Dr. Vasant Merchant, Humanities Teacher Extraordinaire

I was up in Flagstaff recently (late February, 2010) and went to see the peace shrine that Dr. Merchant had created at her colorful house on the hill. Her house always reminded me of Himalayan homes I have seen (in pictures) that are hand painted and decorated with Gods, Goddesses and symbols of Peace and Beauty. Dr. Merchant painted and created the beautiful peace shrine with the help of friends and former students over the years.





I was fortunate to have been a student of Vasant Merchant while at Northern Arizona University (NAU) in Flagstaff. I took all the Humanities and Religion classes that I could from her in my time at NAU and in Flagstaff (1979 - 1985).

After I moved away, I'd occasionally drop in to say hello and also to participate in a few special events at her house (for example, to commemorate Gandhiji, or Sri Aurobindo, Dr. Merchant's lifetime guru). In this "dog-eat-dog world" some may question the value of a liberal arts or humanities program, but I do not. Thanks to Dr. Merchant and her courses, thousands of us learned about world cultures and religions, especially those of India and the Middle East.

Dr. Merchant's courses attracted the international students of NAU, the non-traditional students (i.e., older students), and many of the Native American students on campus. She honored our learning, our language interests, always was curious to know what we were reading, cared about our individual learning styles and personalities, and was devoted to helping us expand our hearts and minds, which is one grand purpose of a Humanities education.



Dr. Merchant had donated to the Northern Arizona University Library a set of the translations of the Upanishads into French and English by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. I remember reading some of these, sitting on the floor in the stacks, wanting to absorb something of this -- or her -- wisdom (and certainly of the wisdom of India and of Asia). In Dr. Merchant's classes, I first learned of Sufism ~ the esoteric heart of Islam, as she called it ~ and thus began my study and practice of Sufism.




Aum - OM or Pranah

Om is the Aksara, or imperishable syllable. Om is the Universe, and is the textposition of Om. The past, the present and the future, all that was, all is, all that will be is Om. Likewise all else that may exist beyond the bounds of time, that too is Om.

** Translated by Sri Aurobindo from Mandukya Upanishad.

The above photo was handwritten in Dr. Merchant's very distinct hand writing that I recall so well from her classes. Often, she would write favorite quotations on the blackboard, lines of poems and other bits of wonderful wisdom by writers, sages, scientists, teachers, thinkers, poets, and philosophers of the world and down through the ages. I clearly remember one of Dr. Merchant's favorite lines from Bengali writer Rabindranath Tagore:

Let my Love, like Sunlight, surround you and yet Give you Illumined freedom.

Underneath the quote she had written Tagore's date of birth and death (1861-1941), along with the year he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for Gitanjali, 1913, and that he was the first Asian to win this prize (and the first non-European).



It was through Dr. Merchant's illustration and lecture on the lotus that I first became aware of the symbolism of the lotus and that we humans are like lotuses. The lotus that so beautifully opens up to the expansive sky, has its roots in and grows out of swampy, murky waters.



I also remember when our entire class went out to the movies together to watch the Flagstaff premiere of the movie, Gandhi. I remember memorizing Rudyard Kipling's poem, IF, because she handed it out to us and because I really liked it. I also read Plato and Socrates in her class... and learned of the international school at Auroville in Pondicherry, India, where the students all learned their various "subjects" through the medium of several languages, such as French and Hindi for literature, English for History, German (and maybe French, too) for Science, and Sanskrit for the sacred chants and literature of India. The students and teachers all began their day doing yoga together and they ate vegetarian meals sitting in the shade of a circle of trees... these are some things I remember from my classes with Dr. Merchant.



In 1995, an Indian friend from my high school days in the Chicago area, came to visit me in Tucson. We went on a camping trip up north to Oak Creek Canyon and then to the Grand Canyon. We drove in my little red Geo Metro 4-door hatchback and took Yuki along, who was only 2 years old at the time. My friend, Suketu, and I stopped in Flagstaff to visit with Dr. Merchant. We took her out for sushi and she took us back to her house to make us some puris for the road. When I had signed up for my first class with Dr. Merchant, which I think was in 1981, I had excitedly written Suketu to tell him of the Indian professor who I was drawn to for no other reason than that she was Indian. In my letter, I described a rather large woman dressed very colorfully in a sari with thick black hair piled up atop her head, decorated with plastic flowers and wearing bright red lipstick. I told how I had met her. It was class registration time at NAU, which took place on the indoor track. Professors sat at tables placed all around the track and we students walked around the track to sign up and/or find out more about the courses. I was heading for a table when out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dr. Merchant. Right then, I changed direction and walked straight to her table and signed up. The rest is history. I took every class that i could with her. My description of Dr. Merchant made Suketu laugh with warmth, for he recognized instantly that this was Auntie Vasant, a colleague of his fathers when Suketu was a young boy. I've always had "this thing" for India... and this was yet another happy coincidence to bring the wisdom of India to me.



I am sure that, like me, thousands of NAU students have similar tales of being inspired to delve further into their hearts' interests by Dr. Merchant's skilful and enthusiastic sharing of many religions and cultures. Most of all, Dr. Merchant loved peace. She devoted her scholarship and insights to nurturing peace as the editor and publisher of the International Journal of Humanities and Peace (IJPH). In the shrine to peace she built outside her home, the phrase, May Peace Prevail on Earth in many languages of the world is inscribed in black on long white placards and posted to poles and on the eaves of her colorful house at the top of her hilltop street in the pines. Here, St. Francis, Ganesh, Hanuman, Saraswati, Sita, Ram, a peacock, et al, coexist. Here, Hebrew, Hopi, Arabic, French, Gaelic, Chinese, Russian, Zulu, Hindi, etc, intermingle. As in her humanities classes, the peace shrine offers a microcosm of internationality where each distinct culture ~ and language ~ is celebrated and allowed to be. I remember an article I read in Dr. Merchant's IJPH began something like this: "Peace is not merely the absence of war." The article invited readers to inquire into the meaning(s) of peace. I believe that Dr. Merchant's legacy is that we - all of us - continue to discover ways to nurture peace in ourselves, in our families, in our communities, between nation-states, and in the world. How do we do this?


Here are some of my ideas to create peace:

Celebrate-explore-inquire-learn-dance-draw-paint-sing-recite-write-teach-open-share-commune-speak-listen-whirl-chant-honor-create-have faith-invite doubt-laugh-think-let go-grow-inspire-aspire-reach out-take in-give-accept-forgive-nurture-nourish-cultivate-understand-build-dream-leap-fly-land-breathe in-breathe out-read-expand-desire-co-create-rejuvenate


≈ Thank you, Dr. Merchant ≈

Vasant V. Merchant, professor emeritus of humanities, died May 8, 2009, in Sedona, Arizona. She was 76.

Dr. Merchant was born Sept. 11, 1933, in Bombay, India. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Bombay, a master’s degree from the University of Minnesota and a doctorate from the University of Southern California.
She taught humanities and religious studies at NAU from 1966 until her retirement in 1995.

Dr. Merchant was Editor/Publisher of The International Journal of Humanities and Peace (IJHP).

Slide Show of Dr. Merchant's Peace Shrine

Dr. Merchant's Peace Shrine, Photo Set on Flickr

Dittadhammasukhavihari

I have arrived ~
and am here in Monterey ~ dittadhammasukhavihari.
Dittadhammasukhavihari means 'dwelling happily in the present moment' in Pali.














A ponderosa pine outside of Flagstaff, AZ.

















Elyse is my friend from junior high, highschool, and Flagstaff. We've known each other since we were 11 years old.

















The Chapel of the Holy Dove is a non-demoninational interfaith chapel on Hwy 180, the route North to the Grand Canyon from Flagstaff. The chapel is just outside of Flag. People reserve the chapel for weddings by pinning a handwritten note to the inside log walls. You can also place your handwritten prayers into a little box and the chapel people (I don't know who they are) will pray for you/recite your prayer.











































We camped at Mather campground--Yuki, Jesse, and I. The sky was clear at night with zillions of stars; the temperature fell to around 32ºF (0ºC). We were toasty in my tent--too warm even--because I slept in my flannel pajamas, inside a sleeping bag, and with a down comforter over me, next to a furry black cat and a furry white dog.














I enjoyed walking along the rim trail and revisiting places I'd been many times before. I never get bored of being at the Canyon, not even at the heavily touristy South Rim. Though I've been down on the river camping and walking for many days at a time, I can enjoy what the rim area has to offer. At the Kolb photography studio, built on the edge of the Canyon, there was a magnificent gallery exhibit of paintings and sculptures of the Grand Canyon created by various artists in many different mediums. In the Bright Angel Lodge area I visited an exhibit showing the history of Fred Harvey and the Harvey Girls, Grand Canyon tourism, and the visionary architect who created many of the structures at the Grand Canyon, Mary Colter.






























I asked Yuki to pose--this is what I got.













Nice to enjoy tea while travelling...and while not travelling.













I took this photo of Jesse with one hand, shooting backwards while driving on the highway through the Mohave Desert.













On our way to The Channel Islands National Park Visitors Center in Ventura County, I saw all these orange pumpkins in a field. At the Visitors Center I looked at exhibits about the islands. I learned about the Channel Islands' flora, fauna, sea life, and the Chumash Indians, the former inhabitants of the islands. One day I'd like to visit the Channel Islands when I don't have Yuki and Jesse in the car with me.













Morro Bay is one of my favorite stops going up the coast.
I like the look of that big rock in the water. It looms large from wherever you are on the bay. I took a walk with Yuki on a trail near our campground. The trail went past an area of many tall eucalyptus trees with hundreds of birds high up in the branches. There was a sign nearby that said this was a protected area, the only blue heron rookery left on the coast of California. I went back to the car to get my binoculars. Besides the blue herons, there were what looked to be turkey vultures perched among them. And in the background, that big rock in the bay. I don't know why, but I love that rock in the water like that.















Big Sur













What else can I say--this is one view, at one moment in time, from a digital camera, under that particular lighting as framed by my eyes. The Big Sur coastline.

















This is at Asilomar in Pacific Grove.













I met this painter at Asilomar on my first day back. She told me that she comes every year for a week just to paint.













I saw these birds one morning on Monterey State Beach.













Outside, I was eating breakfast in the cool morning air while Yuki and Jesse were taking in the scene. We are on the porch looking out on the courtyard of the apartment complex of a MIIS friend we stayed with for a while.

* * * * * * * *

One of the highlights I didn't photograph occurred at a vista point between San Simeon and Big Sur. I saw three whales on the horizon blowing water from their blow holes. I saw their bodies lift up into the air from the water followed by their flukes. I watched them do this several times. My first night's sleep in Monterey brought a dream in which I saw a dolphin face smiling at me and at the same time it felt like I was the smiling dolphin.

In LA, I stayed the night with my cousin in West Hollywood. Carol has lived in the same apartment for nearly 30 years! In the morning, I left in the dark, as Carol leaves for work at 5 am. Driving through the Hollywood Hills I saw the still full moon in front of me, hiding behind the clouds, and turning with me as we drove. There was a light misty rain. In the dark clear spaces between the clouds, stars were shining in the sky. As the road curved around the hills, lights from houses built into the hills sparkled brightly.