Tamils - a Nation without a State

"To us all towns are one, all men our kin.
Life's good comes not from others' gift, nor ill
Man's pains and pains' relief are from within.
Thus have we seen in visions of the wise !."
-
Tamil Poem in Purananuru, circa 500 B.C 

Whats New Tamil Eelam  Tamils -  a Nation without a State  Beyond Tamil Nation Unfolding Consciousness Comments

"Whatever may be said, whosoever may say it -  to determine the truth of it, is wisdom" - Thirukural

   also Advanced Search  

Site Awards, Reviews & Listings  including the Australian National University Asian Studies WWW Monitor  top five star 5star rating for tamilnation.org  [A well organised, and extensively annotated guide to Tamil-related resources - ed.] Research usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: Essential

தமிழ் தாய் வாழ்த்து

[to read Tamil text please install a Tamil Unicode font from here - for detailed help please see Tamil Fonts & Software]


Tamil Nation Library

"It is remarkable how much a thirty-second  pictogram of nationalism can reveal of one’s understanding. I  ask my students to draw such a pictogram in the beginning of the discussion (on nationalism). They invariably draw flags and/or people with guns. When I ask them for a pictogram of nationalism at the end of the discussion, the emblem changes completely: they draw a globe and little unarmed people, who sometime say things like: "oh, my identity!" For flags and guns do not even begin to express what is central and most significant about nationalism..." Nationalism and the Mind  - Liah Greenfeld quoted in What is a Nation - Nadesan Satyendra

Nationalism and the Mind

"...The task of intellectuals in nations without states involves the constant actualization of the nationalist ideology to respond to the community's needs. His or her job is one of service to society... intellectuals are subversive and construct a discourse which undermines the legitimacy of the current order of things. They denounce the nation's present situation within the state and offer an alternative to it by promoting the conditions and processes of conflict. In so doing they become 'creators and leaders in the production of new state structures, new Gestalts of power and ideology'..." Nations without States: Political Communities in a Global Age, by Montserrat Guibernau

   "I desire that I write for myself alone. It is when that which is buried in me finds expression in words, that I myself come to truly know what was buried in me. It may well be that the reason that I write is because I feel that I may discover more and more and come to know what else may be inside me. As I continue to write, and as more and more experiences unfold from within me, and as I become subject to these experiences, it seems to me that I may, in a way, make it possible for me to know who I am.  

There are those who find that the words that I write to understand about myself, also help them to understand themselves. They are my readers. When they hear that the key that I fashioned for my lock, may also open their locks, they come in search of my house. When they come, it appears to me that it is entirely appropriate that I should share my understanding... 

So that a writer may protect this nature, this way of  life, I value freedom of expression as the most important freedom. I cannot say that at the present time I have sufficient courage or awareness of truth to practice that which I have so easily described. These are qualities that I will need to develop. I believe that it will be possible for me to do so..." Sundara Ramasamy (translation by Nadesan Satyendra from the Tamil original)

"..Leader presumes follower. Follower presumes choice... In a very real sense, followers lead by choosing where to be led. Where an organised community will be led is inseparable from the shared values and beliefs of its members..." - Dee Hock - The Art of Chaordic Leadership
Mission: tamilnation.org is concerned to tell a story. ..It is a story of a nation without a state, a trans state nation of people of  more than 80 million Tamils  living today in many lands and across distant seas... .. about their shared heritage...  their rich language & literature... ... their vibrant culture..... their valour and ideals ...It  is a story about those who contributed to the Tamil renaissance of the 19th & 20th centuries.... But it is not a story simply about the past. It is a story about the present and of  a trans state nation of people who seek  to rid themselves of the divisions amongst them - be it rooted in  caste or race or religion or  gender...It is also  a story about the future and the determined aspiration of a nation of people who seek to live in equality and in freedom with the other nations of the world ... It is a story of the heroic struggle of the  people of Tamil Eelam for freedom from alien Sinhala rule...It is  a story about the growing togetherness of a trans state nation of people in an unfolding digital age - a digital age which has rendered State boundaries  increasingly porous and  where deep rooted kinship ties are finding fresh avenues for expression...It is a story about a trans state nation of people who seek to  meaningfully contribute to an emerging one world, unfolding from matter to life to mind ...
 
 

Vannakam, Welcome...
"...அரிய சாதனைகள் செய்யப்படுவது வலிமையினால் அல்ல
-  விடா முயற்சியினால்தான்..."


தமிழ் அகம்

What is a Nation? "Nations are as much cultural as political forms and the creation of a unique high culture of world significance is often central to their legitimation..."

1. "Nation building is rightly, though at times excessively, associated with political and social processes. Yet, it is not confined to national liberation movements, charismatic leaders and liberators, wars of national independence, and the struggle of national entities to emerge to independence from a position of relative powerlessness and subservience to a dominant power. Nations are as much cultural as political forms, and the creation of a unique high culture of world significance is often central to their legitimation. True, the effects of culture are not as clearly quantifiable as those of politics. The effect of  Verdi, for example, on Italian nationalism is hardly as clear cut as that of Garibaldi. Wagner's impact on German nationalism is amorphous alongside the concrete political achievement of Bismarck. William Butler Yeats' influence on Irish nationalism is not as definable as that of Michael Collins or Eamon De Valera. The inspiration of Chaim Nachman Bialik on Jewish nationalism is diffuse in comparison with that of Herzl.  Yet it may be argued justly that artists have equal if not greater importance. They above all express the nation's distinctiveness; their creativity is part of the momentum to independence; they are themselves symbols and icons of the nation's unique creative power; they regenerate their nation morally and speak for its heart and conscience." -  John Hutchinson, European Institute, London School of Economics and David Aberbach, Department of Jewish Studies, McGill University, Quebec, Canada in Nations & Nationalism, Volume 4, 1999

Velupillai Pirabakaran2. "..மொழியும், கலையும் கலாசாரமும்  வளம் பெற்று வளர்ச்சியும் உயர்ச்சியும் அடையும பொழுதே தேசிய இனக் கட்டமைப்பு இறுக்கம் பெறுகின்றது. பலம் பெறுகின்றது. மனித வாழ்வும் சமூக உறவுகளும் மேன்மை பெறுகின்றது. தேசிய நாகரிகம் உன்னதம் பெறுகின்றது.." Velupillai Pirabakaran

tamilnation.org is concerned to tell a story... It is a story  about  a nation without a state - a  trans state nation of more than 80 million Tamils  living today in many lands and across distant seas...

- in Australia - Andhra Pradesh -Bahrain  - Botswana - Canada  - Delhi  - Denmark - Eelam  - Fiji - Finland - France - Germany - Guadelope & Martinique - Hong KongIndonesia - Italy Karnataka - Kerala  -  Kuwait - Maharashtra - Malaysia - Manipur - Mauritius - Myanmar - Netherlands  - New Caledonia & Tahiti - New Zealand - Norway - Quatar - Reunion  - Saudi Arabia - Seychelles - Singapore - South Africa   -  SwedenSwitzerland -Tamil Nadu - Trinidad   - United Arab Emirates - United KingdomUSA -...

It is a story of the heroic struggle of Tamil Eelam for freedom from alien Sinhala rule...

... it is a story about their shared heritage and their homeland

Tamil Homeland

Indus

Chera

Chola

Pandya

Kappal Otiya..

... their rich language & literature...


Thirukural

Auvayar

Tholkappiyam
Project Madurai
Project Madurai

Kannagi

Sangam

Kamban
Bharathy - Jayalakshmi Satyendra
Bharathy

Paventhar

Kalki

Kannadasan

Kasiananthan

Eelam

... their vibrant culture...

Savitri by Jayalakshmi SAtyendra
Art

Architecture

Sculpture

Festivals

Dance

Music

Cuisine

... their memories, their  valour and ideals ...


Purananuru

Hero Stones

Kattabomman

Thevar

Sivam

It  is a story about those who contributed to the Tamil renaissance of the 19th & 20th centuries.


Coomaraswamy

Annadurai

U.Ve.Sa
Kamarajar
Kamaraj

Balasaraswati

Thaninayagam

Ramanujan
Subbulakshmi,  M.S.
MS

MGR

Maraimalai

... But it is not a story simply about the past. It is a story about the present and of  a trans state nation of people who are committed to rid themselves of the divisions amongst them, be it rooted in race, caste, religion or gender ...

Race Caste   Religion Gender

It is also  a story about the future and the determined aspiration of a trans state nation of people to live in equality,  in freedom and in peace with the other nations of the world ...

The Strength of an Idea

Aurobindo

Bose

Castro

Gandhi

Iqbal
Human Rights & Humanitarian Law
"...There are victims, there are executioners, and there are bystanders... Unless we wrench free from being what we like to call ‘objective’, we are closer psychologically, whether we like to admit it or not, to the executioner than to the victim...”
Nations & Nationalism  - What is a Nation?
Self Determination: Principle & the Law
Fourth World -  Nations Without A State
International Relations in in the Age of Empire
War & Armed Conflict What is Terrorism?
Manufacturing Consent & the Media
Conflict Resolution

It is  a story about the growing togetherness of a trans state nation of people, a nation without a state, in a digital age which has rendered State boundaries  increasingly porous and  where deep rooted kinship ties are finding fresh avenues for expression...

Tamil Digital Renaissance
Tamil National Forum

It is a story about a trans state nation of people who seek to  meaningfully contribute to an emerging one world, unfolding from matter to life to mind ...

Beyond Nations & Nationalism: One World
"...the building of a nation is of necessity accompanied by the discovery and encouragement of universalising values. ... It is at the heart of national consciousness that international consciousness lives and grows..."  Frantz Fannon
Spirituality & the Tamil Nation

Thirumurai

Vallalar
Thiruvasagam
Thiruvasagam
yoga.JPG (10167 bytes)
Yogaswamy
Ramana Maharishi from a painting in oils by Jayalakshmi Satyendra
Ramana

Alwars
"...when our words begin to coincide with our deeds, principle emerges with power to influence. We also begin to learn something about our own ‘dharma’ or own ‘way of harmony’..."
Truth is a Pathless Land
"What is Truth? said Pilate confronted with a mighty messenger of the truth, not jesting surely, not in a spirit of shallow lightness, but turning away from the Christ with the impatience of the disillusioned soul for those who still use high words that have lost their meaning and believe in great ideals which the test of the event has proved to be fallacious..."
An Unfolding Consciousness: Matter to Life to Mind to...

"பிறக்கும்போதும் அழுகின்றாய், இறக்கும்போதும் அழுகின்றாய்.... தன்னை அறிந்தாள் உண்மை இன்பம், தன்னலம் மறந்தாள் பெரும் பேரின்பம்..."  

Sri Aurobindo - Painting in Oils by Jayalakshmi Satyendra
Aurobindo
Jiddu Krishnamurthy
Krishnamurthy
wise professor-type with serious dark eyes and white goatie beard
Freud

Frankl

Koestler

Reich
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Wittgenstein

Oriah

Fromm

 Job
Carl Gustav Jung
Jung

Deikman

மிழ் தேசியம்.org - ஓரு வளர்கின்ற ஒன்றிணையம்.....

Mail Us Copyright 1998/2008 Home
Whats New & News
About Us...
Quick Tour
You may take a quick tour of this website containing more than 6500 webpages by clicking on the globe icon on each new page you visit

அகம்... புறம்

every inside has an outside

every outside has an inside

... the two always go together
and
you see what you see

Gestalt - Vase or Two Faces

Mao Tse-tung quoted by Joachim Israel in the Language of Dialectics and the Dialectics of Language - "Without life, there would be no death; without death there would be no life. Without above, there would be no below; without below there would be no above. Without misfortune, there would be no good fortune; without good fortune, there would be no misfortune. Without facility there would be no difficulty; without difficulty, there would be no facility. Without landlords there would be no tenant-peasants; without tenant-peasants, there would be no landlords. Without the bourgeoisie, there would be no proletariat; without proletariat, there would be no bourgeoisie."
Nadesan Satyendra in Reflections on the Gita, 1981 "The mind.. represents a stage and by no means the final stage, in an evolutionary process which has witnessed a continuing change from inanimate to animate, from stone to plant to animal to man, and each stage has brought with it a greater degree of consciousness.

It is an evolutionary process which has resulted in the formation of the seemingly intricate fore brain of man today and it is this self conscious mind of man which seeks to know, which seeks to understand. How is this understanding brought about? In what way does an ordinary mind comprehend?

One says ordinary mind because one can neither reject nor ignore the experience of those extraordinary beings who have arisen on this earth from time to time and who appear to have comprehended the total reality and who were one with it; enlightened beings to whom time and space dissolved in an eternity which was boundless...

The ordinary mind does not however comprehend the whole. It seems to deal effectively only with parts of the total reality. It directs its attention to discrete and separate parts of the whole. In order that it may understand, the mind separates and conceptualises. It separates that which is connected and the very process of separation distorts an understanding of the whole.

The mind thinks in sequence in time. The present is a fleeting moment and is then gone forever. Thoughts are so much grist to its mill. Words and concepts are the instruments of its trade. The mind seeks to clarify one concept by having recourse to another. It defines one word with another. There is no end to this process nor is there a starting point.

The mind deals in opposites. There is no idealism without materialism; there are no means without ends; there is no detachment without attachment; there is no free will without determinism; there is no good without bad. If everything was good what would it mean? Presumably, we would stop using the word. The mind speaks of theses, antithesis and synthesis and describes this as the dialectical process. And every synthesis is another thesis and gives rise to another antithesis and yet another synthesis - and the process is endless. The mind then speaks of dialectical idealism and dialectical materialism.

The need to use opposites is the need of the mind that lives in the duality of I and not I, and the mind extends this duality, extends these seeming opposites, to everything that it deals with. And more often than not, it does not stop to ask: who am 'I'? Are there two 'I's - the one who asks the question and the other, about whom the question is asked?

The inquiring and inquisitive mind - the restless mind, the monkey mind of man - allows one thought to play with another and ends up with what it then triumphantly describes as a rationalisation. The mind discovers seemingly broader and broader concepts and seemingly more and more general laws. But what is the result?

From the vantage point of each new law, the mind then perceives an increasing area of the unknown and greater and greater areas of the unknown come within the vision of man. The search for fundamental laws, the search for fundamental particles, the search for absolute truths, inside the trap of duality is in the nature of an adventure to possess an ever receding mirage..." more