Have you noticed how His Holiness’ conversations can be used as a tool for making the world narrower, rather than what they were intended for, namely to break open our narrow vision to reveal the infinite spaces of the universal reality?
What do I mean? Let’s take a hypothetical example: bananas. In the conversations, His Holiness might have said something about bananas, perhaps as a diversion from the main thread of conversation, or to illustrate something else, or as part of a story, or whatever. It will rarely be a definition or an attempt to say the ultimate and last word on the subject.
Unfortunately, however, in the mind of the unimaginative tutor - unrefreshed by study of the conversations as a whole, or of the other works of the Vedic canon, or of the history of thought, or the lively global conversation of the early twenty-first century - this statement on bananas from then on becomes the entire truth about the subject ... click "Read More"
And so, if the student should say something about bananas that does not quite resonate with the context and content of His Holiness’ offhand remark, then the student’s comment will be ‘capped’ by the jubilant tutor: ‘You’ve got it wrong, lad. Let’s stick to the teaching. His Holiness says this, that, or the other.’
In this way the tutor retains the upper hand and the conversation is stymied. It may be that Shankara says the very opposite somewhere, or Plato, or Vasishtha, or Alasdair McIntyre. It is not well understood in the School that the Vedic tradition allows for many views and does not append the labels ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ to ideas as we tend to do in the West, and as our founder was wont to do.
This crass illustration, of course, is just an imaginary example of a general trend. The remedy, however, is not obvious. It would involve widening the education and cultural outlook of the average tutor. It might involve the unthinkable decision to choose tutors who, rather than being ‘safe pairs of hands’, would be ‘loose canons’. It might involve having a rotating tutorship each week within each senior group.
It would certainly involve moving outside of the comfortable, endlessly-repeated habits of group practice and settled dogma, and letting into the School the fresh air and unlimited possibilities of the present.
Can you see this happening?
Monday, April 23, 2007
Bananas: His Holiness’ Words as a Tutors’ Capping Kit.
Posted on behalf of Son of Moses.
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4 comments:
I remember once in a group hearing two quotations almost back to back. The first was the Ficino excerpt where he says "Spirit is like number". A member of the group then went off into a manassy shaggy dog story about mathematics etc.
The second quotation was from the Tao Te Ching. Full of beautiful paradoxes that seems designed to confound manas and lead the mind to simplicity and stillness (which was the experience here). A place where the mind can't argue or create new compartmentalised boxes with bits of half-baked prejudice in.
It does seem that there is a difference between statements along the lines of, "It's like THIS" and words that seem to be better designed to prevent manas playing with them?
PS - the further thought arises that compartmentalisation and argument are tamasic and rajasic sides of the same coin. It is almost inevitable, given a limited interpretation, that it will be argued with. The student hears what he feels to be a limited interpretation and argues. The tutor endeavours to correct him, the student argues...ad infinitum. How to transcend this to sattva? More unknowing and less certainty (on both sides)?
This is very recognisable.
When I was at university a tutor pointed out that Jacques in As You Like It has an affection for having things said in "good set terms" ... he wants everything spelled out. The tutor said, "haven't you noticed how small-minded people always want things in 'good set terms'?" Indeed.
All of this could have been avoided. Shantananda said to the translator in 1962 at the first meeting, "don't listen to my words, listen to my meaning". He also said "no-one has to bind themselves to a word". If we listen to what he says and get the message, we don't then need to hang on to his words.
You can see how it happens - tutor feels a bit uncertain of the way the conversation is developing and thinks, 'Ah, if I can keep it all along the Shankaracharya track then we shan't go far wrong.'
Not much else to say then.
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