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Macaulay’s Shadow

22 Aug 2015 2 Comments

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DEMYSTIFYING YOGA

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After the recent court

decision to make Santhara,
the Jain practice of fasting
and voluntarily leaving the
body, illegal, Sadhguru looks at how
“consciously shedding one’s mortal coil” is
of paramount significance, and explains
that these judgements are based on laws
carried forward from British imperialism.

Sadhguru: The practice of conscious

shedding of the physical form is not
prevalent only in the Jain community. It is
the very norm in yogic culture. It is very
much a part of Hindu traditions too. Both
historical and mythological accounts are
replete with descriptions of conscious
shedding of the mortal coil. It is seen as the
fruit of wisdom, or as absolute acceptance
of the mortality of one’s life. The practice is
not just about depriving oneself of food and
water, but about paying attention to the
nature of one’s relationship with this
acquired body, which is only a piece of the
planet. In this attempt, fasting is one of the
tools. In the yogic sciences, there are more

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than a few methods through which one can
disassociate onself from the body within a
few hours. The intention is to leave
consciously and that is spiritually of
paramount significance: to pass as a yogi,
not as a rogi.

There was a
saint in
Karnataka called
Nirmalananda
The
Swami. The last intention
few years of his is to leave
life, I was very consciously
closely involved
with him. He was
and that
72 years old is
when he spiritually
consciously shed of
his body. A few
weeks before
paramount
that, he significance:
announced he to pass as
would leave in a yogi, not
January 1997.
Then there was a
as a rogi.
ruckus in the
newspapers;
rationalists filed a case against him, saying
he was going to commit suicide. So they
posted two police constables at his
ashram. His ashram was just four acres,
and in 14 years he had never stepped out
of this ashram. There were many fruit
trees, but not once did he pluck a fruit. He
didn’t want to hurt the trees. Only if fruits
fell did he eat them; otherwise, he wouldn’t
touch them. He had a little temple, and
even for his pooja, he picked up only fallen
flowers, never plucking them. He lived such
a gentle life. So, when I went there to see
him in late December of 1996, he hugged
me and wept, “They have put police in my
ashram.” Just the insult of that hurt him
very much.

One day, he
began fasting,
and the
controversy
Unfortunately,
started building many
up. They were medical
preparing to professionals,
arrest him on the
date he
in
announced that imitation
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he will go. But he
was fed up with
of their
all this, and a western
couple days counterparts,
before that day,
he sat on a small
insist that
deck in front of
everyone
about 40 people, should
including the pass in
police
constables, and
their
simply, silently
hands, of
left his body. Like course, at
this, there are an
countless
examples in this
enormous
country of
cost.
individuals exiting
their bodies when
the time comes. Leave alone human
beings, many creatures in the animal
kingdom deprive themselves of food and
water when they realise their time is up. I
have been a witness to a few cobras
wilfully denying themselves nourishment to
pass peacefully at an appointed place.

Unfortunately, many medical professionals,

in imitation of their western counterparts,
insist that everyone should pass in their
hands, of course, at an enormous cost.
This unhealthy attachment to the body is
essentially a western influence.

The justices of the Rajasthan High Court,

with all due respect, are only interpreting
the law. It should not be forgotten that
these laws, and the Indian Penal Code
(IPC), were formulated in 1860, a few
years after the mutiny of 1857, India’s first
war of independence. This judgement is
just the dance of Macaulay upon eastern
wisdom.

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unmai uraipavan
• 18 hours ago
This is very true. there is a
significance difference
between this and suicide. In
Tiruvannamalai, we saw a
sadhu in 2003 shed his body
on Maha Deepam day just by
simply sitting.
• Reply • Share ›

Omkar Narayan
• 20 hours ago
Ambedkar also did a cut and
paste job to create the
constitution !
• Reply • Share ›

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