2012-08-27

As usual, I've been pretty inspired by the ServiceSpace stream. Both, off-line and online. But what I found most remarkable is how our ecosystem is symbiotically feeding itself (ourselves?) from multiple angles.

Take a look at the extra-ordinary article that brother Neil wrote about our (r)evolutionary siblings Aum, Nisha & Ragu. Contemporary love magicians. So much inspiration flowing through them! A family understanding, practicing, embodying and adapting "Gandhian" principles. An intimate relationship of what brother Satish Kumar calls the trinity of Soil, Soul & Society.



In turn we, at the Canticle Farm, featured the Awakin Oakland: River of Humanity.



Then, the same day, I chose to explain the quotations around "Gandhian", when last week's  random invitation to answer some questions landed in my inbox. Apparently, my humor is improving ;-) people have been "laughing out loud" [and this is not only sister Khushmita, our dearest laughter yoga teacher: Very good, very good... YAAAY! :-)]. Thanks to brothers Sheetal and Nipun, here they are the questions and responses of a 'Gandhian'.

Pure ServiceSpace-style, the outcomes have been unpredictable with the culmination of this post, and then who knows what will happen. "Closing" the loop, brother Sheetal wanted to share with all of you this, including an email exchange between Elizabeth and your humble server regarding the "Soul" part of Satish Kumar's trinity in You Are Therefore I am: A Declaration Of Dependence:

While we replenish Soil and Society, we also need to replenish the Soul. Without caring for the soul we cannot care for the soil or society. There is a lot of wear and tear on our soul. Souls get wounded, sometimes by anger, other times by greed. Anxiety and fear damage the soul. Jealously and resentment make our souls sick. Through rejection our inner world gets fragmented. The temptation of power corrupts our minds. Therefore, we need to heal our souls, to become whole and fulfilled. Tapas is the way of self-healing and self purification.

When our bodies get sweaty and smelly we purify them by washing. When our clothes get dirty we wash them. When our rooms get dirty we sweep them clean. These practices help to purify our external environment, but what about the internal environment? We need some practices for inner purification. Our minds get polluted with harmful information. Newspapers and television agitate our minds. Our consciousness gets contaminated by ego and pride. Our souls get polluted by desires and anguish, so we need self-nourishment (tapas).

Solitude is one way of tapas. When we come in contact with the problems of the World --whether they are political, economic or domestic, we can be deeply affected by them. Constant contact with people, opinions and institutions puts a strain on our minds. Therefore, we go on a spiritual retreat or on a pilgrimage, where we are able to recover our serenity and return to our center. Such solitude is particularly necessary in modern times when our diaries are full, our lives are busy, and we are constantly preoccupied with trivia. Meditation, silence of speech and mind, stillness of thought and body, being calm and restful, taking a brea from the world of contradictions and complications, are ways of tapas.

Fasting is tapas. [...] The heat of austerity, a fire of wisdom to burn the mental clutter.

[...] Abstaining from excessive consumption is tapas, reduction in the number of clothes, ornaments, shoes and other possessions is tapas. It also includes putting a limit in travels. Austerity is good for posterity. If we do not consume too many resources, then we do not deprive future generations. A simple and minimalistic lifestyle is good for our health.

But self-replenishment (tapas) is not to be confused with suppression or repression pr control. It is a positive concept with a positive meaning. Tapas flows out of deep awareness of one's limits ans restraint and abstinence should flow naturally. Pleasure and restraint are twins, they go together. Over indulgence is no way to enjoy life. One who practices tapas realises what is enough, what is sufficient, and is satisfied with that. Freedom from obsessive consumption is tapas.

There are four methods of self-replenishment (tapas): Humility, Service, Study and Sleep.

Humility (vinaya) releases one from the weigh of self-importance.

Service (sewa) cleanses our obsession with our own problems and preoccupations. This is not philanthropy or altruism, it is for self-renewal.

Study (swadhaya) of great spiritual texts and contemplation of their deep meaning is a way of self-replenishment. Chanting, singing or listening to great music is also tapas. Swadhaya literally means self-study. It is the study of the Self as well as study by yourself. The study is different from reading for information, for knowledge, for entertainment or for simply passing time. Study transforms one's life. Study of the Self is of particular importance. It is easy enough to study texts as an intellectual exercise, but that is not what is meant by swadhaya. One needs to enter into the spirit of the teachings and use the text to reflect upon oneself and discover one's own true nature. You are your own greatest text. Know thyself! You are the microcosm of a macrocosm; when you know yourself, you know the universe. The study of a text is only a medium which may be of use to develop self-awareness; mastering the texts is not and end in itself. Equally, deeply engaging with the natural world falls within the parameters of swadhaya. Painting or contemplating a sacred painting, and any other forms of contemplative and reflective activity are self-renewing and therefore swadhaya.

Even sleeping (nidra) is a way of self-replenishment. [...]

Much of the time when we are active we oppress other people and damage the Earth, which damges our souls. Therefore, sleeping is a practice of tapas.

[...] Having completed the useful work in half the time because of technological efficiency, they [modern industrial workforces] cannot then stop, but go on producing the often unnecessary and wasteful goods which are destructive not only to the Earth but also to their souls. It would be a form of tapas to reduce the work time to half, say for hours a day, then the rest of the time could be given to cultural, spiritual, contemplative and creative pursuits. And even to the tapas of sleeping!

We don't sleep enough. We watch television late into the night when we should be sleeping, and get up early in ordert to commute to work. That is one of the reasons we are depressed, stressed and exhausted. We have lost our common sense --we don't sleep well, we don't eat well and we work too much. The antidote to the overworked society is to recognize the value of sleeping and a spiritual practice. Sleep make beautiful dreams possible. During dreaming the soul renews itself.

Thus the replenishment of the soil, soul and society is the great work of our time. But these three should not be put into separate boxes. They should be taken together because they complement each other and complete the whole. Wholeness is implicit in this trinity.

Also, here's brother Satish expressing this wisdom in his own vibrations, coincidently, in Bioneers too, and his TEDx talk where he touches more inspiring stuff.

So this is a way to semi-tag Sheetal bhai by posting this.

Thanks for being the midwife of all this brother Sheetal! :-) See how much one can do out of inaction! That is, your kind/wise way to not answer the questions and pass them onto us. ;-) One of the paradoxes of life and this (r)evolution.

Such a blessing to be in partnership with you all. This is a Planetary movement , indeed.

Jai Jagat! Glory to the Planet! Gloria al Planeta! :-)

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