jyotiartashram

IMAGE OF SUFFERING IN RELATION TO THE GOSPEL

2010-04-27T06:34:00.000-07:00

Indian artists have been concerned with the theme of suffering. It is in this connection that Christian symbols have offered the possibility of understanding suffering in a spiritual sense. Generally in Indian art suffering has not been depicted. The Divine is associated with Beauty understood as that which is joyful and attractive. The Shastras or canons concerned with sacred art, explicitly lay down that distortion, and corruption should not be represented in art.

Jyoti Art Ashram

2010-01-22T06:24:00.000-08:00

Jyoti Art Ashramhttp://silvepura.blogspot.com/

Jyoti Art Ashram

2010-01-22T06:19:00.000-08:00

Jyoti Art Ashramhttp://silvepura.blogspot.com/

KRISTHA KATHA AND ROSARY SERIES

2010-01-18T01:34:00.000-08:00

The narrative series of images which we find in Indian temdple art, either in the form of bands around the Pradakshana Path, or circumambulatory path that pilgrims take when visiting a holy place, or in the more interior cloisters or courtyards of monastic buildings, conceive of the story as a kind of quest. The story invites us to take a journey, which is itself the pilgrim path.
In 1983 I worked on a long series of narrative images for the Holy Cross Fathers in Katpadi, near to Udipi on the Mangalore, Karnataka coast. Before starting this series, which were painted on rough khadi cloth, pasted on plyboard and mounted on the wall, I had looked at the stories about Krishna in the Udipi monastries that are inspired by the philosophy of Madhva Acharya. These images painted in a rather rough, spontaneous style, over a period of a few weeks, and covering some seventy feet of wall space in a narrow frieze about three feet high, were an attempt to see the whole life of Christ as a journey. This linked up with an understanding of the Rosary, as a garland (mala) of images, which could be divided into three strands of Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious mysteries. In a way these images which I developed later into a set of canvases that are now in Germany, commissioned by the Missions Prokure of the Jesuits in Nuerenberg, constituted a kind of visual lectio divina. They were a meditation on the Jesus Way which could perhaps be developed into a meditative practice of the imagination exploring the many metaphors that arise out of the life of Jesus the story teller, who was himself the Parable of God's intervention in human history.

INFANCY NARRATIVES OF BALA YESU

2010-01-18T01:20:00.000-08:00

When working on the Kristha Katha series in Mangalore, I had in mind the narrative paintings that I saw in the Madhva monasteries of Udipi, which depicted the stories about Bala Krishna, from the Bhagwad Purana. There seems to be a kind of consecutive logic in the way these stories interlink, which remind one of a kind of journey, or pilgrimage.

NATIVITY STORIES

2010-01-18T01:02:00.000-08:00

There is a freshness and lyrical quality in the Nativity stories, which have always touched the heart. The Annunciation, Visitation, and birth of Jesus have a kind of innocence.

JOYFUL MYSTERIES

2010-01-18T00:57:00.000-08:00

The infancy narratives which include a number of scenes from the childhood of Jesus, and also the life and ministry of John the Baptist, have been included in the Joyful Mysteries.

THE MINISTRY OF JESUS

2010-01-18T00:50:00.000-08:00

The sermon on the Mount, Jesus talking to the woman at the well, cleansing the Temple, and washing the feet of his disciples at the last supper, when John lent his head against the Lord's breast: these are images of Jesus the Guru.

THE SORROWFUL MYSTERIES

2010-01-18T00:38:00.000-08:00

The sorrowful mysteries are close to the meditation on the Stations of the Cross. Some of the images in this series relate to stations of the cross that I did for the Church in Esslingen in Germany in 1984, just after completing the long panel in Katpadi, Mangalore.

THE RESURRECTION

2010-01-18T00:17:00.000-08:00

Scenes from the Resurrection narratives, like Jesus with Mary of Magdala, or Jesus and Thomas, and when he entered the closed room where the disciples were gathered, and breathed on them, have the quality of Creation stories. It is as though here a new creation is being imaged.

RISEN CHRIST ON WAY TO EMMAUS

2010-01-17T23:23:00.000-08:00

Pictures related to the way to Emmaus (in the Rosary series) and the meal at Emmaus with the two disciples (in the Kristha Katha series) connect with a number of images that I have painted on this theme.

MARY TAKEN UP TO HEAVEN

2010-01-17T23:16:00.000-08:00

This image of the Soul of Mary being taken up to heaven did not appear in the original Kristha Katha series of Mangalore

ASCENSION, PENTECOST AND MARY CROWNED

2010-01-17T22:55:00.000-08:00

These images are related to the Glorious mysteries of the Rosary.

COSMIC IMAGE OF FOOD

2010-01-17T22:52:00.000-08:00

THE SELF WOUNDING PELICAN
The picture which accompanies the Phoenix, or fire bird, is the Pelican. This was a traditional symbol of the self wounding image of Providence that gives of its own life to sustain its young. The bird is in a way the waters of life, and the nest is the whirl pool in the waters, where the fledglings wait for their food. The image of food is also mixed with the idea of death--something has to die in order that others might be given sustenance for life. This is the ambiguity in the very concept of "Just food". The fish which fill the waters of life, are killed in order that the fledglings might have life. The bird is also linked to air--to the turbulence which gives rise to clouds, and the very monsoons that are so important for life on the
land. The tail of the descending bird, that hovers over the waters, could also be thought of as smoke.

WOUNDED HEALER

2010-01-17T22:48:00.000-08:00

LIFE FEEDING WOUND

The image of the wound reminds us again of fire, but also the womb of life, which like the primal egg, has to be broken open, in order that the fledgling might be liberated, and discover its own future. Creation is wounded, but there is also the belief that through these wounds, there may be a possibility to find a new type of healing.

These are various themes related to the image of the Cosmic significance of food, which I feel are common to all great religious traditions, including Indian expressions of spirituality. In the Jataka stories that were related to the teachings of the Buddha, animals play an important role in symbolizing the vital need for compassion, if creation is to survive.

TWO WINGS OF THE PHOENIX

2010-01-17T22:44:00.000-08:00

The two wings of the fire bird represent the two aspects of Nature and
Culture. In the wing on the left of the painting, there is the wilderness, in particular the forests which are burning, and the tree that is dead. Below, feeding the fire, are the thorns and also the broken empty vessels that are destroyed by the human greed which wants to control nature, and just use it for providing a source to stoke the flames.

The second wing of the phoenix is the city, and culture, which is also part of the process of transformation that the fire bird symbolizes. Here we are also conscious of the poor who are hungry, and want to be given the shelter which they look for in the "healing wings" of the Divine.

JUST FOOD

2010-01-17T22:40:00.000-08:00

THE PHOENIX.
This painting is based on the form of the egg, which is very important in Indian Tribal cultures, and is often broken as a kind of sacrifice, but also symbol of food. The Phoenix rises from the ashes, but is also a symbol of transformation. The symbol of the spoon, or rather ladle, which is important in the iconography of the Indian goddess of Food, known as Anna Purna, represents the gift of food to the whole of creation, to sustain life.

At the centre of my image of the Phoenix is the symbol of the tree of Life which grows out of the Ladle which is the gift of food to all creatures. This tree itself is full of food, but also light.

VISITING MAITHRI SAGAR ASHRAM

2010-01-17T22:36:00.000-08:00

The Meditation centre at the Maithri Sagar Ashram was originally conceived of as a multi-purpose space, where different events could take place, which related to the spiritual dimension of the work done in the Ashram. We imagined that this place could be used for dramas, or at least mystery plays. Last Easter Caroline Mackenzie, along with Fr. Claude, Sr. Celestine, and others, participated in a liturgy where masks that Caroline had developed were used as a celebration of the mystery of New Life.
Sister Celestine has launched a movement which tries to find ways of discovering the promise of this New Life and a more just and peaceful world. For her and those who work at the Ashram, Life is the most precious force that needs to be nurtured in a world where oppressive structures bring about death and hatred between communities.

A British Quaker called Chris Lawson, who was a tutor in the Woodbrook College in Selly Oak, Birmingham, left the following reflections in the Ashram when he visited it in March 1995:

This is a place of images
and of that beyond images;
a place of secure spaces
speaking to inner spaces.

A triangle of collonades,
flat-roofed with two pointed towers,
a porch, steps, a wide doored entry,
and a cool pond at an airy centre.
Water, stone, and metal,
sky, sun, plants and marble,
blend to create ordered vistas,
geometry of harmony,
giving shapes of deepening calm
and invitation to movement.....

Here East and West, North and South,
have joined to make for wholeness.
And within the morning prayer are gathered
Gospel and Tagore, Missal and camphor,
whilst granite pillars and lotus plants
speak of our need for strength and freshness.

In this shade from the heat
as the breezes blow through,
our frenzies subside,
fresh vigour ensues.

The entrance grill shows Jonah, resisting, responding,
calling for repentance, so making for renewal.
Flames in ironwork and well-beaten brass,
Lampholders encircling a shining scene:
the Annunciation glows
with giving and receiving.

Some symbols in stone are older:
egg, inner eye, sun, moon and seed.
Therre are feet which bless and are blessed;
pots from which grace is lost or flows,
Ironwork screens show people enslaved and freed,
the mighty set down and the poor lifted up,
dancers to the Lord, leap, sing and rejoice,
and an alive Christ reaches out to all.

Artistically out of keeping,
analytically up-to-date
a polystrene collage reflects our world.
Oppression, human rights, and the World Bank
Surround the direct question: "Will you
be the fire of Jesus for today ?"

Here in the cool of the dawn,
I prayed with the four Sisters.
They blended silence, song, words and the Wordd,
Took consecrated wafers and shared.
But knowing it was not my custom,
Blessed me instead with a fresh blossom
Symbol of an earth that is alive
And the call to grow into fulfilment.

And the prayer that now grows in me
Is that the space in these spaces
May free spirits and the Spirit
Blending image and reality,
Making for wholeness, bringing hope.

Recently I returned to Maithri Ashram with my wife, and two old friends John and Elizabeth Staley, who for fifteen years had lived and worked in Bangalore on development issues. They had also met Sr. Celestine in Birmingham, where she had stayed at the Woodbrook college as a Mary Cadbury fellow, sharing with others her experience of working with marginalized groups in the vicinity of the Kolar gold fields. We remembered now the various common friends that had brought us together in the early eighties. Many of the ideas that we had shared more than thirty years ago, were important for our efforts to create an Art Ashram in 1983. Caroline Mackenzie, who first came to India in the mid seventies, when she stayed with us in Silvepura for six years, had also been very much involved in the process that led to the idea of an ‘art ashram’ where the Sadhana is the practice of the creative imagination, along with a concern for the human community and our planet earth.

Jane and I were also remembering our own insertion into Ashram life, and ideals, when Dom Bede married us in a small open chapel at Shantivanam, which had been designed by the Abbe Monchanin and Swami Abhishiktananda, sixty years ago. This chapel was dedicated to the Holy Trinity as Sat Chit Ananda.
When I was asked to help in the design of this Maithri Sagar Ashram, I very much wanted to develop on ideas that I had first learnt about during the time that I spent with Dom Bede Griffiths. I wanted the Ashram meditation space to symbolize the profound mystery within the Divine which is both a Unity and a Diversity, in the ever dynamic movements that flow in the Holy space of the Trinity.

MAITHRI SAGAR ASHRAM IN GOLLAHALLI

2010-01-17T21:10:00.000-08:00

In a village called Gollahalli, which is in the Kolar district east of Bangalore , an Ashram community was started by Sr. Celestine, who belongs to the sisters of ‘St Joseph of Tarbes’. The actual community headed by Sr. Celestine only came about after she retired as the Regional Superior in 1987. But during the period 1983-86 the Ashram gradually took shape under the leadership of Sr. Jude, as a centre for local leaders to reflect on the problems facing those who were once the workers in the gold mines.
Sr. Celestine met Caroline Mackenzie when she was the Regional Superior staying in a convent in Mysore from 1982-87. At this time Caroline was living in Melkote, and was also designing a series of wood carvings representing the stations of the Cross for Anjali Ashram. It was during this period that Caroline was thinking of being baptized into the Catholic Church, and so she asked Sr. Celestine to be her godmother.
In the autumn of 1982, Fr. Claude De Souza sj, asked me and Caroline to help design the prayer hall, and also the main Ashram building at the Maithri Sagar Ashram. Fr. Claude was at that time in charge of the Ashirvad centre in Bangalore, committed to inter faith dialogue. Earlier he had been thee national chaplain of the All India Catholic University Federation, when I first met him in 1975, and had worked with him on the design for a chapel in the Chennai centre for AICUF. Fr. Claude had encouraged Sr. Celestine to start an experimental Ashram not far from the Kolar Gold fields, which was where she had been brought up as a child, her parents having come from Tamilnadu to work in the gold field area. She and Sr. Jude, were both from this community of Tamil people many of whom had been brought as indentured labourers to work in the mines which had been managed by the British since the mid nineteenth century.
In fact the mines celebrated their centenary in 1980, and by then they were already more or less defunct, as the shafts which were the deepest in Asia, no longer yielded the rich gold ore which had been in the hay day of the Kolar gold fields around 1920. Thinking about the history of those who worked in often appalling conditions in the mines, the exodus story of the Old Testament came to mind. There Moses had struggled to free his people from their state of forced labour, and bring them out of Egypt into what he envisioned as a “promised land”. In this journey the people encountered many difficulties, and were often despairing. They were led, however, by a pillar of fire which showed the way to liberation. Primal images from this exodus event were taken as symbols for the pillared hall or ‘mandapam’ that was designed as a meditation space at the heart of the Ashram. Sr. Celestine had shared her dream of understanding the link between contemplation, and action. She spoke of the link between God, Nature, and the human community. This seemed to be also the basis for an understanding of the triangular structure.
The conditions under which the workers in these gold mines had to labour was very close to what is understood by the term “bonded labour” in that the workers were paid a lump sum, and not a regular salary. Also because of a complicated system of indebtedness, the labourers were never able to free themselves from being bonded to the work force. Though this system of bonded labour was officially abolished in 1976, the system continued to enslave people who had no other means of livelihood well into the eighties. It was this condition that made Fr. Claude particularly interested in the plight of people who had been bonded in this way to contractors and landlords in this once very prosperous district that grew up around the gold mines.

ASHRAM MANDALA

2010-01-17T20:54:00.000-08:00

Sister Jude was the first to move to this village of Gollahalli, and to start the work of what came to be known as the Sunanda Trust, which led to the acquisition of about 24 acres of land, on which the Maithri Sagar Ashram was established. The twelve acres of land on which the Ashram buildings came up, were very rocky. The architect Mr. Hulliyappa from Bangalore created the working designs for the buildings, based on sketches drawn by jyoti Sahi, for whom the Ashram space was imagined as a pattern of interlocking triangles.. The first two buildings, one for living in, and the other for a meditation space and inter-faith activities, were constructed on a plan of triangles.

My studies on the structure of temples in India, had led me to the understanding of sacred space as based on the Mandala. The Mandala patterns that we find in India, like in the floor designs that are made in front of Indian homes, relate to concepts that go back to designs used in meditation, as developed in Buddhis, Jaina and Hindu schools of Yoga.

CONCEPT OF ASHRAM MEDITATION CENTRE

2010-01-17T20:48:00.000-08:00

The concept behind the ground plan of the meditation centre was the Mandala structure known as the Sri Yantra, which is basically created by two overlapping triangles, thus forming what is sometimes called the Star of David, or in India, the Star of Lakshmi. This pattern is often the basis for the Rangoli or Kolam designs made by village women on the doorstep of the home. The design is thought to be auspicious, and to invite the Divine Mother into the home.
The Hexagonal structure on which the Sri Yantra is based, comprises a number of triangles which inter penetrate each other. Besides the star form where two triangles completely overlap, there is also the design of two triangles which only touch each other at their apex, creating a form which is like the traditional drum or dhumaroo, which folk singers use to keep time. In fact this drum also reminds one of the shape of the ancient hour glass. It is thought to both symbolize time, but also the human body, as we find in many tribal images where the upper part of the body is represented as a triangle whose apex points down, and the lower part of the body is a triangle whose apex points up. Another important form which we find in folk art is the diamond, or lozenge shape, where two equilateral triangles share a common base, though pointing in opposite directions. These forms are both dynamic, but also balanced. They seem to symbolize both rest and movement.

Symbols on Pillars

2010-01-17T20:42:00.000-08:00

A PILLARED HALL

The Mandappam structure is typical of pillared halls in Hindu temples. This allows for the open, free flow of air. To enclose the space jail patterns are used in windows, and also metal grills are used for larger spaces, so that the inner space can be closed when not in use.
The symbolism of the pillar, or Sthamba, is very important in sacred architecture. Not only does it support the roof, but it also represents the axis mundi. The pillar is often designed as a series of Mandalas, which are carved on the square faces of cubes placed one above the other. Caroline designed a series of primal forms related to the symbolism of the journey of the Hebrew peoples towards the Promised Land, which also relate to the basic language of symbolism that can be found in Indian myths. In this way she indicated that there is underlying all archetypal forms, a fundamental understanding of a process towards inner growth and liberation.
Caroline Mackenzie designed a series of symbolic images which were carved by local craftspeople on the pillars of the Meditation Centre. She writes:
“There are pillars around a central pond and thee devotee can circumambulate the area, passing the symbols carved on the pillars which “tell” the Exodus story. These images include the seed, tree, egg and so on. One gets the idea of the whole of nature being bonded and God intervening and leading ‘her’ towards freedom. Lest we should fear too much our involvement in this work, the story of the reluctant prophet Jonah is depicted on the doorway.”

The Door of the Meditation Centre

2010-01-17T20:35:00.000-08:00

JONAH and the WHALE

The story of Jonah is very significant in that it shows the prophetic figure as emerging out of the enclosed space of the Whale’s body, to be born again in a land where the Prophet is sent to witness to the Divine Word, and call people to change their way of life. The element of Water, and the symbol of the fish is found in Indian mythology, the fish being associated with Makara, which literally means “That which does with its mouth...’Ma’---‘kara’ “ This image of the Water monster can also be understood as linked to the Biblical creature known as Leviathan, which inhabits the depths.

The Pool at the Centre of the Meditation Space.

2010-01-17T20:27:00.000-08:00

At the centre of the Mandala of Sacred Space is the Pool which has plants around it, and a lotus at its centre. Here the pool is designed as itself triangular. The pool is open to the sky, and can also be understood as an eye which looks up to the heavens, reflecting the light of the sun.

THE TABERNACLE SETTING.

2010-01-17T20:15:00.001-08:00

Caroline Mackenzie who designed the Tabernacle setting in Maitri Sagar Writes:
An example of masculine and feminine symbolism at the centre of sacred space is to be found at Maitri Sagar.
“In this example the “masculine” element is provided by the pillar of fire. This is symbolized as a stone pillar with a flame on top and seven oil lamps each side. In the centre is the tabernacle. On the door there is an annunciation scene where Mary accepts the message of the fiery angel. The idea is to focus on God’s involvement in the process of liberation. Thus the pillar of fire is a symbol to guide the Israelites and the angel shows Mary her destiny in the process of liberation. Both the pillar and the angel are accepted in faith.
In the Maitri Sagar sanctuary the tabernacle is set into the pillar so that it is at eye level for someone squatting on the floor. Meditation practices such as the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament can be done in this setting in a meaningful way. Because it is the custom to sit on the ground, one is very much aware of the earth. The Western tradition has stressed the notion of the divine descending from above, entering from outside. In the East there is more of an equal focus on above and below. Just as the pillar rises out of the earth, so the lotus flower grows up out of the muddy water. This is an obvious symbol for the integration of below and above, or dark and light”
(‘Cosmic awareness and Sacred Space: The integration of Feminine symbolism in Indian Christian art and architecture’ by Caroline Mackenzie)

Tabernacle setting at Maithri Sagar

2010-01-17T08:32:00.000-08:00

Over lapping Triangles

2010-01-17T07:56:00.001-08:00

When I was in Shantivanam Ashram, which was originally designed by the Abbe Monchanin, I was impressed by the Tabernacle setting which the French artist Marie Beranger had designed, and got local metal craftspeople to execute. Here the Cosmic Person, understood as Christ, with arms out-stretched as on the Tree of the Cross, stands in the centre of two overlapping triangles.

The Ashram and the TRINITY

2010-01-17T07:45:00.000-08:00

The contemplative focus of the spirituality of the Abbe Monchanin was directed towards his living devotion to the Holy Trinity. He spoke of India as the “Land of the Trinity”. It is important to understand this spirituality of the Holy Trinity as not only reaching towards the Transcendent, as experienced by the great contemplatives who aspired to the Triune God beyond name and form, but also as a realization of the immanence of Trinitarian love and solidarity with other creatures. Thus as Leonardo Boff argues in his Trinity and Society, the Christian concept of Trinity is the basis for all dialogue, and commitment to justice here on earth.

CONTEMPLATION AND SOCIAL JUSTICE.

2010-01-17T07:41:00.000-08:00

The Ashram Aikya which was organized in 1978, through the inspiration of both Dom Bede Griffiths, and also Fr. Amalorpavadas, was very much concerned about the relation of the contemplative life, and involvement in social action. It had been noted that the typical Gandhian Ashram on which many of the early Christian Ashrams were based, was conceived of as the nucleus for the social transformation that Gandhi envisioned as SARVODAYA, or the upliftment of all. Not far from Kolar, two doctors at the newly founded Christian Medical college of Vellore, who were Dr. Ernest Forrester Paton, and Dr. Jesudasan, started the Christhu Kula Ashram. Here the Ashram was planned as a community dedicated to healing, and to helping the local community. Dr. Jesudasan wrote:
As the inmates of these ashrams dwelt in the forest, and depended for their physical sustenance upon what grew around them they also began to study the herbs and their healing properties. This developed a certain kind of research in medical science and they developed systems of therapy, for example the Siddha system of medicine. To this extent the ancient ashrams served as centres of scientific research
The Christu Kula Ashram was among the earliest Christian Ashrams, being completed in 1933. Inspired by this idea of service through living a life of simplicity in the Ashram, a number of other Christian Ashrams were established in the region around Vellore, and bordering on Karnataka.
In 1982 Vandana Mataji published a small but seminal book entitled “Social Justice and Ashrams” (A.T.C. Bangalore). This reflected the thought of a number of Ashramites, including Fr. Amalorpavadas, who had founded the Anjali Ashram in Mysore at this time.

Ashram as a place of healing.

2010-01-17T07:37:00.000-08:00

In the Third Ashram Aikya meeting which was held in October 1983 the final consensus statement reads:
..a number of persons are involved in people-oriented movemens which, in a secular context, endeavour to promote the self confidence of the oppressed and their dignity, conscious of the common humanity of all. In order to discover the divine image in human nature and a deeper unity binding all, ashrams are of great importance. ....An ashram context facilitates the contemplative approach to liberation especially when people belonging to different faiths and denominations collaborate.”

As a result of this understanding of the Ashram, people like Fr. Amalorpavadas, and Fr. Claude de Souza, encouraged Sr. Celestine in the project of starting an Ashram where people of different Faiths could co-operate in the work for social transformation. Thus for example a legal cell for helping the villagers was started in the Ashram and to this day, people trained in the Law School of Bangalore come to the Ashram to give legal help to local villagers in their struggles against land lords, and their continuing financial problems as a result of indebtedness.

PARIKRAMA-walking round the Ashram.

2010-01-17T07:33:00.000-08:00

Wherever Sr. Celestine has gone, she has collected many plants to make the Ashram campus a kind of healing garden. Sr. Jude is interested to prepare some local herbal remedies for the villagers.

Full Vessel on Pillar of Life

2010-01-17T07:28:00.000-08:00

One of the trees near the Ashram is a Peepul Tree that Sr. Celestine planted, from a small sapling that she collected from the first convent which the sisters of ‘St Joseph of Tarbes’ established in India. Here she has erected a pillar which is surmounted by the Full Vessel, or Purna Kumbham, that symbolizes life. This image of the Pillar with the Vessel of Life, can be compared to the pillar inside the Mandappam, where Caroline has designed in beaten metal, a symbol of the Burning Bush, or Pillar of Fire, that led the Hebrew People to the Promised land.

CONTEMPLATION THROUGH ACTION.

2010-01-17T07:24:00.000-08:00

The Bhagvad Gita outlines a “Karma Yoga” that brings together the contemplative vision of a God immanent in the whole of Creation, and the human search for justice, without concern for the fruits or benefits that an active life might bring. What is important is the spirit of service, and Hope, yearning for a future in which all will find fulfilment in solidarity. Fr. Sebastian Painadath sj. Sums this vision up in his book on Ashrams entitled “Solitude and Solidarity” (ISPCK 2003)

Looking towards the future.

2010-01-17T07:20:00.000-08:00

In 2002 the mines at Kolar goldfields were finally closed down, making many people who depended on these mines redundant. Kolar district has many Muslims, who mingle with Hindus and Christians to form a richly diverse community of many cultural traditions. It is hoped that an ashram community may help in bringing these different communities together in a common human task for creating a new society which lives in harmony with nature, and draws spiritual nourishment from a contemplative vision of the Divine Spirit that liberates all creatures.

Telling Stories.

2007-02-24T19:26:00.000-08:00

STORY TELLING AND THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION.

During my time in Ranchi I discussed the way that stories could be retold in the context of present-day concerns. Such a process would in fact entail the re-interpretation of a traditional story. I began by outlining some story types. I was told that some people in chotanagpur when asked about stories, asked: What kind of story ? A distinction was drawn between stories told for fun, and “real stories”. The fun stories tended to be part of a continuing oral tradition that are in everyday use, and are often ways of teaching or putting over an idea, rather like a proverb. They could also be just entertaining. But “Real stories” seem to carry a greater weight, and are told only on special occasions, perhaps linked to festivals, or to rituals that are performed for specific reasons. The two stories that I have been working with over a number of years, which are called the “Karam Kahani” and the “Lohar Kahani” would be thought of as “real stories” in that sense. They are stories which are not to be taken lightly, and which carry hidden, deeper meanings. They are not “real” in the sense that they are about historical facts. The concept of telling a story about something which has actually happened does not seem to be an important concern. That is to say, the stories are not “historical” in the sense that we understand this term in a modern, objective sense. The “real story” helps in revealing a reality. It is not thought of as just about what really happened.
The term “Kahani” is itself interesting. It implies something that is told. But there may be older, and more mysterious origins to the notion of “Kahani”. The question “Ka ?” implies “What ?” There is a famous hymn in the Vedas which explores this question. The gods have gathered, and are mystified about something that is emerging from the primal waters. It is the golden egg—hiranya garbha. The hymn repeatedly asks “What is it ?” This notion of mystery implied by “Ka?” also comes to mean the primal emptiness, or zero, from which everything emerges. In the great “sanskritic” tradition we hear about the Katha. There is a veritable ocean of stories, which are sometimes called “purana”, meaning stories from the beginning, old stories. The traditional art of narrating is Kathak, and this included dance drama. The story is recited, but the recitative element is accompanied by certain movements, together with music. The “kahani” seems to belong more to the folk tradition, and is an oral tradition that does not have quite the formalistic structure which is associated with the katha. That, anyway, is how I feel there is a difference between katha and kahani.
Just now there is an interest in a “narrative theology”. This kind of theology may focus more on a process, rather than on a fixed text. The Biblical scholar John Dominic Crossan has written a short book entitled “Finding is the First Act.” He has taken this title from a poem by Emily Dickinson:
Finding is the first Act
The second loss.
Third, Expedition for
The “Golden Fleece.”
Crossan begins his analysis of folk tale motifs related to what he calls “World Treasure Tales”. He goes on to look at the Jewish Treasure Tradition, and in that context the Treasure parables of Jesus. This could also include the idea of what is lost, and then found. In another work he talks about the theology of story. Recently the theme of “Telling the Story of Jesus in Asia” has been taken up by the Asian theologians. In a kind of position paper exploring this theme Fr. Julian Saldanha has shown how the telling of the story is part of doing theology in the Asian context. He asks how the telling affects the way that people live their Faith. In this context see the Document: “Telling the Story of Jesus in Asia. The Message of the First Asian Mission Congress, held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, October 18-22, 2006”. (Published in Vidya Jyoti, Volume 71, Jan. 2007) Here we read: “The pastoral-catechetical congress explored a unique methodology of evangelising: story-telling or faith-sharing”
In Ranchi I began my presentation on how I have been looking at stories, by showing the series of pictures which I did for the Holy Cross students home near Udipi, Mangalore, in 1983. I had called this series (in the form of a kind of frieze, almost 70 ft long) a “Kristha Katha”. This was inspired by the “Krishna Katha” visual representations which I saw in the Udipi Maths or Monasteries near by. In fact at that time I was just in the process of starting an “Art Ashram”, and I felt that such an ashram would be very much concerned with story telling, and narrative structures. It was leading on from this work that I began thinking about other forms of story telling in the Indian context, and especially the tribal and folk traditions of narrative, as we find in the Kahanis like the Karam Kahani and the Lohar Kahani. Can such Kahanis help us to think of ways in which the narrative traditions of the Gospel, which are built around the powerful stories that Jesus himself used to describe what he understood to be the “Kingdom of God”, can be re-told in the Asian context?
Such ideas seemed to be quite novel to the theological students whom I was talking to in Ranchi. One problem seemed to be that they were unfamiliar with the idea of a kind of structural analysis of stories. The concept that a story is built around a framework, or scaffolding, seemed a strange way of looking at a story. I had myself gained a number of ideas from a book that I have been reading, called “The Hidden Order of Art” by Anton Ehrenzweig. The author who was born in Austria in 1908, settled in England in 1938, where he was a lecturer in Art Education at Goldsmith’s College until his death in 1966. I have found some his ideas on art education and the link between art and psychology very interesting, as this is a field that I am particularly interested in myself.
I have however found that my approach to a narrative art, and the re-interpretation of traditional stories, has aroused many doubts especially in Christian theological circles. Can one see a common thread linking the stories that Jesus told, with folk stories in general, and the Indian Ocean of story telling ? There have been those who have argued that Jesus was an oriental Guru, precisely because he taught like so many in the Indian spiritual tradition, through stories, and the link between stories and his own life, and the life of those around him. Indian Gurus, like for example Ramakrishna Paramahamsa have used stories to bring to consciousness deep spiritual insights. We find this tradition going back to the Upanishads. Do Tribal stories have hidden in them the treasure which we call a primal spirituality, which has the power to transform the way in which we look at the world of today ? This was a direction in which I would very much like to do more reflection in the future.

Ranchi visit Feb 9 to 21

2007-02-22T22:17:00.000-08:00

I have just returned from Ranchi. The two weeks that I spent there brought me back to fundamental questions that have concerned me over the last twenty years. I first went to Ranchi area in 1987, on the invitation of the Rev. Dr. Willibald Jacob, who was at that time stationed in Govindpura. His interest in tribal cultures in the context of wider social issues facing primal communities in the Jharkhand area, led to my work on a series of paintings on the “Lohar Kahani”, or story of the Iron Smelters, which probably dates back to the beginning of the iron age. These paintings were later shown in different places in Switzerland, culminating in the WCC meeting at Basle where the theme of Justice, Peace and the integrity of creation was discussed.
Later, I was involved in the designing and decorating of the Regional seminary of Orissa, situated outside Sambalpur. In fact the train going to Ranchi from Bangalore, called the “Tata express” passes through Sambalpur. There also I was very much concerned with the rich heritage of tribal cultures which contributed so much to the regional culture of Orissa, and the flowering of a temple art and dance which we can see in the fertile coastal area of Konarak, Bhavaneshwar and Puri.
After working on the “Lohar Kahani”, I became particularly interested in another tribal myth called the “Karam Kahani” which is linked to a festival celebrating the fertility of the land, called “Karam”. There is a tree to be found in the forests of Jharkhand which is called the Karam Tree, and three branches of this tree are carried to the central place of the tribal settlement known as the “Akhra”. There the branches are welcomed as representing the Karam Raja, and they are put at the centre of various fruits of the field, and the young women and men of the community dance around the symbol of life.
In Ranchi this time I was asked to give a series of talks about the work which I have done relating tribal spirituality to the Gospel. In 1994 I gave the Alexander Duff lectures, where I linked the tribal Faith systems that we can find in India to the Celtic spirituality of Europe which draws inspiration from symbols and poetic, narrative traditions from pre Christian times.
I was taken to Hazaribagh, where there is a struggle going on to try and preserve something of the ancient culture which reaches back to Buddha, and beyond to neolythic times some 30-40000 years ago. I stayed at the Sanskriti centre founded by Bulu Imam, where he and his family are engaged in a kind of cultural activism. In a recent issue of “Outlook” (Feb 12, 2007) K.N. Memani comments: “As an Indian, I feel proud about the Tata-Corus deal. In fact, the entire country is proud because it heralds the making of India Inc. as a major global player. It’s not only the fulfilment of a dream for the Tatas, but for the country too.” And yet it is the Tata Steel company, along with other global industrial interests which is destroying the whole environment of the Damodar valley, and other parts of Jharkhand, where rich deposits of minerals and coal, together even with Uranium, are now being exploited, at the cost of indigenous peoples and their culture. There were harrowing scenes of villages in which the environment is being destroyed, people displaced, and the poor struggling to scratch, quite literally a poor living from disused mines, where coal deposits are gleaned by local tribals and loaded on shaky cycles which they push sometimes for 40 to 50 km across hilly tracks, in order to get a small pittance from selling the coal which they are technically accused of “stealing” from the open mines, which have destroyed their ancient agrarian economy. These little hoards of coal, taken from abandoned mines where the big industrial players have abandoned their operations, because it is no longer profitable, are burnt in the little tribal hamlets, so as to get “coke” for household use. The acrid smoke from these fires fill the air, bringing chest problems to the young and old alike. I myself could feel the fumes affecting my breathing, as we drove through these otherwise picturesque settlements.
I was asked if I could be involved with a programme to give new life to tribal art forms. I was happy to meet people like Dr. Ram Dayal Munda who I had met twenty years ago when he was still the Vice Chancellor of Ranchi university. Another old acquaintance, Meghnath, who invited me to his project “Akhra” where he showed me some of the videos which he has been making to make people more aware of the problems which tribal people are facing in Jharkhand. One of his video productions discusses “Development from the barrel of a gun”.
This visit to Jharkhand besides renewing a number of old links with this part of the country, rich in so many ways, but also suffering because of its resources which are being exploited, brought home to me that perhaps it is in this direction that I should increasingly invest my own art work. Dr. Willibald Jacob, whom I met briefly again in Ranchi, handed over to me an invitation from the director of a cultural centre at Chorin, not far from Berlin, inviting me to have an exhibition there in an ancient Cistercian monastic site, in the coming year. This project I felt could once again focus a concern which I began with when I first visited Ranchi in 1987, that looks at the need for an eco-sensitive theology and spirituality in the context of our modern world.

Jyoti Sahi's Art Ashram: a new blog

2007-02-08T05:08:00.000-08:00

This is the first posting of Silvepura.blogspot.com, the new blogger of Jyoti Sahi's Art Ashram in Silvepura, a cosy countrystyle village in the north of Bangalore. This is just a try out, made by Karel and Paule Steenbrink on 8 February 2007