Tat Tvam Asi

For the last two days, I am plagued with just one thought in my head - Tat Tvam Asi. Oh well, it started innocuously - I was looking for books to buy at Cafe Turtle at Khan Market. Along one shelf, this was written in big bold type on one book and just caught my eye.

Tat Tvam Asi - I first heard of this Mahavakya (literally, it means "very important sentence" in Sanskrit) when I was probably in my 8th grade. Was part of a small history lesson on Adi Sankaracharya, Ramanuja and Madhvacharya. Didn't mean much then. But, today, I feel like I found a new meaning in life, a true revelation.

Let me explain. Tat Tvam Asi is a very important philosophical statement that has origins in Hindu literature. Originating in the Chandogya Upanishad as a father's words of wisdom to his arrogant know-it-all son, Tat Tvam Asi explains some core beliefs of Hinduism. In simple terms, Tat means - that, Tvam - You, Asi - are. "THAT THOU ART!" It is generally taken to mean that your soul or consciousness is wholly or partially the Ultimate Reality. Tat - refers to The Supreme One, or Brahman, the Ultimate Reality or God. Tvam - is the person, the soul, the consciousness, the physical presence.

Now, this sentence can be interpreted in 3 different ways to explain 3 different paths (or belief systems) in Hinduism. Dvaita, Visishtadvaita and Advaita.

1. Dvaita philosophy starts with Atat tvam asi - A-TAT (not Brahman) tvam (you) asi (art) - That thou are not. This clearly distinguishes between the Brahman and the souls and between souls. Thus it believes in "twoness" as in one set apart from another. The world around us, we as individuals and the Brahman are all distinct.
2. Visishtadvaita philosophy believes in "Almost twoness" as in with ultimate self-realisation, you become united with the Brahman while still retaining your identity, thus only becoming a part of the Brahman but not fully integrated.
3. Advaita philosophy believes in "Not twoness" as in - there are no two separate identities, the Brahman and the soul are one and the same. One does not become Brahman, rather, one already is and just needs to come to this realisation.
   

Confusing? In the beginning, it was to me as well. But slowly, the true purport of these statements dawned on me. I am an atheist. I don't have any firm belief in a Supreme Creator - I don't really care to know. Why then would "Tat Tvam Asi" mean anything at all to me? It does and here's why.

If I take "That Thou Art" literally, what it means is that I am that, that everything outside of this physical body and soul of mine. I am the person I see on the road, I am the dog that is whimpering, I am the coral reefs and the Amazon civilization under threat, I am the criminal inflicting pain and suffering on my brethren and I am the one fighting for peace and harmony in some of the world. If I am all that - is "Tat Tvam Asi" really a statement of compassion, love and equality of being? That too, not only within man kind but of all living beings. Does Tat Tvam Asi really stand for empathy, the ability to see yourself in the other and vice versa?

Whether you are a Hindu or a Christian, it really does not matter. Even Jesus said in Psalm 82, I say, "You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, you shall die like men, and fall like any price." (verses 6 & 7). Sounds a lot like Visishtadvaita to me. In Buddhism, Bodhi means enlightenment and anybody who has attained Nirvana (the state of awakening or enlightenment) becomes a Buddha. Tat Tvam Asi again?

Whether you see it as a God-fearing person or not, you can just say Tat Tvam Asi is all about universal brotherhood. When you see God is in you and if God is omnipresent, he is present in everything around you. If you don't believe in God, but just believe That Thou Art, it is merely your ability to see yourself in everything around you and see everything in you. For me, now it is Tatvam Asi (Tatvam - philosophy) and that is - We are part of the whole and the whole is just us - ALL OF US!

Filthy rich and homeless

Couple of days ago, I saw a program on Discovery Travel & Living - Filthy rich and homeless. "Saw the program," is an overstatement. 5 minutes was about all I could take of that masterpiece of shit. Let me explain why. In times of reality shows fast replacing soap operas (which is a greater evil is just a matter or perspective), this program purports to be a social experiment putting filthy rich people on the streets for 3 days (or was it 10?) to feel the pain of the homeless and track their progress. Wow, what a noble thought!

So, these filthy rich (ho hum!) people rough it out on the streets and after 3 days, they get buddies to help them with the rest of their tenure on the sidewalks. The buddies happen to be ex-convicts, drug addicts and other unsavoury elements. That's about all I could take of this offensive nonsense.

Let's try to reason this out. There are these amazingly rich guys who get more publicity and empathy for giving up their millions (albeit for just a short period of time) to understand the lives of the homeless with the firm promise of being able to go back to their riches in 3 (or 10) days. That's really difficult is it? The real indigents have no idea of where the next meal comes from or if they will be adequately clothed to live out the winter clime in Britain. No real hope for education, for betterment of their own lot, no real skills and hence, no chance at employment, no light at the end of tunnel and every living, waking moment is hell. And, the rich pretenders get buddies to help them out to act like the homeless. Come on, spare me the drivel.

Reminded me of a childhood story of Birbal. Emperor Akbar threw a challenge if somebody could stand all night in a pool of cold water and if he/she did so, would be rewarded handsomely. A poor man did manage to do it. And, what kept him up through this arduous task? A light glowing in the distance from one of the palaces. Gave him the imaginary warmth to spare him the shivers. The realisation that as dawn breaks, he would see his reward that will help him break free from the shackles of poverty. See, what hope can do to any person?

I read somewhere that "The road that is built in hope is more pleasant to the traveler than the road built in despair, even though they both lead to the same destination." Hmm. So, why would it be difficult for filthy rich people to manage 10 days out in the cold with not just hope but the fool/fail-proof assurance of being able to go back to their rich comforts at the end of it all? And, in a perverse way, is this also the reason why the poor rarely manage to rise above their miseries? Couldn't the money spent on making a program like this be better used to provide critical life skills to the poor rather than play out a perverse charade for the amusement of the rich or the voyeuristic pleasure of the viewers? But then, it wouldn't make for an interesting dinner time viewing, would it? In the constant tussle between hard-nosed profitability and preachy socialism, is it any wonder what wins out?

With a 'sip and a puff' quadriplegic sailor makes history - CNN.com

An amazing story of a quadriplegic woman sailor who travelled around Britain - solo. For all the grumbling I do about my arthritis, I must be inspired. I only wish, coz I am far too lazy.
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SPORT/09/02/solo.disabled.sailor/index.html?iref=intlOnlyonCNN

Why I write and who I write about...

I am no celebrity tracker. Honestly, I am not interested in Page 3 personalities who live a charmed life quite unlike my own. I don’t want to know whose birthday bash was attended by how many wannabes, have been-s and continue-to-be’s. What clothes they wore or what fashion faux pas was committed. What food was served and what an ostentatious display of wealth it was. Neither do I have any interest in the affairs (literally and figuratively) of those in the limelight. I simply cannot enthuse myself to know more about people who are famous for being famous.

Au contraire, ordinary people, faces, events, incidents, news, observations, emotions, decisions, actions – there is enough in the world around that keeps me pondering all the time. The woman with ragged clothes who sweeps the streets clean, the man who comes home to repair a broken pipe or fix a light, a little child who tails me on a morning walk with colourful paper umbrellas or pins of the national flag, the old lady with every wrinkle telling stories of years gone by – these are the real people in my life. Their lives deserve to be told – ever more so than the celebrities and their offsprings with a warped sense of entitlement.

A decade and half ago when I started working, the branch manager at my office would often remind us, “What we say, do or create has to make sense for the common man.” Of course, he was merely setting the golden standard for achieving results in the holy trail of professional excellence. Yet, those words have been a compass guiding my actions overlapping both my professional and personal lives.

I love the Common Minimum Person (to be gender neutral). My vegetable vendor Shakuntala inspires me with her work ethic as much as the rickshaw puller in Delhi who drives through storms to feed his ever hungry brood. The waif on Mylapore’s North Mada Street who cups his hands into a camera and pretends to take a picture of me when I am trying to shoot him with my expensive Digital SLR has as much a story to tell as do the parents of a 5-year old child suffering from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia who are determined to fight the disease to the finish. Ordinary lives, ordinary stories and everyday occurrences but each speaks of enormous fortitude, grit and courage in the face of extreme adversity. Some tales are poignant reminders of our own shortcomings and selfishness. Some speak to us of utter helplessness shaking our faith in ourselves and in the faiths that we profess to belong to. Yet, these are stories that touch our lives in way only kindred souls can feel. These are voices that are hard to ignore and stubbornly take up quarters in our own hearts.

“God must love the common man, he made so many of them,” said Abraham Lincoln. This no less from a man, whose humble beginnings as a shoemaker’s son betrayed his eventual rise to eminence as the President of the United States. And, this is my attempt to chronicle the lives of these many ordinary people because once we are stripped of our own exaggerated sense of self-importance, we are no more than a “Common Minimum Person.”