Hello Je,
After attending your four day philosophy class at Boone, NC, so many ordinary moments suddenly began to make sense in new ways. Several images kept coming to mind – the Yosemite waterfall, a squirrel we saw there, scenes from War and Peace. Among them, the two experiences from Yosemite became especially clear after your class, and I wanted to share those with you.
Last summer, we visited Yosemite Valley. The waterfalls were breathtaking. A white cloud rested directly above the point where the water began to fall. From the base, the white water looked as if countless legless white horses were running majestically straight out of that cloud, especially against the dark mountain behind it. People of all skin tones stood watching the waterfall with the same expression of awe. From your class, I understood that this “awe” is a manifestation of Brahmam. Realizing this was the highlight of the class.
Later, during a hike, we saw a squirrel whose behavior puzzled me. Squirrels at home freeze or run the moment they sense a human. But this squirrel kept calmly scavenging even as we approached. Out of confusion, I stamped my foot loudly. Instead of running, the squirrel simply paused, looked at me as if I was the strange one, and then went back to its work.
Only after your class did this make sense. What we see (pratyaksham) gets pattern-matched (anumanam) against our preexisting knowledge (shruti). This squirrel didn’t fear humans because, in the shruti it had accumulated so far, no human had ever given it a reason to be afraid. What a wonder that is. It feels safe and completely at home in Yosemite. Later, I learned that John Muir preserved Yosemite by writing about the awe it inspires.
Your class also helped me revisit your stories with new clarity. I read Stories of the True after it was translated into English. Elephant Doctor became one of my favorites. What sets it apart from any other story is that the elephant thinks. It is not a vague human guess about what an elephant might be thinking, but a clear description written as though it comes directly from the elephant’s own mind voice. The elephant forms memories and makes decisions based on its past experiences. For a long time, I wondered whether it was even possible to know not just how an elephant remembers, but how it decides. After this philosophy class, I finally understood the answer. Pratyaksham, anumanam, and shruti exist for elephants too.
Another favorite story of mine was Meal Tally. In class, you spoke about anname brahmam, and this term stayed with me. The bleakness and suffering of hunger, contrasted with the joy and clarity that good food brings, makes us feel the brahmam in annam. That contrast is what makes Meal Tally my favorite story in Stories of the True.
Thank you, Je, for giving us a way to understand thinking itself – across species, across time, across worlds.
Thanks,
Pramothini
