Dear Maharaja,
PAMHO AGTSP
Hare Krishna!
This mail is with regards to Art and the Sacred, October 2018 Peru and your possible visit to Australia at the end of this year. I understand you are having difficulty with your eyes and screens so apologies for the long letter. If you prefer I can arrange all this with Abhirama prabhu.
HpS - ASA -- 'are Krsna!!! We had just started work on this. We just bought our Lima ticket.
- September 24(Mo) Houston (IAH) to Lima 4.30-11.00PM
- 21 November return
Preparation
Two days ago my good wife and I spoke with Abhirama Prabhu (Lima) about Art and the Sacred 2018. The goal is to share Australian Indigenous art and culture with the intention connecting us to the sacred. For the last few weeks I have been thinking about it and at first I was feeling as though it would be good to find someone qualified whom has a background in indigenous art and culture, preferable was an indigenous descendant, and who had some experience in presentation. The indigenous people of Australia have a very strong code of respect and honor to their culture and their people and I feel a little lacking in qualification to carry such a serious presentation on behalf of indigenous persons. I located one indigenous devotee mother who told about a local lady who has the permission of the local indigenous elders to present the stories, the art and the philosophy of the land that I am raised on, the land where New Govardhana is situated. The lady’s name is Stella Wheildon and she has lectured in different locations of the world. I have looked at her web page “Star Lore” where she has developed fascinating and relevant presentations, which demonstrate how the indigenous art has embedded in it their myths of the creation of the land, of life and of the interconnectedness of man and nature. She makes some very interesting connections between indigenous myths matching up with sciences developing understanding of the evolution of earth and the cosmos. She also point out how the histories are written in the sky and they match up with the shapes and formations of the land, “Land, language and law are all linked and they link in each section to the stars”, says Stella. Until 1967 indigenous Australians were classified under flora and fauna and it wasn’t until the sophistication of their mythology was begun to be revealed that activists were able to get them human status. Heavy example of western imperial classification history .
Stella Wheildon’s web page and youtube videos:
https://stellawheildon.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15SkW0fzcWQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhf6flj46MM&t=19s
I can definitely see some similarities between other creation myths. Like for example before creation the earth was like a flat plain with no life forms and no land formations. But the creation gods lay in a dormant formless state in the earth before they rose and created life forms and shaped the land. They call their mythology “Dreamtime” and the dreamtime stories vary between tribes across the continent. On discussing what I learned with my wife she pointed out the similarities to Mama Ocllo and Manco Capac rising out of lake Titicaca to begin the Inca Creation Story. Another interesting thing I learnt was that it appears that distinctions are made between entities based on skin, so tribes, humans, animals, plants etc. Skin is another word for form. But what fills the skin is mostly water and the indigenous peoples spoke of how water arrives from outer space, which is an example of something later confirmed by science. They teach of the connections between pure water and pure consciousness and land that purify water are sacred lands, lands that are consciously and unconsciously coveted by humans from all around the world. For example this beautiful location of New Govardhan apparently has great water purifying crystals under the ancient extinct volcano that is rests upon and is a very sought after location for many, from all around the world, to come and live.
So originally this was my idea, to bring an expert to present these teachings. But I can see some difficulties arising from this plan such as, more flight and accommodation expenses and also more liaising services for extra guests. We could invite universities or government to sponsor and send someone but then my concern is that there are more parts to manage. The other possibility is that I myself bring some art a do a presentation. Although I am a firm believer in the “mukam karoti vachalam” verse and I am happy to accept the challenge, there are two hurdles to overcome if we take this path. The first is I’m just starting to research all this now so I am by no means a seasoned expert and second I’m not an indigenous descendant and I don’t want to risk offending the indigenous elders at all by misrepresenting them. One idea my wife and I had if we were to take this route is that I could approach some indigenous elders here and ask for their permission to make a presentation for the Art and the Sacred in Peru.
HpS - Sounds very nice. Dhanesvari Devi Dasi and the whole family could go and ask permission to make a presentation. It could just be a video that they make. Bring some textiles, clothes for a dummy, small kangaroo.
Dhruva - Next I will provide a little indigenous Australian ontology and philosophy to give you and the devotees an idea of what it entails.
HpS - Awk! We haven't got strenght for it now. It is 5.21PM. Gotta answer some other letters but...... please send it again. We will leave it here for others to see. We skip to the end. Next we should work on 'Solaris' the magazine. For that we would need an article from Australia.
A Brief Description of the Two Axioms
The Land is the Law
The land is a sacred entity, not property or real estate; it is the great mother of all humanity. The Dreaming is a combination of meaning (about life and all reality), and an action guide to living. The two most important kinds of relationship in life are, firstly, those between land and people and, secondly, those amongst people themselves, the second being always contingent upon the first. The land, and how we treat it, is what determines our human-ness. Because land is sacred and must be looked after, the relation between people and land becomes the template for society and social relations. Therefore all meaning comes from land.
You are not alone in the world
Aboriginal people have a kinship system which extends into land; this system was and still is organised into clans. One’s first loyalty is to one’s own clan group. It does not matter how Western and urbanised Aboriginal people have become, this kinship system never changes. (It has been damaged by, for example, cultural genocide/Stolen Children/westernisation etc, but has not been altered substantially.) Every clan group has its own Dreaming or explanation of existence. We believe that a person finds their individuality within the group. To behave as if you are a discrete entity or a conscious isolate is to limit yourself to being an observer in an observed world.
A brief summary of indigenous Australian spirituality
Aboriginal Spirituality derives from a philosophy that establishes the wholistic notion of the interconnectedness of the elements of the earth and the universe, animate and inanimate, whereby people, the plants and animals, landforms and celestial bodies are interrelated. These relations and the knowledge of how they are interconnected are expressed, and why it is important to keep all things in healthy interdependence is encoded, in sacred stories or myths. These creation stories describe the shaping and developing of the world as people know and experience it through the activities of powerful creator ancestors. These ancestors created order out of chaos, form out of formlessness, life out of lifelessness, and, as they did so, they established the ways in which all things should live in interconnectedness so as to maintain order and sustainability. The creation ancestors thus laid down not only the foundations of all life, but also what people had to do to maintain their part of this interdependence—the Law. The Law ensures that each person knows his or her connectedness and responsibilities for other people (their kin), for country (including watercourses, landforms, the species and the universe), and for their ongoing relationship with the ancestor spirits themselves.
Which day to present indigenous Australian sacred art.
Currently we are contemplating which day to present. As I look at the themes I feel as though maybe day one is best suited. What do you think maharaja and esteemed devotees?
Day 1 Theme: Relations between art and the sacred
Art as a way of transmitting holy knowledge.
Day 2 Theme: The nature of being in art
eternity, knowledge and bliss.
Day 3 Theme: The sacred in art
knowing the transcendent and enjoying the transcendence
Australian visit
Finally I would like to mention that we are very excited to hear of the possibility that you may visit Australia at the end of the year and we will be ready to do whatever we can to assist you. Atul Krishna Prabhu is scheduled to be here December-January also, staying at our home near New Govardhan.
Your servant
Dhruvananda Das
(Dhruva O’Shea)
HpS - Jaya! 18th July we should have the India dates then we can add the Australia discourse.
