A TIMES OF INDIA PUBLICATION SPIRITUAL PROMOTIONAL FEATURE | NEW DELHI, SUNDAY, APRIL 20, 2014, PAGES: 8 PRICE ` 3.00http://www.speakingtree.in
...But there is neither east nor west,border, nor breed, nor birth...
— Rudyard Kipling
Science and technology notonly dominate the psyche ofhumanity, but also the wholebiosphere. How does science
influence civilisation and how is it re-lated to human happiness?
The original, cosmic evolution ofthe biosphere was one that promot-ed, supported, nourished, sustainedand enhanced life. Life went onadding to the evolution with newerspecies and ecosystems, even morebeautiful and vibrant than the onesbefore. Our biosphere accommodat-ed a pleasant weather cycle and cli-mate system to support these newerspecies, keeping everything in dy-namic equilibrium.
Now the biosphere is overbur-dened and ailing. Some of ourecosystems have already collapsed,while others are at death’s door. Everincreasing pollution coupled withover-exploitation of natural resourcesand greenhouse gas emissions is driv-ing several species towards extinc-tion.This is not a phenomenon that
has occurred by itself, and neither hasit been caused by human beingsalone. But it definitely has beenspurred by so-called advances intechnology.
In this millennium, we no longerlive in a biosphere — we are inhabi-tants of a technosphere. A technos-phere is an impaired biosphere that hasno affinity with values of life nor withsustainability and evolution of life.Al-though technology has empoweredcivilisation, it has also reduced it to be-ing a mere tool of science and tech-nology.And when the whole civilisa-tion turns technocratic, science andtechnology are bound to dominate,causing life to shrink.The intensify-ing climate crisis is but a symptom ofthe biosphere’s illness and life’s grad-ual collapse.
We’ve reached a point where we
are intolerant of anything remotely“unscientific” in our contemporaryworld. Scientists look for alternatives,but even these solutions are sought inthe same domain that has caused theseproblems. In short, we are stewing ina soup of our own making.
So,what would be meaningful forthe welfare of humans? Naturally,something that would enhance life,serve to integrate ecosystems andcleanse our environment. Enhance-ment of life includes betterment ofhuman life and vice versa. If lifeshrinks,we cannot blossom.
Science and technologyby themselves are neutral; itis the way we use them thathas either a positive or neg-ative impact on our lives andenvironment.And when weuse science in a manner thatincreases unsustainability and unhap-piness in our lives, how can we relyblindly on science for our happiness?
The solution, as always, lies in us.We need to consider the way wechoose to live, the manner in whichwe apply scientific tools, how we usetechnology and why we think noth-ing of adding to the pollution — andso,we need to take time to reflect andcome up with holistic solutions, withor without science. ■
The writer teaches environmental scienceat GB Pant University of Agriculture
and Technology, Uttarakhand
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You get poorer in thecity. A middle-class,simple life ofanonymity is bliss,”says Amit Dutta, theJammu-based reclu-
sive film maker,talking of his new movieabout “a heritage village,pickled in time,and a futuristic city, trapped by thewrong idea of prosperity”. But what ifyou had a heritage village that is alsomoving with the times and with theright idea of prosperity?
Ananda Village, California — anidyllic community in a sylvan settingby the Sierra Nevada mountain range,promises just that. Some 300-odd in-ternational residents live on the 900acres that Swami Kriyananda and hisdisciples acquired way back in 1968.And set about giving shape to Parama-hansa Yogananda’s dream — of a har-monious community life with serviceand God-realisation as its goals. Doesit sound too good to be true? Or doyou think it’s one of those cult thingsthat will go ‘poof ’? The answer wouldbe ‘yes’ to both questions, until thedocudrama unfolds, and we are takenon an experiential tour by the only fic-tional character in the film, JulietPalmer, the cynical New York Cityjournalist assigned to do a story on thecommunity by her magazine editor.
The entire ‘cast’ — barring Julietplayed by Hollywood star ElisabethRohm,most recently seen in AmericanHustle as the mayor’s wife, Dolly, andnow in a lead role in the up-coming television serial, GuiltBy Association — are real peo-ple, playing themselves atAnanda Village, their home,their life.As we make the jour-ney with Juliet,chaperoned byAnanda member and musicianDavid Eby, (see pg 8) — seeingthrough her eyes, first scepti-cal, then incredulous, and finally, con-vinced this is no cult or group of es-capists but a committed people livingthe way most of us yearn to but don’t,either because we lack the gumptionand faith or because we wallow in suf-fering of our own making.
Each message, email or telephoneconversation with the bliss-seekingmembers of the Ananda community —whether in California,Assisi or India —end with the word ‘joy’before they sign
off for they are on an exhilarating path,finding happiness and sharing it, too.
Besides residential homes and of-fices, goat and cow dairies, permacul-ture-inspired organic farms and a gro-cery store, boutiques, spa and healthcentre, the community includes theLiving Wisdom School for children, aclinic that services at least 2,000 pa-tients besides Ananda residents, an Ex-panding Light Retreat for yoga and
meditation, and a temple thatdraws inspiration from portraitson the altar of a line of hal-lowed saints — MahavatarBabaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, Swa-mi Yukteshwar and Jesus Christ.There’s more: volunteer firetenders, lakes and ponds thatare water sources, an automo-bile workshop,solar energy in-
stallations making electricity, seweragesystem — voila,you have an almost self-sufficient utopia with plenty of scopefor finding happiness and discoveringwho you are, at your pace.
The cherry on the cake is of courseCrystal Hermitage, Swami Kriyanan-da’s home-cum-office,with its splendidgardens that boast of at least 13,000tulips in bloom during spring.Border-ing the mountains, Yuba River andTahoe National Forest,the terraced gar-
dens provide the perfect ambience forthose wishing to journey within in si-lence.Others chat with long-time gar-deners Jivada and Netri, marvelling atthe many perennials and shrubs, flow-ers and trees and the little chapel mod-elled after that of St Francis in Assisi.
Visiting the village,I meet with sev-eral karma yogis who are enrolled in yogaand meditation courses, taking a break
from punishing nine-to-five city life rid-dled with deadlines and targets, fiercecompetition and calamities like stockmarket crashes and relationship break-downs. Some karma yogis are simplystudents inspired by reading An Autobi-ography Of A Yogi,Yogananda’s story,theglobal bestseller for a book of that genre.Karma yogis get to live here for the du-ration of their course or longer,the costsubsidised by the service they render byway of gardening,cleaning,cooking andwashing.Not a frown or fight did I wit-ness in the week I was there,and I won-dered, like Juliet does in the movie —‘Is this for real?’
Did playing Juliet reveal somethingto Elisabeth Rohm about herself? “Juli-et’s journey revealed to me an attrac-tion to compassion and living with ahigher consciousness and sensitivity tothe idea of community. I think till yousee a community like Ananda thatthrives with higher consciousness and
intelligence, you cannot believe it ex-ists. Even though my mother had aguru and taught me a lot about Yo-gananda, I learnt so much from beingthere within the community and I re-alised that all of this can be effectiveand that this higher consciousness canreally exist,” she says.
At Ananda’s entrance,a ‘joy is with-in’ logo designed by SwamiKriyananda,is set against the blue skyand green meadow:An arrow indi-cating your journey over a moun-tain,reaching upward but finally mak-
ing a U-turn in a heart-shaped trajec-tory to reach within, where ananda isever-present, waiting to be discovered.This journey took handsome coupleWillow and Cliff Kushler to Ananda,despite their super successful lives as in-ventors and designers. Cliff holds sev-eral patents, including as inventor ofswype and T9,software applications thathave revolutionised computer and cellphone access,particularly for the phys-ically challenged.Says Willow of Cliff ’sbusiness ventures,“In the last 18 years
of Ananda, non-dharmawas never an optionto achieve success inbusiness — in fact,dharmic approach has spelt completesuccess.”
Cliff is an activechoir member, singing with great feel-ing and conviction, smartly turned outin his natty Japanese jacket.Willow is inthe process of designing a MokshaMandir as tribute to Swami Kriyanan-da,overlooking the mountains that weretill recently mined for gold,part of ‘GoldRush’country.And look at the treasureit holds out now, promising the gift ofjoy, in exchange for some compassionand love.You just have to look at Virani,the deputy-sheriff turned goat farmer,her face beaming with sheer delight asshe calls out to her goats that come run-ning to nuzzle close to her.You can senseit in the children so happy to go toschool here.And you can feel it in thefragrant air, suffused with gentle love;in the karma yogis, so reluctant to leaveand in the tranquil vibrations from Deviand Jyotish Novak,spiritual directors ofthe community.
If Easter symbolises resurrection,re-birth and immortality, perhaps Anandasymbolises much the same, by lettingeastern and western faith and philoso-phy converge seamlessly, creating abeautiful way of life.A banner outsidethe community’s Palo Alto Center inCalifornia reminds you,“Google can’tsatisfy your search.” But you can. ■
Finding Happiness will release in theatresin India on April 25
A BANNER OUTSIDE THE
ANANDA SANGHA
COMMUNITY’S PALO ALTO
CENTER IN CALIFORNIA
REMINDS YOU, “GOOGLE
CAN’T SATISFY YOUR SEARCH.”
BUT YOU CAN
LIGHTS,CAMERA,JOY!LIGHTS,CAMERA,JOY!
The Hollywood docudrama, ‘Finding Happiness’, is an invitationto experience Paramahansa Yogananda’s dream-come-true ofharmonious community life, realised by his direct disciple,Swami Kriyananda and his enthused band of global followers,reports NARAYANI GANESH
VIR SINGH says that we aremisusing science andwreaking destructionand chaos whereas itcan be applied forsustainable living
THE SPEAKING TREE sayschange your mindset as devotees and channel bhakti to clean up and beautify yatra destinations
India has perhaps the largest num-ber of people who go on regularpilgrimages to sacred destinations
across the country every year or morethan once a year.Though most yatrasites are set in naturally beautiful en-vironments — by a river,on the coast,on a hill or in a wooded region,devo-tees who throng here to make ritu-
alistic offerings and proclaimtheir bhakti only add to thepollution and desecration ofthe place.
Why are pilgrims notsensitive to the need to keepsacred sites clean? Why dothey leave behind piles of
garbage — whether in the form offlower and milk offerings that clog thedrains or by way of plastic throwawaysand other litter? Not to speak ofmindless dirtying of water bodies inthe name of devotional surrender.
Singing bhajans, decorating idolsand paying for abhishekams withoutalso taking care of the sanctity ofthe environment,has resulted inpopular destinations like Vrin-davan and Varanasi falling preyto dirt, disease and pollution.
True bhakti reflects in twoways. One is that your love forthe Supreme is so overwhelming
that you merge with the Divine andyour creativity bursts forth in the formof song, dance, poetry — and youspend your time spreading this bliss,peace and joy, among all.The otherway is that you serve mankind andother beings — all God’s creations —selflessly by offering a smile, givinglove, teaching someone somethingworthwhile so that they can lead abetter life. And practise the saying,‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness’.
Let’s change our mindset. Let usprove that true bhakti means ourcommitment to work toward con-servation of the environment — ofexternal as well as internal spaces —that will not only recreate the lost artof aesthetics and restore to our sur-roundings the sanctity of nature, butalso reveal a spanking new dimensionto our own selves, uncluttered, andfree of trash. ■
Post your comments at speakingtree.in
True Bhakti MeansYour Commitment
ARUNDYUTI DAS
Growth PeriodArtist Fritz Haeg’s work is taking
root. Over the past decade, he’shelped 15 families around the worldturn their grass-only lawns into lush,organic gardens that he calls edibleestates. Planted in front yards fromTel Aviv, Israel, to the twin cities in
Minnesota, the plots givenourishment and pleasure. More
important, says Haeg, they providesharp contrast to surrounding
properties — which typically lackbiodiversity. Confronting the issue of
land use is an idea that resonateswith environmental geographer
Paul Robins.Turfgrass lawns areecologically problematic because they
keep other species from thriving.“Nature abhors a monoculture,” says
Robins.“Lawn maintenance is adesperate struggle against nature.”
— Catherine Zuckerman,National Geographic
Optimum LevelMaintaining interest in the goals youpursue can improve your work and
reduce burnout, says a research study.“Our research shows interest isimportant for pursuing goals. It
allows us to perform at high levelswithout wearing out,” said Paul
O’Keefe, who conducted the studiesin Duke University’s Department ofPsychology and Neuroscience with
associate professor Lisa Linnenbrink-Garcia.“This suggests that interestmatters more than we suspected.”The studies, which appear online
and in the Journal of ExperimentalSocial Psychology, examined the
notion that interest simultaneouslyoptimises your performance and theresources necessary to stay deeply
engaged.The study suggests that ifpeople experience activities as both
enjoyable and personally significant,their chance of success increases.
“Engaging in personally interestingactivities not only improves
performance, but also creates anenergised experience that allowspeople to persist when persistingwould otherwise cause them to
burn out,” said O’Keefe.— sciencedaily.com
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