The words “summer” and “long” are rarely used in the same sentence by the friendly folk of Boston. Except, of course, if the year is 2020. A year when Coronavirus dominated almost all aspects of our lives and made summer nearly forgettable. The 7 days, though, between Aug 16 and Aug 22, not only redeemed the summer of 2020 but also raised the collective spiritual quotient of Chinmaya Boston community, thanks to the online Jnana Yagna conducted  by Swami Ramakrishnananda, resident Acharya of Chinmaya Mission, Nagapattinam and Chinmaya International Foundation, Veliyanad, Kerala.

In spite of the pandemic, the yagna attracted 100+ participants. The event’s broad reach was testament to the indomitable spirit of the Boston Chinmaya community and the untiring efforts of SRK Swamiji (as he is affectionately known in Boston). Swamiji’s command over Vedanta is well known all over the U.S. and India, as is his ready wit and knack for making complex Vedantic concepts easy to grasp for spiritual seekers. In addition to these skills, Swamiji’s expert ability to leverage new media and platforms like smart boards shone bright during this yagna and bridged the challenges typically associated with remote learning. Swamiji made it feel like he was delivering the yagna sitting right here in our living rooms and his message definitely hit home, loud and clear!

The topic of the yagna was Natakadeepam, the tenth chapter from the seminal Advaitic text Panchadasi written by Vidyaranya Swami in 14th century AD. Vidyaranya Swami was the 12th Jagadguru of the Sringeri Sharada Mutt, established by Bhagawan Adi Shankara. He was also mentor and guide to the founders and rulers of the Vijayanagara empire. Panchadasi was incidentally the first Vedanta text that Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda learnt from his guru Swami Tapovan Maharaj.   

Natakadeepam draws on the imagery of a dance performance in a theater hall involving a dancer (who symbolizes the buddhi or intellect), a sponsor (who symbolizes ahankara or ego), an audience (that represents vishayas or sense objects), musical accompaniments (symbolizing the jnanendriyas or the sense organs) and most importantly the overhead floodlight or Natakadeepa (that symbolizes the sakshi or witness/ consciousness). The dancer constantly moves to the tune of the musical instruments and revels in the applause and appreciation given by the audience. The sponsor is deeply involved and invested in the success of the event, while the audience participates in the proceedings without the same emotional intensity as the sponsor.

Swamiji explained how, of all the players in the performance, the overhead floodlight was the one that was most worthy of identifying with and emulating. The deepa (consciousness) illuminates the hall equally and witnesses the proceedings uninvolved, never for once judging or being swayed by thoughts or emotions that permeate the hall. Swamiji urged us to raise our field of vision and identify with this witness (sakshi) as we go through the theater of life.

In closing, Swamiji compared the imagery in Natakadeepam to the famous line “All the world’s a stage” from the Shakespearean play “As you like it”. Swamiji extolled the greatness of saints like Bhagawan Adi Sankara and Vidyaranya Swami, who had written about a rich symbolism for consciousness centuries ago. Thanks to the online format, Swamiji also answered many questions from the participants on the topics of discourse. Swamiji, we will strive to follow the teachings of the great saints before us. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for a memorable yagna. Until next year...our pranaams to you!

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