Knowledge

Common Name: White Popinac
Botanical Name: Leucaena leucocephala
Spiritual Name:  Knowledge

Is conversant with all sides of a question, whatever it may be.
- The Mother

For Knowledge shall pour down its radiant streams
 - Sri Aurobindo in 'Savitri'

From the Editor’s Desk

The transformative power of education is generally acknowledged by most. Disputes and disparities, however, are likely to be in what is transformed by conventional education, how transformed and very often, and ironically, how deformed.

While scrolling through one’s own records tucked away neatly in the dusty drawers of the past, the term “education” inevitably binds to its twin sister, “school” and   brings to mind early fascinations with the symbols of letters and numbers and the joys accompanied by gleeful laughter discovering and manipulating sounds, singing them out, followed by progressively stifling rules of grammar and sequences of logic and a culmination in sets of knowledge for mastery in specific disciplines, specific skills. One left the educational institute somewhat dazed, so proudly and precisely ordered to function in a disorderly world in real time. 

In childhood, going to school was a novelty. I took it for granted that I was going to school to learn things, new things nobody else would be ever able to teach me. I went to school looking forward to the difference in experiences it afforded, adding on to my colourful life at home. But there was a wall of echoes around me which sounded my future of a good life, being employed, doing something gainful and having a comfortable life without struggles. What struggle? Very often the economical and financial stresses of my fore-fathers shaped my need for an education. Surely something was fundamentally flawed? Was the economy reason enough for education? 

What did it mean to me? Was I able to ask myself this question in school? Was I consulted? Are the students of this time and age consulted or stimulated to think about why they were in school and what they wanted to do with their lives?  Do parents help?

In the Education for ALL Global Monitoring Report of 2013 (funded by the United Nations UNESCO), the transformative power of education was broadly spelt out in these words: “Education, if delivered well, enables people to fulfill their individual potential and to contribute to the economic, political and social transformation of their countries.”

The complexity inherent within the education process, or at least in its concept and execution, if not its outcome, can be quite humbling. Unpacking this statement, in reverse order, will kindle many questions seeking answers and the answers, if at all they arrive, will determine the flowering of an educational effort and the shape it takes.

Is education confined to a place and time called school? Are all teachers true educators? Who determines good education? The child? The parents? The teachers? The Government? Surely it is important enough for everyone to have a say? But how is this collaboration worked out? Who or what is the focal point?

World over, education seems to be the business of the State. How is education conceptualised by the State? What is the ideology in which education is grounded? Instinctively, we know that the high and noble the ideology, so will be education, so will be its effect on all educated and so will it show on the social and political front, in each citizen and in the making of the country. 

In this and the following issue of our Newsletter, we examine some fundamental questions confronting us now, such as what is knowledge, the ideal of education, how it could be approached and the special nature of this being subjected to education. Sri Aurobindo and The Mother gave education special attention, for it was a means to hew the path towards the beautiful future promised to mankind.

Savitri

Intuitive beams shall touch the nature’s peaks,

A revelation stir the nature’s depths:

The Truth shall be the leader of their lives,

Truth shall dictate their thought and speech and act,

They shall feel themselves lifted nearer to the sky,

As if a little lower than the gods.

For knowledge shall pour down its radiant streams

And even darkened mind quiver with new life

And kindle and burn with the Ideal’s fire

And turn to escape from mortal ignorance.

The frontiers of the Ignorance shall recede,

More and more souls shall enter into light,

Minds lit, inspired, the occult summoner hear

And lives blaze with a sudden inner flame.

(Savitri, Book 11 Canto 1)

Question of the month

In August 1965 an education commission of the Government of India visited the Ashram to evaluate the ideals and educational methods of the Centre of Education. At that time a group of teachers submitted the following questions to the Mother.

Q: In view of the present and future of national and international living, what is it that India should aim at in education?

A:  The Mother: Prepare her children for the rejection of falsehood and the manifestation of Truth.

Q: By what steps could the country proceed to realize this high aim? How can a beginning in that direction be made?

A:  The Mother: Make matter ready to manifest the Spirit.

Q: What is India’s true genius and what is her destiny?

A:  The Mother: To teach to the world that matter is false and impotent unless it becomes the manifestation of the Spirit.

Q: How does the Mother view the progress of Science and Technology in India? What contribution can it make to the growth of the Spirit in man?

A:  The Mother: Its only use is to make the material basis stronger, completer and more effective for the manifestation of the Spirit.

Q: The Country feels much concerned about national unity. What is the Mother’s vision of things? How will India do her duty by herself and by the world?

A:  The Mother: The unity of all the nations is the compelling future of the world. But for the unity of all nations to be possible, each nation must first realize its own unity.

Q: The language problem harasses India a good deal. What would be our correct attitude in this matter?

A:  The Mother: Unity must be a living fact and not the imposition of an arbitrary rule. When India will be one, she will have spontaneously a language understood by all.

Q: Education has normally become literacy and a social status. Is it not an unhealthy trend? But how to give education its inner worth and intrinsic enjoyability?

A:  The Mother: Get out of conventions and insist on the growth of the soul.

Q: What illusions and delusions is our education today beset with? How could we possibly keep clear of them?

A:  The Mother: a)The almost exclusive importance given to success, career and money.

b) Insist on the paramount importance of the contact with the Spirit and the growth and manifestation of the Truth of the being.

(‘All India Magazine’ June 2001, “The Right Object of Education And India’s National Education”, Sri Aurobindo Society, Pondicherry)

"The supreme truths are neither the rigid conclusions of logical reasoning nor the affirmations of creedal statement, but fruits of the soul’s inner experience." - Sri Aurobindo

The Mother on Education

‘On Education’(by The Mother) is but a series of 6 brief essays, but it is also a vast arc of comprehension: from Matter to Spirit, from the physical, vital and mental to the psychic, spiritual and supramental, from animal to man and from man to God! Education is a movement, an unfolding, a becoming: what is already involved as a result of the holocaust of the Spirit in inconscient Matter awakens and puts out its sticky leaves of bud of promise, and must end at last in the full blossoming of the Divine potentiality.

- K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar in ‘On The Mother’

In her series of essays on education, the Mother discourses on its diverse aspects - physical, vital, mental, psychic and spiritual - which together constitute the unified spectrum. Integral education is the inclusive white ray which, when seen through a prism, reveals the rainbow-colours. The Mother's book, 'On Education', thus embodies a complete vision, but it is also a step by step presentation.

The first of the six essays, "The Science of Living: To Know Oneself is to Control Oneself", is rather more than a mere introduction to the series. Surely the science (or art) of living is much more than what passes for education. Nor could this science be anything at all so rigid or stereotyped - a thing of dogma, ritual or fashionable observance - as to be applicable to all people in all contexts. All life is Yoga, all life is Education; but how exactly this Yoga, this Education, is to be pursued will depend upon the aim that one has set before one's life. Hence the Mother's classic opening: "An aimless life is always a miserable life." But, then, there are aims and aims, and the higher the aim, the more noble and disinterested, the more integral and universal, the more will it enhance the quality of one's life. "The first step," says the Mother, "is to become conscious of yourself, of the different parts of your being and their respective activities." This will demand endless sincerity and perseverance. Our faculties are many and varied, and may often pull in different directions; and unless they are firmly linked to the "psychic centre", as the spokes are to the hub of the wheel, the human personality will crack and disintegrate. On the other hand, the discovery of the psychic centre - the soul, the real truth of our being - can defy easy accomplishment. One must first purify the instruments, and one must learn to harmonise and unify them.

While the Mother devotes separate chapters to the different disciplines - psychic, mental, vital, physical - here she sees them really as a single integrated discipline. But it often becomes necessary to stress, now this and now another aspect. With children, and at school generally, physical, mental and vital education may have to take precedence, but psychic discipline is truly the heart of the matter. The journey to the soul may be long and difficult, yet the goal is not impossible of attainment. Once the way is open to the psychic centre, the other disciplines will be easy of mastery. Rightly tempered and sensitized, the mind or the reasoning intellect can be a great helper when subordinated to the soul. The vital, which is "the seat of impulses and desires, of enthusiasm and violence, of dynamic energy and desperate depressions, of passions and revolts," can be a giant power tapped when necessary but also held in leash at other times by the mind and soul. The body too, can become strong and supple and beautiful, when it is scrupulously held in check and not allowed to have things its own way. The mind and the vital - the former with its dogmas, the latter with its passions and aberrations - tend to pull the body in wrong directions damaging or exhausting it or dissipating its energies. The cure lies in everything — body, vital, mind - submitting readily and wholly to the soul's plenary governance. And so the Mother concludes with a peroration matching the great opening:

"When we reach this degree of perfection which is our goal, we shall perceive that the truth we seek is made up of four major aspects: Love, Knowledge, Power and Beauty. These four attributes of the Truth will express themselves spontaneously in our being. The psychic will be the vehicle of true and pure love, the mind will be the vehicle of infallible knowledge, the vital will manifest an invincible power and strength and the body will be the expression of a perfect beauty and a harmony." 

While "The Science of Living" has a general appeal to all and includes far more than formal education, the remaining essays are concerned mainly with the education of children in their homes and the school. Education, a life-long process, begins in fact even before birth. As the Mother had said in her talk to the Women of Japan, a great deal depends on the aspirant mother's own tapasya during the long months of pregnancy. She now reiterates that any aspirant mother should see that "her thoughts are always beautiful and pure, her feelings always noble and fine, her material surroundings as harmonious as possible and full of a great simplicity". Above all, the whole endeavour should be sustained by a will to form a child pure and noble and high-souled.

The responsibility of the parents is great indeed. As in the old adage "Physician, heal thyself!" the Mother would say: "Parents, educate yourselves!" An ounce of example is always better than a ton of preaching. Qualities like "sincerity, honesty, straightforwardness, courage, disinterestedness, unselfishness, patience, endurance, perseverance, peace, calm, self-control" are assimilated with unobtrusive ease if they are pervasive in the home atmosphere. Hence the Mother's exhortation:

"Parents, have a high ideal and always act in accordance with it and you will see that little by little your child will reflect this ideal in himself and spontaneously manifest the qualities you would like to see expressed in his nature."

Since the home is the first school and will never cease to be the residuary school, the parents should always be at their best behaviour, leading their children gently on, never shirking the truth and illustrating precepts by simple tales, fables or parables (as in 'Panchatantra', 'Hitopadesha' or the Mother's own 'Tales of All Times'), - and equally parents should refrain from scolding children, or being despotic, impatient or ill-tempered with them.

Physical education should be methodical because the human body is "the most completely governed by method, order, discipline, procedure," and is strictly subservient to the laws of the universe. The needed categories of movements, the rhythm of waking and sleep, work and relaxation, first imposed in the name of personal or communal discipline, presently become the habits of a lifetime done with unconscious ease and even with a quiet sense of joy.

The Mother differentiates between three aspects of physical education: (1) control and discipline of functions; (2) harmonious development of the several parts of the body and the body itself; and (3) rectification of defects and deformities. A basic knowledge of the human anatomy, of food and exercise, of health and hygiene, is certainly necessary, but there are always individual variations which must also be borne in mind. In the matter of food, tastes could differ, and what is appetising to one may be repulsive to another. It would be unwise therefore to force children to eat the kind of food which they intensely dislike. In all things, an avoidance of extremes and a reliance on Nature are to be preferred to arbitrary parental or pedagogic impositions and tyrannies. Also, the only too common tendency to exploit the child's fear or to dole out frightening Don'ts! is to be shunned in the interests of the normal growth of the child.

The importance of sports, outdoor games and athletics cannot be overstressed. "An hour's moving about in the sun," says the Mother, "does more to cure weakness or even anaemia than a whole arsenal of tonics."The promiscuous dependence on medicines is another serious danger to the child's - or, indeed, the adult's - health, and the child should be made to feel (as in Samuel Butler's, 'Erewhon') that falling ill is no merit, but rather a sign of inferiority and improvidence. It is only the body's strength, suppleness and health that can build the Body Beautiful.

(to be continued)

(K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar in ‘On The Mother’, Chapter 37, “Mother on Education”, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Pondicherry)

A Dream

There should be somewhere on earth a place which no nation could claim as its own, where all human beings of goodwill who have a sincere aspiration could live freely as citizens of the world and obey one single authority, that of the supreme truth; a place of peace, concord and harmony where all the fighting instincts of man would be used exclusively to conquer the causes of his sufferings and miseries, to surmount his weaknesses and ignorance, to triumph over his limitations and incapacities; a place where the needs of the spirit and the concern for progress would take precedence over the satisfaction of desires and passions, the search for pleasure and material enjoyment. In this place, children would be able to grow and develop integrally without losing contact with their souls; education would be given not for passing examinations or obtaining certificates and posts but to enrich existing faculties and bring forth new ones. In this place, titles and positions would be replaced by opportunities to serve and organise; the bodily needs of each one would be equally provided for, and intellectual, moral and spiritual superiority would be expressed in the general organisation not by an increase in the pleasures and powers of life but by increased duties and responsibilities. Beauty in all its artistic forms, painting, sculpture, music, literature, would be equally accessible to all; the ability to share in the joy it brings would be limited only by the capacities of each one and not by social or financial position. For in this ideal place money would no longer be the sovereign lord; individual worth would have a far greater importance than that of material wealth and social standing. There, work would not be a way to earn one’s living but a way to express oneself and to develop one’s capacities and possibilities while being of service to the community as a whole, which, for its own part, would provide for each individual’s subsistence and sphere of action. In short, it would be a place where human relationships, which are normally based almost exclusively on competition and strife, would be replaced by relationships of emulation in doing well, of collaboration and real brotherhood.

The earth is certainly not ready to realise such an ideal, for mankind does not yet possess sufficient knowledge to understand and adopt it nor the conscious force that is indispensable in order to execute it; that is why I call it a dream.

And yet this dream is in the course of becoming a reality; that is what we are striving for in Sri Aurobindo’s Ashram, on a very small scale, in proportion to our limited means. The realisation is certainly far from perfect, but it is progressive; little by little we are advancing towards our goal which we hope we may one day be able to present to the world as a practical and effective way to emerge from the present chaos, to be born into a new life that is more harmonious and true.

- The Mother in 'Bulletin', August 1954.

(The Mother, ‘CWM’, Vol. 12, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Pondicherry)

The magic of a beautiful teacher

A thought strikes god for a little bud to appear. This, the beginning? A stem, a support for the bud is grown first. And then, a very tiny, beautiful bud takes form. It is closed but there is a lot of beauty in it.  Perhaps there is a million prospects teeming with life within? Or perhaps there is just one, waiting to express, in God’s Perfection? There is a yearning from within to open, to reveal the beauty as a fully grown flower, to reveal the teeming multitude or just that one beauty. The sunshine falls on it, joyful at times, little harder at times, to unfurl it or sometimes, if need be, to wrench it open. A lot of water is poured for it to grow. And slowly, one petal at a time, step by step, it opens. It is guided, the very sunshine, water, breeze does the opening and the stem is always there for it to stand and never fall. The little bud doesn’t make any effort. It is just happy. None of the petals fall down. For they are all given with a purpose whether they appear good or bad. They all transform, change colour too, sometimes, and open.

It looks beautiful when the flower blooms. The mystic centre is revealed and the petals appear dancing around it. Like gopikas dancing around Krishna. The centre is all that holds this beauty we call a flower.

Sunshine and the moon glow are the best of all teachers. They just do their work at the right time. Sometimes, clouds cover them too. But that is only for the clouds to pour down as rain, splashing rain falls, and then, the shine is back again with little chirping birds.

This flower, isn’t it the sweet child in our midst, waiting to bloom into his or her own brilliant self? How we all stand around this being, this flower, mere instruments. But instruments can make or break. And education only a life-long process that hopes to unfurl the flower, true to its truest nature and quality.

Who is this beautiful teacher who can cast that magic spell? Who is she? Who is he? Parents? School teachers? Grand-parents? Neighbours? Family members? Friends? …Who?

Perhaps, the best teacher could be one who is also in the process of unfurling his beauty, on the way perhaps, to revealing his centre to himself. Or one who has already realised what true knowledge is and transforms lives just by being, allowing rays of grace to do their work, integrally.

Isn’t education then a long journey? Perhaps, in this journey, there is no teacher, no taught. Perhaps it is a becoming and we all ride on this river towards a greater sea and a vaster ocean of self-discovery?

Sandhya and Jayanthy

Reflection

Susheela came running out of her home in search of her daughter, Varsha. As she came out she stood with a frenzied look to see the shocking scene of Varsha and her neighbour's daughter fighting and sprawling in the sand.

As she slowly resolved the fight and pulled Varsha in, she stood helpless and worried in front of the Mother's picture, as she closed her eyes the episodes of Varsha’s belligerent nature and rude behavior came reeling like a movie, making her fear every moment Varsha was out of their home.

After a couple of days, her neighbour Jaya Aunty, visited Susheela's home. Susheela had locked herself up, racking her brain for a solution. A concerned Jaya Aunty patiently listened to her problems, and recounted from the Mother's books "Always, circumstances come to reveal the hidden weaknesses that one has to overcome". Susheela looked at Aunty with a perplexed face, who explained to her that it would be a wise option for her to do some self-introspection to find out if the reason for this problem was her own nature.

Susheela unable to interpret Aunty's words snapped back, asking her whether any mother in the world would instigate her kid to fight or behave rudely, and told her not to blame her and asked if she knew any external remedy.

Within a few seconds, Susheela was off to school after a phone call from Varsha's teacher. As she reached she was horrified to see Varun, Varsha’s classmate, whose head was bleeding as Varsha had indulged in a fight with him and smashed him with a pencil case. Feeling highly embarrassed and having got a final warning from the school she returned back home.

She sat down helplessly closed her eyes and started her self-analysis. She realized that she had an inherent "I am right" attitude, and a non-apologetic nature. She went to the Mother with tearful eyes and thanked her for indicating that the solution and the root cause of the problem was herself.

Soon, as per Jaya Aunty's advice, she started reading ‘The Ideal Parent’, and gifted ‘The Ideal Child’ book to Varsha. After sometime, Varsha was regarded as a very friendly and sweet child by everyone.

References

‘Rays of Light’, First Edition 1997 Pg. 88

- Sharadha

July-August Sunday Activities at Centre – A glimpse

28^thJuly 2013 –“Meditations on Savitri”

The last Sundays of every month is when we have the 'Savitri' Reading Circle at the Centre. We were to read selected lines of Book 4 Canto 3 – The Call to The Quest.  It was noted that a lot of lines which formed the essential connect in the book were given a miss in the lines chosen by The Mother, all for a reason. Huta’s pictures act as a powerful visual aid in filling in all the gaps and help us absorb bit by bit the gems of 'Savitri'.

After having watched the video, we formed a circle and read the selected lines a couple of times and shared our thoughts and ideas on the same. The “Quest” in this case is the part where Savitri has to search for someone/something in order to complete her mission and realize the true potential of her being. The “Call” to this quest is conveyed to her by Ashwapathy, upon which she leaves home in order to complete her quest.

4^th August 2013 - Readings of The Mother’s words on ‘becoming conscious’ and OM Choir

About six of us formed the circle for this day. As usual we started with two prayers from ‘Prayers and Meditations’ after having had a chance to collect ourselves to the tune of New Year’s music by Sunil-da. In this round on looking within, we continued with A.S.Dalal’s compilation of The Mother’s and Sri Aurobindo’s words, “Steps to Freedom and Mastery”, with a special focus on Becoming Conscious. On this day, we read two passages, “First Become Conscious of What Happens Within” and “Distinguishing Different Parts of One’s Being”. There was some time left for comments from members. There was one question raised, as to what purpose becoming conscious would serve. We ended the circle with the promise of the next passage in line for our 1^st Sunday reading, “We Can Master Only What We Are Conscious Of”. We proceeded with our OM choir and ended the session with some quietness within.

11^th August 2013 – Readings from Sri Aurobindo’s “Bases of Yoga”

Today was a special session as we started with another series of readings, this time, “The Bases of Yoga” by Sri Aurobindo. Venkatesh Rao facilitated the session. He gave a brief introduction to why we decided to take up “The Bases of Yoga”. This used to be one of the books that The Mother would refer to anyone who was beginning the Yoga of Sri Aurobindo. It contained valuable practical guidance to any sadhak and one that many kept with them for constant reference. We started by reading the back cover page which contained a beautiful quote of Sri Aurobindo’s on equality, one of the basic qualities that one needed to acquire to progress in the Yoga and which the “The Bases of Yoga” makes constant reference to: “There can be no firm foundation in sadhana without equality, samata. Whatever the unpleasantness of circumstances, however disagreeable the conduct of others, you must learn to receive them with a perfect calm without any disturbing reaction. These things are the test of equality. It is easy to be calm and equal when things go well and people and circumstances are pleasant; it is when they are the opposite that the completeness of the calm, peace, equality can be tested, reinforced, made perfect.” These lines would probably give a better taste of what we lived through this evening and the more to come, during our 2^nd and 3^rd Sundays, for the next many months.

18^th August 2013 – Readings from Sri Aurobindo’s “Bases of Yoga”

We took up the "Bases of Yoga" by Sri Aurobindo and continued from where we left off on page 3. We were on Calm-Peace-Equality. We read the passages on pages 3 to 7 several times before expressing our thoughts and feelings that these passages evoked.

In those passages, Sri Aurobindo spelt out the importance of attaining the qualities of Calm, Peace and Equality if one were to rise above the ordinary consciousness entrenched in the movements of the lower mind, vital and physical. "To be calm, steady, fixed in the spirit, dhira, sthira, this quietude of the mind, this separation of the inner Purusha from the outer Prakriti is very helpful, almost indispensable. So long as the being is subject to the whirl of thoughts or the turmoil of the vital movements, one cannot be thus calm and fixed in the spirit. To detach oneself, to stand back from them, to feel them separate from oneself is indispensable."

Everyone in the circle expressed their need for these qualities while acknowledging that it was not easy to attain or maintain any of these states, such as quietude, calm, peace and silence. But reading the passages in the "Bases of Yoga" did bring in some assurance that this could be attained, when one could "keep a strong and silent will... That will is the will of the Purusha behind the mind; when the mind is at peace, when it is silent one can become aware of the Purusha, silent also, separate from the action of the nature."

We concluded the session with meditation and brought along with us these messages for the day with the hope that they will stay with us, kept alive, work on us and nurture our growth.

- Jayanthy and Preethi

Along the Way……Reflections on the August 2013 Morning Walk

I have been very blessed to be part of “Monthly Walk” along with the members of the Sri Aurobindo Society of Singapore. I was only a visitor to Singapore, for ten days. However, I realized that wherever I was, I had to maintain my Sakavasa that I have been creating around myself, consciously through many years. And The Mother and Sri Aurobindo have been my connecting factors wherever I may be or whatever I could be doing.

Life is full of surprises and many times the Divine packs our lives with pleasant surprises. That was how the morning of the Walk turned out to be. Jayanthy welcomed me with open arms and care from the very beginning. That made me feel that I was entering my world, which has been designed by The Mother for all of us. As we went into the Botanical Garden, the warm-up exercises, guided by Jayanthy helped me to loosen my joints and muscles, especially my neck and shoulders that were quite tight due to my wrong posture during the previous night’s sleep. What a relief as I felt light on my shoulders and neck! The Walk began!

At the outset, the place was new to me and so were the people of the group, I met them for the first time. We, all of us, started from the same place and we were made to understand that at a particular time we would come back to the same place. The walk was very pleasant and we walked at our own pace. No hurried steps. No cluttered thoughts either. The natural greenery added to the calmness of the mind. I experienced everything around. The multiple shades of green and brown from different trees, the colourful flowers with different shapes and sizes, the fragrance of different flowers and leaves from far and near. I could see a thin blade of grass below a magnificent tree that almost touched the sky. It was a sight to experience the Creator’s creativity at it's best, not only among plants and trees but also among people around. How many faces and voices! How many ways to feel calm and oneness that people were practicing to stay connected to the Divine.

The Mother had already decided to give the best of mornings to her children. Hence I could experience the hot sun initially, which demanded we hydrate ourselves, but which also later turned to darker clouds and a simple pleasant shower from above. It was a feast for the five senses through the five elements and all were presented with grace. We walked, shared and cared. Introductions and prolonged talks with each other followed. And finally, we reached the place from where we started. It all summed up as one realization in me. It is the Divine’s way of saying..

“All of you start from ME. You are made free to move the way you want. But choose a path that can take you through the right journey. Experience everything that comes along. In everything there is beauty and divine order. See, watch, observe and get absorbed. Share and care for one another. Let the journey go on. But with all that, you have to be back from where you started. You started from me ! You will come back to Me!”

Naran+Aayanam iti Narayanah. The one which pulls, drags Naran (the one in form) is Narayanah. We all shall be back to our origin, from where we have come. In between, Life is Beautiful !

- Uma