There was quite a bit of sweating and crying going on during the National Spelling Bee finals today. Not so much among the contestants—they mostly were calm and composed. I was the one with jangling nerves and teary eyes during the competition.
I’d never watched the National Spelling Bee before. I needed some mindless TV entertainment to pay bills by, so I channel-surfed my way to ESPN. It took me a long time to write the checks once I got hooked on the highly mindful spelling competition. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the children who strode one by one up to the front of the stage and confidently tackled words that I had never even heard of, much less spelled.
You need to know your Latin, Greek, and French roots to be a champion speller, that’s for sure. Otherwise, the finalists had diverse spelling styles. Some would scribble out the word on a placard hanging around their neck before saying their final answer. Others would simply look into the distance and spell a word letter by letter, visualizing it mentally rather than physically.
The top three spellers apparently were all ethnic Indians, at least in part: Anurag Kashyap spelled “appoggiatura” correctly to become the champion (it means “an embellishing note or tone”). Samir Sudhir Patel missed a letter in “roscian” (“skilled in acting”) and earned second place. A girl, Aliya Robin Deri, flamed out on “trouvaille” (“a lucky find”), one of the few champion-level words that I actually knew how to spell myself.
The CNN article above has a “test your spelling skills” link where you can get a mild taste for the competition. Mild, because you’re presented with four alternative spellings for a word that you’re given the phonetic pronunciation and definition for, and merely have to choose the correct one. I got nine out of ten correct, uttering a coarse expletive when I missed #10 and my chance to “rule the hive.”
By contrast, Anurag, Samir, and Aliya were perfectly courteous whether in victory or defeat. These are three hugely impressive children, as were the rest of the contestants. And again, all Indian.
I mention their ethnicity not because it has anything to do with being a champion speller (though perhaps it does), but to contrast what I saw on the stage of the National Spelling Bee with the America that I earlier saw William Simon (a conservative who ran for governor of California in 2002) expounding on C-Span.
Simon was giving some sort of Heritage Foundation talk, judging by the banner hanging behind his podium. He was blathering on, as is his wont, about how the United States is a Christian nation, with 90% of our citizens believing in Jesus. Simon said that religion (Christianity, obviously) should be taught in schools because it is so obviously part of our culture.
A Pakistani audience member rose and told Simon that he couldn’t believe in Christ, but that the Koran contained many references to Jesus and Mary. He wondered what sort of place he had in America, given Simon’s remarks.
It was interesting to see how William Simon changed his tune when faced with a real live non-Christian standing before him, rather than with merely his own abstract political/theological notions. Here he was, having to answer an obviously intelligent, concerned, caring person who didn’t believe how he did.
Simon said that everybody had a right to their own faith or lack of faith, but that 90% of Americans believed in a higher power. A few minutes before it was “in Jesus;” now it was “in a higher power.” Such is the slipperiness of politicians confronted with their own bigotry and desiring to appear more broad-minded than they really are.
I didn’t see any religion displayed on the stage of the National Spelling Bee. Why would I? It didn’t have any place there. Nor does it in our public schools, except in an educational sense. Children should learn about religions in the classroom; but they shouldn’t practice religion in the classroom.
About 74% of the people of India are Hindu; 12% are Muslim; 6% are Christian. Probably the breakdown of Indians living in the United States is around the same, which means that it is highly unlikely that the three spelling champions I watched on ESPN today all believe in Jesus. Yet William Simon and other Christian-right zealots want to have Christianity become the state religion and be practiced openly in the classroom.
Observing the intelligence, poise, and character of Anurag, Samir, and Aliya today, what I want taught in the classroom is what they have learned. It doesn’t have anything to do with religion; it has everything to do with realizing the full potential of being human.
William Simon has much to learn in this regard. Those three children could teach him a lot.
DEAR WHOMSOEVER IT MAY CONCERN
HAVE READ YOUR BOOK LIFE IS FAIR AND THOUGHT IT WAS AN EXCELLENT PIECE OF WORK.HAVE READ ALL YOUR CRITICAL TREATISES IN THE BLOGS GIVEN IN YOUR WEBSITE.RIGHT UP FRONT I TELL YOU I MAKE NO CLAIMS OF INTELLECUALITY OR MEASURE MY SELF IN FRONT OF YOUR LITERY ACHIEVEMENTS. BY RIGHTS I SHOULD NOT BE EVEN ANSWERING THIS MAIL AS IT SHOWS AN EGO DRIVEN MIND BUT WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT SIMPLICITY IS THE RIGHT APPROACH TO MEDITATION. INSTEAD OF DISSECTING A GIVEN PATH(RSSB) WOULDNT IT JUST BE SIMPLER TO JUST SIT DOWN AND DO YOUR MEDITATION INSTEAD OF INTELLECTUALLY SPLICING THE PATH AND TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT GOD IS THROUGHT KNOWLEDGE RATHER THAN EXPERIENCE.AT NO POINT (AT LEAST IN MY JOURNEY ON THE PATH )HAVE WE BEEN ASKED TO FAWN OVER THE GURU OR INDULGE IN GURU WORSHIP.WE SEE HIM AS A SPIRITUAL GUIDE AND A FRIEND, ONE TO WHICH WE HAVE LIMITED ACCESS TO . BUT THE PATH HAS BEEN LAID DOWN AND INSTRUCTIONS BEEN GIVE WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE FOR GOD REALISATION AND SELF REALISATION.HAVE BEEN ASKED ON OCCASION TO DO SATSANGS BUT FEEL ITS A WASTE OF TIME . IF I CANNOT BETTER MYSELF WHAT WOULD BE THE POINT TO SIT DOWN AND REPRESENT THE MASTER TO GIVE HIS WORD EVERY SUNDAY MORNING. I THINK THE KEY LIES IN NOT TAKING OURSELVES TOOO SERIOUSLY . I THINK IT WOULD BE JUST TO SAY THAT WHEN IT COMES TO GOD REALISATION A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF SELF CENTEREDNESS IS NEEDED .LIKE MINDING MY OWN BUSINESS INSTEAD OF LOOKING OVER MY SHOULDER AND SEEING WHAT OTHERS ARE DOING ...LIKE THE THE NIKE AD PROCLAIMS THE WORD OF WISDOM "JUST DO IT "
DONT EXPECT RESULTS AND DONT SEE WHAT OTHERS ARE DOING....EVEN IF IT DOES NOT BRING THE DESIRED RESULT IT WILL SURELY MAKE YOU A BETTER PERSON
SEAN
Posted by: sean | June 03, 2005 at 05:42 AM
Indians do not see others as a diffrnt from their on religious backgrounds but only after arriving in west i realise that i am different from others.Most of the people(except politicians) living in indian metro cities believe in one lord .This hate is spread or cultivated by the politicians only.
Posted by: ADA | June 03, 2005 at 07:27 AM
Sean, I entirely agree with you that experience is the thing--not thinking. And I agree that simplicity in meditation, or anywhere else, is better than complexity. However, I also believe that being honest with yourself is key to finding both real experience and real simplicity.
That is, if I'm still thinking, and am still complex, then that's what I am. I don't write about anything that I am not feeling and experiencing at the moment. If I have thoughts about spirituality, then I write about those thoughts. If not, then I don't.
I look forward to the day (I think) when I don't feel compelled to share myself, but just to experience myself. So far, obviously, that day hasn't come.
Regarding the guru, I would take issue with your point about not being expected to engage in guru-worship on "the path." I've been to countless satsangs over the past 35 or so years, and virtually every one (other than the ones I've given) has stressed the importance of guru-bhakti (guru-love).
A central tenet in the Radha Soami faith is that the guru is God, and is to be regarded as God. I realize that the Gurus themselves don't usually say that directly, but they allow their disciples to say it without objection--which amounts to the same thing.
I've come to believe that this is dishonest, because people shouldn't confidently put forward truths that they don't know to be true. Only a guru knows who the guru is; anyone else doesn't. Similarly, only I know who I am, and only you know who you are (theoretically, at least; practically, we don't even know ourselves, much less anyone else).
On the whole, though, I agree with the thrust of your remarks. Good advice for me and everyone, really. Thanks for writing.
Posted by: Brian | June 03, 2005 at 12:57 PM