All These Words: Recent Episodes
Gopikrishnan Rajendran
"What is the inner need to produce art? When you go deeply, you will see it as a form of offering. There is nobody to offer and nobody to offer to, there is only the offering. And when you look deeper still, you will see it as a thanking; a thanking for being allowed to be." - Jean Klein
All I dare say is that I share what comes through me. I claim no ownership. Enjoy, if you can. :)
The cessation of the fluctuations of the mind. Union. Path. Peace. These are a few of the meanings attributed to this word. Yoga. To simply be, without becoming. To witness the meanings that arise within as these shapes, words, are brought into focus, without judgement. To remain at peace, in the knowledge that it is always now. All these words, yes? Forget them now. They're already within.
The idea behind nationalism as explored in the sub-continent is not mere furthering of physical borders but the furthering of the human spirit, and an understanding of our undeniable oneness with the larger universe.
Here's a poem by Yogananda Paramahamsa, carrying a sentiment that speaks deeply to this one.
"Karumban kaakka" is a story from the collection of stories "Mittayi pothi" (A box of sweets) for children by Sumangala, otherwise known as Leela Namboothirippad of Vellinezhi Olappamanna Mana, Palakkad. When I was about 7 or 8 years old, my father gifted me the book and I must say that some of my happiest childhood moments were spent reading her stories. When I heard about her death, it felt like someone close had moved on. I found a copy of Mittayi pothi and was reading her stories again when I felt someone might enjoy them as I did, and remember the great lady who wrote for those she considered her own. :) This is a thank you to her.
The preface to "The collected works of Swami Ramana Maharshi" starts with an experience narrated by Swami Ramana himself. Those who have been blessed enough to visit the meditation hall at Ramanasram in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, would be familiar with these words. For a podcast that calls itself "All these words", it seems fitting that the mind thought of those words that left a deep impression in all of us who were lucky enough to read the experience of the 17-year-old boy who was overcome by a sudden unexplained fear of death, that made him look inwards at what it is that dies.
Language: Malayalam. Style : Kilippaattu. From the Kilippaattu version of the Devi Bhagavatam written by Chittur Shamu Menon, the words describe Mother Earth worshipping and extolling The River Ganga, who is seen as the manifestation of the Mother Goddess.
The podcast is named 'All these words'. This one has more Malayalam words than English, though. We discuss the meaning of the word 'words'. Our understanding of words is unique to who we are are how we are when we come across them. The same words hold different meaning, not because of any change in them, but because of change within. I've been busy with a lot of stuff, and so the podcast remained in the mind. Now the words are here, and let's not think further and put these words out there for anyone who might pick it up and add their meaning to all these words.
This eternal moment is the classroom, and through the words that flow in the silence within us, we are each others' students and teachers.
Kili-paattu is a style of poetry used in Malayalam where a story is told by a bird. A parrot, swan, a bee etc.
The style came to us first through Thunjath Ramanujan Ezhuthachan, who is accepted as the Father of Modern Malayalam Language.
The first episode begins the topic of the Season with an introduction to the style of poetry, and is a homage to the ones that came before us, and have granted us the life we have today.
*For fellow lovers of words, Logophiles of the world, brother and sisters, this part of the podcast will mostly be in the language of Malayalam, mother to millions, mother mine.
Be well. :)*