To be able to see a thing from the other person's point of view is what is indicative of largeness of spirit and a catholic outlook on life, and it is also what constitutes the greatness of a character. Self-centred perspectives lend refracted images of the real thing and elude the vision of truth even in day-to-day social intercourse. Thus, the genuine desire to expand in consciousness and culture impels a person to listen to the other
Saturday 30 June 2018
Friday 29 June 2018
Thursday 28 June 2018
MUSIC AND ITS MALADIES ... 7
Humility among so many musicians today seems to be a thing of the past. Now it is blatant self-promotion whenever the media shines its light on the artiste, be it in the form of an interview being taken or the artiste himself blowing his own trumpet prior to a performance or even interspersing the performance with big-talk about himself. Fools, they do not know that this very self-promotion is the seed of musical downfall. 'Sur' is an elusive entity that ever slips through the fingers even as air cannot be contained by attempting to catch it.
There should be public disapproval of self-aggrandising talk in order to curb its malefic growth in the body politic of Indian music. Pandits and Ustads better restrain their speech and let their music do the talking. The public are intelligent enough to distinguish good music from bad music, excellence of the art from its mediocrity, for them to be given direction thus to appreciate what an artiste's true status is as a performer. Even though the common man is not well-versed in the science of Hindustani classical music, his soul is equipped enough to respond to sublimity of rendition and it needs no self-advertisement to draw his attention to one's self-proclaimed excellence.
It is simply distasteful to see so many musicians of repute to be thus seeking public attention by this grotesque articulation of self-attributes in supposed excellence. Let Mother Saraswati decide who she will enthrone in her heart and who she will cast aside as so much pretentious a performer not worth her gracious glance.
Written by Sugata Bose
Photo : Ajoy Sinha Roy, a self-effacing artiste and teacher of the Maihar Gharana, senior disciple of Baba Allauddin Khan, who never blew his own trumpet but ever dedicated himself to the perpetuating of the music of his Guru among his many disciples. Here was a man who was such a notable exception to today's perfected art of self-promotion to the detriment of real music. We must revisit the lives of these great masters to be able to catch the nuance of true music that is so elusive that well has it been compared to the slippery movement of air by none other than Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Sahib.
Wednesday 27 June 2018
WORK FOR WELL-BEING, WORK FOR WELFARE
WORK FOR WELL-BEING, WORK FOR WELFARE
Life is not to be wasted chasing wild geese. Something worthwhile has to done and it must conduce to the good of both oneself and to society at large. Laziness is to shunned and slow, disciplined work performed on a daily basis must build up the edifice of spiritual life.
Creativity must be the foundation of all endeavour and depth of thinking fostered by daily meditation will awaken the creative self. Then all work will be an expression of self-discovery and a joyful repose will permeate one's most laborious hours, for it will be a labour of love and not toil under duress.
A mighty concentration on the work at hand with total detachment as to its result once the work is over and the hour past is the formula for success. Work performed in this manner purifies the mind-stuff and paves the way for realisation of the Self, although, work itself cannot help one reach the summit of realisation. Work falls short of the endpoint in this journey of the Spirit, being that much extraneous to the final realisation but being one's best ally in this long and arduous evolution from the near unconscious to the super-conscious.
Therefore, we must constantly work for self-preservation and for world-welfare but we must do so in a detached manner with full attention to the means and no attachment to the end. This does not mean we must be irresponsible in action. No, not at all. We have a responsibility to ourselves and also to society and our work must conduce to the welfare of both. As such, only ethically sound activity must be undertaken and that is dharma. In essence it may be said that there may not be an hour when work may be relinquished for that would create a vacuum in one's spiritual pathway and cause one to have a precipitous fall. Hence, work, work, work, and attempt to scale the summit of realisation in this very life.
Written by Sugata Bose
Life is not to be wasted chasing wild geese. Something worthwhile has to done and it must conduce to the good of both oneself and to society at large. Laziness is to shunned and slow, disciplined work performed on a daily basis must build up the edifice of spiritual life.
Creativity must be the foundation of all endeavour and depth of thinking fostered by daily meditation will awaken the creative self. Then all work will be an expression of self-discovery and a joyful repose will permeate one's most laborious hours, for it will be a labour of love and not toil under duress.
A mighty concentration on the work at hand with total detachment as to its result once the work is over and the hour past is the formula for success. Work performed in this manner purifies the mind-stuff and paves the way for realisation of the Self, although, work itself cannot help one reach the summit of realisation. Work falls short of the endpoint in this journey of the Spirit, being that much extraneous to the final realisation but being one's best ally in this long and arduous evolution from the near unconscious to the super-conscious.
Therefore, we must constantly work for self-preservation and for world-welfare but we must do so in a detached manner with full attention to the means and no attachment to the end. This does not mean we must be irresponsible in action. No, not at all. We have a responsibility to ourselves and also to society and our work must conduce to the welfare of both. As such, only ethically sound activity must be undertaken and that is dharma. In essence it may be said that there may not be an hour when work may be relinquished for that would create a vacuum in one's spiritual pathway and cause one to have a precipitous fall. Hence, work, work, work, and attempt to scale the summit of realisation in this very life.
Written by Sugata Bose
SPIRITUAL INSTRUCTIONS
2. Sublimate the thoughts in a manner that only the higher vibrations affect it and you are automatically protected from the lower impulses. Also, this effort will help you to receive resonant vibrations from the minds of sages and saints all over. This is the spiritual way.
3. Not to chant seriously is a serious spiritual offence that has reverse repercussions on one's spiritual life and material life as well.
4. Readiness and organised endeavour to fulfil the preceptor's wish along with commitment to the cause/mission are the prime characteristic traits of the truthful soul, the devoted disciple.
5. The Guru's words are inviolable and must be followed with absolute adherence.
6. The miser's money is destroyed. The magnanimous retain wealth.
7. Spiritual power has to be developed by finishing an allotted task within a self-stipulated period of time, and the shortest at that, without entailing undue hurry. Long dragging of work such as slow reading is not conducive to spiritual uplift.Power = Work / Time
8. Please make it a point to study religiously 'The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna' every day. It will strengthen your spiritual life.
9. Life is not to be wasted chasing wild geese. Something worthwhile has to done and it must conduce to the good of both oneself and to society at large. Laziness is to shunned and slow, disciplined work performed on a daily basis must build up the edifice of spiritual life. Creativity must be the foundation of all endeavour and depth of thinking fostered by daily meditation will awaken the creative self. Then all work will be an expression of self-discovery and a joyful repose will permeate one's most laborious hours, for it will be a labour of love and not toil under duress. A mighty concentration on the work at hand with total detachment as to its result once the work is over and the hour past is the formula for success. Work performed in this manner purifies the mind-stuff and paves the way for realisation of the Self, although, work itself cannot help one reach the summit of realisation. Work falls short of the endpoint in this journey of the Spirit, being that much extraneous to the final realisation but being one's best ally in this long and arduous evolution from the near unconscious to the super-conscious. Therefore, we must constantly work for self-preservation and for world-welfare but we must do so in a detached manner with full attention to the means and no attachment to the end. This does not mean we must be irresponsible in action. No, not at all. We have a responsibility to ourselves and also to society and our work must conduce to the welfare of both. As such, only ethically sound activity must be undertaken and that is dharma. In essence it may be said that there may not be an hour when work may be relinquished for that would create a vacuum in one's spiritual pathway and cause one to have a precipitous fall. Hence, work, work, work, and attempt to scale the summit of realisation in this very life.
TWEETS GALORE ... 16
1. Man must not sell his independence to an imaginary God nor fear hell or hope for heaven. He must take control of his destiny and carve out his future without relying on dubious theories of the hereafter. Reason, sound judgement and self-effort are helpmates that seldom betray.
2. Teach your children humility. Else, their life's attainments will be in vain.
3. What does the selfish one know about love?
4. The artiste must not pursue fame. Let fame pursue him even as he is in pursuit of excellence. The reverse order is disruptive.
5. It is true that delusive Maya holds us all in Her thrall and the titanic tussle is to break free. This duel with delusion is life.
6. Dishonouring the Guru is the worst offence and one must never do it.
7. Even if you desert the Guru, the Guru will never desert you. He lives inside your very being.
8. The disciple's commitment to the Guru is often temporary but the commitment of the Guru is eternal.
9. Freedom is at hand when the Guru is gracious but to get the grace of the Guru is difficult and one knows not when that moment will dawn.
10. Poverty is not a gift of God. It is the curse of man.
THE FUNERAL OF MUSIC ... 7
THE FUNERAL OF MUSIC ... 7
Why do people sing who have no clue to the aesthetics of music? Why sing at all in public if performers, even famous ones, reputed to be masters of music, cannot touch, much less penetrate, the core of a note, its centre-point wherever it be and, thus, merely skim the surface of a succession of notes without identifying with any of them at any point in the rendition? This is termed in music 'besurapan' (to be off-tune) in a subtle way and it is a cardinal sin in classical music that cannot but invite censure. But who will do it? Where are the genuine connoisseurs who had a clue to what music is? Now it is name and fame of a frivolous kind that does the rounds while music has taken to flight. Where are the artistes anywhere close to Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Abdul Karim Khan, Vishmadev Chattopadhyay, D.V. Paluskar, Sawai Gandharva, Sureshbabu Mane, Saraswatibai Rane and the like who sang to immaculate precision of note production and established a raga in all its colour and flavour without losing a tinge of it in pompous display of the little self marring the very spirit of the rendition? There are only a handful left today among the reputed exponents who can yet carry on the glorious tradition of Hindustani classical music forward. The rest of the stalwarts are simply caricatures of artistes despite popularity and self-portrayal as humble exponents of the art which, incidentally, is the standard norm for the egotist to assume.
Pretence is not performance. Unfortunately, few are born with an adequate musical sense or refinement of artistic sensibility to distinguish good art from bad art. It is the popular mandate that elects governments today and it is popular culture that dominates even the classical scene. What a contradiction in terms! Musicians are born with a special gift, not merely of talent but that of character as well. In the absence of either one of a high order, music will not flow and all that will surface will be a decadent version of the pristine stuff. Such is the order of the day as mass pretence goes on before the microphone and the ear, before the audience and one's own soul in the name of music. And to pass it on as genuine classical music to trainees is damaging the tradition beyond bounds. It is self-advertisement, self-promotion, self-portrayal all the way. Where remains the room for music to abide?
In the past to find a Guru (preceptor) was difficult for the rigid rules of gharana (house of music / school of music) and parampara (tradition) bound the musical world and segmented the overall body of classical music, narrowing its scope for development along broader channels. Each gharana zealously guarded its musical style and the bandishes (musical compositions) within its narrow confines. The result was the development of distinctive styles of gayaki (style of vocal rendition) and baaz (style of instrumental rendition) but all this was kept confined to one's own musical family strictly. There was no easy access for even a superbly talented musician like Ustad Allauddin Khan to the treasures of the Seniya gharana zealously guarded by its last representative, the beenkar, Ustad Wazir Khan, till his disciple's fortitude and calamitous circumstances for the Guru opened the floodgates of music for him.
Today, the scene is quite the reverse. There are Gurus galore and there are disciples by the multitude but music there is none. You know, why? Because the celebrity artistes, the so-called musical maestros of the day are mere caricatures of the past masters and are masquerading as melodic kings and queens while music is quietly shedding its last tears before bidding adieu for good. Hindustani classical music is in the unsafe hands of mediocre musicians of national and international repute who are killing it and setting up the pyre for its last rites to be performed. Was Aurangzeb right after all in banning music from his empire? Well, perhaps not, but soon such a state will obtain where Hindustani classical music, now an endangered art form, will be an extinct genre of music and future generations will merely take an academic interest in what was once the pulsating life of elite India.
Written by Sugata Bose
P.S. : Attached below are a few audio / video links from YouTube of glorious performances of some past and present masters that even today inspire hope of a resurrection of music :
Photo (source : internet) : Pandit D.V. Paluskar
Why do people sing who have no clue to the aesthetics of music? Why sing at all in public if performers, even famous ones, reputed to be masters of music, cannot touch, much less penetrate, the core of a note, its centre-point wherever it be and, thus, merely skim the surface of a succession of notes without identifying with any of them at any point in the rendition? This is termed in music 'besurapan' (to be off-tune) in a subtle way and it is a cardinal sin in classical music that cannot but invite censure. But who will do it? Where are the genuine connoisseurs who had a clue to what music is? Now it is name and fame of a frivolous kind that does the rounds while music has taken to flight. Where are the artistes anywhere close to Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Abdul Karim Khan, Vishmadev Chattopadhyay, D.V. Paluskar, Sawai Gandharva, Sureshbabu Mane, Saraswatibai Rane and the like who sang to immaculate precision of note production and established a raga in all its colour and flavour without losing a tinge of it in pompous display of the little self marring the very spirit of the rendition? There are only a handful left today among the reputed exponents who can yet carry on the glorious tradition of Hindustani classical music forward. The rest of the stalwarts are simply caricatures of artistes despite popularity and self-portrayal as humble exponents of the art which, incidentally, is the standard norm for the egotist to assume.
Pretence is not performance. Unfortunately, few are born with an adequate musical sense or refinement of artistic sensibility to distinguish good art from bad art. It is the popular mandate that elects governments today and it is popular culture that dominates even the classical scene. What a contradiction in terms! Musicians are born with a special gift, not merely of talent but that of character as well. In the absence of either one of a high order, music will not flow and all that will surface will be a decadent version of the pristine stuff. Such is the order of the day as mass pretence goes on before the microphone and the ear, before the audience and one's own soul in the name of music. And to pass it on as genuine classical music to trainees is damaging the tradition beyond bounds. It is self-advertisement, self-promotion, self-portrayal all the way. Where remains the room for music to abide?
In the past to find a Guru (preceptor) was difficult for the rigid rules of gharana (house of music / school of music) and parampara (tradition) bound the musical world and segmented the overall body of classical music, narrowing its scope for development along broader channels. Each gharana zealously guarded its musical style and the bandishes (musical compositions) within its narrow confines. The result was the development of distinctive styles of gayaki (style of vocal rendition) and baaz (style of instrumental rendition) but all this was kept confined to one's own musical family strictly. There was no easy access for even a superbly talented musician like Ustad Allauddin Khan to the treasures of the Seniya gharana zealously guarded by its last representative, the beenkar, Ustad Wazir Khan, till his disciple's fortitude and calamitous circumstances for the Guru opened the floodgates of music for him.
Today, the scene is quite the reverse. There are Gurus galore and there are disciples by the multitude but music there is none. You know, why? Because the celebrity artistes, the so-called musical maestros of the day are mere caricatures of the past masters and are masquerading as melodic kings and queens while music is quietly shedding its last tears before bidding adieu for good. Hindustani classical music is in the unsafe hands of mediocre musicians of national and international repute who are killing it and setting up the pyre for its last rites to be performed. Was Aurangzeb right after all in banning music from his empire? Well, perhaps not, but soon such a state will obtain where Hindustani classical music, now an endangered art form, will be an extinct genre of music and future generations will merely take an academic interest in what was once the pulsating life of elite India.
Written by Sugata Bose
P.S. : Attached below are a few audio / video links from YouTube of glorious performances of some past and present masters that even today inspire hope of a resurrection of music :
Photo (source : internet) : Pandit D.V. Paluskar
THE FUNERAL OF MUSIC ... 6
THE FUNERAL OF MUSIC ... 6
Culture is being decimated by the onset of commercialism. Royal patronage gone, business houses are destroying it despite pretensions to the contrary that they are promoting it. After all, the connoisseurs who discern the grain from the chaff are a dwindling lot these days and Gurus have turned mercenaries. The disciples are on the fast track to making money, earning fame and enjoying the luxuries of life. The conservation principle allows this at the cost of declining culture. The loss the common man cannot always feel for his tastes are dull and determined largely by what he is fed constantly by these ambassadors of today's culture riding high at the abysmal depths of plummeting civilisation of man. It is a devaluation of artistic merit that has now become common and the accepted standard of cultural excellence. Self-blazoning masters in mediocrity are today's representatives of artistic perfection. What more may be expected then than the precipitous fall of culture into the abyss of aesthetic nothingness?
Written by Sugata Bose
P.S. : Attached below are a few audio / video links from YouTube that bear the last strains of the glories of music that is now a forgotten dream :
Photo (source : internet) : Pandit A.T. Kanan
Culture is being decimated by the onset of commercialism. Royal patronage gone, business houses are destroying it despite pretensions to the contrary that they are promoting it. After all, the connoisseurs who discern the grain from the chaff are a dwindling lot these days and Gurus have turned mercenaries. The disciples are on the fast track to making money, earning fame and enjoying the luxuries of life. The conservation principle allows this at the cost of declining culture. The loss the common man cannot always feel for his tastes are dull and determined largely by what he is fed constantly by these ambassadors of today's culture riding high at the abysmal depths of plummeting civilisation of man. It is a devaluation of artistic merit that has now become common and the accepted standard of cultural excellence. Self-blazoning masters in mediocrity are today's representatives of artistic perfection. What more may be expected then than the precipitous fall of culture into the abyss of aesthetic nothingness?
Written by Sugata Bose
P.S. : Attached below are a few audio / video links from YouTube that bear the last strains of the glories of music that is now a forgotten dream :
Photo (source : internet) : Pandit A.T. Kanan
Tuesday 26 June 2018
বাংলা লেখা ... ২
বিষয়বাসনায় আবদ্ধ, নইলে মুক্তি তো এখনই হয় |
সরস্বতী আমাদের মা, আমাদের কি বিদ্যার অভাব ? ব্রহ্মজ্ঞান পর্যন্ত অধিগত হতে পারে মায়ের কৃপায় |
অন্নব্যঞ্জন একটি খাদ্য, ব্যবহার অপরটি |
মানুষকে ভালোবাসেন ? তাহলে তো আপনি ভক্ত |
স্বার্থপর ভালোবাসার কি বোঝে ?
ভক্ত হতে চান তো সংস্কৃতিবান হন | স্নায়ু সূক্ষ্ম না হলে ঈশ্বরলাভ সুদূরপরাহত |
পারিবারিক কল্যাণ চান তো নিরহঙ্কার হন |
পৃথিবীতে নিদারুণ কষ্ট, নিবারণ করুন, নিবারণ করুন, নিবারণ করুন |
" মিষ্টি কথায় জগৎ জয় করা যায় | " ... পরমপূজ্যপাদ শ্রীমৎ স্বামী গহনানন্দজী মহারাজ
যা কিছু দেখছেন, সব ময় দানবের রচনা | সব মায়া, ভুলবেন না |
শোষিতের শোণিতে সিক্ত সভ্যতার সৌধ |
কথামৃত পাঠ নিত্য করলে অবশ্যই ঠাকুরের অনুভূতি পাবেন | কিন্তু পাঠ নিয়মিত করছেন কি ?
মোহ পোষণ করে মনে কি ঈশ্বরলাভ হয় ?
অসত্যের সাথে আপোষ কখনও করবেন না, কিন্তু মিথ্যার বিরুদ্ধে শুধু না লড়ে, সত্যলাভে সচেষ্ট হন |
দুর্ব্যবহার পেলে নীরব থাকবেন আর নিজেকে আধ্যাত্মিতভাবে পরিপুষ্ট করার সংকল্প গ্রহণ করে কার্যে রূপায়িত করবেন |
লক্ষ্মীশ্রীযুক্ত হওয়ার একটি লক্ষণ হলো মৃদুভাষী হওয়া |
যে যত স্বার্থপর, তার ততই দুর্গতি |
বুড়ো মানুষেরা বড় নিঃসঙ্গ | তাঁদের কেউ চায় না | তাঁদের সঙ্গ দিন, সেবা করুন, তবে তো মানুষ |
দুটি বেলুর মঠ --- একটি অন্তর্বেলুর ও একটি বহির্বেলুর |
ধার্মিক তিনি যিনি সংসারকে ধারণ করেন, তিনি নন যিনি সংসারকে দ্বিখন্ডিত করেন | হৃদয়ের প্রসারেই ধর্মলাভ |
ক্ষুদ্রপরিসর জীবনযাপনের মধ্যে আধ্যাত্মিকতা কোথায় ? হৃদয়ের সম্প্রসারণের মধ্যেই তার প্রকাশ |
চেতনার উন্মেষ যেথা, সেই স্হানে পদ্ধতি করেছে কুঠারাঘাত | অবদমিত মন শৃঙ্খলার বেড়াজালে জর্জরিত |
অবাধ্যতার মধ্যে স্বাধীনতা কোথায় ? ও তো নীচ দাসত্বের নামান্তর |
যাঁকে অষ্টপ্রহর কটুভাষণ করেন, তিনি যে আপনারই প্রতিরূপ |
POESY : গলায় তো সুর আছে
গলায় তো সুর আছে,
কানে সুর আছে তো ?
আর, কানে যদি সুর থাকে,
প্রাণে সুর আছে তো ?
OH GOD! ... 1
OH GOD!
What a terrible injustice is this that billions should suffer to help the privileged few savour the pleasures of life and what a pretentious piety, too, to worship a God who rains misery on life on earth for some inscrutable purpose of His! Better to worship each other and make a heaven here on earth instead of wasting resources on a being whose existence is neither known to most nor whose presence ever tangibly felt by any save the saint beyond superstitious affirmations of such. Human ignorance necessitates this faith in a God who lives incommunicado but who, nonetheless, is accessible to petitions and prayers of the people, or so it would seem from the practised piety of billions to poor effect.
Ignorance and imagination make a queer mix that perpetuates the myth of this mysterious being called God whose existence has in no way helped humankind till date beyond causing ceaseless conflicts and schisms in its body politic. Whatever art, architecture and culture have proceeded apparently from faith in God, for they have largely been God-centred, must not be attributed to religion as such but rather ought to be seen as the creative outflow of man stimulated by the existing cultural patterns available. If God were to dispensed with and spirituality, scientific and individual, fostered, the world would not be worse off at any rate. On the contrary, this superstitious cloud hanging overhead and showering curses --- for the Semitic God is largely doing that on unbelievers and professors of non-Semitic faiths --- having gone, human society will be far better off as the decline of the Christian religion in the western world stands to testify.
A Godless world is not a world devoid of spirituality as the Indian dharma traditions have for millenia stood to testify. The Indian civilisation has always been man-centred and not God-centred. The whole idea of spirituality here has been this drive towards creating the ideal man out of the man apparent. And this is the central idea that has impelled Indian civilisation to its acme of perfection in the past. However, with the Islamic invasion from 1300 years ago, civilisation here has received a setback owing to the barbarism inflicted on the Hindus by the invading Mohammedans in the name of their proselytising religion.
Religion as the rest of the world understood it was unknown in India. Here it was ever dharma and not religion that held sway over human affairs and fashioned gods out of men. If later accretions born out of historical exigencies and the complexities arising out of a growing population and a developing feudal system segmented society into a rigid and a ruthless 'jati'-ridden order, it must be remembered that it was a degeneration of the original 'varna' and 'jati' idea that had been implemented for the smooth functioning of society and as the means to the gradual evolution of man from the social plane to the spiritual plane transcending all bounds. The seers and sages who had formulated the principles of righteous living in India ages ago had discovered the divinity at the core of all of phenomena and had attempted to help human evolution along certain preferred channels of self-expression so as to expedite the process. The entire thrust of Indian culture was this drive towards divinity for which society was geared.
Written by Sugata Bose
MUSIC AND ITS MALADIES ... 6
It is difficult to listen to so many masters of Hindustani classical music who are seemingly never in 'sur' (tune). What on earth prompts them not to rectify their defects in rendition and if they are not aware of such deficiencies, why does the public give them such recognition? Only may easily form one's estimation about public sensibility from this. But why must classical exponents lower the level of musical performance by their self-indulgence thus? Is quick fame and sustenance of it at any rate everything? What about self-satisfaction derivable only from real excellence and not mass adulation? Is music such an easy attainment that mere practice will lead to mastery? No, one has to be born with 'sur' (musical sense and aesthetic sense at that).
Written by Sugata Bose
P.S. : Attached below are some audio / video links from YouTube to illustrate what 'sur' is :
https://www.youtube.com/
https://www.youtube.com/
https://www.youtube.com/
Photo (from internet) : Azambai of Kolhapur
Monday 25 June 2018
DISCOVER DEEP WHERE FAME FAILS TO REACH
Public appreciation is the source of fame but the best strands of this fabric of life lie beyond human gaze. In silence they fill the void and in silence they slip away. Secondary souls occupy the centre-stage of surface life while the visionaries dive deep to pick up the pearls of realisation. The performer delights the crowd gathered at the shore with his acrobatics on the surface of the sea while the seer searches for the gems deep down, oblivious of the traffic and the concourse at the gateway of life while life and light elude the multitude and their entertainer of ephemeral dreams even as the shadows lengthen to carry cartloads of them into the vast unknown.
Such is the phenomenon that life is where the best elements are to be discovered and are not dished out by Nature on a silver platter. The delicacies are served deep where the eye gazes not from the surface blue but the soul senses their fragrance and is drawn within to witness the sheer grandeur of the inner spectacle far beyond the glitter and glitz of this shimmering surface dream.
Written by Sugata Bose
A REQUEST
A REQUEST
Do not neglect your daily study of 'Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita' / 'The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna'. It is your safeguard against the myriad traps laid in your path by Avidya Maya (delusive Nature). Read a few pages every day, please. It will conduce to your good, take away your tensions and complexities of life, and give you peace for sure.
Written by Sugata Bose
TWEETS GALORE ... 15
2. I write as I ought to, as one who carves castles on the seashore of life while the waves splash past with their salty deposits.
3. Fame is a noxious appendage to one's self as it deprives one of fundamental civility that is born out of selflessness otherwise.
4. Upon the suffering of billions of poor people rests the luxury of the rich.
5. The poor are the scapegoats sacrificed at the block so that the privileged few may savour the delicacies of life.
6. Repetition of taan-patterns by way of embellishment is fine but done ceaselessly betrays a lack of musical depth and training.
7. Is harshness of voice an indicator of the harshness of personality as well?
8. People who can't think, they believe.
9. Stop believing, challenge authority, realise through self-experience.
10. Eat the mango, realise the taste, don't just believe.
সুরের সাধনা ... ২
সুরের সাধনা ... ২
সাধনার একটি দ্বার বন্ধ হলে আর একটি দ্বার খুলে যায় | এই ব্রহ্মাণ্ডটি যেন একটি বৃহৎ প্রোকষ্ঠ যার বহিরাগমনের অগণিত দ্বার | আবার এই বিরাট ঘরের মধ্যেই অসংখ্য ঘর যা একের পর এক অতিক্রম করে যেতে হবে মোক্ষলাভ করতে হলে | কোথাও পথ প্রশস্ত, কোথাও সঙ্কীর্ণ, পঙ্কিল | এই বিশ্বপ্রহেলিকার কেন্দ্রস্থলে যে সত্যটি শাশ্বত স্থির রয়েছে, তারই আহ্বানে সমস্ত সংসার ধাবিত পরিধি হতে কেন্দ্রে | এরই নাম বিবর্তন, ক্রমবিকাশ, ব্রহ্মাণ্ডের চলন, অমোঘ গতিপথ |
রচয়িতা : সুগত বোস (Sugata Bose)
This exclusive possession of a particular narrative about history and its personalities is symptomatic of the small mind and betrays a lack of historical perspective. The high-minded are ever in pursuit of truth and never lose balance of judgement as they set to order the events of history in their mind. Emotional alliances with particular personalities they too have but they are careful not to let loose such feelings in a manner that will make their understanding of history skewed and their representation of it partial and myth-based. Rational rigour men of reason seldom lose and the conclusions they draw are based on evidence and not imagination or fancy. This is the historical approach, the objective way of looking at things, not merely deducing inferences from available fact and data but also from the logical possibilities and probabilities of happening in the light of the past history of the personalities and their propensities.
To dish out fantastic tales about historical personalities is myth-making but not the recounting of history. Thus, on either side, one must be wary about acceptance of narrated events that have no validation in terms of evidence and one ought to exercise reasoned judgement on what to give in to and what to reject. This wholesale acceptance of whatever the official narrative about a historical personality is, as sponsored by the government, is symptomatic of an easy hypnotism of the masses in the absence of grooming in discerning education of the faculties. The emotional nature of the masses must have a restraining mental mode of reason which will prevent their precipitous fall into easy acceptance of stated official narratives about the nation's history. This is the way indoctrination and brainwashing may be avoided en masse and democracy defended along rightful lines of knowledge gleaned from authentic sources and not hearsay.
People are too gullible in their innocence of the workings of their own mind and subscribe to all sorts of fantastic tales in the name of historical happening. This they do owing to their weakness of conception of history consequent on inadequate intellectual training. The pitfalls of the mind are many and not only the political parties exploit this commoner's deficiency to their advantage in feeding them fantasies about their future and their past but scholars and historians working for their respective paymasters do the same in a subtle way such that the common man is in the end befuddled into acceptance of all sorts of falsities and fabrications in the name of history. Mark Anthony had famously moved the Roman crowds in rebellion against the conspirators who had assassinated Caesar and Brutus had failed to move them enough to their defence. Herein lies the art of communication which Goebbels had perfected to a science. The masses still are moved into subscription to particular ideas by their political masters despite the advent of democracy and this situation cannot be averted so long as proper scientific education be not afforded to them for them to distinguish between the grain and the chaff. Thus, narrative after narrative is churned out by diverse agencies about the historical past of our country to delude the people into believing in their 'historical' weaknesses and to so debilitate them as a race that their future prospects remain under a cloud and see not the sunshine of life and light. But the problem is worsened when rectifiers of this situation themselves complicate things by their own brand of myth-making and leave the public ever bewildered as to the true nature of things. Consequently, many do not take any narrative seriously and go about their business of life completely indifferent to the history of their nation and their knowledge remains limited to what they had learnt in middle and high school. Beyond this they are not bothered about knowing for they are now cynical about everything that is dished out to them by politicians and their progeny, the intellectual mercenaries serving them.
Now, what is to be done therefore? Valour, courage, fearlessness --- these are to be cultivated. Character must be built and truth must form the basis of life. The spirit to arrive at the truth in any discipline of knowledge and the struggle for perfection in any sphere of human activity must form the foundation of the citizen's life as he aspires to build up a civilisation where self-expression seeks spontaneous fruition in collective welfare.
Sunday 24 June 2018
TWEETS GALORE ... 14
2. Firing one's gun over another's shoulder is an ancient art that must be eschewed by protagonists of justice for Netaji. Courage!
3. Truth alone must be served, not glorious family line or eminence of accomplishment, for truth alone sustains and survives.
4. Where is the man of courage who, armed in truth, can take on the combined might of falsity perpetrated in Netaji's name? Where?
5. The truth about Netaji cannot be established by men who themselves are not in truth. Truth fosters courage. Whither courage?
6. Mediocrity must never be praised as excellence. It is an offence to perfection in art and creative culture.
7. Laziness cannot arrive at excellence. Genius is comprehensive creative labour of love.
8. Nature is so disciplined and we derive all its benefits but chose to while away our lives in indolence.
9. It is not proper to think that people may unduly attack me and go scot-free. I have also my arsenal ready to repulse offences.
10. The propitious hour goes waste as I then struggle to make music good. The lapse is owing to inadequate circumstances.
11. Evening meditation on the yaman reveals the pastoral Krishna in full bloom.
12. This earthly life is equipoised and the balance of forces ideal for attaining perfection.
13. The mind must be raised to a level higher than the mundane. This is the prerequisite for spirituality.
WHEN THE GOING GOES AWRY AND FANFARE BORDERS ON FANATICISM
These epithets are not to be taken literally. These merely highlight people's personal estimations, entirely personal and not universal in any way. They are to be regarded thus and their spirit appreciated if that is not too difficult. This is the common man's expression of devotion and not something that anybody is thrusting on another. Like someone has posted it, so also someone has quipped in with a moderating comment, and that is the beauty of the common discourse here on social medium where each one is a reporter, a writer, a reader and a critic in successive and alternate terms. So you see.
Written by Sugata Bose
THE FUNERAL OF MUSIC ... 5
THE FUNERAL OF MUSIC ... 5
Do not be fooled by the popularity of a Hindustani classical music exponent and mistake him to be a master. Fame counts for little in this great art which is likened to sadhana geared for God-realisation. The greatest exponents live behind the curtains and the lesser ones, greedy for gain and ephemeral self-establishment, manipulate the media and the public to 'achieve' so-called eminence without real musical merit. The result is predictable. Classical music is being reduced to a sham and all that is sung or played is a combination of notes that neither reveals the oceanic depth of raga music nor does it manifest the mood of a raga in its truest sense.
A series of notes does not make music. It is a surface-skimming and not depth-diving that is then the fate of classical musical exposition today. The classical part is gone and the popular form is emerging in all its nakedness, not because the public want it but because the 'modern masters' know no better a brand of music than what they present before the public. Their taaleem (musical training) is poor and perseverance at learning poorer. All that these exponents chase is fast fame and quick money. Materialism has eaten into their vitals as devitalised they strut about from concert to conference presenting a caricature of classical music and reaping the applause of the foolish multitude that know no better than what they hear to be able to distinguish between the fake and the real. Thus is music being buried alive everyday and the blazing flames of the pyre consume all that was grand and great about this ancient form of musical approach to the Divine. It is a death too soon and a funeral too early for us, the real music lovers, to bear.
Written by Sugata Bose
P.S. : Provided below are audio / video links of some great musical renditions of the past :
https://www.youtube.com/
https://www.youtube.com/
https://www.youtube.com/
https://www.youtube.com/
https://www.youtube.com/
https://www.youtube.com/
https://www.youtube.com/
https://www.youtube.com/
Do not be fooled by the popularity of a Hindustani classical music exponent and mistake him to be a master. Fame counts for little in this great art which is likened to sadhana geared for God-realisation. The greatest exponents live behind the curtains and the lesser ones, greedy for gain and ephemeral self-establishment, manipulate the media and the public to 'achieve' so-called eminence without real musical merit. The result is predictable. Classical music is being reduced to a sham and all that is sung or played is a combination of notes that neither reveals the oceanic depth of raga music nor does it manifest the mood of a raga in its truest sense.
A series of notes does not make music. It is a surface-skimming and not depth-diving that is then the fate of classical musical exposition today. The classical part is gone and the popular form is emerging in all its nakedness, not because the public want it but because the 'modern masters' know no better a brand of music than what they present before the public. Their taaleem (musical training) is poor and perseverance at learning poorer. All that these exponents chase is fast fame and quick money. Materialism has eaten into their vitals as devitalised they strut about from concert to conference presenting a caricature of classical music and reaping the applause of the foolish multitude that know no better than what they hear to be able to distinguish between the fake and the real. Thus is music being buried alive everyday and the blazing flames of the pyre consume all that was grand and great about this ancient form of musical approach to the Divine. It is a death too soon and a funeral too early for us, the real music lovers, to bear.
Written by Sugata Bose
P.S. : Provided below are audio / video links of some great musical renditions of the past :
https://www.youtube.com/
https://www.youtube.com/
https://www.youtube.com/
https://www.youtube.com/
https://www.youtube.com/
https://www.youtube.com/
https://www.youtube.com/
https://www.youtube.com/
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