Opening of the doors to a great vision of life dedicated to Sreemad Agamananda Swamikal (Autobiography Chapter 5: Dr. A.K.B. Pillai)
Published on 06 October, 2020
This incident happened while I was a student of fourth grade, living in Valady.
As stated in the first chapter, the yearly temple festivals provide joyous occasions to the villagers who live around. Such was the occasion at the temple God Ayyappa in Kumarankary, near my school. The social appeal of the festivities is constituted of traditional theatrical performances, mentioned in the first chapter, and a Hindu religious speech by a scholar-monk.
A famous scholar-monk by name Sreemat Agamananda Swamikal was the speaker. He was a tall well-built man in his fifties, having his own ‘Ashramam’ in Kalady, known as Advaita Ashramam. He explained the Hindu spirituality. He stated that the human body after the death of a person, would perish in the ashes; but the human soul is immortal and be in God.
I was thrilled by his speech. From the middle of the audience I moved forward to the front. There were a number of books, mostly written by him in Malayalam and English, spread out on the dais, in front of the audience. Quite eagerly I looked at the books one by one including the inner pages. By the time his speech was over others were also looking at the books and buying. I came across a small Malayalam book titled ‘Sree Shankara’. I was already intrigued by what the speaker said about Sree Shankara. He was the formulator of the core belief system of Hinduism, ‘Advaita’, meaning Oneness of the Godhead. The speaker presented that there are different approaches by different religions to the same Godhead. Also the pathways are different such as through wisdom, action, or asceticism to the Godhead.
Most intriguing to me was Sree Shankaran’s life history. When he was a child his mother took him to the Periyar River for a bath. A crocodile caught him. He shouted to his mother on the bathing ghat of the river, that the crocodile would let him go free, if she allowed him to become a monk. His life was more important to the mother than he becoming a monk. She consented to him. Then the crocodile let him go free.
It was a moving story to me, whether it was true or false. But it was true that as a teenager he left his mother in Kalady and traveled all over India in 8th century, A.D. when there was no transportation and most parts of India were covered by forests. He b
ecame a very learned person and got into arguments and debates with many learned persons in India. He defeated all of them by his wisdom and logic of his arguments. After formulating Advaita he established Ashrams of teaching in different parts of India, including in Kashmir in the northern Himalayas.
I was eager to know his wisdom and logic of thinking. My mother who took me to the festival did not have the money, eight chakram, to buy the book. Chakram, was the lowest coin, like the pence. I wanted to have the book. I wonder why I did not ask the Swami to give me a book. Probably he was at the back of the stage, talking to people. I did not even look left or right to check if anybody was seeing me, when I took a copy of the book on Sree Shankaran and walked away. I did not tell my mother or grandfather that I stole the book. At home I read the book many times, and kept it as a treasure.
Sree Shankara was in my mind, always thereafter. He wrote many books, established many centers, got many disciples, and unfortunately died around the age of thirty-two.
One cannot predict how a person's life's events would take place. Looking back I am thrilled to note that later I became a lecturer, eventually becoming a professor at Sree Shankara college in Kalady, founded by Sreemat Agamananda Swamikal. I was also a frequent visitor to Swami's Advaita Ashramam having frequent discourses with him, my personal guru, Sreemat Naishtikananda Swamikal, Sreemat Gananda Swamikal, and other Swamis. Later the Ashramam was given to Sree Ramakrishna Mission. After Sree Shankaran, Sree Ramakrishna Paramahamsan was the greatest exponent of Advaita. He did spiritual exercises in all religions, including Islam and Christianity and arrived at the spiritual realization of the Oneness of the Godhead.
In 1966 I came to the USA. In 1967-68 I was in East Carolina University studying Indo-American philosophy and literature. As a result, I wrote the thesis ‘Transcendental Self’, a comparative study of Hindu-Buddhist philosophy and Henry David Thoreau’s ‘Walden’, published by University Press of America. I continued my study of Hinduism and India philosophy, especially led by Sree Shankara’s writings,- ‘Atma Bodha’, based on the core Hindu writing, the upanishads.
These studies and research supported by yoga psychology led me to the concept of Spiritual Medicine, which is the ultimate realization of mental health, physical wellbeing, contentment and happiness (Ananda).
‘Pranamam’ to Sree Shankaran! (Pranamam is the highest and most sacred term to Sree Shankaran)
-----------------------
DR. A.K.B. PILLAI PhD, (COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK)
As stated in the first chapter, the yearly temple festivals provide joyous occasions to the villagers who live around. Such was the occasion at the temple God Ayyappa in Kumarankary, near my school. The social appeal of the festivities is constituted of traditional theatrical performances, mentioned in the first chapter, and a Hindu religious speech by a scholar-monk.
A famous scholar-monk by name Sreemat Agamananda Swamikal was the speaker. He was a tall well-built man in his fifties, having his own ‘Ashramam’ in Kalady, known as Advaita Ashramam. He explained the Hindu spirituality. He stated that the human body after the death of a person, would perish in the ashes; but the human soul is immortal and be in God.
I was thrilled by his speech. From the middle of the audience I moved forward to the front. There were a number of books, mostly written by him in Malayalam and English, spread out on the dais, in front of the audience. Quite eagerly I looked at the books one by one including the inner pages. By the time his speech was over others were also looking at the books and buying. I came across a small Malayalam book titled ‘Sree Shankara’. I was already intrigued by what the speaker said about Sree Shankara. He was the formulator of the core belief system of Hinduism, ‘Advaita’, meaning Oneness of the Godhead. The speaker presented that there are different approaches by different religions to the same Godhead. Also the pathways are different such as through wisdom, action, or asceticism to the Godhead.
Most intriguing to me was Sree Shankaran’s life history. When he was a child his mother took him to the Periyar River for a bath. A crocodile caught him. He shouted to his mother on the bathing ghat of the river, that the crocodile would let him go free, if she allowed him to become a monk. His life was more important to the mother than he becoming a monk. She consented to him. Then the crocodile let him go free.
It was a moving story to me, whether it was true or false. But it was true that as a teenager he left his mother in Kalady and traveled all over India in 8th century, A.D. when there was no transportation and most parts of India were covered by forests. He b
ecame a very learned person and got into arguments and debates with many learned persons in India. He defeated all of them by his wisdom and logic of his arguments. After formulating Advaita he established Ashrams of teaching in different parts of India, including in Kashmir in the northern Himalayas.
I was eager to know his wisdom and logic of thinking. My mother who took me to the festival did not have the money, eight chakram, to buy the book. Chakram, was the lowest coin, like the pence. I wanted to have the book. I wonder why I did not ask the Swami to give me a book. Probably he was at the back of the stage, talking to people. I did not even look left or right to check if anybody was seeing me, when I took a copy of the book on Sree Shankaran and walked away. I did not tell my mother or grandfather that I stole the book. At home I read the book many times, and kept it as a treasure.
Sree Shankara was in my mind, always thereafter. He wrote many books, established many centers, got many disciples, and unfortunately died around the age of thirty-two.
One cannot predict how a person's life's events would take place. Looking back I am thrilled to note that later I became a lecturer, eventually becoming a professor at Sree Shankara college in Kalady, founded by Sreemat Agamananda Swamikal. I was also a frequent visitor to Swami's Advaita Ashramam having frequent discourses with him, my personal guru, Sreemat Naishtikananda Swamikal, Sreemat Gananda Swamikal, and other Swamis. Later the Ashramam was given to Sree Ramakrishna Mission. After Sree Shankaran, Sree Ramakrishna Paramahamsan was the greatest exponent of Advaita. He did spiritual exercises in all religions, including Islam and Christianity and arrived at the spiritual realization of the Oneness of the Godhead.
In 1966 I came to the USA. In 1967-68 I was in East Carolina University studying Indo-American philosophy and literature. As a result, I wrote the thesis ‘Transcendental Self’, a comparative study of Hindu-Buddhist philosophy and Henry David Thoreau’s ‘Walden’, published by University Press of America. I continued my study of Hinduism and India philosophy, especially led by Sree Shankara’s writings,- ‘Atma Bodha’, based on the core Hindu writing, the upanishads.
These studies and research supported by yoga psychology led me to the concept of Spiritual Medicine, which is the ultimate realization of mental health, physical wellbeing, contentment and happiness (Ananda).
‘Pranamam’ to Sree Shankaran! (Pranamam is the highest and most sacred term to Sree Shankaran)
-----------------------
DR. A.K.B. PILLAI PhD, (COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK)
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Comments
Mathew V. Zacharia, New Yorker 2020-10-06 14:46:54
Dr.Pillai: Very interesting especially when it is with personal testimony.
Mathew V. Zacharia, New Yorker
Dr. AKB Pillai 2020-10-09 15:31:42
Thank you Sri Zacharia!
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