.
The lyrics I have chosen for this week’s blog, from a song by Frank
Sinatra, have a double meaning. The first layer meaning should be immediately
obvious if you remember that Rae has been gone to the US for nearly a month and
gets back this week. I miss her tremendously and do know how sweet life will be
when she comes back to me. The second meaning will become clear as you read the
blog and find out some of the events of this week.
Charu Modi, our founder, is a visionary. She is always looking for ways
to push the boundaries of what we’ve done and what we can become. Part of her
vision is to create a university that instructs and expands the whole person
not just the intellect. She has a vision for an integrated curriculum/student
life that would engage students intellectually, spiritually, physically,
emotionally, and socially. To that end, we are always looking for ways to
expand student experiences beyond the classroom. This week was an interesting
experiment in that regard.
This week we have had Thomas Amelio on campus. Thomas is the Executive
Director of the Open Center in New York City, which is dedicated to a holistic
approach to developing and training people. They offer a wide variety of
courses including meditation, yoga, massage, etc.. Thomas’
expertise, in addition to his management skills as the Executive Director, is
in meditation. Born and raised in the States, he was trained as a boy by his
father in yoga. Then as a young adult he came to India and spent many years
studying in an Ashram (spiritual retreat) studying Hindu metaphysics and meditation.
As I mentioned he has been on campus teaching seminars to our students,
faculty, employees, and the general public on chakras, mantras, meditation, and
healing. Part of the purpose was, as I said to expand the exposure of our
students beyond the classroom and beyond the theories and concepts they are
studying. Another aspect is to help us determine whether we should form a joint venture with the Open Center to offer a wide variety of courses to the
public, such as they do.
I have participated in two of the seminars Thomas has taught. It’s been
interesting on s couple of levels. I think I have mentioned before that about
half of our student body are from countries other than India. So here we sat,
an American teaching ancient Indian traditions to a group of people many of
whom were hearing the concepts for the first time. Added to that mix were
Indians for whom the ideas were at least basically understood and a
significant number of whom were well informed about, and practitioners of, the
concepts. This last group really struck me. What would Indians, who were
trained in and practiced meditation techniques, think of this American coming
in and teaching their traditions? Would they think, “What’s up with this gora (white
person) in jeans and t-shirt coming here and teaching us? What does he think he
is, some kind of guru?”
Well, if they did think that, they didn’t say so. I watched and most of
the participants in his classes were quite engaged. Several came up to him
after the sessions and visited with him one to one. Most tellingly, many of
people came back for more than one session. In talking to some of them, they
found Thomas’ western approach to the Hindu concepts direct and engaging
compared to how a traditional guru would have taught the same concepts.
As for me, I found the sessions I attended fascinating. I had some
basic understanding of chakras, mantras, and meditation. However, I never had
studied these concepts in the detail I did this week. As I learned about the
chakras and what they represent, I heard echoes of Jungian psychology and
Maslow’s hierarchy of need. As I learned about the power of mantras, I
reflected on the power that certain sounds (and music in particular) have in my
own life. As I learned the concept that we are made of material bodies and “energy
bodies”, I thought of my own belief that we are spiritual beings currently and
temporarily inhabiting physical bodies.
One clear difference in these beliefs, I
know from my previous studies, is the belief of what is the ultimate outcome of
the duality of physical and spiritual being. Hinduism teaches the ultimate
state of man is to transcend the material and become one with the cosmic
consciousness (a gross simplification I know). I believe, and the Church teaches, that our ultimate destiny is an eternal union of the spiritual and physical
through the resurrection of Christ. Still, despite the differences in belief,
there were ideas and concepts that resonated with me and which I was glad to
learn and understand. In particular I felt closer to my sister Elizabeth whose
beliefs are closely aligned with, perhaps even at one with, what Thomas taught.
As I learned more about the belief that energy from our spiritual body can be
used to influence and heal the spiritual bodies of others, I understood more
fully how Elizabeth used those methods to bring comfort to our mom and dad in
their last hours. Thank you, Elizabeth, for being a good, loving, caring
person.
Church today was interesting. Last week we had a delayed broadcast of
General Conference. This week was a recording of Asia Area Stake and District
Conference. We started locally with announcements, opening song, and opening
prayer. We then watched a recording from Salt Lake that included talks and
presentations, from David F. Evans of the First Quorum of Seventy (he serve in my same mission just before me), Jean A.
Stevens, First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency (and sister of our
good friend Mary Griffiths), and Apostles Jeffrey R. Holland and Robert D.
Hales. The meeting was very good, with a sweet strong spirit. Elder Holland,
who has just been assigned to supervise the Asia Area noted that the Conference
was being played in 24 countries, and in 17 languages. He noted the Church’s
presence and influence in the Area was relatively new but the faith of those
who join the Church, often in the face of significant societal pressure, is
amazing.
After the broadcast, we had three baptisms. It is great to see the
growth of the Church in India. It’s exciting to play a small part in that
growth. Until next week I bid you…
Namaste.
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