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Cover page Artist- Mr Khiti Ranjan Ray
Greetings
We offer our worship and devotion to Lord Ganesha, who is unborn, absolute and formless; who is beyond joy, and bliss itself.....the One and the infinite; who is the Supreme without attributes, differentiation and desire; and who is verily the Supreme Brahman.
We offer our worship and devotion to the Lord Ganesha, whose beyond attributes; who is the embodiment of intelligence and bliss, the Effulgent Spirit, the All-pervading, attainable through Knowledge; who is the object of meditation to the sages, Formless and Omnipresent like space; and who is the Supreme Lord, the Supreme Brahman.
We offer our worship and devotion to the Lord Ganesha, who is the Cause of the world, the Primal Knowledge, the Origin of Gods, the Origin of Bliss, the Lord of Gunas, the Lord of heavenly hosts; who pervades the universe and is worshipped by all; who is the Lord of Gods and who is verily the Supreme Brahman.
Editorial
Bijaylaxmi Sarangi
We know from Hindu mythology that Gods and Demons together churned the ocean to get the nectar. As per the Vedic opinion, Gods represent the divine qualities and the demons the material qualities. Without the mutual efforts of both the forces, churning of the Ocean was not possible. Similarly in all the attainments, a coalition is established between the material and spiritual manifestations. In humans, both types of powers are present unremittingly. Material power is concerned with the senses and spiritual power with the consciousness. All the happenings in human life are the result of either equilibrium or disequilibrium of these forces.
Life has emerged
from eternity. Humans possess that divine nectar within themselves. Knowingly
or unknowingly all the humans are in quest of that nectar. But like a musk deer
who is not aware about the scent in its own navel, human is ignorant about his
eternal status. He gets surprised at many happenings in his mundane life. And
sparsely can he believe that everything is the reflection of his own divine
state. In this context a quote from Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda –
Vol II P 249 can
be sited. “There is neither nature, nor God, nor the universe, only
that one Infinite Existence, out of which, through name and form, all these are
manufactured. How to know the Knower? It cannot be known. How can you see your
own Self? You can only reflect yourself. So all this universe is the reflection
of that One Eternal Being, the Atman, and as the reflection falls upon good or
bad reflectors, so good or bad images are cast up.”
If the material manifestation of
being (including the acts of senses) becomes a good reflector, life is made
blissful. There are two pre-requisites for this to happen- the first being
churning of wishes and the second one is churning of cognition. Churning of
wishes means to classify, select and to awaken the wish. Churning of cognition
means to awaken and sharpen the intelligence, thought, imagination and the
power of reasoning. Success in these two areas elucidates all other successes.
There is a beautiful Zen story.
It follows as - When a student asks Zen master about how he would prepare
himself for his training, the Zen master replies, “think me of a bell. Give me
a soft tap, and you will get a tiny ping. Strike hard, and you will receive a
loud, resounding peal.” In this short story there lies a secret message for
all. Here the Zen master wants to convey to his student that his hankering and
efforts will determine how much he can get of his Guru’s help and cooperation
and how much knowledge is he going to acquire. This message is applicable
everywhere else. Achievement depends on the intensity of the wish. Wish and its
intensity mostly guide the subconscious plane. This subconscious plane mostly
controls the material and spiritual happenings in human life.
‘Mind’ is very powerful because
it rules over all the senses. Its speed is incomparable. Also it is very
supple. So it’s very difficult to control mind. But with the help of reasoning,
mind selects the apt desire. It in turn requires wishing with a greater
intensity and degree, what emerges naturally and chiefly is awakened from mind.
Intellect is one among the four attributes of ‘consciousness’ as per the
Vedanta Philosophies. These are ego, intellect, mind and memory. As per the
Sankhya philosophy, intellect is of two types, viz. permanent and impermanent.
Permanent intellect is of eternal being, the supreme soul and impermanent
intellect is of humans. (Purnachandra Bhassha Kosha) As butter is found when
curd is churned, observation and working on impermanent intellect gives rise to
permanent or supreme intellect.
The power of desire makes every
impossible possible. A skeletal body comes out victorious and becomes more
lively fighting with death; all the unfavorable situations become ladder of
success only by the intensity of wish or desire. How does it happen? The strong
wish becomes a prayer. This prayer is nothing else than meditation that
clarifies the existence of God within oneself. To think of the subject of
desire continually is meditation and prayer. The hunger to achieve the same
elucidates and sharpens the intelligence and ultimately results in success. The
source of every happiness begins from one’s own self. So human has the right to
know that state of eternity within himself. For this to happen, let churning of
desire and churning of cognition be the intents of all beings. Let mutual
functioning of both the material and spiritual powers illuminate every life.
Artist "Padmaja Madhu"
Art by- Padmaja Madhu
Artist Padmaja Madhu is a Mumbai
based self taught artist. She originally is from Bangalore . She has a brilliant feat at
murals, miniatures and fine arts simultaneously. Since her very childhood she has
been greatly influenced by the Tanjore style of mural paintings at temples of Bangalore . Her mural arts being
mostly pictures of Hindu Gods and Goddesess thus basically showcase her love
for Tanjore art. The versatility of
Padmaja's talent is apparent by the fact that apart from doing large wall
paintings she also paints lovely miniatures with fine details. She has a great
sense of choosing colours, medium and theme for her paintings. Her efforts in
exploring various areas of art make her special. The paintings of Monet and Van
Gogh are her prime inspiration while talking of fine arts. She expresses
herself through impressionist, expressionist as well as abstract approach to
painting. She holds that the road to artistic evolution lies in diversity in
media, style and subject matter. About her special penchant for art she holds
that, art has put her on the path of joy and self discovery.
Other art works by the Artist...
Artist Gracy Mathew
Artist Gracy Mathew is a retired
officer in Reserve Bank of India .
Art and photography has been among her greatest passions. She stays in
Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala with her husband K.V. Mathew. She does paintings
using various mediums like oil, acrylic and watercolour. She has participated
in several group exhibitions including one conducted in Philadelphia
USA ,
and has own the viewers’ choice award. Mother Nature is her greatest
inspiration. Her artistic life has been shaped and nurtured by her sensitive
vision in understanding beauty of nature. Apart from the happiness and
satisfaction of being involved in family and social bondings her passion in art
is the greatest source of contentment and joy in her retirement life.
Selective art works of Artist Gracy Mathew
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Artist Abhilash Menon
Artist Abhilash Menon is a versatile
self taught artist having great skill in painting, photography, digital art,
animation, creative web designing etc. simultaneously. He is born in Calicut in the divinely
land of Kerala and is currently based at Mumbai. His water colour paintings are
very impressive. He also skillfully creates pencil portraits, acrylic paintings
and digital images. The themes usually he chooses for his art works carry some
special message for all. He is an avid admirer of nature. The scenic beauty of
kerala has been the greatest inspiration for his artistic life. As a passionate
photographer he captures all the picturesque views he comes across. His special
insight into beauty that the nature imparts and his analytical mind makes him a
talented artist.
Some of the selective art works by the artist-
