Start date: September 23, 2024
End date: September 24, 2024
Venue: Creative School, Freedom Land, Karnataka
BhāratShakti team was invited by the Creative School co-founders and trustees of The Healing Circle, Ms. Jayashree Ashok and Mr. B. Ashok to curate and conduct an intensive workshop for about 70 teachers on the theme: Insights from Itihāsas, Purānas and Upanishads. The workshop conducted over a period of two days (September 23-24, 2024) was a sequel to the workshop conducted last year on Indian Culture and Self-development. These workshops are part of a longer series of teacher-education initiatives under the title ‘Sanskriti च Svādhyāya‘.
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This 2-day intensive was organised at the beautiful and serene residential campus in rural Karnataka about 1.5 hours’ drive from the city. Situated near the hills, Freedom Land is growing as a conscious community space dedicated to inner freedom and outer productivity through collaborative work. This provided a very wholesome environment and the right kind of ambience to delve into topics related to the spiritual foundations of Indian culture as explained by Sri Aurobindo, and their implication for one’s inner journey and progress as well as one’s role as an educator.
Teachers from The Creative School, Bengaluru as well as those staying and working at Freedom Land and a few other members of the Prajna Wisdom Center and The Healing Circle also participated in the course.
After the traditional lamp lighting with Guru Stotram playing in the background, the workshop opened with brief introductions of the key facilitators – Dr. Beloo Mehra and Mr. Narendra Murty. The first session was on the topic – “The Shāstra Within”, which was facilitated by Dr. Mehra. She based her presentation on two selected verses from the Bhagavad Gita as well as Sri Aurobindo’s explanation of these two verses in the light of Integral Yoga.
Dr. Beloo Mehra highlighted the deeper meaning of the term Shāstra, the significance of outer shastra for a holistic development of the being in the light of higher values, the psychological reasons why one may want to go beyond the Shāstra discipline, Sri Aurobindo’s psycho-spiritual explanations of the right place of outer and inner Shāstra, and the true learning that happens when one discovers the shastra within. Throughout her presentation, she focused on the relevance of this analysis for the teaching-learning context.
The next session titled “Inner Meaning of Stories from Itihāsas and Puranas” was conducted by Mr. Narendra Murty. He focused on the symbolism in the main storylines of Ramayana and also the Samudra Manthan. Highlighting the symbolic significance of each of the main characters, he was able to bring out the relevance of these stories for one’s inner journey and spiritual growth.
Interesting interactions with the participants flowed after these two sessions. This was followed by a book release function in which Dr. Mehra’s latest book titled Antaryatra: Soul Journeys was launched. She also did a brief reading from the first chapter of the book, as the topic interestingly related with the overall theme of the workshop.
A group work session was next. Selected portions from K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar’s epic poem, Sitayana: Epic of the Earth-born were distributed to teams of 10-12 teachers each. This selection speaks of Sita’s initiation into a higher life. The princesses of Mithila have been studying with Rishi Yajnavalkya, Rishika Maitreyi and several others near Mithila.
In this canto titled Initiation Sita comes in still deeper contact with the female sages around Mithila, particularly Gargi Vachaknavi of the Upanishadic fame, and between them grows a mature understanding. Gargi with her sharp intellect sees something special in her. Once Gargi takes Sita, along with her sisters to a special Ashram. There, Sita meets the presiding Mother who initiates her with her Divine Smile and in a moment gives Sita a “maturity in Truth,” and “the light of her new knowledge.”
The teams were asked to read the passages, discuss among themselves what was being presented, the significance of that, and find 2 to 3 key points which they found most intriguing and inspiring. A representative from each of the teams then shared the insights they found most engaging – especially with regard to the educational contexts being shared in the passages. Questions such as the following were also asked when teams presented their responses – Who is the Mother Divine mentioned in the poem? And which Ashram is being so beautifully portrayed in these verses by Srinivasa Iyengar?
The next two sessions were a combination of short presentations and interactions. Topics taken were: Guru-shishya Parampara by Narendra Murty and Dharma of an Educator by Beloo Mehra. After a group of teachers left at the end of the day, a smaller group remained with whom informal exchanges took place covering some specific questions raised during the day. These questions had to do with cultivating the values of Sraddha or faith, sincerity, as well as integration of spiritual with day-to-day life and a few more.
Day 2 of the workshop was specifically designed for the teacher-leaders from the Creative School. The topics taken up that day facilitated a deeper study of some of the scriptures. Dr. Beloo Mehra took up two topics: Dharma as understood in the Mahabharata, and Women in the Itihāsas. Mr. Narendra Murty took up the topic: Pedagogical Insights from Vedanta. Complex topics were simply presented through the use of stories in all these sessions. Insightful interaction followed each of the presentations and the smaller group size made it more participatory.
Overall the workshop served as a great opportunity for the teachers to get a good exposure to selected scriptures from India. The focus throughout the presentations was on the study of scriptures for gaining deep insights on life, spiritual growth, our work as learners and teachers, dharma and living with truth, social organization, building a grounded personality which is rooted in our culture and is also progressive, and many more such values.
The participants appreciated all the sessions and in the final concluding session; several of them expressed deep words of gratitude for the BhāratShakti facilitators and Creative School Leadership for organizing this unique workshop. Participants were asked to share a few takeaway points from the two-day workshop. Here are a few points shared by some of them:
- We are all potentially divine. As your faith is so are you.
- To understand and grow into the innate Shāstra within.
- Symbolism of each of the characters of the Ramayana and how it applies to my life.
- Dharma is the compass of my life. It gives certitude to my life.
- Going beyond the shastras should be pursued only when a new truth emerges within.
- Ekam sat, vipra bahudha vadanti
- Be the disciple and the guru will find you.
- Symbolism of halahala or poison in Samudra manthan story
- Our puranas and stories have deep meanings to show us the right path for the sadhana.
- Shraddha is the deepest truth within to hold on to.
- Relying on Shāstras as guiding compass during conflicting choices
- Shāstra does not mean a single text, or set of customs.
- Guru holds within as in a womb, impregnates the student which his/her spirit and delivers student in a new birth.
- Reverence for the symbolic meaning in puranas and itihāsas
- An acharya leads by example, seeks to awaken the child.
- Doing sadhana through assertion of One and negation of Materialism
- Approach the Shāstra with sraddhaa, without any mental or intellectual prejudice