21st July 2024
We are delighted to have our longtime friend and NTI alumni Peter de Graaff facilitate this Sunday’s check-in session.
Peter will talk about rasa or aesthetic sensation in Indian religious experience and literature.
The word rasa quite literally means taste, flavour, sap,
quality or aesthetic sensation. In ancient India rasa was applied not only in numerous arts such as poetry, drama and literature but also in descriptions of religious experience. It was a way to suggest and arouse emotions in readers and audiences across a range of traditions including those pursuing asceticism and renunciation.
The nine rasas are: the amorous or loving (śṛṅgāra), the comic (hāsya) the tragic or compassionate (karuṇa), the furious or cruel (raudra), heroic (vīra), the dreadful or fearsome (bhayāka), the gruesome or loathsome (bībhatsā), the wondrous (adbhuta) and the peaceful (śānta). We often encounter these in our daily lives.
Peter asks us to consider the following questions:
- Which of the rasas or aesthetic sensations do you esteem least or more highly, and why?
- How do you believe any of these aesthetic sensations or rasas can be applied to better the world?