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The definition
of ‘Dhyana’ brings along its misinformed offspring; the confused
generations of questions –– Are you spiritual? Are you
intellectual? Are you the ‘avataars’ of instant gratification or
are you just ‘psycho-sexual’ –– the Himalayan bound soul of many
Beatles or the motorcycle bound soul of many Babas? In short, are
you the legendary yogis of Pop, spinning this way and that in thin
air?
But in true
Luciferan mode, we deceive. We fall from the altar of your
expectations –– no salvation guaranteed; we regret-for we are just
a society dedicated to revising the concept of Education, to
focusing the mind into thought, and thought into awareness.
Because beyond the realm of textbook theory, lies another
world-the man made maze of gender, religion, race, class and caste
worse than any God’s tangle of Time, Space and Physics –– this is
the world we effect. Each action, each word, each choice carries
severe implications and whether we want it or not; our entities
are political entities, our actions are political actions.
For example,
in our workshop –– “Phagun” in which we sought to explore the
latent signs the agency of colour carries, we realise that in a
world where black and white are so much more than opposite ends of
the Spectrum, where saffron and green can be potent means of
destruction; there is no time left to be a silent participant. In
our schizophrenic world, it is necessary to realise and exercise
the rights of active citizenship.
In our
workshop ––“How Green is My Valley-Understanding Kashmir”, our aim
was not to offer simple solutions to compare problems or to fix
easy scapegoats to bear the brunt of ancient wrongs. Our attempt
was to understand the psyche of a people, trapped in their
Geography, their History and their Politics.
Thus, we at
Dhyana, have tried to create a space where young minds can meet,
where ideas can be expressed, where the clues are provided not on
‘what’ to think about, but on ‘how’ to think. Ten years into
conception, Dhyana has dealt with topics as diverse and reluctant
as Tibet, Globalisation and Eroticism; even earned the distinction
of having a few of its member arrested in 1992 for holding
peaceful demonstrations against the visit of the Chinese Premiere.
On the surface, these are all separate issues, but at the bottom
lies the one basic strain –– the right and the duty that is
knowledge, knowledge of self and of environment, knowledge that
alone activates; that alone questions. And that alone which
questions is that which liberates; and that alone which liberates
is that which fulfils. |
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