Traditional Wisdom for Contemporary Coping
-Dr. Anand Nadkarni
The postmodern man, on the threshold of embarking on a revolution of Artificial Intelligence & Creative Robotics, is still facing challenges posed by the most primitive set of emotions, Anger-Anxiety-Depression & Guilt. With strides in the field of Neuropsychopharmacology & development of Cognitive Behaviour Therapies….. this man and his culture is still looking with
hope towards the wisdom emanating from the past, May it be Yoga, Vipashyana, Mindfulness, Art of Living or Inner Engineering.
What is so endearing in these pages of the past? What is it that makes this scriptural wisdom relevant in the globalized , gadget dependent world?… Why even some of our most ‘Scientific’ brains are delving deep in this ancestral treasure?.. And of course how this society can benefit from these pearls from the past in this OZONE depleting environment?
This interesting phase in Human Evolution where, unabashed consumerism is growing its stature everyday and individualism is reaching new peaks of self centric intoxication… there is also a quest to transcend beyond the mundane materialism & seek a fresh meaning in life.
With multidisciplinary & multiracial teams getting together to study unsolved scientific & cultural riddles on one side… Fanatic streams of th ought in nearly all corners of the world are trying to hold this globe for ransom… It’s a strang e co-existence of liberal thought and restrictive, sectarian dogmatic thinking co-existing at the same time.
Or is it that THIS is an eternal conflict that man has faced throughout his journey ;and that’s the very reason why past wisdom still finds a place in a world that has changed outwardly beyond recognition if a sage from Upanishadic times visits the Globe today.
As a student & activist in the field of Mental Health for period of almost Four decades now, I find myself at a remarkable crossroad… Trying to un derstand torn minds amidst apparently bountiful consumer goods, people still having existential problems and in contrast, people with a treasure of pleasures, still unsatisfied & even complaining for getting a raw deal from life.
As a mental health professional, I have been dealing with individuals & families in distress with Psychopharmacological molecules, liberal dosages of REBT (Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy) and also giving them genuine support. At times I have crossed my limits of being a ‘Clinical Psychiatrist’ & walked an extra mile with many of my clients. Yet, I felt I need to extend my understanding of Life… Life, existence, death,…. Meaning of Life & of death… Relationship with self… And with others!
Here I decided to go back to the basic treasures from wherein arises the stream of ancient Indian wisdom… Vedanta!!…
Vedanta philosophy… and its origins had been a eluding puzzle for me for over two decades… My attention turned to Bhagwat Geeta, after I started receiving queries on it by some of my participant executives in Corporate Seminars on the theme of ‘Stress Management’.
The study then became a habit of sorts… fluctuating my emphasis… First the Geeta… Then its Creative presentations of it in my mother tongue viz. Dnyaneshwari (by Sant Dnyaneshwar), Gatha (by Sant Tukaram) and some other scriptures. With my interest in History, I also closely studied the works of Swami Vivekanand, Lokmanya Tilak and Mahatma Gandhi… I am deeply touched by how these visionary leaders in their times fell back upon this pool of wisdom for their altruistic goals… Then came modern commentators of Vedants, most prominently amongst them VINOBA (Bhave) the spiritual heir of Gandhiji & a profound Rishi whose insights have become my illuminating lights on my daily life. Closely followed by Osho… whose lucid style still encapsulates my attention. When I started studying Vedanta, this luminous trail was enlightened by others like Eknath Ishwaran, Nisargadatta Maharaj, Mr.M ( a muslim scholar of Vedanta), scholars from the Ramkrishna order, Gandhian writer Mrunalini Desai and many others… Each of them while explaining the major Upanishadas, banked on the wisdom of people like Adi Shankaracharya, Ramkrishna Paramhansa, Raman Maharshi, J Krishnamoorthy & others.
I wanted to link insights in Cognitive Psychology with Vedanta & explore how Vedanta was going beyond cognition… Recent strides in Neuroscie nces related to imaging techniques added to my excitement… What was still lacking was presence of a GURU… a enlightening teacher.
Since last four years I have the fortune to learn from two special teachers of Vedanta, Nima & Soorya. Nima is an economist by training & Soorya has a doctorate in pharmacology. Nima was working with UN & Soorya is a faculty at S.P.Jain Institute of Management. Both have done their study of Vedant with Dayanand Saraswathi, who is peer of Swami Chinmayanand & founded Vedanta University near Coimbatore in South & has an Ashram at Hrishikesh. Both my teachers are extremely articulate as well as empathic. With a globalized world view they add their understanding of modern world to the delivery of Vedic knowledge.
I always require a culminating Goalpoint to all my studious journies… Three decades of our organization IPH (Institute for Psychological Health) coming up in March 2020, is one such occasion. Why not share the process of my journey with all, on this occasion and also perform a ‘Dnyanyadnya’ by raising some funds for our institu te. Almost fifteen years back I had done a similar experiment for our work and helped realize the dream of our institute in its own, owned space… So I made a plan.
On 13th,14th , 15th December 2019 …..evening Six pm to Nine thirty p.m … 180 minutes per
day… 540 minutes on three evenings I will share wit h all, my journey around the theme ‘ Vedanta Ethos and Enlightened Personality.’
My serious limitation at this point is my emphasis on Cognitive approach… To me, all study is about Thinking & Attitudes. That’s my conditioning. Being Empathic is something that I have tried to sharpen over the years… Therefore the doct rine of ‘BHAKTI’ is not new to me. Altruistic behavior is something that comes naturally to me quite a number of times, as material gain has hardly ever been a priority in my life… But I am still away from any illuminating spiritual experience that goes beyond cognition. However, there are many times during a day when I do get an experience of dissolution of my ‘ Human MEness’ and awareness of only a Flow of Being… I just experience it, acknowledge it and leave it.
The advantage of this limitation is that I can relate to all the sorrows & disappointments of day-to day practical life in a ‘common’ way. Sometimes it is more useful to share your journey midway than after reaching the destination… You are still there with miseries around & within you… awaiting transcendence.!!
So, here is what its going to be…
A audiovisual communication… A Monologue draped as a dialogue… For all these 540 minutes on three evening at the end of this year.