Dearest Darling Readers,
Are you ready to be STUNNED?
Cakranasah parinaham prthivya (Rigveda 1.33.8)
It says "people who reside on the surface of the Earth's circumference." More than 10,000 years ago Indians knew the world is round. We call geography 'bhugol shastra'. This translates as the 'science of the round earth'. Western world 'doubted' that the earth is round. Galileo was put to death for claiming the earth is round. They believed it only after Ferdinand Magellan circumnavigated the world. Isn't the wisdom of our forefathers stunning? To me, it is.
The star Antares is the 15th brightest object in the night skies. Our elders called it Jyestha meaning the biggest, the eldest. This star is more than 500 times bigger than our sun. It is so incredible that 5000 to 7000 years ago our ancestors knew all this. To the naked eyes, this looks like just a point in the skies. It looks like another ordinary star. Not so to our ancestors. Isn't it incredible. Counting stars is considered to be impossible. Yet among all those stars, which one is the biggest was identified by our ancestors 1000s of years ago. Outstanding !!!
There is a constellation called Big bear constellation - In that constellation there is a particular twin star that our ancestors named Arundathi Vashistha. In south they have a tradition. After marriage the bride groom takes his newly wed bride out, and shows her this twin star in the night skies. Why so? Here is the incredible answer.
Most twin stars have one star in the middle and one star goes around it. However, this twin star has both the stars moving around each other in a wonderful symmetry. Now THIS is not easy to know through back of the envelope calculations. Nor is it an obvious to understand, through simple observation, phenomena . Here are some reasons that had me totally stumped.
- First, to know it is a twin star. I mean, at that astounding distance how did they know it was not just a star but a twin star.
- Second, how did they know it is a unique twin star and not a normal twin star - they move in a unique way around each other. One star is NOT the centre. Arundhati - Vasistha both revolve around each other making it a class apart. So Brilliant !
- Third, they had no telescopes at that time. How in heavens did they know WITHOUT the telescopes that THIS was a 'twin star'.
- Fourthly, to make the married couples see it and gain significance out of an celestial event…the message being, in marriage no one partner must ever be the CENTRE, they must be always be balanced, equally important and in rhythm. When the newly weds see it, they ought to learn not to dominate but to walk together around each other towards fulfilling the goals of life. This is all mind boggling.
Now from the skies lets move to earth. Do you know about the 'rust resistant' Ashoka pillar in front of Qutub Minar in Delhi? It was made almost 1800 years ago. There is another rust resistant iron pillar near Bangalore in Kollur where we have 750 cms of rain 6 to 8 months a year. Now this pillar has no protection. It is out there in the open. Yet hardly any rust. This pillar was made by the locals / tribals to welcome Adi Shankaracharya when he visited their village. They wanted to create a permanent reminder of his visit. Some say, this knowledge of making such pillars is lost today. You know what is stunning? With modern efforts we have not been able to decipher even today how to make rust proof iron. There are certainly a few theories that are floating around. However, non of these theories are used in production. These iron pillars were made a few thousand years ago. Incredible !!!
India held the knowledge how to distill zinc for over 3000 years. It has a very complex and peculiar method of distillation that is very difficult to master. In the fifteenth century the chinese too started making zinc. 1738 William Champion was the first britisher to get a patent for distilling zinc in the west. Till then, all the zinc in the world was made only in India.
Ancient Indian mathematician Bhaskaracharya, in his book Siddhanta Shriromani, had defined laws of gravity in 12th century, 500 years before Newton defined them for us. The speed of light was known to Indians since Vedic period, centuries before it was calculated by the Western world.
The amount of history, the amount of knowledge India had was phenomenal. When Europe was using bow and arrow to kill and hunt, we were distilling zinc. Have I got your attention now?
An interesting question is, what made Indians like this? The truth is all ancient scientists in India were sages. All of them did pranayama. All of them were meditators. Through these practices, they trained their mind into peak awareness. This led them to incredible understandings of the working of nature when backed by their sharp intellectual and a relentless pursuit of truth.
Ironically, with the rule of the moghuls, invasion by the marauding turks and the subsequent rule of the britishers, we were left with shame and contempt of our own culture. We started mimicking the habits and culture of the invaders. We lost touch with our greatest strengths, the base of spirituality, the base of science, practice of meditation.
I heard in a speech by Mr Batliwala that one day when he had a packed schedule, Mahatma Gandhi said - "Today I will not be able to meditate my usual one hour. I will have to meditate for at least two hours. I need to be super efficient."
In aping the west, we dropped the important things that made our country and our countrymen, amazing.
We are still to change.
65 years after independence, we still do PT in schools and not YOGA. While all of us acknowledge the depth and wisdom of Yoga, we still do not train the youth in schools and colleges in pursuing it. It is pity we are still into PT. This is the legacy of the britishers. They knew to break this country and to rule this country, they had to break our culture and our traditions. They were successful.
'Late nights' was never the culture of India. Even wars would stop once the sun had set. The evening will be welcomed by bhajans at homes or in the courtyards of the hutments. The mornings will be welcomed by Bhajans in the temples. People would go first to places of worship and / or take blessings from the elders before leaving for work.
Today more than 20% of the population of Europe and US is in depression. A report says, last year, more than 20 million people in US went to see a practicing psychiatrist. We are aping their life style? For what?
I am not saying everything from the west or other cultures is wrong. There is indeed so much to learn from them. Discipline, quality, excellence, research, planning, thinking big, systems and processes etc can be certainly learnt from them by us.
What I am saying is this. India and Indians of the past have some incredible achievements to their credit. Some of these achievements, predictions and inventions are not yet understood or explained by modern science. Just imagine for a few moments. The blood of our forefathers run through our veins. Just comprehend their achievements. Understand you and me are made of the same stuff. If we can develop a few aspects of ourselves, we can do incredible things.
We have the same DNA, the same culture, the same knacks. We have breathed the same air and lived on the same land. We are superbly intelligent, highly spiritual, deeply cultured and possess phenomenal value for contributing and helping.
India was once called the 'golden bird'. In our land, Lord Vishnu is married to Goddess Laxmi. In our culture, Knowledge and Riches have always gone together. We have the mindset of abundance. Lets do it all over again.
The past has played its part. Now it is our turn. Lets live unto the legacy of our forefathers.
In yesteryears, people from all over the globe used to come to India to study. We, in Life School, have decided to play our part in resurrecting the education system of our country. In this direction we have taken our first step. We have purchased a land of 22 acres where this institution will come up.
I cannot say what YOU need to do.. What I certainly know is we NEED to do 'something'. Don't let this glorious country down. The future is waiting for you...
Let me put it very simply…
Either live in India and make it better OR leave India and make it better.
With loads of love, prayers and best wishes,
As I Live...I Learn