Thursday, September 21, 2006
Sri Aurobindo is their main target
Influence of Ramakrishna-Vivekananda on Contemporary Indian Writing in English - I
M SIVARAMKRISHNA [The author is the former Head of the Department of English, Osmania University, Hyderabad, and has several books to his credit]
M SIVARAMKRISHNA [The author is the former Head of the Department of English, Osmania University, Hyderabad, and has several books to his credit]
Mulk Raj Anand, one of the `Big Three' of Indian novel in English and one whose English never suffered from being self-conscious (paradoxically, he was educated in England), categorically says: Quite a few of those who complain of the 'artificiality' of Indian-English writing have not cared to read the felt prose of Aurobindo Ghose's letters, of Vivekananda's lectures, Nehru's Autobiography or the novels of the first few Indian-English writers. [2 ]
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From the perspective of Indian English writing, two important trends can be noticed. One is the early canonization of Swamiji as a literary artist with a prominent place in the anthologies. Two, his exclusion, by the modernists such as Nissim Ezekiel, R. Parthasarathy and others as a relic of the Victorian literary ethos. (Sri Aurobindo is their main target.) The reason is obvious: the modernists have a view of literary texts different from the classicists. From the Indic classical view, literary texts are vehicles for imparting or expressing ethical and spiritual truths. Nihsreyasa [spiritual emancipation] and abhyudaya [material wellbeing] and the values underlying them were always kept in view. Vivekananda's literary perspective stems from and rests on this.
In the first phase, Swamiji was considered by critics and anthologists as indispensable for their representative selections. An important and early editor of Indo-English poetry V.N. Bhushan, so much in tune with the mystical strain of Indo-English poetry, says: `What better guardian spirits can this anthology have than Sri Aurobindo and Swami Vivekananda?'10 Bhushan's volume begins with Sri Aurobindo and ends with Swami Vivekananda's poems.11 And the observation is apt, for Prema Nandakumar, a discriminating writer in these areas points to the `deep sense of kinship with the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda phenomenon.' [12]
This shows the most significant impact that Swamiji had on Indian English poetry. V.K. Gokak, the receipent of Jnanapith Award in 1990, edited a comprehensive anthology for the Central Sahitya Akademi. His observations are acute and far-ranging: `Swami Vivekananda introduced metaphysical longing and depth into Indo-English poetry in poems like The Cup and Kali.' He adds, `Tagore and Sri Aurobindo who belonged to this generation represent the top most achievement in Indian poetry.' (Three poems of Swamiji—`The Cup,' `Kali, the Mother' and `Peace' find a place in this anthology.) Gokak sees the significance of these poets as enriching Indian English poetry with `metaphysical longing, mystical contemplation and spiritual illumination.' In short, he sees this `reflective and introspective poetry' acting `as a bridge between the two worlds of poetry of Nature, Love, Man' and `myth, legend and the fine arts.' [13]
Indeed, Gokak says that 'for poetry of ecstatic devotion and exaltation we have fascinating examples of it in Swami Vivekananda's Kali, the Mother and Sri Aurobindo's Rose of God.' He cites The Cup as representing the `rich' poetic tradition of `metaphysical reflection.' Finally, in the `rare' poetic genre of `spiritual illumination,' Professor Gokak places Swamiji's `Peace.' [14]
A more in-depth response to Swamiji's poetry is found in an article by Professor C. Vijayasree who places it in the classical perception of `The poet as a seer.' `Poetry …becomes a sort of meditation in itself and an aesthetic emotion identical to the spiritual experience' [15] and the mystical merges, fuses in the poetic. She classifies the poems into `devotional' and `philosophical' categories, offering illuminating critical and linguistic analyses of quite a few poems, notably `Kali, the Mother,' `The Song of the Sannyasin.' She sees Swamiji's poetry as `the realization of Sri Aurobindo's conception of future poetry.' [16]
Saturday, October 14, 2006
The Calm, Beauty, Passion and Power of the Divine Mother
Intimations of the Goddess Album Description: A set of three meditations by Ustad Shahid Parvez, invoking the Calm, Beauty, Passion and Power of the Divine Mother. Played from a state of deep inwardness, these pieces are an attempt to manifest glimpses of the dazzling perfection of the Divine Creative Consciousness, Shakti, reaveling Herself through the receptive and perfect instrumentation of the artist. Dedicated to the higher evolution envisages by the modern world-teachers, Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, they are examples of the work perfectly done, where the instrument steps aside, and allows the Divine Musician to reveal Herself. More Information… This entry was posted on Saturday, October 14th, 2006 at 12:47 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Not merely aesthetic amusement
The main purpose of such a spiritual poetry of the future is not merely aesthetic amusement of the literati; its aim is to reproduce as perfectly and faithfully as possible within the limitations of human speech, the sound, rhythm and vibration of the inner experience and transmit it to the reader. For in the ancient Indian thought all creation is the rhythmic expression of an eternal vibration in the Absolute. Every human and cosmic experience is in its essence, part of this eternal vibration. The aim of spiritual poetry is to catch the rhythmic vibration behind the inner experience and transmit it to the reader. This is a more direct form of spiritual communication than symbolism.
But poetry and literature are only one form of expression. There are other forms of expression like painting, sculpture or architecture in which use of symbols cannot perhaps be avoided. However, a spiritual art of the future, using the modern audio-visual media, may possibly create a new form of art in which, the spiritual experiences can be presented with as much direct realism that we find in Sri Aurobindo's poetry, along with the sensuous concreteness provided by the audio-visual media. (M.S. Srinivasan is a research associate in Sri Aurobindo Society.)
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Experiences of the everyday world in a mystic vein
Poems by Joseph Kent by Debashish on Fri 20 Oct 2006 12:29 AM PDT Permanent Link
Joseph Kent is a poet living in San Francisco and closely connected with the Cultural Integration Fellowship. Like many others, he was profoundly influenced by Haridas Chaudhuri and introduced by him into the spiritual teachings and practice of Sri Aurobindo's yoga. Joseph's poetic sensibility approaches experiences of the everyday world in a mystic vein. The poems presented here cover a gamut of reflections ranging from meditations on nature to intimations of the supramental future and inward yogic illuminations.
Keywords: HaridasChoudhury, Poetry, Yoga, SriAurobindo, Meditation, Krishna, IntegralYoga, Evolution, Darshan, Culture Posted to: Main Page CULTURE Creative - Poetry
Joseph Kent is a poet living in San Francisco and closely connected with the Cultural Integration Fellowship. Like many others, he was profoundly influenced by Haridas Chaudhuri and introduced by him into the spiritual teachings and practice of Sri Aurobindo's yoga. Joseph's poetic sensibility approaches experiences of the everyday world in a mystic vein. The poems presented here cover a gamut of reflections ranging from meditations on nature to intimations of the supramental future and inward yogic illuminations.
Keywords: HaridasChoudhury, Poetry, Yoga, SriAurobindo, Meditation, Krishna, IntegralYoga, Evolution, Darshan, Culture Posted to: Main Page CULTURE Creative - Poetry
Monday, October 23, 2006
Lonely little thoughts blowing about in search of a home
But now--here’s the interesting part--if I don’t drag myself out of the rack at 5:00, my post starts writing itself. Various unbidden phrases, sentences, and paragraphs start flowing into my head, and if I don’t catch them right away, they just disappear into the ether, never to be heard from again--lonely little thoughts without a thinker, blowing about the cosmos in search of a home. Reminds me of a line from a typically immortal performance by someone who routinely achieved aesthetic perfection and therefore proved the existence of God time and again:
Wind that speaks to the leaves
Telling stories that no one believes...
The thoughts pass through my head, out the window and into my back yard, where they brush against the leaves, perhaps goosing a bird brain and coming out as a surprised CHIRP CHIRP before they scuttle down the street and over the subjective horizon...
We only recognize beauty because we know it absolutely, and are able to judge relative approximations of it in light of that absolute standard. Thus--you will forgive the crass example--there are countless “tens” in the world, but there are no “elevens.” Nor will there ever be any elevens, despite the genetic experiments being conducted as part of the Victoria’s Secret Genome Project. I can assure you that those bizarre attempts to create an even more perfect beauty will only result in hideously malformed monsters. No surgery done by the hand of man will ever make Paris Hilton prettier, but her life will continue to make her uglier and uglier. posted by Gagdad Bob at 8:26 AM 20 commentsOne Cosmos Under God Robert W. Godwin
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