...and there might be an MC before that too. Just Hammerspace. Was reading the Wiki for Manga (came to this through a forward, initially from a girl who loves Anime) when this delightful concept of Hammerspace jumped out of nowhere. As defined in Wiki:
Hammerspace draws its name from a semi-common cliché in humorous anime and manga: Male character Y offends or otherwise angers female character X. X then draws a wooden mallet—ranging in size from large to downright ludicrous—out of nowhere and bashes Y with it.
NOw you see where the MC might have come from? :). And in India it might be Belanspace!
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Krishna stories and Janmashtami (double meaning!!)
The past three days I have been going to the Art of Living Ashram and every day there is something new to learn. Yesterday was Krishna Janmashtami. Apart from a nice dance and skits by children, there was a lot of learning. We heard a recitation of the Gita and were exhorted to just read the Bhagvad Gita with its simple translation.
A lot of our stories have multiple levels of meaning. Or atleast two :). Like some of the stories of Krishna seem to be plain simple fun but experts say that the essence of Vedanta is distilled into them. The story of Janmashtami and its meaning as told by Sri Sri (all mistakes are mine):
Krishna was born to Devaki (body) and Vasudev(Prana). Krishna stands for Ananda or bliss while his Uncle Kamsa is ego or (dur)Ahamkara. The jail where Krishna was born is the world and the sentries are the five senses. When the senses are asleep (i.e. not involved in the world), Ananda is born. To save Krishna from Kamsa, you have to cross Yamuna or love. On the other side is Go-kul, where knowledge permeates. Go means knowledge or the senses, depending on context.
A sure sign of a wise man is the light (but not disrespectful) manner that very high knowledge rests upon him. A Swamiji from Rishikesh, regular visitor to the Ashram and wonderful orator is a case in point. Regaling us with stories of Krishna as a child, he himself became childlike and innocent. He told the story of Krishna and his friends causing havoc by having peeing competitions in the aangan of a house and of course the stealing butter. In the middle, and you'd have missed it if you were distracted by a bee buzzing, he told about birth and death:
Death is only the Big Sleep, but what we are really afraid of is not dying, but our possessions not remaining with us when we awake.
Much like why we lock our houses when we sleep, i guess. But is that bad?
A lot of our stories have multiple levels of meaning. Or atleast two :). Like some of the stories of Krishna seem to be plain simple fun but experts say that the essence of Vedanta is distilled into them. The story of Janmashtami and its meaning as told by Sri Sri (all mistakes are mine):
Krishna was born to Devaki (body) and Vasudev(Prana). Krishna stands for Ananda or bliss while his Uncle Kamsa is ego or (dur)Ahamkara. The jail where Krishna was born is the world and the sentries are the five senses. When the senses are asleep (i.e. not involved in the world), Ananda is born. To save Krishna from Kamsa, you have to cross Yamuna or love. On the other side is Go-kul, where knowledge permeates. Go means knowledge or the senses, depending on context.
A sure sign of a wise man is the light (but not disrespectful) manner that very high knowledge rests upon him. A Swamiji from Rishikesh, regular visitor to the Ashram and wonderful orator is a case in point. Regaling us with stories of Krishna as a child, he himself became childlike and innocent. He told the story of Krishna and his friends causing havoc by having peeing competitions in the aangan of a house and of course the stealing butter. In the middle, and you'd have missed it if you were distracted by a bee buzzing, he told about birth and death:
Death is only the Big Sleep, but what we are really afraid of is not dying, but our possessions not remaining with us when we awake.
Much like why we lock our houses when we sleep, i guess. But is that bad?
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