The Sacred Messiness

 The word 'Holy' is usually understood as 'pious', 'serene', 'complete', 'untouchable' beyond or above the everyday. But the sages taught that holiness is available to us in every moment, in every place. Holiness is not a state to be reached; its an ongoing act of creativity. In Hebrew the opposite of holy is chol, which is translated  not as profane but as empty; in other words, not yet filled. the word for holy in hebrew is Kedusha. Amore accurate translation of Kedusha is life intensity. To be holy is to be intensely dynamic, ever changing and ever realizing. The Biblical command 'you shall be holy' is an invitation to celebrate what the philosopher Mark Taylor calls, ' a maze of grace that is the world'. Live as richly and passionately as possible; that is as close to meaning as you will get.

                              -Rabbi Irwin Kula, Yearnings,45.

Poem - കവിത : " മേയ് ഫ്ലവർ " (May Flower)

കവിത

റവ.ബൈജു മർക്കോസ്

ലൂഥരൻ സ്കൂൾ ഓഫ് തിയളോജി ചിക്കാഗോ

                                 

 " മേയ് ഫ്ലവർ "

         --------

ചെറു ചെറു മുകുളങ്ങൾ

വിടരാൻ  വെമ്പി നില്ക്കവേ

മഞ്ഞിൻ  കണങ്ങൾ

തുരു തുരെ വന്നു പതിച്ചതാണ് !

ഒരു കൊമ്പ് പൊട്ടി

താഴേയ്ക്ക്  ഞാഴ്ന്നു -

പ്രാണൻ പിടഞ്ഞു നില്ക്കവേ

വര്ഷപാതം വന്നലച്ചതാണ് !

മഞ്ഞിൻ  വെള്ള മൂടി, സൂര്യനെ-

മറച്ചു, താപം നിഷേധിച്ചു

തണുത്തുറയവേ

നിദ്രയെ പുൽകിയതാണ് !

ഉറങ്ങി, ഉണരാൻ കഴിയാതെ

നനഞ്ഞു വിടരാൻ കഴിയാതെ

മണ്ണോടു ചെർന്നുടയവേ

ശ്വാസം നിലച്ചതാണ്‌ !

നിശ്ചേഷ്ടമായ്‌ ,നിർന്നിമേഷമായ്

നിഷ്പ്രശ്ചന്നമായ്

കേവലജീവിതം(bare life)

പുൽകിയതാണ് !

പക്ഷേ, ഇന്നെത്ര ലോലമായ്‌,

സൗമ്യമായ് - പുൽക്കൊടീ

 നീയിന്നു  ഉയിര്പ്പിന്റെ  പച്ചയെ

പുനർന്നുണർന്നു !

എവിടെയോളിപ്പിച്ചു വച്ചു നിൻ

മഞ്ഞിൽ  മറയാത്ത ഹരിത രാഗങ്ങൾ?

എവിടെ മറച്ചു വച്ചൂ  നിൻ,

മിഴിവെഴും ജീവസ്പന്ദങ്ങൾ ?

അത്രമേൽ ക്രൂരമാം

ജീവിത ഭാവത്തെ

എത്രയോ മുഗ്ദ്ധമായ്

ഉത്ഥാനം ചെയ്തു നീ!

എത്ര വിലോലം,

എത്രയഗാധം,

എത്രയനുരന്ജിതം നിന്റെയീ

ഇളവെയിൽ വാഴ്വ്‌!

പടിവാതിൽ  കടന്നു

പല വർണ്ണ  ശോഭയായ്

വാസന്തമെത്തുമ്പോൾ

പൂക്കാതിരിക്കുവാനാകുമോ

നിനക്ക് ?

_________________________

                                                        

26 മെയ്‌ 2015  

AAR- conference paper

                 

                                                   

A Paper Presentation 

in American Academy of Religion(AAR) Conference

 on April, 11th  2015 @ Ohio

Ritual as Symbolic Discourse of Human Formation:

Pottan Theyyam- a Case study

Abstract

           

Theyyam is a subaltern ritual practice; prominent and popular in North Malabar, Kerala. It can be perceived as an embodiment of subaltern religious thought.  It reflects the socio-religio-cultural life of the people. The Theyyam deities are the personifications of local heroes, heroines, victims and so on. They reflect the religious quests and symbolic resistance of the subaltern people. Pottan Theyyam is a very good example for this religious embodiment. It is a personification of a lower caste untouchable who questioned the caste system. This particular ritual practice is a powerful, symbolic resistance against the caste discriminations.

A symbolic discourse reading of Potten Theyyam is attempted in the proposed paper. Potten Theyyam as a symbolic discourse engages in critical dialogue with the dominant caste discourses that sanctioned by the classical Sanskritic Traditions. The ritual song used in Potten Theyyam is known as Chalapattu. It is a power critique of the popular Advaidic conceptions of Sankaracharya. And it is a powerful social satire too. Pottan Theyyam, as the name pottan (means ‘Idiot’) indicates, it goes beyond the normality. Being constructed or conformed by the caste discourse is the ‘normality’ in a castiest society. But the ritual process and mythical narrations of Potten Theyyam ritual, challenges this type of conformity. There is a ritual inversion in the Pottan Theyyam ritual process. It calls for a re-ordering of the social order that which is so much hierarchical with caste prejudices. Pottan Theyyam as a whole is a symbolic discourse that engages in the making of the worldview, way of life and worship pattern of the subaltern people in North Malabar.

In and through the Pottan Theyyam ritual tradition, the subaltern communities of the North Malabar are re-defining their identity and re-positions their social position and status. More over for a meaningful subaltern engagement in the social space of North Malabar, Pottan Theyyam works as a powerful religious resource and tool.  Thus ritual as a symbolic discourse of human formation contributes a major role in the making of subaltern communities in North Malabar.

***

For Me,

For me, 

Religious experience is a country road in which we 

are in a journey, meaningfully dialogical and radically

 hospitable with the co-travelers, green thickets on 

both sides, blue sky above, singing birds in the trees,

 plucking fruits and enjoying the colors...towards a 

symbiotic relationship with the divine.