THE ESSENCE OF ENLIGHTENMENT: Vedanta, The Science of Consciousness (A Review & Summary)

THE ESSENCE OF ENLIGHTENMENT

Vedanta, The Science of Consciousness

(Written by James Swartz)

~ Synopsis and Review by Vimal Kodai ~

Vedanta’s main thematic display is brought up as it is addressed through a very comfortable attempt by writer, James Swartz, in this book of his entitled, The Essence of Enlightenment. The author/writer of this apparent enlightened and bright book, stretches through several obvious explanations about the essence of enlightenment, as he admits himself to debriefing on the nature of being enlightened. ‘The essential parts of being enlightened’ is the main focus which draws this author to make its relevance clear and simple to his readers.

The book suggests the following understandings:

1.  Being a careful listener with an open-minded self while setting aside personal views and by dismissing non-judgemental sets of opinions, is the first and foremost ideal of a self-inquirer whose foundations vividly adapts to the science of consciousness, Vedanta. Being free and being happily endowed with fruitful and selfless knowledge makes one feel really worthy of a divine cause. This stands up as a secure reason which lasts to make matters work out for efficient meanings.

2.  This same book translates further knowledge about what love is and what is the bond between ‘love’ and the ‘heart.’ What may one expect to deduce from love? How can ‘love’ be truly deduced from the ‘being loved’? As per further embraced understandings of the feelings and emotions that are tied to explanatory themes of true love and bonded love, this main idea is idealized in the concept that is derived from knowledge and self-knowledge. How may one transcend all attachments and knots to this material world while admitting and by accepting knowledge (really true knowledge)? How to pervade all unnecessary sequences of thinking patterns that lead to unproductive thoughts and ideas while disapproving selfishness and egoism? How to destroy angry, hateful and lusty thoughts by calming the mind and by silencing all the trends and flows of constant thoughts that are from evil sources?

3.  While stating that Vedanta is usually meant for seekers who have been seeking throughout their lives for a long lengthy length of time, this book also suggests that Enlightenment is as well the fact of being ‘ignorance free’ and ‘knowledgeably accommodated to the idea of being enlightened spiritually’. This book claims that spiritual practice is not simply the resolving of inner conflicts between the subtle body and the disturbed mind, but it is a practice that has to be maintained while balancing and while nurturing the mind with peaceful ideas and peaceful resolutions—by accepting laws and principles of creations as the crucial instructed guide to man and to man’s just causes, one may lead oneself on the righteous pathway.

James Swartz explains that: “Experience is an unbroken series of inner and outer events and the reaction or response to them. The reaction of animals to experience is totally different programmed. Humans have an advantage because they have the power to think. They can study their experience, extract knowledge from it and change it, freeing them to some degree from their programming.” (Pp. 152 – 153) Growth in the spiritual field is acquired through growth occurring both physically and intellectually. Thus, this experience that is being accumulated with time and this consistent growth in assimilating values and developed choices, results in freeing one from hatred, anger, ego, jealousy, lust, envy and self-pity. Selflessness and devotional acceptance is accrued through the experience derived from pure release of unworthy and unnecessary thoughts about past events that have resulted in resentment and rage.

This book The Essence of Enlightenment also states that ordinary man has the following characteristics and he uses these well in his life; these are namely: Ignorance, Desire and Fear, Anxiety and Control, Anger, Ego and Delusion.

By appreciating time and by accepting that time is precious and that it should be used wisely, one may get to some solid foundations of spiritually-oriented ideas and faiths, while staying away from ignorance. Likewise, this book advises and suggests that ‘Desire’ and ‘Fear’ are equal in the ways that these features embrace egoistic and selfish thoughts and ideas. It even states that excessive desire is described as showing impulsiveness. One needs to balance ideas and planned goals in order to maintain proper stability in living life in the society. Desires and fearfulness lead to common grounds of despair as it requires a sense of obligation towards duties in order to accommodate wishes and wishful outcomes. Thus, ego grows and the true sense of duty decreases.

Anger, Ego and Delusion—are resultant substances of the ignorant minds; these characteristics derive from natures that are unhealthy.

Despite the fact that I have gained lots of positive knowledge from this book and that I have admitted myself to writing a review about it, I find that James Swartz does not fully use the correct and appropriate language and language structure while he writes on such a worthy theme and subject matter. While attempting to critically view this book, I find it very enlightening overall with some to many wordings that could have been opted out for more relevant choices of vocabularies.

Of course, The Essence of Enlightenment is not a mastery of the knowledgeable skills of this writer in question, but it is a hail to the knowledge derived from Vedanta and from Vedanta’s immensity and vastness.

BATTI GUL METER CHALU (A briefing by Vimal Kodai)

BATTI GUL METER CHALU

(Synopsis/Summary and Review by Vimal Kodai)

Batti Gul Meter Chalu, (Electric Power isn’t running, yet the Electric Meter Reader is still keeping track of the readings) – A film featuring in the main roles, actors and actresses such as: Shahid Kapoor (who incarnates the role of Sushil Kumar “SK” Pant), Shraddha Kapoor (playing, Lalita Nautiyal “Nauti”), Divyendu Sharma (who stars as Sundar Mohan Tripathi) and Yami Gautam (who portrays lawyer, Gulnaar Rizvi); highlights the many facets of one of the several challenges faced by rural areas inhabitants of a village known as Tehri (found in the Northern milieus of India, in the State of Uttarakhand).

Shree Narayan Singh, the director (and directing person) of Batti Gul Meter Chalu casts an exemplary portrayal of one of the many dark sides of the corporate world in India while he interprets one such case of a village known as Tehri (found in Uttarakhand, in Northern India). He demonstrates one area of this rural part of Uttarakhand where electric power supply is not at all very abundant, and yet, the ‘electricity bill’ proves to be really high in its numerical digits. Why? The answer lies in the crude reality of the corporate world of business enterprises and how some of them manage their customers’ complaints, and how they budget their financial investments for the sake of their enormous profits.

SK, Nauti and Sundar

SK (short for Sushil Kumar Pant), Nauti (nickname of the character, Lalita Nautiyal) and Sundar are lifetime friends with a bond that has no defiance to time and space—their connection and friendship have emerged from childhood to adulthood, yet no mistrust or misguided occurrences separate their beliefs and understandings. Unless it is for family commitments and family duties that part their professional goals and objectives, SK, Nauti and Sundar are threesomes who share almost everything in matter of lifestyle, passion and mutual bonding. Their love and friendship have been so re-known in Tehri that it has been a really worthy privilege for the inhabitants to witness their growths in the professional world. SK is a lawyer by profession, Nauti—a fashion designer, and Sundar—is business-oriented. Their struggles in making their ways through life is directly linked to their family values with their basic understandings of family principles and family morals as their main inspiring guides. This has them showing fearlessness and dignity towards their day to day endurances in the field of life’s concerns. They use humour and laughter to handle many several issues of their lives’ challenges with no denials or unnecessary comprehension towards the several difficulties faced by the inhabitants of Tehri (their native village’s villagers). Their parents and neighbours support them in the daily handling of situations that require their attentions, but now that they are grown-ups and that they are capable of managing their own lives, they become less and less dependent on others. Their potentials and abilities do not let themselves pass by unnoticed.

SK and Nauti (Shahid Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor)

It so happens that despite his being a wise and kind-hearted man, SK uses his law degree to practice his lawyer’s career in a really unreasonable manner. He makes his daily living while being at the service of few individuals of Tehri. However, the logic behind his earning a living is truly unappreciated and unfair towards those who face his unpredictable character with law suits that are minute yet ridiculous. Nauti, on her end, makes an honest living while designing and fabricating ladies’ wear at her Fashion Boutique. Sundar, on his side, is still finding his way through life while attempting to setup his own business. When he finally does make his way through becoming a successful businessman, he faces a serious challenge with the electricity consumptions at his printing establishment. He attempts to resolve the matter by approaching the Electric Company’s (known as SPTL’s) customer services complaints management. His Printing establishment’s Electric Meter is not given the right attention as neither fixture, repairs nor replacement is being carried out by SPTL Electric Company. Instead, this fraudulent electric company installs another Meter which has direct surveillance access to the power usage readings of Sundar’s Printing Press. Unaware of such an incident, but assuredly in the belief that his readings are escalating for confirmed unfair reasons, Sundar approaches his lawyer-friend, Sushil Kumar (SK), for support in this case of fraud. The matter is not as simple and it is not as sweet as it appears: in the meantime, Sundar’s love for Nauti is revealed, and reciprocally, Nauti’s love for Sundar surfaces. Sushil Kumar Pant (SK) who has always believed that Nauti was in love with him, can’t really bear this reality that comes out. He bluntly refuses to fight the case which his friend (Sundar) offers him to stand by for in all the righteous manner—while imploring him to use the ability of a true dignified lawyer. SK, in his anger and rising hatred for his two childhood friends, rejects the case of Sundar’s as he plunges himself in a new habit of consuming alcoholic drinks and leading a fake lifestyle. He can’t admit that this occurrence which appears in his life, is in fact happening for real. For some time, he finds himself lost!

After having circled SPTL’s customer services complaints management again, and after having filed in numerous complaints again, Sundar finds himself in a dilemma from which he does not see himself coming out of. Nauti’s support is not sufficient to allow him to make up his mind. He doesn’t know how to handle his humongous electricity bills as it is obvious that either the readings have been falsified, or there has been a serious error from the Electric Meter readings.

The case is certainly ‘a case’ that can be taken to court and it can be won with due respect to the facts and truthful statements produced at the court, but instead, with time restraints, Sundar can’t really deal with this intense turmoil whereby he can’t really cope with it. Soon, his death is being pronounced at the cliffs of the banks of the River Ganges. His motorbike has apparently encountered a ‘weird incident’ which led to his accidental death. The surprise of this incident is that his body is not retrieved from the river. His cremation is been done while his friends, neighbours, relatives and close family members are mourning his tragic passing away. Sundar’s memory lives in the mind of his lover Nauti as the latter thinks that he was an imbecile to have committed such an act—a presumed suicidal act. Sundar’s father, (Manilall Tripathi), who has always regarded his son as a brave boy who was growing up standing tall while facing challenges boldly, is deeply disturbed by the incident as he also concludes that his beloved deceased son was a fool—he could not face his life’s struggle and challenge while making matters better and thereby cope with it.

SK (Sushil Kumar Pant) eventually manages to handle the unresolved case that could not be dealt with by his very well-cherished and very dear friend, Sundar. Now that the latter is deceased, SK feels strongly that he has strong grounds to ‘nail’ and fight this unfair and unjust corporate electric firm known as SPTL.

With determination, strong will-power, concrete and solid foundations of his knowledge that is based on factual details obtained from the unjustified practice led by this Electric firm (SPTL), SK ‘navigates the seas’ of this court case whereby he finds his way through by making the most of it with his humour and sense of laughter to reassure him all along the way.

At the court, SK faces his opponent and adversary in the robe of his lawyer counterpart, Gulnaar Rizvi (role casted by actress Yami Gautam). Her diligent advocacy and her pleasant charm pleases SK, but the true issue right now is not about admiration and beauty, but it is a fight of a lifetime for the citizens of Tehri (in Uttarakhand). In fact, prior to boarding the role of fighting for the cause of his friend, Sundar (now presumed deceased); SK had minutely devoted his keen attention towards other complaints directed from other faulty electric meter readings and falsified readings done by SPTL Electric Firm. Their supportive facts and documented complaints are a must asset to this case being fought against SPTL Electric Firm on the part of lawyer Sushil Kumar Pant (SK).

The case’s momentum takes to its extreme highs and lows while lawyers SK (Shahid Kapoor) and Gulnaar Rizvi (Yami Gautam) and the presiding judge (role incarnated by Sushmita Mukherjee) lead their way in the court room.

The battle is almost won when from some ‘gut feeling’ moment’s downturn (or upturn), Sundar returns to Tehri after having received treatment for his serious injuries from a hospital found on one of the banks of River Ganges. He appears in the courtroom where he confesses that he had indeed attempted suicide as he had been longing to settle the matter for financial reasons without being too keen to struggle for it against the infamous SPTL electric company…

The Cast of Batti Gul Meter Chalu

The movie, Batti Gul Meter Chalu, carries a message that expands on one case of the mental tortures led by the corporate world where no understanding and no comprehension are attested for by business enterprises while they deal with their customers. Batti Gul Meter Chalu is one such movie that does not require forceful understanding from its audience in order to be fully acknowledged and appreciated.