Titiksha

André Fidelis – [email protected]
  Universidade Federal da Bahia

English Translation: Alex Pochat

Titiksha: Sanskrit term which literally means ‘resistance’.

But what would this resistance be? Would it be limited to the mere concept of resisting something that harms us, or avoiding something that could harm us?

No. ‘Titiksha’ is the supreme art of resisting all the dualities that we are subjected to (heat and cold, pleasure and pain, activity and inactivity, etc.). Such resistance takes place much more on the mental plane than on anything else. It is the attitude of remaining perfectly equanimous; voluntarily moving away from the emotions and moods that can occur when we go through some problem, whether physical or emotional.

The person who strives to practice Titiksha discovers that his external problems will not disappear; but over time he also discovers that the inner effect of these external problems can be drastically diminished if he seeks to move his mind and emotions away from that particular problem while taking all practical actions in order to solve it.

The advanced practitioner of Titiksha is able to endure extreme situations, without losing his serenity and discerning capacity.

That is the concept that rules this whole work. Analogies, symbolisms, dialogues, between the two instruments… everything in this piece was created in an attempt to portray the ever-calm resistance to the various strokes of life into the world.