Dassain---an occasion to remember family and parents

Dassain^__an occasion to remember family and parents

The annual festival which the Hindu celebrates all over the world with grand celebration has an important significance. Dassain, not only is a time of celebration but also a time of family reunion— siblings who have been far away from each other; sons and daughters who are  hills apart  from their parents; grandsons and grand daughters who have not met with their grandma and grandpa^__ this is the time, distance is nullified!

Dassain is an auspicious occasion, when the crack in family relationship is joined; it is the time when distance of time and space is once again made to disappear. Dassain is the time when you know how lucky you are to have family and parents. “Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, and call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one”, writes Jane Howard.

Often times, we forget that we owe a lot to our family, being lost in some other materialistic world. There happens to be no time we want to think we belong to a beautiful family where our childhood is rooted. Desmond Tutu says, “You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them”. We don’t have time for the members of family we have been grown up with. Other times, we are so busy treading our own journey; we are so focused in sewing our own dreams and seeking our own livelihood, yet Dassain is a time we keep aside these selfish motives. Albert Einstein says, “Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life!” Our life is a land where the seed of happiness is already existent and unless we dedicate ourselves in nurturing it, we can never have it sprout. Dassain is the time we can rejoice with family.

In the work of Paul Pearshell, it says, “Our most basic instinct is not for survival but for family. Most of us would give our own life for the survival of a family member, yet we lead our daily life too often as if we take our family for granted. Therefore, Dassain is the time we get to know that, after all we need our family. “Having a place to go — is a home. Having someone to love — is a family. Having both — is a blessing, supplements Donna Hedges.

For those of us who are away from a native land, Dassain is the time we get to step once again on it and feel blessed. Our home and family are not just something we must have possessed; they are the ones our entire life moves with. What Thomas Jefferson states substantiate further by saying. “The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family”. Gail Lumet Buckley also says “Family faces are magic mirrors. Looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present, and future. Dassain remind us about the reality of life.

For those of us who been away from parents, Dassain is the time we understand again how great parents have been in our lives. “My heroes are and were my parents. I can’t see having anyone else as my heroes” says Michael Jordan. Yes, the people who keep saving us from unseen, unheard and unprecedented disasters are parents. Chuck Palahniuk writes “First your parents, they give you your life, but then they try to give you their life”.   

                                                                                   They keep sacrificing for us, yet we 

don’t always want to know it. Most of the time, we tend to ignore the fact that our father who, sometimes in life, carried us on his shoulder; who held our hands and taught us to walk and taught us even if we fall, he would stretch his hands to help us get up. Our mother who gave us a confidence that, no matter who hated our looks, she would always love us unconditionally--  a fact that we often forget with hustle and bustle of our lives. Despite her tiredness after a heavy toil in the scorching sun (for many of us whose back ground is rural life), she never failed to comfort us. Therefore, Dassain is such occasion we shall revive the dead feeling and realize that our parents have given entire life to us. What we are now as a man and woman, it is our parents who sacrificed their entirety in having us so.

May this Dassain, open up the eyes of many people who have been blind towards their family and parents presence. May a sentimental blossom bloom at the heart of those broken families. May the broken thread of relationship tie reuniting knots of love and forgiveness. HAPPY DASSAIN TO ALL!

Acknowledgement:Both images are extracted from internet.

Ode to Thimphu

Ode to Thimphu

Now that I am going, my dear

I may come or may not;

For I have decided to leave you

And your presence;

On your lap have my part of life been nourished

And suckling the breasts of your love

In the form of adjustment and times,

I have attended the toddler-hood of feelings—

I can walk now without fear!

Now that I am leaving you

I am leaving you my trails on your body;

The times I stepped on u,

Were the most wonderful ones—

I stumbled

Fell down

Yet learned to rise again.

I am leaving you my moments back!

Now that I am going

I am leaving you my hopes

And if your love beckons me

With better moments,

I shall be back in your life

Not as a toddler,

But as a matured happy man!

Hinduism and the environment (Green faith)—a concept of sustainable development

Hinduism and the environment (Green faith)—a concept of sustainable development

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs but not every man’s greed—Mahatma Gandhi.

When I was a small boy, my grandma would caution me not to pee or defecate in the river—doing so would invite illness and our parts responsible for peeing and defecating would be infected. Today, as I graduate in Sustainable Development, I realize that our forefathers always have taken the concept of sustainable development seriously—though in a superstition form. In environmental science, peeing and defecating in the river would pollute the water and people downstream would be affected—a public health issue, too, indeed.

We had a spring nearby home where we depended for water for entire year. My grandma would never allow us even to wash our face in it, forget dumping wastes. She would say, “Don’t throw rice or any dirty things into the water, NAAG (Lug will get angry). This was also a strategy for conserving water.

There was a tree at the source of water where she said local deity of water lived there. If we cut and disturbed it, deity would get angry and bring harm on us. Therefore, that tree still remains near the water source to this day. I could understand such belief has played a role in conserving trees which support our life and sequesters carbon.

We consider elephants as god and even pray for them. Whenever elephants raided our paddy, my grandma and parents could be seen chanting prayers and murmuring the name of Ganesh. They would say, “hey bhagwan, koon bato aiyeu tei bato jau” (take the same way you came from). They would never have any intention to harm them. Similarly, tigers and the family of wild cats are considered goddess.

Besides this, everyone back in the village, people grow banana not for consumption but as food for cattle. This practice has also played a big role in sequestering carbon. Pipal tree(Ficus Religiosa) is planted which is considered scared.Even,i have seen people back at my village marrying pipal with another  called Ficus Benghalnensis which is also considered sacred tree.Such are the environment conservation practice in Hinduism.

Perhaps, some says, Hinduism is the oldest surviving religion in the world. However, the first record of practiced religion comes from Egypt as far as 4000BCE (Mark, 2009).Hinduism like Buddhism has many things common in view of protecting environment.

Following are the teachings of Hinduism adopted from Pankaj Jain’s work.

 
The following are teachings of Hinduism on environment:

 Pancha Mahabhutas (The five great elements): The interconnectedness of these elements forms a web between cosmos and human body. Hinduism teaches that the five great elements (space, air, fire, water, and earth) that constitute the environment are all derived from prakriti, the primal energy. Each of these elements has its own life and form; Hinduism recognizes that the human body is composed of and related to these five elements, and connects each of the elements to one of the five senses. The human nose is related to earth, tongue to water, eyes to fire, skin to air, and ears to space. This bond between our senses and the elements is the foundation of our human relationship with the natural world. For Hinduism, nature and the environment are not outside us, not alien or hostile to us. They are an inseparable part of our existence, and they constitute our very bodies.

Protecting the environment is part of Dharma. Dharma, one of the most important Hindu concepts, has been translated into English as duty, virtue, cosmic order, and religion. In Hinduism, protecting the environment is an important expression of dharma. In past centuries, Indian communities – like other traditional communities – did not have an understanding of “the environment” as separate from the other spheres of activity in their lives. These communities carry out these conservation-oriented practices not as“environmental” acts but rather as expressions of dharma.” These traditional Indian groups do not see religion, ecology, and ethics as separate arenas of life. Instead, they understand it to be part of their dharma to treat creation with respect.

Ishavasyam – Divinity is omnipresent and takes infinite forms. Hindu texts such as the

Bhagavad Gita (7.19, 13.13) and the Bhagavad Purana (2.2.41, 2.2.45), contain many references to the omnipresence of the Supreme divinity – including its presence throughout and within nature. Hindus worship and accept the presence of God in nature.

Global Village -- Vasudhaiva Kutumbatam... “If you view everything and everyone as an aspect of Divinity, viewing the entire globe as a village easily follows”. A paraphrase from the Artharva Veda: "Mother Earth supports us with Her abundant endowments and riches; it is She who nourishes us; it is She who provides us with a sustainable environment; and it is She who, when angered by the misdeeds of Her children, punishes them with disasters

Our environmental actions affect our Karma. Karma - a central Hindu teaching - holds that

Each of our actions creates consequences – good and bad – which constitute our karma and determine our future fate, including the place we will assume when we are reincarnated in our next life.

The earth – Devi – is a goddess and our mother and deserves our devotion and protection.

Many Hindu rituals recognize that human beings benefit from the earth, and offer gratitude and Protection in response. Many Hindus touch the floor before getting out of bed every morning and ask Devi to forgive them for trampling on her body.

Hinduism’s tantric and yogic traditions affirm the sacredness of material reality and contain teachings and practices to unite people with divine energy. Hinduism’s Tantric tradition teaches that the entire universe is the manifestation of divine energy. Yoga – derived from the Sanskrit word meaning “to yoke” or “to unite” - refers to a series of mental and physical practices designed to connect the individual with this divine energy.

Hindu teachers have used these teachings to demonstrate the wrongness of the exploitation of the environment, women, and indigenous peoples

Belief in reincarnation supports a sense of interconnectedness of all creation. Hindus believe

in the cycle of rebirth, wherein every being travels through millions of cycles of birth and rebirth in different forms, depending on their karma from previous lives. So, a person may be reincarnated as a person, animal, bird, or another part of the wider community of life.

Through belief in reincarnation, Hinduism teaches that all species and all parts of the earth are part of an extended network of relationships connected over the millennia, with each part of this network deserving respect and reverence.

Sanyasa (Asceticism) represents a path to liberation and is good for the earth. Hinduism teaches that asceticism – restraint in consumption and simplicity in living – represents a pathway towards moksha (liberation) which treats the earth with respect. A well-known Hindu teaching -Tain tyakten bhunjitha – has been translated, “Take what you need for your sustenance without a sense of entitlement or ownership.”

(Acknowledgement: The above paragraphs have been adopted from the work of Pankaj Jain, PhD; Green faith)

Dassain-a reflection on the past moments

Dassain-a reflection on the past moments

When I was a little boy back in the village, there used to be times, life was celebrated with a lot of extra happiness. As Dasaain would approach, usually in September or October, my excitement would gradually rise.

Dassain comes from the sanskirt term Dasha hara and it is called Dussera in proper term. Dasha means devil and Hara means to defeat—therefore a devil called Ravana is said to be defeated by Ram on this day.

 I have two brothers: elder one being about four years older and my youngest one two years smaller. I don’t know how my elder one felt for we rarely interacted while the younger one was just like me.

My mom and dad would take us to Assam bazaar during Saturday after half day holiday to purchase us clothes for dassain. My family had the favorite and permanent kind of tailor who would design our clothes. I would choose for blue colored pants and white striped shirt. My younger brother’s were also almost like mine for he was too small to choose on his own. Later as we grew up, we had a different choice of costume—my brother wanted shaktiman’s dress, six pocket pants and the like.

A week early or so, suits of cloth would be collected and kept in the wooden box—we had a big wooden box built by a local carpenter. When my mom would be away for work, I would silently take  them out and wear. We didn’t have a bigger mirror, then. All we had was a smaller one that would show our face little different—distorted one. This kind of activity would keep on happening every time my mother was away—perhaps I did until I was in class five or so. After a long time, as I would feel so, dassain would come. The eve of dassain used to be the happiest moment in my life: even today eve of any auspicious moment never stops me from being the happiest person.

Vijay dassami /Dassain would come and it was time to wear new suits. Early in the morning I would takee bathe and dress up. Vijay Dassami is the tenth day when Tika (Mixture of yoghurt and rice) is received. My parents would take out new notes of Ngultrum 10 each and give us as DAKSHINA(term for money on that occasion). In those days, 10 Ngultrum was the highest amount of money our father used to give us. It was more than enough for us.

Dasain lasts for five days—it ends in the full moon day—Purnima, with a farewell Tika to the family members. Until, then, from the day one, a hunt for money would start. As my mom spoke would  speak of  going to her relative’s house, I would be really excited and so were by fellow brothers. Before we reached their house, we would start calculating as to how much we would get. Disappointed of receiving ATHANA (50 Chhetrum coin) or one rupee, we would even lose appetite. Due to the frustration, sometimes three of us would go home without waiting for the parents. Such were our days as a child.

Today we are grown up and part of our beliefs and  excitements are fading.