breath heavy water. Plastics gnaw the gorgeous

lush green meadows.

Extinction is the finalized destiny for fragile species. Purpose of industry and its

revolution meet the standards.

Two vigorous arms of time slap back and forth, ensuring the everlasting

slavery of human kind.

In the name of progress and chic, under their cruel regards, traditions and cultures,

once coloured a beautiful world, vanish.

Ashes of native communities, their gods, their fairy-tale believes and even their death

beds of existence-struggle mound.

Key to beauty path is ever lost. Shattered and battered, the splendour of tireless

and timeless ancestral foundations.

Grandchildren’s dreams are devoured, letting them having nightmares of a

mesmerizing blue planet turns into red.

No innovations and inventions left untransformed into weapons. No exclusion. The

religions and even Ahimsa.

There smiles a ghastly smile, the sixth sense. And weeps the humanity.

Where hides the harmony?

Bees buzz. Trees stand in perennial blossom. Springs pass through the golden wheat.

Where goes the road to future?

Beauty Path

The world is breathtakingly colorful when we see it through different cultures, languages and believes. Even if the entire world is transformed into some sort of hippie or rainbow culture, at a certain point we will start feeling ho-hum and try to turn back the time wheel and reinvent our made-extinct cultures. No one likes to watch a BW TV once they have watched the color ones.

We lost so many cultures, its followers and their believes in the name of progress and our quest to dominate our own human race. Many of the remaining cultures and their hopes of survival are hanging by the edge of a worn thread. Even if we have the sense of rebuilding them, we prefer sorry-no-time excuse since we are all well set to chase hard every single step of technology and bourses’ ups and lows. And so it goes!

Following words are taken from the album “Ahimsa” by K.J. Yesudas and others. The song “Beauty All Around” in the album is based on the American Indian poetry edited by late George Cronyn.

Adapted from traditional poetry of the Dineh people (Navajo), this composition is dedicated to all the native communities that have vanished in the name of progress, and to all those descendants that are now rebuilding their cultures on the timeless foundations of their ancestors. The Native American’s “Beauty Path” is peace, stewardship, and a reverent awe for life.

Beauty behind me
As I turn,
Beauty before me
Now I learn.
The timeless dance,
The song of wonder,
Oh...
Beauty All Around.
Ageless creation
Below,
Endless horizons
Above,
A shining star,
With it I wander,
Beauty
Above me,
Beauty
Below me,
Oh...
Beauty All Around

Who is god?

You and me are now encapsulated in a very convenient cosmic bubble floating through an imaginary (or really exists?) space called ‘Undom’ which houses numerous cosmoses. Every single cosmos is a home for multiverses, not single 'uni'verse but many universes. Trillions of billions of galaxies float amidst a strange dark matter which fills each universes.

Now our bubble starts moving towards a cosmos and then enters into one of its universes. It seems that it is under the command of some unnatural power which guides it towards a zillions of star studded galaxy called Milky Way. The bubble is attracted towards the habitable zone of a middle aged star called Sun. If planets exist within this zone then they can home evolved life forms. Planets falling under such zone are rare in other stars. But we are fortunate enough. Two planets falling under sun’s habitable zone, a red Mars and a blue Earth, come into our view. We finally realize that the supernatural power is the spell of the blue beauty. Our other friends are directed towards some other planets of unknown cosmoses.

Now where did we see god during our journey? Where he lives actually? Beyond cosmos? Beyond ‘Undom’? Does he have a farm house where he cultivates these cosmoses, or a sort of experimental laboratory, or an aquarium? Who lives with him? His spouse, a gay companion with all his lovely children? How many cohabitants live with him? What is that place called? Under whose command he works? Where his master lives? Question are infinite as our imagination is infinite.

If he lives beyond ‘Undom’ how did we come to know about his very existence. We are not even sure about our own world. In some part of the world some believed that the world was flat. There could be intellectual beings living beneath the unfathomable depths of mighty oceans. Did god show up in the world and gave us some commandments to convert all people to some religion by giving them soups, rice and medicines? Or gave us Veda and ordered us to practice caste and creed. Or created man first and then from his ribs woman next? Or handed over some sacred texts to master slavery to build Pyramids?

Or does he live everywhere? Inside neutrinos, neurons, dust and mist? If yes, that means he is energy. If that is the case, he has to share his power with demons. In other words, god and devil are one and the same since force is made up of energy and anti-energy. Or energy is made up force and anti-force. Like matter and anti-mater or day and night or masculine and feminine. So there is no room for god alone. Who is plus and who is minus is again a question. Why not devil possesses plus and god tries to eliminate him since he got minus? If god rules the world then there should not be male chauvinism (It is terribly pity to know how crooked human minds are, since they dominate their own female counterparts), slavery, color of skin, religion, political borders, and so on. Under demon's reign we cannot even witness a bit of order everywhere in the chaotically complex world. Or god is goddess and demon is god!? And both are man and wife!!!

Does he reside somewhere inside the cosmos? Then he is a mere space traveler from some other planet, an alien, just landed on earth accidentally and tried to reproduce (or experimented) with the species of this planets. So there came people with elephant head and human body (Indian Ganesha), human head with lion body (Egyptian sphinx), eagle or hummingbird head and human body (Aztec’s belief)? One such reproduction turned monkey into apes and then into humans?

This could be more than a mere possibility. While leaving earth they erased all concrete clues of their visit. Or, in the course of time, humans quest to dominate their own race and other species, they destroyed numerous evidences (To prove they are superior. Not you and me). Ask historians, they will lament how just one single religion made vanished so many evidences and how that hurdles their researches.

Or, are we mere chemical process, evolved from membrane protected simple organism to viruses to fishes to mammals to apes from the result of complex random evolution process, and finally achieving higher level consciousness thanks to superior neural evolution? And then, human beings, like other species, are consumed by fear. Fear of nature, of fire, of sun, of lightning, of sea, of earth quake and so on. Our intelligence fueled this fear up to extreme extend. And our power of imagination added heads, hands, legs, bodies and soul to this fear. Our ability to represent imagination in pictorial form finally created god and demon. Another possibility! But, sure something unnatural happened in the remote past. And our fear fueled remaining.

In India, one of oldest worship form is goddess worship (As in most of the ancient world. Later replaced by god worship). Goddess Kâli or Shakti (The very word Shakti literally means energy) is depicted with ten hands holding various weapons, sitting on a lion and the overall setup gives a fierce look. But yet her face and her eyes gives a motherly look. A possible fusion of force and anti-force? Most of the ancient world believed in such figures. Egyptian god with cat head and human body (since cat helped farmers of Nile delta by killing rats) and snake god worship (snakes did similar job as their Nile counterparts) and so on.

So, seeing good in bad or bad in good is up to the individual’s choice. And we know good (no matter it has plus sign or minus sign) means not hurting others, including other species of moving or immobile in nature and contributing to the cosmic harmony. And believe it for sure, every wrongdoing has its own punishment, just like every force has its counterpart anti-force. Sooner or later it is sure imminent.

Slippery steps of science

We don’t know when this turn happened. Or why it happened. We started believing in things if only approved by modern science. We try hard to find equations everywhere to reason things. Why not just trust the good old ancient world? Why the ageless cultures are getting thin and fading? Recently, I happened to hear a hot discussion on astrology by some young college kids who were lavishly commenting on the imbecility of Chinese, Greeks and others.

So, why ancients believed that stars control life? I firmly believe that our forefathers are no stupid as we folks think. We know astrology is pure math. Moreover, in biological point of view, all beings are made up of cells, DNA, etc (primarily proteins, bases and acids). The bonds between proteins, bases and acids are vulnerable to changes due to heat, chemical reactions and chiefly radiation. Any changes in these bonds during cell division are called mutations. Good mutations, say germline, somatic and neural mutations, lead to evolution, from simple being to complex being. Bad mutations cause diseases like cancers. Stars are the main sources of radiation and planets absorb, sometimes modify and then reflect these radiation. So, every day, every nanosecond stars and planets affect each celled organism and thus their behavior. Astrology (True ancient astrology. Whether it exist today is a question) could be considered as a tool to calculate these very changes.

Now, who told our ancestors such things? As an Indian, I always wonder about Indian mythology. Ten incarnations of Vishnu (see Avatar) actually speak about evolution. For us, Kaalachakra (circle of time) is the seed of the cosmos. In modern science time stretches from minus infinity (infinite past) to zero (present) to plus infinity (infinite future). Whereas, in Kaalachakra, time is not regarded as a straight line but a circle and any points can be considered as past, present or future. This is why anything related to time is regarded cyclic in nature: incarnation, musical notes, etc. Also they believed in the existence of many worlds (not a flat earth) and time in these worlds differs accordingly. Some man days is equal to one day in Indra’s (king of gods or angelic people) world, some Indra days is equal to one day in Brahma’s (the creator) world, etc. Today we know massive bodies like planets and stars make shrink not only space but the time as well and thus time varies in these heavenly bodies.

Likewise, other great ideas exist in other venerable cultures like Egyptian, Mayan, Chinese, Inuit (the right word for Eskimo, since Eskimo is considered pejorative and even racist) and so on. We cannot simply reject these believes as lunatic thoughts since we cannot explain each and every thing using mathematic formulas with our so very limited knowledge. The main problem is, modern science originated in a place where the good old traditions and cultures are completely made extinct due to war between tribal people, then by invading Romans and then by religions. Even in this scientifically well advanced world we have hard time to understand these notions and other people’s culture (or even our own). This we call as Maya, the illusion, the illusionary world!