Shocking Truth behind Isha's Deforestation allegations?

I have been wondering about the allegations that Isha encroached the forest lands. Many a person has told me that this is a lie being repeated by vested interests in the hope of making it sound like a truth. The unfortunate reality is that many common people also think this is the case because of the number of the times it has been said in media, though not a single person or group has been able to prove this over last 20 years!

What is Isha Foundation's Stand?

I checked the Isha Foundation website and they have given a clear notice that this is a lie being perpetrated against them. 

https://isha.sadhguru.org/in/en/blog/article/is-isha-encroaching-elephant-corridor

"Isha Yoga Center is not constructed on forest land or elephant corridor. It is constructed on 100% Patta land. In 2013, Tamil Nadu Forest Department officials verified this, and clearly documented that the center is only on Patta land and has not infringed onto forest land. The document reference number is CFCIT/07/2013."

My Findings from TN Forest Department website

I went to the Tamilnadu Forest Department website and found something very interesting. These definitions are quite important for us to note as it is from the Tamilnadu Forest Department itself. The relevant page link is: https://www.forests.tn.gov.in/pages/view/tn-state-profile

Forest Cover: All lands, more than one hectare in area, with a tree canopy density of more than 10 percent irrespective of ownership and legal status. Such lands may not necessarily be a recorded forest area. It also includes orchards, bamboo and palm. 

Forest Area: The area recorded as a forest in the Government records. It is also referred to as “recorded forest area”. 

Moderately Dense Forest: All lands with forest cover having a canopy density between 40 to 70 percent. 

Open Forest: Lands with forest cover having a canopy density between 10 to 40 percent. 

Protected Forest(PF): An area notified under the provisions of the Indian Forest Act or other State Forest Acts, having limited degree of protection. In protected forest all activities are permitted unless prohibited. 

Reserved Forest (RF): An area so constituted under the provisions of the Indian Forest Act or other State Forest Acts, having full degree of protection. In Reserved forests all activities are prohibited unless permitted. 

Scrub: Degraded forest lands having canopy density less than 10 percent. 

Tree Cover: It comprises of tree patches outside the recorded forest area exclusive of forest cover and less than the minimum mappable area (1 ha) and up to 0.1 ha. Such small patches comprising of block, linear and scattered trees are not delineated as forest cover during interpretation of satellite data. The areas of scattered trees are computed by notional numbers. 

Very Dense Forests: Lands with forest cover having a canopy density of 70 percent and above. 

Unclassed Forest: An area recorded as forest but not included in reserved or protected forest category. Ownership status of such forests varies from State to State.

Why are these definitions important for us to understand the context?

These definitions are important because we have three facts on hand:

(1) Isha Foundation lands are near the Booluvampatti Reserved Forest

(2) The definition of Forest cover is all encompassing irrespective of the ownership of the land

(3) The Tamilnadu Forest cover has actually increased from 2011 to 2017!

I will elaborate on each of these points below. But, I am going to first put you through a psychology experiment.

If I tell you that someone, say X, has cut down a 100 year old huge tree with an electric saw, you would immediately feel anger within you. Wouldn't you? And that is a genuine emotion! 

But you only heard me saying that! Did you actually see for yourself if X has indeed cut a tree down? Even if X had cut a tree, what was the context in which he / she did that?

What would be your reaction if I told you X is a rich person? Is your anger still there or is it increasing?

Would you still be angry if I told you that the tree had fallen down on X's child and if X had not cut the tree and removed it, her child would have been crushed to death under that tree? After all, you did not even know whether the cut tree was standing earlier or was on the ground already!! 

Do you see how easy it is to get our emotions manipulated?

So, the next time you hear something about someone, ascertain if such an incident actually happened and if it did, what was the context. If you do not get convincing answers for either question, you can best ignore such information.

(1) Isha Foundation lands are near the Booluvambatti Reserved Forest

The concerns raised against Isha Foundation initially could well have been legitimate but where it all became a slandering campaign was when the team used a map that was produced by Mr Saravanan Chandrasekeran on Facebook once. Saravanan had actually posted a Google Earth image of the Isha Foundation and incorrectly questioned if Isha was occupying the forest land. 

This is the image that is spread in various memes ... obviously a work of Photoshop because you cannot find such images on Google map's timelines! 

The first thing about this image is that it is at such a high level claiming to show the Isha Yoga Campus. Is the Isha Yoga Campus all over the map or is it a small place in the map? From 2006 to 2016, the campus might have grown. What is the exact size of the Isha Yoga premises in both years? People who only see and react to such meme photos emotionally don't ask this basic and logical question.

Secondly, as per the definition of Reserved Forest, nothing can be done in the forest without permission of Forest officials. So, it sounds incredulous that such a big organization shaping up within Forest lands, especially a Reserved Forest, would go unnoticed for so many years. If there is anybody who has access to the forest lands, it is the tribals living there and the Forest Officials. If somebody claims the tribals have cut the trees in the forest, it is even understandable. But how would Isha Foundation be held responsible for that?

If one is using Google Earth Images, did you ever wonder why they compare 2006 vs 2016? That is because it is easy to project the wrong figure that way. Why 2006 and 2016? Pick 1993 and 1995 instead!

I can argue that Isha Foundation has caused lot of afforestation in the Velliangiri Hills since they came to be in 1994!!

Check out: https://earthengine.google.com/timelapse/#v=10.98082,76.7275,11.973,latLng&t=1.95

Generally, clarity of Satellite images are subject to so many factors including:

- Season in which the photo is taken
- Time of the day
- Even the Algorithms that process the raw image taken

Why do you think pictures taken in recent years are sharper? Did someone go up and change the cameras in those satellites?

This is the Google maps image I picked up today (July 2018). See how different it looks from the alleged map of 2016 to now or even compared to the Google Earth images from 1993!

You can check it for yourself by visiting this link: https://www.google.co.in/maps/place/Isha+Foundation/@10.9785793,76.7325588,3015m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x3ba8576b1434d763:0x2327c3abe1d98040!8m2!3d10.9772294!4d76.7373321

Of course, Isha Foundation might have expanded their campus by buying the nearby lands to accommodate more people within their premises. That does not mean, they destroyed a whole forest as is being claimed!!

Saravanan himself had later published an apology that his initial analysis was incorrect!

No land of Isha Foundation is on forest area but the allegation had by then caught the attention of vested interests who spread it like wild-fire for gullible public to consume.

Here are some excellent posts by someone who had made extensive study about this topic:

http://qr.ae/TUIkjY

http://qr.ae/TUIkjP

To quote from these posts:

"There is one route going towards left and that is path to forest and in the junction, there is forest department check post. in the middle of the picture you can notice there is one path going left and that path is way to vellingiri temple and each year many people visit this place and climb vellingiri mountain and above that path is the start of velligiri mountain. Vertical road from bottom to top which connects these 2 path is boundary between forest and agriculture land. 

Between path to vellingiri temple and path towards forest is plains and it is covered by forest and there is a possibility of elephant in this area when weather is very dry. To reach isha we have to go 1 km from there. 

West side of isha is covered by mountains and east side is covered by agriculture lands. Mostly elephant will not walk in slopes and that restrict elephant movement after the path to vellingiri nathar temple. 

Only the path which goes to isha crossing vellingiri temple will be blocked after night 8 or 9 by forest department to ensure safety. Inside isha there is no warning or fear of elephants even in dark. No one reported elephant movement. Mountain slope should have restricted elephant movement. 

Towards east of isha yoga center you can see lot of agriculture lands if there are any elephant movement in those place people would not prefer it for agriculture. 

Now as visitors has increased isha has shifted the entrance to malai vasal which is away from this road."

"The whole area that extends to the left side of this road marked spottily by green and brown spots is the actual forest / hilly area. On this side of the picture, the brown spots indicate the rocky surface whereas the greenery indicates trees in the hilly area. 

It can be seen in the bottom right corner of where the AdiYogi statue is, well into the area where Agri lands are. In fact, right behind the AdiYogi statue is a place called ‘Karthik Farms’ which is someone’s private agricultural property. It is quite obvious from the map that the AdiYogi statue is not in forest area."

It is a shame that some of these people spreading such false information about the Isha Foundation claim to be environmentalists but are actually paid activists. People fall victim to such false allegations because of their own genuine concern towards the environment. But they do not know to ascertain the facts properly.

These lies about Isha cutting down trees or building statues in a forest land are easy to spread mainly because Isha Foundation’s lands are "near the forest" though it is not actually in the forest land itself.


(2) The definition of Forest cover is all encompassing irrespective of the ownership of the land

Since the Forest Department's definition of Forest Cover includes even private lands (> 1 hectare area with > 10% tree cover), easily Isha Foundation's lands fall into that category. But the Forest Department also says that legality & ownership of such lands can be private! It's clear in its definition that such places do not fall into the 'FOREST AREA' category. But general public might not be aware of such nuances. 

We have a fairly common vision in our minds on how a forest would appear, something like this ...

But each type of forest is different. A Dense Forest looks different from a Moderately Dense Forest which is again appearing different from an Open Forest area!

Now, the lands near (and outside) the Isha Foundation look like this:

This does not even seem close to what an Open Forest would be. But for people who do not know about all these types of forests, etc. it is easy to misunderstand and for vested interests quite easy to misrepresent that Isha Foundation's lands are indeed Forest lands whereas they seem to be clearly not!

(3) The Tamilnadu Forest cover has actually increased if you compare reports from 2011 to 2017!

Here are the links to the official Forest Department reports:

https://www.forests.tn.gov.in/tnforest/app/webroot/img/document/fsi-reports/2013/FOREST-COVER-2013.pdf

https://www.forests.tn.gov.in/app/webroot/img/document/fsi-reports/2017/FOREST-COVER.pdf

Let's look at the Forest cover areas of different types of forests in Tamilnadu:

VDF area in Sq Km -  2011: 2948    2013: 2948 2017: 3672
MDF area in Sq Km - 2011: 10321   2013: 10199 2017: 10979
OF area in   Sq Km -  2011: 10356   2013: 10697 2017: 11630

How can that be!? How has there been an increase in the actual forest area between 2011 and 2017 if we keep hearing that trees are being cut down and the dooms day is nearby?

Simple - because our minds like exaggeration, media feeds only such information to us. 

This rise in forest cover is due to active reforestation work done by several organizations across the state of Tamilnadu! 

The positive information like Isha Foundation's Project Green Hands team  distributing and taking care of over 3 crore tree saplings + efforts by individuals like Tamil Actor Vivek, Parthiban, etc. rarely makes it through media. And we are partly to blame for that. We ask for sensation only and media feeds it to us constantly!

Finally,

It is up to us to find the truth for ourselves. I have given all publicly available links here. This can all be easily verifiable. The next time someone tells you that Isha Foundation has caused environmental damage, please show them this detailed article. 

Let's spread around only Love!

Science and Yogic Culture - Tasting the same divine

I happened to see some people under the guise of scientists making fun of Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev's comments on Twitter, by selectively taking them out of context and making videos out of it.

It is ironic that technology can be used by anybody to suit their needs but if one pays sufficient attention, the bluff can be easily called off.

Here is gem #1.

“Today modern science has admitted that it’s an ever-expanding universe or an endless universe, rather ever expanding is a yogic term, they are calling it a endless universe" ... admitted 😁 

Let's explore this first before going into others.

Till 1998, scientists did believe that the universe CANNOT be ever expanding. Till then, most popular Physicists thought the expansion of universe after the big bang would slow down and that eventually gravity would pull the parts of the cosmos back in. But then, they found that not only was the expansion not slowing down, it was speeding up. The universe was expanding at an accelerating rate.

Saul Perlmutter shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in physics for his discovery that the universe was expanding at an accelerating rate. Perlmutter explains how supernovae and other astronomical artifacts are used to measure the expansion rate, and explains what physicists are learning about "dark energy" — the mysterious entity thought to be driving the acceleration.

The source for all the arguments above has been Published by National Public Radio (USA): https://www.npr.org/2013/05/10/182861376/exploring-an-ever-expanding-universe

Apparently, the critics of Sadhguru indeed have no clue that physicists themselves have changed their stance fairly recently and 'admitting' that this is an ever expanding universe.

Though the discovery was done in 1998, further studies were conducted thereafter and the Nobel prize was given in 2011 only. However, the expanding theory of universe was not an unknown phenomenon even before 1998. Professor Arthur Holmes (1895-1965), a geologist & professor at the University of Durham, writes regarding the age of the earth in his great book, The Age of Earth (1913) as follows:

"Long before it became a scientific aspiration to estimate the age of the earth, many elaborate systems of the world chronology had been devised by the sages of antiquity. The most remarkable of these occult time-scales is that of the ancient Hindus, whose astonishing concept of the Earth's duration has been traced back to Manusmriti, a sacred book."

Mr Holmes had already mentioned in his 1913 book about the Hindu calculation of the present age of the earth and the expanding universe theory from ancient Hindu calculations.

Dick Teresi is the author and coauthor of several books about science and technology, including The God Particle. He is cofounder of Omni magazine and has written for Discover, The New York Times Magazine, and The Atlantic Monthly. Here are his words about Indian culture's contribution to cosmology:

"Indian cosmologists are the first to estimate the age of the earth at more than 4 billion years. They came closest to modern ideas of atomism, quantum physics, and other current theories. India developed very early, enduring atomist theories of matter. Possibly Greek atomistic thought was influenced by India, via the Persian civilization."

One should go through Teresi's book from 2002 "Lost Discoveries: The Ancient Roots of Modern Science - from the Babylonians to the Maya" to better understand the intertwining of scientific and cultural aspects in ancient civilizations.

In the yogic culture, there are countless stories about the cycle of destruction of universe through Pralaya and Srushti the creation. Lord Shiva's Thandava dance is supposed to be a symbolism of the cyclical nature of creation / destruction and expansion / contraction.

According to Hindu Vedic cosmology, there is no absolute start to time, as it is considered infinite and cyclic. Similarly, the space and universe has neither start nor end, rather it is cyclical per Vedic cosmology. 

Modern scientists are making an assumption that what is infinite can only be cyclical, ascertaining their view of universe, deriving their theories out of Vedic scriptures.

The current universe is just the start of a present cycle preceded by an infinite number of universes and to be followed by another infinite number of universes. Modern Science, on the other hand, is still dealing with only the current universe. Actually, the ultra-modern theory of parallel universes originates from the idea of infinite number of universes.

Ancient Hindu scientists predicted that the cycle of creation and destruction continues forever & symbolized it in Shiva's form, as one who holds the drum that sounds the universe’s creation in his right hand and the flame that, billions of years later, will destroy the universe in his left.

In  his landmark TV series Cosmos, Carl Sagan called Hinduism as the only religion whose time-scale for the universe matches the billions of years documented by modern science. Sagan filmed that segment in a Hindu temple (Chidambaram Nataraja temple) featuring a statue of the god Shiva as the cosmic dancer, an image that now stands in the plaza of the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Geneva.

So, clearly the joke is on those trying to make fun of Sadhguru with half-baked knowledge of both science and ancient Indian culture. 

True Science does not bother where its inspiration to genius comes from, only some fake scientists do. 

My encounter with the enlightened - part 1

Life changes and this in itself is known to everyone! However, there are 10x events for some people in their lives, where a single event or person changes the life course itself, in short 'a life changing experience'! Here is one from my life ...

Back in 2003, I used to read a lot of  'spiritual junk' and used to consider myself knowledgeable in that area. But I had not known much about Isha foundation or Sadhguru for that matter. Having heard some of His discourses over tape (this was before CDs became popular) and admiring His logical sequencing & content per se was probably my first step towards the path not known experientially to me.

On a casual evening, Abi and I came to know about the Isha Yoga program happening in Mambalam. Abi & her sister had come with the required money to join the program. But by the time, I went to the ATM to get the money and come back, the registration was full for the program and I could not join that session. 

Not being used to failure (most of my previous experience was only in academics), I was just furious and that fury forced me to look at doing at least one program with Isha at the same time! So, without realizing what I was getting into, I registered immediately for the Hatha Yoga program happening in the Ashram and went there the same weekend Abi was getting initiated into Shakti Chalana Kriya (earlier - Sahaja Sthithi Yoga). 

After my return to Chennai from the program, with a broken back and slightly mauled ego after intense Hatha yoga, Abi was bubbling to share how wonderful the Isha program was. I admit being a bit baffled and immediately wanted to go for the next Isha Yoga program.

The second time around, registration happened fine but I stayed the previous evening at a friend's place (absolutely unlikely of me) and did not get up early enough on time for my morning class! I was close to tears when I woke up in the morning and in fact remember blasting Abi for not waking me up early - poor thing!! But she spoke to the teacher from Ashram and arranged for me to attend the class in that evening. I was just so thankful for her. 

From next day on, I was promptly attending the morning classes by myself. Considering myself an intellectual, I immersed myself in the class content because it was so logical and structured, yet peeling off my ego layer by layer. We went on to attend the Bhava Spandana program in 2003 itself. What happens in BSP  is not for me to put in words. It was way beyond me and I understood finally that even intellectually, this was something just beyond my grasp. 

At the end of it, I knew I can never be the same again and was bubbling to share the same with everyone. So, people who know me before 2003 & post 2003 and have actually observed me, would know the change. If observers say I have become bolder, more efficient at work, more loving in personal life, less angry at work & at home, etc. etc. as the key things, those may be just side effects. 

I know now that the seed He had sown in me had started sprouting and that was changing the way I was looking at things. But the dormancy effect took over as I got slowly back into the rut of life and the next 10x event had to wait for some more time ...

Soundarya Lahari (Short version)

These are the Soundarya Lahari lyrics, again taken from a web site (http://www.sankaracharya.org/soundarya_lahari.php) but modified as sung on the Ye Devi CD from Isha foundation. Another brilliant composition from Isha :)


Mahim muladhare kamapi manipure huthavaham
Sthitham svadhistane hridi marutamakasam upari;
Mano'pi bhruu-madhye sakalamapi bhittva kula-patham
Sahasrare padme saha rahasi patyaa viharase.

Sudha-dhara-sarais carana-yugalanta vigalitaih
Prapancham sinchanti punarapi ras'amnaya-mahasah;
Avapya svam bhumim bhujaga-nibham adhyusta-valayam
Svam atmanam krtva svapishi kulakunde kuharini.

Jagat suthe dhata harir avati rudrah kshapayate
Tiraskurvan etat svam api vapurisastirayati;
Sada-purvah sarvam tad idamanugrhnati cha Shiva-
Stavajnam aalambya kshana-chalitayor bhru-latikayoh.

Japo jalpah shilpam sakalam api mudra-virachana
Gatih pradaksinya-kramanam asanady'ahuti-vidhih;
Pranamah samvesah sukham akilam atmarpana-drsa
Saparya-paryayas tava bhavatu yan me vilasitam.

Thava swadhishtane huthavahamadhishtaya niratham
Thameede sarvatha janani mahathim tham cha samayam
Yadhaloke lokan dhahathi mahasi krodha kalithe
Dhayardhra ya drushti sishiramupacharam rachayathi.

Thavadhare mole saha samayaya lasyaparaya
Navathmanam manye navarasa maha thandava natam;
Ubhabhya Methabhyamudaya vidhi muddhisya dhayaya
Sanadhabyam jagne janaka jananimatha jagathidam.

Vibhaktha-traivarnyam vyatikaritha-lila'njanathaya
Vibhati tvan-netra-trithayam idam Isana-dayite;
Punah strashtum devan Druhina-Hari-Rudran uparatan
Rajah sattvam vibhrat thama ithi gunanam trayam iva.

Mahim muladhare kamapi manipure huthavaham!

Space car!

I have been visiting the Isha Yoga center at Coimbatore and the Dhyanalinga quite a few times in the last few years. Every time I go there, the very atmosphere is so different and energized that it feels like I am stepping into a totally different world while coming out from the Ashram.

But I never imagined a space that I constantly live / move in could also begin to feel like that and of all places, my car!! Almost every day after attending the consecration I have travelled in the car, I keep chanting the Bhairavi Satakam, Sthuthi, Naga Mantra. It has not been many days. But of late, I have begun to notice that it feels so different to be in the car!

This could be nothing, in my opinion, but the Devi's grace and am sure I am not imagining things. It is just a pleasure nowadays to drive, even amidst heavy Chennai traffic. I am sure people from Chennai would be surprised to know that I am now looking out for staying in traffic because I get more time in the car for my chanting!You probably think am plain crazy :)

Fiercely Beautiful!

Do I feel good to be back at home? Not really .. For the first time ever in my life, I feel like I have left some part of me at the place of visit. In case you are wondering what the heck am talking about, you should have been there at the Isha Yoga Center in Coimbatore for Linga Bhairavi Devi consecration.

As Sadhguru said, it is certainly a once in a lifetime opportunity or probably a once in several lifetimes opportunity. I am sure pretty much everyone who was part of it should be feeling the same way. Linga Bhairavi devi is supposed to be fiercely and wonderfully feminine at the same time. I do not know about the fierce part of her really because all I could see was the beauty and she has certainly taken my mind & heart. Still cannot forget the first sight of her!

She is "the most beautiful" among the goddesses I have seen so far in my life - so glorious and so full of life, you could feel it quite tangibly just by looking at her! This consecration was a prana prathista unlike the mantra prathista that happens usually at temples (even that does not happen properly in most places). But when "the man himself" is leading it, you could be sure it would be the most fantastic consecration that could take place. And it was. :)

If anybody does not get to see the devi in their life, they would not know what they have missed. But when they do come to know, it would be so painful to have missed out on something so fabulous and spectacular. I am not a great Bhakta or one who prays even irregularly (used to be so as a child but left that looong back), but I certainly am praying for Sadhguru's & Linga Bhairavi Devi's blessings, so a part of her at least will stay forever with me.

A tiresome, disturbing weekend

Kicked around, Beaten, Battered and Bruised! That's exactly how I felt on Sunday evening after two seemingly gruelling days (phew .. all this on a weekend!).

Visit from a friend and a causal roam-around plan turned tiresome due to the heavy (more like crazy) traffic. Add to that handling my kid when my wife is down with cold & illness was not an easy task at all. Since it has been almost 6 months since my wrist accident & I had stopped doing hatha yoga, I resumed the 'Surya Namaskar' from Thursday. My body did not take it easy though I have kept the count low to 3 only! Hmm .. that is some perspective on how physically 'fit' I have 'not' been :))

BTW I almost completed seeing 'The dark knight' movie yesterday and found it quite ... disturbing. Yes, the special effects are awesome, the human element has been very clear, the action is superb. But what with all the negativity? I could not take it beyond a level! Mind you, I am not an eternal optimist myself - am still subject to all human emotions. When threatened and pushed to a corner, not everyone can be expected to behave rationally and not always!!

Some might say 'that is exactly the point being proven by the film'. But my retort is 'why make it so explicit'. When people do not think about these things in their day-to-day life, why 'inject' it unnecessarily? If you are thinking 'well...the movie does prove at the end that people could behave rationally after an initial outburst' and 'people might not think about it in their normal lives but should they not be?', my answer is a plain 'no'! No, they should not be thinking about how to deal with some freaks like these and rather focus on how to take positive steps forward in life. That is the only way we as a humanity can progress rather than keep licking the wounds. Hate has never won anything else but hate. But love has won over hate many a time.

Ask any of the family members who have lost their lives in the Mumbai terror attacks and you will see the outrage in their eyes & speech as to the political and to a certain extent the civilian ineptness that led to it. If someone thinks 'it has been injected to them' now, they are damn right! There are even so many articles and blogs on the internet dealing with this subject. But what is the point of it all? What good has come out of it?

One sentence that keeps recurring to my mind from the movie 'the bulletproof monk' is 'tell me dear, would you like to be in the position of one who shoots the bullet or the one who is kneeling down to take the bullet?' I have been wondering for a very long time now - why even create a situation where one has to shoot and one take the bullet? Why not make an environment, a situation where one shoots out love and the other receives it? Shouldn't that be the goal of humanity? I don't know, but would love to think so :)