THE SPEAKING TREE

Just Remove Those Tinted Glasses

We dont often see it clearly, but the fact is that for everything, there is a subject
and object. Everything we perceive in existence is a combination of subject and
object. If one changes, so does the other. And since each of us, as subject or object, is
different and unique, we perceive the same world differently. It is almost as if we are
all carrying a bubble around us. What we see is what the bubble allows us to see. The
bubble may be transparent, tinted, dirty, distorted or damaged; depending on the
properties of the bubble, we see reality. It is as if each of us is wearing glasses
which
function differently. And we see the world depending on what sort of glasses we are
wearing currently.
Truth or reality is what exists; but due to our bubbles or tinted spectacles, we are
almost never able to see the truth, as it exists. Invariably, we tend to add our feelings,
thoughts, perceptions, beliefs, interpretations and reactions to this reality. If reality is
the actual dish that is being cooked, our perceptions become the spice and salt. If the
dish forms the major portion and spice and salt form a minor one, the serving would
be palatable. But if our additives are more than the nature of the actual dish, the food
would taste terrible, and would be unfit for consumption. This is what is happening
with most of us; we tend to add too much of our own perceptions or interpretations to
every event that occurs in our lives. Perhaps thats why we have more unhappiness
and sorrow, since we read too much into reality.
The bubble or spectacles through which we see the world is our mind and ego.
Everything we experience is filtered through the mind. Every sight, sound, sensation,
emotions, and every word that we encounter is analysed by the mind. And no one
mind is like another. Hence, my interpretation of any event or person is totally
different from yours or anyone elses. This is also the basis of every conflict that
arises in the world, for it is rare for two persons to see things in exactly the same
manner. The more still and peaceful the mind, the less judgmental we are, and the
greater the chance of us coming close to reality. The degree of conflict that we have
with others will be directly proportional to the amount of thoughts that our mind
generates about any situation.

In order to achieve joy, harmony and happiness, we try and change things, events
and circumstances. We want to achieve happiness without changing anything about
ourselves. We rave and rant, manipulate, beg, borrow and steal, struggle, work hard,
put pressure on others, confront, accuse, make others feel guilty we basically try and
do whatever we can, to bring about harmony. Sometimes we succeed and at other
times we dont.
While we are trying to change situations to suit ourselves, we often forget that
everyone else is also doing the same. The intelligent aim, however, would be to get a
favourable outcome not by trying to change what is outside us and over which we
have limited control, but to change what lies inside us, something over which we can
exert total control. Any situation can change provided w e are ready to change. By
changing our behaviour, and by taking the path of acceptance and surrender, in one
instant, we can convert conflict into compromise and cooperation, and misery into
happiness.
[email protected] dated:10may2012

THE SPEAKING TREE

Meditation is the journey from movement to stillness, from sound to silence. The
need is present in you to meditate because it is your natural tendency to look for
undiminished joy and love that doesnt distort or turn negative.
Is meditation alien to us? Thats not true because you have been in meditation even
before your birth. In the womb you were doing nothing. You didnt even have to chew
food; you were fed directly and you were happily floating in fluid, turning and
kicking. That is meditation or absolute comfort. You did nothing, everything was done
for you. Isnt it natural for us to crave for that state of absolute comfort? And getting
back to that state which you have had a taste of, just before entering the hustle and
bustle of the world is very natural because everything in the universe is cyclic, and
wants to go back to its source.
The natural tendency is to recycle all that weve collected in life as impressions,
getting rid of them and getting back to the original state we were at birth is what
meditation is all about. Becoming fresh again, alive, is what it is. Getting back to that

serenity, your original nature, is meditation. It is absolute joy and happiness; pleasure
minus excitement. A thrill without anxiety is meditation. It is love without hatred or
any of its opposite values.
Meditation is food for the soul. When you are hungry, spontaneously you eat
something. If you are thirsty you drink water. Similarly, the soul yearns for meditation
and this tendency is in everyone. Hence, there is not a single individual who is not a
seeker. Its just that they dont recognise it. The problem is that we try to look for that
food where it is not available. It is like going to a grocery shop when you want to fill
fuel in your car. You keep going around the grocery store saying, I want fuel for my
car. It wont work because you need to go to the petrol station. So, find the right
direction. Meditation happens in transition. Actually meditation happens, you cant do
it. You can only create a congenial atmosphere for it to happen.
Meditation is uplifting energy and mind and spreading it out. When youre happy,
you associate it with a sense of expansion. And whenever you have felt miserable, you
associate it with a sense of shrinking or contraction. There is something in you which
expands when youre happy and contracts when youre unhappy. But we never pay
attention to what is contracting and expanding. We only keep our attention outside; we
have not paid attention to the reason.
Sage Gaudapadacharya said, There is something in you that is expanding that is
worth knowing. Even a glimpse of this consciousness, this energy inside you, can
make the smile on your face so strong that nothing whatsoever can take it away from
you. Nobody can make you miserable or take away the joy from your life. Life
assumes another dimension suddenly once you glimpse something inside that is
expanding. You dont have to leave things here and go. Just being amidst all the noise
and still recognising that beauty is so wonderful, so fascinating, right here and now
and that is meditation, which is supreme prayer.
All powers are hidden within the Self and everything will manifest when you
connect to your consciousness.
www.artofliving.org/meditateindia dated:12may,2012

Takshashila
References in texts
Scattered references in later works indicate that Takshashila may have dated back to at least the
5th century BCE.[3][4][5]Taks ail is reputed to derive its name from Taks a, who was the son
of Bharata, the brother of Rama, and Mandavi.[6]Legend has it that Taks a ruled a kingdom called
Taks a Khanda, and founded the city of Taks ail.[7] According to another theory propounded
by Damodar Dharmanand Kosambi, Taks ail is related to Taks a ka, Sanskrit for "carpenter",
and is an alternative name for the Ngas of ancient India.[8]
In the Mahbhrata, the Kuru heir Pariks it was enthroned at Taks a il.[9] Traditionally, it is
believed that the Mahabharata was first recited at Taks a il by Vaishampayana, a disciple
of Vyasa at the behest of the seer Vyasa himself, at the Sarpa Satra Yajna (Snake Sacrifice)
of Pariks it's sonJanamejaya.[10]
Takshashila is also described in some detail in later Jtaka tales, written in Sri Lanka around the
5th century.[11] The Chinese monk Faxian (also called Fa-Hien) writing of his visit to Taxila in
405 CE, mentions the kingdom of Takshasila (or Chu-cha-shi-lo) meaning "the severed Head".
He says that this name was derived from an event in the life of Buddha because this is the place
"where he gave his head to a man".[12] Xuanzang (also called Hieun Tsang), another Chinese
monk, visited Taxila in 630 and in 643, and he called the city as Ta-Cha-Shi-Lo. The city appears
to have already been in ruins by his time. Taxila is called Taxiala in Ptolemys Geography.[13] In
the Historia Trium Regum (History of the Three Kings) composed by John of Hildesheim around
1375, the city is called Egrisilla.[14]
[edit]Ancient centre of learning
Main article: Ancient higher-learning institutions
Takshashila became a noted centre of learning at least several centuries BCE, and continued to
attract students from around the old world until the destruction of the city in the 5th century. At
its height, it has been suggested that Takshashila exerted a sort of "intellectual suzerainty" over
other centres of learning in India.,[15] and its primary concern was not with elementary, but higher
education.[16] Generally, a student entered Takshashila at the age of sixteen. The Vedas and the
Eighteen Silpas or Arts, which included skills such as archery, hunting, and elephant lore, were
taught, in addition to its law school, medical school, and school of military science.[17] Students
came to Takshashila from far-off places such as Kashi, Kosala and Magadha, in spite of the long
and arduous journey they had to undergo, on account of the excellence of the learned teachers
there, all recognized as authorities on their respective subjects.[18][19]
[edit]Famous students and teachers

Takshashila is perhaps best known because of its association with Chanakya, also known
as Kautilya, the strategist who guided Chandragupta Maurya and assisted in the founding of
the Mauryan empire. The Arthashastra (Sanskrit for The knowledge of Economics) of Chanakya,
is said to have been composed in Takshashila itself.[20][21] The Ayurvedic healerCharaka also

studied at Taxila.[17]He also started teaching at Taxila in the later period. [22] The ancient
grammarian Panini, who codified the rules that would define Classical Sanskrit, has also been
part of the community at Takshashila.[23]
The institution is very significant in Buddhist tradition since it is believed[citation needed] that
the Mahyna branch of Buddhism took shape there. Jivaka, the court physician of the Magadha
emperor Bimbisara who once cured the Buddha, and the enlightened ruler of Kosala, Prasenajit,
are some important personalities mentioned in Pali texts who studied at Takshashila.[24]
[edit]Nature of education

By some accounts, Taxilla was considered to be amongst the earliest universities in the world.[6]
[25][26][27][28]
Others do not consider it a university in the modern sense, in that the teachers living
there may not have had official membership of particular colleges, and there did not seem to
have existed purpose-built lecture halls and residential quarters in Takshashila,[29][30][31] in contrast
to the later Nalanda University.[31][32][33]
No external authorities like kings or local leaders subjected the scholastic activities at
Takshashila to their control. Each teacher formed his own institution, enjoying complete
autonomy in work, teaching as many students as he liked and teaching subjects he liked without
conforming to any centralized syllabus. Study terminated when the teacher was satisfied with the
student's level of achievement. In general, specialisation in a subject took around eight years,
though this could be lengthened or shortened in accordance with the intellectual abilities and
dedication of the student in question. In most cases the "schools" were located within the
teachers' private houses, and at times students were advised to quit their studies if they were
unable to fit into the social, intellectual and moral atmosphere there.[34]
Knowledge was considered too sacred to be bartered for money, and hence any stipulation that
fees ought to be paid was vigorously condemned. Financial support came from the society at
large, as well as from rich merchants and wealthy parents. Though the number of students
studying under a single Guru sometimes numbered in the hundreds, teachers did not deny
education even if the student was poor; free boarding and lodging was provided, and students
had to do manual work in the household. Paying students like princes were taught during the
day; non-paying ones, at night.[35] Guru Dakshina was usually expected at the completion of a
student's studies, but it was essentially a mere token of respect and gratitude - many times being
nothing more than a turban, a pair of sandals, or an umbrella. In cases of poor students being
unable to afford even that, they could approach the king, who would then step in and provide
something. Not providing a poor student a means to supply his Guru's Dakshina was considered
the greatest slur on a King's reputation.[36]
Examinations were treated as superfluous, and not considered part of the requirements to
complete one's studies. The process of teaching was critical and thorough- unless one unit was
mastered completely, the student was not allowed to proceed to the next. No convocations were
held upon completion, and no written "degrees" were awarded, since it was believed that
knowledge was its own reward. Using knowledge for earning a living or for any selfish end was
considered sacrilegious.[34]

Students arriving at Takshashila usually had completed their primary education at home (until the
age of eight), and their secondary education in the Ashrams (between the ages of eight and
twelve), and therefore came to Takshashila chiefly to reach the ends of knowledge in specific
disciplines.[37] Both theoretical and practical aspects of the subjects were taught, and particular
care was taken to ensure competence of students in case of subjects like medicine, where
improper practice could result in disaster. The list of subjects taught at Takshashila underwent
many additions over the years, with even Greek being taught there after the Alexandrian
conquests. Foreign savants were accorded as much importance as local teachers.