Spiritual guide, social activist
Mumtaz Ali
IF EAST-West encounter furthered inter-religious dialogue and understanding in the last century, the millennium summit of spiritual leaders in August 2000 held under the auspices of the United Nations with the initiative of an interfaith coalition must be seen as the harbinger of the role religion will play in the public domain in this age. Globalisation is redefining the influence of religion in the public sphere and, religious and spiritual leaders who sense the winds of change are rising to this challenge by adopting a syncretic approach to ensure peace in society by underscoring that all religions ultimately lead to the same truth. "M", who shuns categorisation, personifies this emerging trend in spirituality.
Mumtaz Ali, who prefers to refer to himself as "M", the founder of the Satsangh Foundation, which has its headquarters in Bangalore is a spiritual guide, family man and a social development activist. "When you serve a less fortunate person in any way, material or spiritual, you are not doing him a favour. In fact, he who receives your help does you a favour by accepting what you give, and thereby helps you to evolve and move closer to the divine blissful being who in reality is within you and in the hearts of all beings," sums up his philosophy of life. He had this profound vision when as a seeker of truth he met his spiritual teacher at Vyasa's cave during his peregrinations in the Himalayas and from then on there was no looking back. This meeting effected an enduring change in his consciousness and his life's mission became clear to him: "to spread the message of Vedanta and light the lamp of soul-splendour even in the darkest places."
Recently in the city, to render a series of lectures on the Dhyana yoga section of the Bhagavad Gita, he is an exemplar of the fact that the experiential core of all religions is universal. Born into a Deccani Muslim family settled in Tiruvananthapuram, his spiritual quest began when he was hardly eight-years-old. He had a vision of his Guru who initiated him and promised that he would guide him unfailingly in his quest. Guidance came also through many spiritual masters, Yogis, fakirs and his search took him all over the country and to the hallowed spots in the Himalayas.
After his formal education he became an itinerant and following his Guru's instructions he spent many more years closely observing the activities of various spiritual leaders before launching the Satsangh Foudation. During that period he was, among other things, a Brahmachari in the Ramakrishna Mission and was initiated by Swami Tapasyanandaji, a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna. He also had close contact with the great thinker, J. Krishnamurti during the last two years of his life and was a trustee of The Krishnamurti Foundation for five years. His eclectic exposure has enabled him to be at home in the lore of all religions and their inner mysticism, and his penchant for referring to himself as "M" is a mark of his discarding what he calls, "the outer shell of all formal religions." He offers a holistic approach to live in the world and yet rise to the heights of spiritual experience. "Go to the core," he says, "theories are useless."
M lives in the outskirts of Madanapalle in Andhra Pradesh where he set up the Satsangh Vidyalaya, a school for the tribal village settlement of the Lambanis called the Sugali Tanda in 1999. The teachers for this school are trained by the Rishi Valley Rural School located close by. The Satsangh Foundation intends to adopt the entire village to develop and revive their traditional arts and crafts, which are slowly becoming extinct. Other developmental activities include an old age home and a co-educational residential school, the Peepul Grove, at Sodam located between Madanapalle and Tirupati.
Slated to become functional in the next academic year, this is a school conceived with M's vision to provide young learners an environment to develop a holistic perspective of life. The formal curriculum will be the ICSE syllabus and the other courses will include Sanskrit, comparative religion, non-denominational meditation, fine arts and crafts so that students do not get bogged down in the academic schedule. M conducts retreats and personally guides spiritual seekers apart from giving public lectures, which take him round the globe.
In Dubai recently his lecture on the spirit of Hindu religion had a good response also from the Arabs who attended it. (The Satsangh Foundation, 151, Jewellers' Street, Bangalore-560001. Tel: 91-80-25589546)
SUDHAKSHINA RANGASWAMY
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