Gandhi Message - Spring/Summer 2015

Volume XXXXVIII - Spring/Summer Issue - 2015

The Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Foundation The Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Foundation, Incorporated, was founded in the United States of America in 1959 by Swami Premananda of India.

The purpose of the Foundation is to disseminate the philosophy, ideal, life, service and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. The Foundation is a legally independent, nonprofit cultural and educational organization.

Gandhi Memorial Center

Dedicated to the life and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, the Gandhi Memorial Center seeks to offer a broad representation of authors from many cultures and times, as well as displays, recordings, lectures and demonstrations of cultural and educational value. The Library of the Gandhi Memorial Center is open on Fridays and Saturdays from 10am to 4pm (except during July and August).

Our Appeal

For the expansion of its ideals and activities the Foundation will gratefully receive donations of funds and contributions of books, publications and memorabilia pertaining to Mahatma Gandhi and his associates. Please make checks payable to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Foundation, Inc. or contribute online at our website: www.gandhimemorialcenter.org/contribute/ The Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Foundation is a 501c(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization. The staff of the Foundation and Gandhi Center are dedicated workers who serve without any remuneration throughout the year.

Your contribution is an offering towards the services and activities of the Gandhi Center. Your contribution is tax deductible.

Gandhi Memorial Center 4748 Western Avenue Bethesda, MD 20816 301-320-6871 Email: info@gandhimemorialcenter.org Web: www.gandhimemorialcenter.org Facebook.com/GandhiMemorialCenterUSA Š 2015 Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Foundation, Incorporated.

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Content Image of Kasturba Gandhi..................................................Front Cover “Shakti”...............................................................................................2-3 Reflections on Kasturba Gandhi...........................................................4 Reflections on Putlibai Gandhi..............................................................5 Osher Lifelong Learning at Gandhi Memorial Center........................6-9 Noble Thoughts..............................................................................10-11 Recent Events...............................................................................12-13 Visitors to the Gandhi Center.........................................................14-17 “Gandhi” by Gita Hudson.....................................................Back Cover

“The path of self-purification is hard and steep. To attain to perfect purity one has to become absolutely passion-free in thought, speech, and action; to rise above the opposing currents of love and hatred, attachment and repulsion.”

“Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well. There is nothing more potent than thought. Deed follows word and word follows thought. The world is the result of a mighty thought and where the thought is mighty and pure the result is always mighty and pure.”

-Mahatma Gandhi

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“Shakti” Remarks by Carrie Trybulec, Director of Gandhi Memorial Center on the occasion of Mother’s Day at the Embassy of India Washington, DC May 8, 2015 For this blessed Mother’s Day Weekend, let us turn our reflection of shakti to that life giving power of the indwelling Self of us all.

When the infinite becomes finite in this individual life, it does not lose its infinity. It is merely granting that life giving power to manifest in cosmic form.

In Indian music we know it as Nad, as musical sound or vibration in its broadest sense, but in spiritual and philosophical terms we know it as vital power.

The word we use in Yoga to describe this science of harmony and vibration is Nada. “Na” from prana – cosmic life-bearing, consciousnessbearing energy; and “da” from deep or div – the light of consciousness.

Mahatma Gandhi described this same vital power or energy as “Soul Force.” We are guided by “Soul Force” through our own inner attunement.

It is the power of purity by which we create harmony within and at the same time draw harmony unto all that surrounds us.

Consider the beautiful Saraswati. The highest attainment in all fields of knowledge is depicted as attunement, personified in Indian mythology as the goddess, Saraswati, the patroness of wisdom. Seated on a pink lotus representing the soul’s self-unfoldment, she holds a veena in her graceful hands. Her message is attunement, utterly sublime and perfect attunement. Her music is that which is awakened in the silent resonance of cosmic oneness, that of Nada Brahman.

All of creation follows the law of self-perfection and that is the path of attunement to which we are directed. Gandhi often referred to this path … so beautifully described in the Upanishads as the “razor’s edge.” Gandhi said, “I know the path. It is straight and narrow. It is as sharp as a razor. I rejoice to walk on it. When I slip, I weep.”

All of nature achieves this attunement and perfection. Consider the Vedic description of the stages of this creative energy: “Asleep in minerals; dreaming in plants; awake in animals; and conscious in human beings.”

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In creation we know it as Prakriti, that creative force. That same primordial energy or power is also known as Shakti, as “Divine Mother.” The Mother Goddess represents the creative principle.

Creation itself is called the play of the divine Mother, Kali.

Mother is matri in Sanskrit. Matri means “to measure,” so the mother is the “measurer.” The mother measures or manifests all the divine attributes and offers the standard by which we come to realize selfless love, patience, understanding, forgiveness, and other divine qualities.

The status of female deities slowly changed from that of mother, sister or daughter to the representation of a single abstract Saraswati idea: that of the sole principle of creative energy - the active power of the infinite.

As we focus our attention and reflection on the Divine Mother of creation, we know we are contemplating the power of the infinite within us and and all beings, now and forevermore.

And there in space appeared a lady of radiant beauty. She was Uma, divine illumination, the daughter of the mountain of snow. Indra drew near her and asked, “Do you know who is that being whose presence commands our reverence?”

Uma replied, “That is Brahman. Verily, through Brahman, you have attained the glory of victory.” Thus, from the words of Uma, Indra came to know that the being whose presence commanded their reverence was Brahman, the Supreme Self.

-Kena Upanishad, ch 3-4, Translated by Swami Premananda

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Reflections on Kasturba Gandhi: WIFE OF THE MAHATMA Editorial tribute from The Times of India Feburary 1944: “Mrs. Gandhi ranks among the great women of India... For 60 years she was his (M.K Gandhi’s) constant companion, following him through all the vicissitudes... courting imprisonment with him in the role of political agitator, picketer and Satyagrahi... She won for herself, perhaps without realizing it, a unique place in the memory of the Indian people. A brave woman with a large and kind heart, she was known to India’s worshipping millions simply as ‘Ba’ - Mother.”

In M.K. Gandhi’s own words: “I cannot even imagine life without Ba...She was an indivisible part of me, and her going has left a void which will never be filled.” In his response to a letter of sympathy from Lord Wavell, the latest new Viceroy of India (at that time,) Gandhiji sounded the same theme: “I feel the loss more than I had thought I should... Without my wishing it, she chose to lose herself in me, and the result was that she became truly my better half.”

These selections are from “The Forgotten Woman”

by Arun and Sunanda Gandhi.

Kasturba Gandhi lived from 1869 to 1944.

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Reflections on Putlibai Gandhi: MOTHER OF THE MAHATMA “The outstanding impression my mother has left on my memory is that of saintliness. She was deeply religious. She would not think of taking her meals without her daily prayers. Going to Haveli - the Vaishnava temple - was one of her daily duties. As far as my memory can go back, I do not remember her having ever missed the Chaturmas (a fourth-month period of fasting.)

She would take the hardest vows and keep them without flinching.

Illness was no excuse for relaxing them. I can recall her once falling ill when she was observing the Chandrayana vow, but the illness was not allowed to interrupt the observance. To keep two or three consecutive fasts was nothing to her. Living on one meal a day during Chaturmas was a habit with her. Not content with that, she fasted every alternate day during one Chaturmas. During another Chaturmas she vowed not to have food without seeing the sun.

We children on those days would stand, staring at the sky, waiting to announce the appearance of the sun to our mother. Everyone knows that at the height of the rainy season the sun often does not condescend to show his face. And I remember days when, at his sudden appearance, we would rush and announce it to her. She would run out to see with her own eyes, but by that time the fugitive sun would be gone, thus depriving her of her meal. ‘That does not matter,’ she would say cheerfully, ‘God did not want me to eat today.’ And then she would return to her round of duties.

“My mother had strong common sense. She was well informed about all matters of State, and ladies of the court thought highly of her intelligence.

Often I would accompany her, exercising the privilege of childhood, and I still remember many lively discussions she had...”

This excerpt is derived from “The Story of My Experiements With Truth” an autobiography written by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. The selection draws on Gandhi’s reflections on his mother, Putlibai Gandhi, who lived from 1844 to 1891.

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Osher Lifelong Learning at Gandhi Center:

In Spring of 2015 the Gandhi Memorial Center presented for the seventh year a course entitled, “India: Culture, Traditions and Gandhi� for the members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) of American University. For ten weeks retired professionals living in and around Washington, DC attended presentations on various topics relating to India and Gandhi. Each week the Gandhi Center introduced to the participants elements of Indian music, dance, art, spiritual traditions and a variety of other aspects of Indian culture and heritage through interactive presentations, demonstrations and lectures. The Gandhi Memorial Center is grateful to the artists, scholars and others who volunteer their time, talent and passion toward these educational offerings to our community.

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PHOTOS: PAGE 6 Top: Vijay Palaparty and Nalini Prakash demonstrate Bharatanatyam dance. Bottom: Samia Mahbub Ahmad and her students demonstrate Hindustani Classical vocal music and guru-shishya-parampara. PAGE 7 Top Left: Leena Jayaswal presented Indian film and cinema; Middle Left: Moazzam Siddiqi speaks on the origin of Indian languages. Top Right: Shanthi Chandrashekar demonstrates how to make dosas. Below: Swati Samak presents food from Maharashtra.

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Osher Lifelong Learning Continued:

PHOTOS: PAGE 8 Top: Sudeshna Basu presents music and stories from the life of Rabindranath Tagore for the members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Insitute. Bottom: Narmeen Iftikhar presents on the food and cultural traditions of Assam. PAGE 9 Top: Fred Dixon and Jeff Bauer present the music of Rabindranath Tagore. Middle Left: Debapriya “Debu� Nayak and Samia Mahbub Ahmad present Hindustani classical vocal music.

Middle Right: Shanthi Chandrashekar demonstrates the art of Kolam.

Bottom: Pallavi Jain Govil presents on Jain food traditions.

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Noble I live by the power of my soul because I know that thou art my soul. Thou hast enshrined thy attributes of perfection in my soul that I my realize my identity with thee...Thou hast infused thy omnipotence in my soul; spirituality inspires me with unconquerable power. Like the sweet fragrance of the crimson rose that mingles with the evening breeze, let me lose my self in thee, O God, that I may become one with thy omnipotence.

-Swami Premananda Yoga depends upon the Yoga Shakti, the Divine power of reintegration...She is the archetype of the higher feminine side of our nature we must manifest to energize our spiritual work...Our own soul has the intuitive knowledge, the spontaneous sense of it...We have only to let her stream of transformation flow. She will pour on us the great inner ocean of light. All spiritual growth is not through our personal effort, but through her aspiring force.

-David Frawley I am the supreme fiery force That kindles every spark of life; What I have breathed on will never die; I order the cycle of things in being: Hovering round it in sublime flight, Wisdom lends its rhythmic beauty.

-Hildegarde de Bingen The Tao is called the Great Mother: empty yet inexhaustible, It gives birth to infinite worlds.

It is always present within you.

You can use it any way you want.

-Lao-tzu 10

THOUGHTS In the hall of creation, O Divine Mother, everywhere I hear the rhythm of Thy footsteps, Dancing wildly in the booming thunder and softly in the song of atoms.

-Swami Yogananda Paradise is at the feet of the Mothers.

-Muhammed Lady of all powers In whom light appears, Radiant one Beloved of Heaven and Earth, Tiara crowned Priestess of the Highest God, My lady, you are the guardian Of all greatness...

You alone are the High One. -Enheduanna, Sumerian priestess As ‘perfection of knowledge’ - Prajnaparamita - which confers illumination and nirvana, Tara is sublime womanhood in the circle of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas...As Prajnaparamita, she is the mother of all Buddhas - she signifies nothing other than the illumination that makes one into a Buddha, Paramita, i.e. gone (ita) to the other shore (param); she leads the soul across the river of samsara to the far shore which is nirvana.

-Sitarama Shastri The most exalted experience of bliss in any realm of being is directly knowing the universal Mother, the supremely blissful one.

-Ramprasad 11

Recent Events at the Gandhi Center:

Alif Laila (Sitar), Deepak Ram (bansuri) and Debapriya “Debu� Nayak (Tabla) joined together for an early spring concert at the Gandhi Memorial Center on March 13, 2015.

Rupak Kulkarni (bansuri), Akhilesh Gundecha (pakhawaj) and Hindole Majumdar (tabla) performed together at the Gandhi Memorial Center on April 3, 2015.

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Nrityalaya, under the direction of Dr. Chitra Krishnamurti, presented an Odissi Dance Repertoire at the Gandhi Memorial Center on May 30, 2015.

Gita Hudson presented an exhibition: “Crimson Spring� and a documentary film screening on the life of artist, Suriyamoorthy, on June 13, 2015. Mr. Sridharan Madhusudhanan, Minister for Press, Information and Culture of the Embassy of India, offered introductory remarks at the exhibit inauguration.

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Recent Visitors to the Gandhi Center:

Docents from the American University Katzen Arts Center visited the Gandhi Memorial Center on April 27, 2015.

Student Visitors to the Gandhi Center:

Third and fourth grade students from Bruce Monroe Parkview Elementary School in Washington, DC visited the Gandhi Memorial Center with the DC Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative on January 30, 2015.

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In these photos students from DC public and public charter schools are engaged in activities during visits to the Gandhi Center. The students are introduced to various aspects of Mahatma Gandhi’s life and message through story-telliing, studying maps, reading and reflecting on Gandhi’s words, and sharing their own thoughts on the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi.

Many of the DC school visits are arranged through the “Arts for Every Student Program” of the DC Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative in Washington, DC. The Gandhi Center regularly receives student visitors through these and other programs.

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Student Visitors to the Gandhi Center:

Top: Students from Community Academy Online DC Public Charter School visited the Gandhi Memorial Center on Friday, February 27, 2015. In addition to learning about the life of Mahatma Gandhi, the students were also introduced to some of the music of India, even learning to sing the “Ram Dhun.� (a favorite bhajan or devotional song beloved by Gandhiji) Bottom: Sheridan Middle School sixth grade students visted the Gandhi Memorial Center on April 17, 2015.

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Top: National Cathedral School high school students visited the Gandhi Memorial Center for their class on “Good and Evil� on May 15, 2015.

Bottom: Student recipients of the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Scholarship, visited the Gandhi Memorial Center on June 26, 2015 prior to leaving for their study in India as part of AFS-USA Intercultural Programs. The students, who attend high schools throughout the United States, will study abroad in India for one year.

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“Gandhi” by Gita Hudson 18