Fear Applications

Fear the almighty or you will face the consequences. The business of fear is spread all around us. Fear is one of the most basic instincts, which is only partially affected by knowledge. I have seen that many times this instinct even overpowers all kinds of knowledge and experience. About two decades ago, my father was suffering from a terminal disease. A man knocked our door and asked us to hear the predictions of a strangely dressed partner of him who was standing few yards behind him. He claimed that the man behind him is a Swami who is an exceptional future-teller.

Since I was the first person who came out of the house, Swami immediately started saying to me that you have a great characteristics of doing the charity work. I thought if he is saying so, let me donate some nominal cash to him and get back to my priority of looking after my ailing father. Meanwhile Swami started saying loudly that he can help us get rid of our troubles related to illness in our family. My other family members also came out and he started predicting few things about each of our family members. Some of those things were true. May be by shear coincidence. Somehow Swami and his disciple were able to convince our family to perform some rituals. My mother agreed, as she thought that we have tried all treatments than what is the harm in getting some religious pooja being performed. Swami and his disciple performed some typical street magic of asking for a lemon and then cutting it with a knife and then showing the red blood coming out of it. Some incorrect versions of Vedic hymns were also recited. I could not resist much in the presence of my mother. My only aim at that time was to let his show finish fast and let us return back to our primary task.

A day back as I watched the famous bollywood movie ‘PK’ my memories of this episode became live. The applications of fear are everywhere. It is there in our education, it is there in our medical system, legal system, political system etc. Our brain gets captivated by simple application of well known fear tools by a fear marketer. Fear of less marks in exams, fear of hundred percent blockage of artery, fear of losing a portion of our land by the wall of our neighbour, fear of losing the election, fear of not getting the respect are few types of fear that are revolving around us. You want to know my fear. Yes readers! I fear the fear marketers. I fear that people who can raise right voices are silent. I do fear to take names. It is a highly sensitive world. I fear because in today’s world an innocent head of an Educational Institution can be beaten to death by mad mob of young people. I fear because so called active media can waste whole country’s time on some person sitting in London and not on the core challenges we face in our day to day life. I hope that new applications of fear will keep getting invented, unless we can build a fearless society the way it was built during our own country’s freedom movement. Till then, I am the best guinea pig to apply fear on.

Dr. Sunil Ji Garg 

My Creator!

'An older, tired-looking dog wandered into my yard. I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home and was well taken care of. He calmly came over to me; I gave him a few pats on his head. He then followed me into my house, slowly walked down the hall, curled up in the corner and fell asleep. An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out. The next day he was back, greeted me in my yard, walked inside and resumed his spot in the hall and again slept for about an hour. This continued off and on for several weeks. Curious, I pinned a note to his collar: "I would like to find out who the owner of this wonderful, sweet dog is and ask if you are aware that almost every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap."

The next day he arrived for his nap with a different note pinned to his collar: "He lives in a home with six children, two under the age of three - he's trying to catch up on his sleep. Can I come with him tomorrow?" 

This is a live story, as told by a friend of mine. The hero here is a dog. In the next century, it could be a human being who play the dog, frantically wandering for a cup of water, a minute of breathing air, a slot of noiseless space, a territory of fight free landscape, a shade of a banyan tree.... and perhaps a safe box to sleep undisturbed. No Nostradamus is required to predict this. If what Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, former President of India pointed out is true, the next century human will live in a dried and wearied out ground, seriously suffering de hydration. 

Every time we give Nature a small kick and advance an inch, we do not know that the causes we create is destined to end up in unpleasant effects. We are too slow to learn things. It is humorously said that a man who asked another, ‘Are you a Hindu or Muslim’ received the answer, ‘I’m hungry’. Hunger is going to be the religion of tomorrow; insecurity is going to be the politics of all Nations. This is the Realization what all religions added together is going to share with the world of tomorrow. There, if Man and God meet somewhere, both might exclaim, “My Creator!” 

 

Joseph Mattappally

Power of Compassion

The Dalai Lama, the spiritual and the political head of Tibet, has lived a long life in exile, struggling for the rights of his people. An ordinary mortal would have broken down in such a situation, which, perhaps, would have brought more misery and indignity to his people. He, however, by his wisdom and moral strength has not only been struggling for them but has also maintained their dignity. He has won the ‘Nobel Peace Prize’, which speaks volumes about him. 

I have read the Dalai Lama’s autobiography, Freedom in Exile. It gives a detailed account of the situation in Tibet, which led to his exile and the troubles as well as indignities thrust upon him and his people. However, in the midst of all this, he kept his composure and led his people with dignity. It was not an easy task and he explains it in another book, The Power of Compassion. While describing the agonies of his life, he writes that it was the power of compassion, which helped him greatly in maintaining his peace of mind and in following the path of wisdom. I am sharing here a lesson learnt from this book. 

First of all the word ‘compassion’ should be understood clearly. This word has a unique meaning and is different from mercy. In fact, it is more than mercy. It is putting oneself in the position of a suffering person and feeling exactly what he does. It is closer to the word ‘empathy’ which means the power of entering into another’s personality and experiencing his experiences. When one has compassion for others, one has great magnetic power and even an enemy can be won over by the power of compassion. This is exactly true in the case of Dalai Lama. He has not only been able to win his people by his compassion, but has also dealt with his enemies in a dignified manner. This in turn greatly helped his cause and won worldwide concern about it. 

Once we understand the power of compassion, it can be used as a tool to deal with others. By compassion, we win not only our friends and well-wishers but our enemies too. Our apparently harsh actions are then seen as kind deeds, and harmony comes to our life naturally. 

Rakesh Mittal IAS

The Two Revolutions

Sudhakar ran away from the police, crossed the river and reached the Babaji, whom he had often seen sitting under a tree and meditating. At his Ashram he was cared and cured. Their relationship grew. Still Sudhakar kept on asking ‘Where to go from here? And what to do next?.......’

“Well you don’t have to go anywhere. This is your Ashram Gurukul, your own home… The Lord of light and love has chosen you for a great mission. You are called to be a prophet of His peace on earth. You have a much greater revolution to lead, an Integral Revolution for a culture of peace in the world. I am appointed by the Lord of Light and love to guide you and help you in your mission.” The Baba said.

Sudhakar was surprised.  

“There are two kinds of revolutions my son; the one you have been leading and the other that I have been leading,” the Baba told Sudhakar. He just looked at Baba waiting for him to continue. 

“You promote a revolution of violence and bloodshed. I promote a revolution of love and peace.” The Baba continued. 

“Violence and bloodshed cannot help us to achieve anything worthwhile in our lives or in this world. They will only bring more violence and bloodshed. A tooth for a tooth make all toothless. From the ashes of the First World war rose up the fire of the Second World War. Look at the history of Communism in the world. Just in two countries alone, USSR and China, they had to kill more than 10 crores of people to establish a short lived glory of the communist utopia…. But today USSR, the one time citadel of the communist utopia on earth is no more in the world map. Marxism, Leninism, Maoism and your Naxalism are all dead ideologies that need to be dumped into the history, my son.”  There is no life in Naxalism. It is an ideology of the graveyard. It can survive only through bloodshed…… and only where there is hatred and hypocrisy, my son.”

The Baba said, and got up from his seat of meditation. He then slowly walked towards the river. Sudhakar kept looking at the Baba. 

Swami Sachidananda Bharati

Wither Humanity?

Ever since greed, materialism, and dishonesty have firmly established themselves in the center stage of world affairs, humanity is spiraling down on a slippery slope to self-destruction. The world is currently governed by uncontrolled capitalism and materialism whose devastating effects are seen everywhere. Humanity needs to put a stop to this course that leads only to destruction, and chart a holistic direction that leads to spiritual fulfillment as its destiny. After having lived and worked over 30 years in the USA, I witnessed to the reality that power, wealth, and affluence led only to misguided and destructive activities. Coming back to India, I witness to the same reality – the relentless pursuit of wealth. Education itself, a commercial enterprise anymore, is geared to careers that would acquire wealth, especially in the west and the oil rich gulf countries. I also realize that persons are willing to do in other countries low-paying menial jobs that they are unwilling to do in India. The currency notes that we use daily for exchange of goods and services in the USA contains the words: In God we trust. In India all the currency notes contain the picture of Gandhi, one of the most spiritual men in the world. It is interesting to note that a comedian who happened to be also a Hindu once said: Yesuvil en viswasam, keesail en aswasam (My faith is in Jesus, but my comfort or consolation is in my pocket, i. e., money). Humans obsessed with wealth seemed to be unconcerned with God and right living.

Wealth and affluence allow us to treat symptoms rather than deal with the causes that create the symptoms. A case in point: When I was living in the USA, obesity was becoming a pandemic there. Yet many persons were unwilling to use the term, obesity, and deal with overeating that caused it.  Two mental disorders such as anorexia nervosa (refusal to keep a minimal body weight due to a distorted body image) and bulimia nervosa (binge eating and vomiting to keep desired body weight) are eating disorders. Many persons who suffer from extreme overweight these days have bariatric surgery, a surgical procedure that started around 1965, and that typically reduces the size of the stomach so that persons cannot eat as much as they used to. The modern medicine in the west devotes enormous resources to cater to various life-styles that are often destructive. It also routinely performs unnecessary, expensive laboratory tests to maintain expensive machines and to avoid frivolous litigation. Bariatric surgery is not common in India. But instances of overeating and gorging are not uncommon especially among the affluent in India.

 

Satyannasti paro Dharmah (There is no religion or law that is higher than truth or reality) and Satyameva Jayate (Truth alone wins) come from the Hindu scriptures. Truth alone can set us free according to the New Testament of the Bible. Religions are becoming more and more irrelevant in that they do not practice what they preach, and they do not clearly focus on what really matters to people. Gandhi is relevant because in our age he put into practice truth understood as God and Ahimsa (non-violence) understood as perfect love, and modeled life for us as a spiritual person. In a world drifting aimlessly, truth and ahimsa (non-injury to humans and animals) alone can put humanity on the right course.

 

Swami Snehananda Jyoti

Old God New God

I discuss lot of issues with my social networking friends on a question answer site called Quora. To a question regarding “What is the biggest experiment man ever created”, I wrote my opinion as it is the concept of God and Religion is the biggest experiment man has created. Many people agreed to my opinion. Someone commented that this experiment was done by early man because at that time he lived in caves and trees and he had nothing to fight fear. So he created the concept Today in 21st century also, we continue to revisit this experiment by inventing new icons and symbols. There are many self proclaimed Gods in our times. There are a few who are just about hundred year old. Some of these icons are about four to five hundred year old. Some are two thousand year old. Some are even older. Older an icon, stronger becomes the belief. There are some people who say that hundred year old God cannot be placed in a temple where five thousand year old God is placed. Some claim that God is not something to be placed in a temple.

He is formless. People who believe in formless God, try to explain it, by quoting even a larger set of forms than one can imagine. So the conflicts of Old and New, Formed or Formless, Home owner or Homeless, Explainable or Unexplainable goes on and on. 

As a reader, you might be waiting for my version of God. My version is something, for which I am also experimenting with. My experiment is not over when I see a small seed getting converted to a big tree. It is not over, when some Nostradamus, makes a perfect prediction of a happening to occur on his graveyard. It is not over when a three year old child prodigy shows exceptional talent of recalling the whole set of books. This experiment is likely to continue in the minds of many other people of my generation. I wish I can also create a new icon and create a newer popular God. By God’s grace, this continuity has become my destiny.

Dr. Sunil Ji Garg

Strength of Humility

Humility is often a misunderstood word. Many confuse it with meekness or weakness. The result is that they resort to arrogance and waste a lot of energy in the process. This is very unfortunate. Therefore, the need is to understand the word ‘humility’ carefully. While the outer manifestations of ‘humility’ and 'meekness' may be the same, the inner situation is totally different. Humility can be shown only by a strong, fearless and a detached person while meekness is the result of weakness, fear or undue expectation. Humility is an ornament of the brave while meekness is a symptom of cowardice. Once we understand this difference well, we can cultivate humility in a natural manner, thus conserving our energy, which can be used for more constructive purposes. 

I learnt the above lesson from a book on Lal Bahadur Shastri written by an ex-Director of the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie. He was also my Director when I was there for the IAS training course. He had worked with Shastriji for a long time and had known him closely. He also used to deliver a few lectures on the personality of Shastriji to the probationers. I was greatly influenced by his lectures as well as the book. 

Shastriji came from a background of penury but rose to the position of the Prime Minister of India. All through he was a humble but in no way a weak man. He had the courage to own responsibility for mistakes committed by his subordinates and also the nerve to take strong decisions whenever necessary. This was amply evident during the Indo-Pak war of 1965. Even in Tashkent, he had displayed tremendous courage during the talks with Ayub Khan when he refused to budge from his stand on Kashmir. He lived a very simple life and commanded the respect of all. When he gave a call to give up cereals once a week, the whole nation responded positively because of the respect he commanded. 

Who says that humility is weakness? Only those who are humble in the true sense enjoy the strength of humility. 

Rakesh Mittal IAS

Morality of Christ

By morality of Christ I mean the way he lived and interacted with others, and taught about various relationships and transactions that involve moral or right conduct. Christ proclaimed that he was sent by the Spirit of the Lord to preach the Good News to the poor and to free the down-trodden. He preached and modelled the Kingdom of God to achieve his mission. He called God his dear father. And as children of the same father he called us his brothers or sisters. He also called us his friends. His sole purpose in this world was to do the will of God. So much so on one occasion when he was told that his mother, brothers, and sisters are anxiously waiting for him, he asked the rhetorical question: “Who is my mother or brother or sister?” He answered the question himself:  “Whoever does the will my father is my mother or brother or sister.” His essential message contains in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew, chapters: 5, 6, and 7; Luke, chapters: 4, 6, and 7). In this discourse he mainly deals with true happiness, prayer, trust, faith, not judging others, loving one’s enemies, detachment from the world, purity of intention, reconciliation. The corner stone of human behaviour is the Golden Rule: “Always treat others as you would like them treat you.” He taught us unconditional forgiveness; he taught us to love everyone, respect everyone, and help everyone who is in need. He taught us that when we serve the least one, we are serving God. He taught those who were despised and unworthy to be taught. In his stories and parables he held the rejects of society as models of neighbourly love, gratitude, and faith. He taught the unity of humanity. 

He told us that truth alone can set us Having had a glimpse of Christ’s teaching related to being and behaving in this world, how would I, for instance, respond to the current ethical concern of same-sex marriage that is emerging especially in the west? I would like to respond with deep compassion and understanding. While I like to reserve the word, marriage, to a union between a man and a woman, I like to consider the same-sex partnerships as arrangements that, because of civil recognition, may not be subjected to discriminations or human rights violations. God in infinite wisdom and compassion knows how to deal with such arrangements. Christ might tell them as he might tell all of us to seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness in all relations and arrangements that are means to our final goal. It is our duty, of course, to discern and select means that is effective to reach our final destination. 

Christ had a clear and distinct sense that he would be eventually rejected by the world, that is, the powerful, the wealthy, and the well-connected in religion and government (politics) who mattered in the world. He also made very clear to his disciples that they also would be rejected by the same world if they faithfully represented his teachings. 

Swami Snehananda Jyoti

What is a Measure of Spirituality?

(The author, Dr Janki Santoke Ph. D. (Philosophy) gives discourses on Vedanta through weekly classes and public talks. She writes for many newspapers and magazines including Times of India and Economic Times. Her articles and lectures use the knowledge of Vedanta to analyse and solve the challenges faced in personal and professional life.  She started her journey with Vedanta in 1988, when she joined Swami Parthasarathy's Vedanta Academy for a three year full time residential course in Vedanta. After the course she undertook administrative and tutorial duties there. She was re-located to New Delhi in 1998 where she founded the Vedanta Institute Delhi. The organization conducts public discourses on Vedanta and Bhagavad Gita as well as regular classes. She returned to Mumbai in 2005. Here she continues her work in teaching and writing on Vedanta).

  Are spiritual people those who believe in God? What about agnostics who seem to be living more or less ideal lives? Without professing any devotion to God , they are a beacon light to their society. Surely, it is better to live an ideal life than mutter the name of the Lord! Then are the spiritual people, those who believe in goodness rather than in God. If goodness is spirituality, then we seem only to have shifted the question. Who are ‘good people’? What is the absolute measure for good? Would it not be easier to say what is better or worse rather than what is good? So how about we say then that spirituality is about getting better. It is the strife to improve oneself. If a man be very good, but does not conceive better, he stagnates spiritually.

   

  Another, not as good, but striving, will no doubt catch up with, and better him, one day. Philosophically, what is important is not where one is, but where one is heading. The hunter Valmiki became the sage Valmiki. The sinners will be deemed righteous, says the Gita, “for they have rightly resolved”.

   

  Thus, spiritual people are those who have resolved to improve. The desire to improve is said to culminate in Enlightenment, Self-realisation, the merger with the Self. 

  It is the state of a Buddha, Christ, Ram, Mohammed and all those revered personalities. Thus to be spiritual, then, must mean the desire for Self-realisation, the final Perfection. That desire, accompanied by a systematic plan to reach there, is what is being spiritual.

All Things Are Small

Our scriptures teach us to live in this world in a detached manner. If we are fortunate enough to imbibe this in our lives, we make ourselves happy and little things do not bother us. The greater the degree of detachment, the greater is our capacity to accept things as they are and the greater is our peace of mind. Now the question is, what things should bother us and what not? The answer to this is not easy and varies from person to person. A thing, which is insignificant for one, may not be so for the other. However, a general principle may apply to all. I learnt this from a real-life episode, which was narrated during a training programme which I am sharing here. 

There was a famous cardiologist in US, who was a very busy person. Apart from being occupied in his medical practice, he rushed to various cities to deliver lectures on his subject. All his lectures drew huge crowds and this made him all the more popular and busy. His schedule, therefore, had become so hectic that his health came under great strain. 

Once he flew to a place to deliver a lecture but just before reaching the venue, he suffered a heart attack and was rushed to a hospital. Fortunately, he was attended to quickly and his life was saved. He recovered and went to deliver the lecture on the very next day. The news of his heart attack was kept a secret by his managers and so the audience was waiting eagerly for his talk. 

This time his lecture was altogether different. He did not speak on the complex systems of the heart and the human body and the complicated ways of keeping them healthy. Instead, he said that human life was very precious and should not be wasted on trivial things. Defining what these small things were, the exact words he used were: 

Small things are not worth dying for; And all things are small.


He concluded his lecture with these few lines, pleading that this formula was enough to keep the heart and body healthy. 

I consider that his advice advocated nothing but the principle of detachment. Life is too precious to be wasted on small things, and all worldly things are small when compared to the real goal of life. 

Rakesh Mittal IAS

A Way of Life

When I advocate a spirituality beyond religions and when I focus on relationships that go beyond blood connections, my relatives are somewhat confused. They are puzzled when I use the name, Snehananda Jyoti (Love-Bliss-Light), with the title, Swami (one who has conquered oneself), to describe my current identity. (Snehananda Jyoti is not my official name; and the title, Swami, is certainly a tall claim). The confusion and puzzlement suffered by persons who do not take spirituality and doing God’s will seriously are understandable. Am I a Hindu? In a way I am in the sense Hinduism is a way of life, and I adopt the best values of Hinduism such as detachment, renunciation, tolerance, purity of intention, truth, and non-violence. But these are also values taught by Christ. Am I a Christian? I am in that I follow the teachings of Christ. The primary teaching of Christ is to do the will of God, our father and mother. His mission clearly spelt out a preferential option for the poor, the down-trodden, the powerless, and the least human being. In the kingdom he preached there is no discrimination, bias, or prejudice; there is no Jew or gentile, black or white, high cast or low caste, male or female. He did not bind any one to any dogma, doctrine, or ritual except to love and the freeing truth. In his kingdom all live in harmony in the spirit of accommodation based on forgiveness and reconciliation. Therefore Christianity as Hinduism is also a way of life. In fact Thomas, a disciple of Christ, who came to India called those who followed the teachings of Christ the followers of the new path or those who joined the new way. In this way of life primarily inspired by the revolutionary teachings of Christ, I take everything good from other religions, persuasions, or traditions. Nobody has to be a Christian to follow the teachings of Christ as amply demonstrated by Gandhi, a Hindu. Christ did not penalize those who did what he told his disciples to do even though they did not belong to the group of his disciples. Truly Gandhi was beyond all religions. So was Christ when he told the Samaritan woman that God needs to be worshipped only in spirit and truth and not in any particular place.

What is the reason for my hesitation in belonging to any organized religion? It was the high priest and the dignitaries of the organized religion that Christ belonged, who decided that he should undergo the terrible death of the worst criminal. All religions over the years have fought among themselves and have done terrible things to those who did not agree with their views or doctrines. Nations that were supposed to have followed the teachings of Christ or Islam or Hinduism have committed the worst crimes that humanity suffered. What mattered to followers of religions was the acquisition of power and wealth through any means. As a result religions have lost credibility, and are drifting in the vast ocean of rites, rituals, and meaningless practices ridden with superstitions, cumbersome baggages, crushing burdens, and dead weights of the past. Currently I do not believe in original sin or hell. I do believe in some kind of a purification center though in afterlife.

All are children of God. Let the representatives of all religions teach humanity the best that they can offer. Let every human choose in spirit and truth what one needs. Let conversion be left to the Spirit of God. Meanwhile let us all work on social and distributive justice for the betterment of the least advantaged human being. Let us model spiritual life as meticulously as a worldly fashion model does to achieve the desired result. All will chose led by the Spirit of God the best that they are capable of in freedom and truth.

Swami (Dr) Snehananda Jyoti 

MSG and LEAD

MSG and Lead, these two words are taking rounds on all the TV channels and newspapers in India these days. The Noodle controversy is far from over. Instead of getting into this controversy I am seeking some learning as an Individual. Bad days can come for any one, whether it is an organisation or an Individual. Bad days can come due to the reaction of some current ‘Karma’ we have done or it may come due to some past ‘Karmas’ as explained in the Hindu system of belief.

Since childhood, we are fed with the doctrine of ‘Karma’ in the form of explaining various consequences of actions we perform. Study more; else you will fail. Respect others; else you will never get respect from others. Get up early; else you will lose your health. Always tell truth; else people will never trust you. Hundreds of such sentences we keep hearing every day. Most of them are in a way eternal truth, but we are still reminded of them very often. The episode of MSG and lead in Noodles, I would classify as one such reminder for its makers. The whole lesson is related to our reaction towards such reminders. Many of us have become so self-styled, that “Reaction Reminders” we just ignore and finally one day the dooms day becomes a reality. Dooms day became a reality for Idi Amin at Uganda, Saddam Hussein at Iraq, Osama Bin Laden at Pakistan, Gaddafi at Libya and hundreds of such other example we can find in our times itself. Some people who took such reminders in the right spirit became the kinds of Abraham Lincoln, Helen Keller, Nelson Mandela, Malala Yusuf Jai, Oprah Winfrey, J K Rowling, Walt Disney, Mikhail Gorbachev, Jesse Owens, Sudha Chandran and our very own beloved Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I know you can quote many more names here. Still, I shall request my readers to revise the biographies of all these people to remind you about how these people came out of odd times by reacting in a right manner.

I would leave it to you to decide whether the makers of these noodles are reacting in a right manner, but I will definitely take it as a reminder to learn to react rightly, especially when circumstances are not in your favour. So friends, keep distance from MSG and Lead, until you get the right response.

Dr. Sunil Ji Garg

Role of the Wicked

Sri Ramakrishna lived at a time when theatres were very popular in Bengal. Sometimes, Sri Ramakrishna himself used to visit them at the request of his devotees. Many of his devotees were connected with theatres as owners, actors or participants in allied activities. At Dakshineswar, in the company of devotees, the master often talked about theatres and drew many deep spiritual lessons from them. One such lesson was about the “Role of the Wicked”.

Many visitors to Dakshineswar used to ask Sri Ramakrishna about the evils prevailing in the society and the purpose served by them. Some of the devotees were themselves not very pious persons and indulged in all sorts of worldly activities. However, those who continued to live in the company of the Master grew fast and triumphed over their weaknesses. Those who did not, left his company and returned to their old ways. Swamiji was never upset at such happenings and gave full freedom to his devotees to choose their path. He confined himself only to revealing truth. Fortunate ones grasped it while others only laughed. He accepted both the responses with equanimity.

Whenever asked about the role of evil or the wicked, Sri Ramakrishna gave the example of a play on the stage of the theatre. According to him we all are actors on this worldly stage. Like a stage drama, we all play different roles on earth and once the drama is over, we return to our permanent abode. In a drama there are all types of roles. Someone plays the role of a hero and the other plays the role of villain. Both roles are equally important and the success of the drama depends upon both. The drama will lose all its charm if any one of them is absent.

The same is the case with the worldly drama also. Here, all kinds of people are required to make it dynamic and interesting. If we look at evil and wickedness from this viewpoint, all our fear, hatred or complaints against them will disappear. Instead, we shall have harmony with them also. Not only this, when seen this way, we shall find their roles as important as those of good persons.

This is how Sri Ramakrishna explained the ‘Role of the Wicked”.

Rakesh Mittal IAS

Substantial Change: In Reality, Identity And Value System

 

Realities, identities, and value systems have changed. To take three examples: 1. Men or women felt that they were trapped in their given birth bodies while their true identity belonged to that of the opposite sex. a) Bruce Jenner becomes Caitlyn Jenner. Bruce was an American former track and field athlete who as a man came to international attention when he won the gold medal in the decathlon at the 1976 Olympics held in Montreal, Canada, in 1976. Later on he became a television personality. Bruce felt his wanting to run away from his male self helped him achieve his feat in running at the Olympics. He has six adult biological children. Now at the age of 65 he, through sexual re-assignment treatment and/or surgery, has become a woman with the name of Caitlyn Jenner and has appeared on the recent cover page of a magazine called Vanity Fair. b) Recently there was a report in the media of a male professor in a college in Kolkotta taking charge of that college as a female principal after becoming a transgender woman through sexual re-assignment surgery.  2. In a recent voting Ireland approved a proposition favoring homosexual and lesbian marriages by a majority of 62 percent. This change is phenomenal in a Catholic country that considered homosexual relationships to be criminal only a few years ago. 3. Assisted suicide with the involvement of a physician is legal in Switzerland. As anyone can get assistance in suicide there, the country has come to be known for “suicide tourism”. As a scientist like Stephen Hawking, and spiritual leaders like Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a recipient of Nobel Peace Prize and Gandhi Peace Prize, and Archbishop Carey, a former Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Anglican Communion worldwide, favor assisted suicide in extreme pain, assisted suicide is becoming more of a reality all over the world.

As the world is becoming a multi-cultural, pluralistic society, realities, identities, and value systems are changing fast. Materialism and consumerism driven by exploitative commercialism have extremely blurred realities, identities, and value systems. Rigid, puritanical, immoral value systems of the past such as racism, casteism, colonialism, and authoritarianism with their excesses and demonic discriminations have not been adequately replaced by a spiritual culture of awareness, thoughtfulness, and sharing where no human is left out. For this, education itself has to be recaptured from the clutches of materialism and given the spiritual purpose of conscience formation, the value of common good, and the necessary skills for healthy living. Changes are necessary. Changes need to be channeled creatively for the good of humanity. While legitimate rights need to be respected, changes are not indiscriminately provided or bought in the market on the basis of who can afford what, while the very basic needs of the overwhelming majority of humanity are not met. Individuals’ rights and freedom should be tempered by the rights and freedom of humanity in general. A thorough revision of our value system is essential. Essential needs need to be distinguished from non-essential wants. A United Nations conference on human destiny needs to be planned.

On an individual basis, the primary focus needs to be on a deep awareness of one’s own and others’ purpose in life, needs and wants, and available resources. Let science and technology benefit the common person before a few can indulge in luxuries. Life is not an entertainment provided by a few rich actors and actresses, that seduces the unthinking human into vicarious living, empty stupor, and stupidity. I do not do something because I can, but because it fits in with my over-all plan and purpose.

Swami Snehananda Jyoti 

Monk Who Sold Nothing

It just happened today. I was watching a news item about a businessman who got converted to a monk by spending twentyfive crores of rupees. More than one lakh people watched the conversion ceremony. All kinds of expensive rituals were performed. More than thousand other monks and some celebrity industrialists were present. A very expensive structure was built in the name of renunciation from public life. This structure was named as the “Ship of Self-Control” or “Saiyam Jahaj”. 

Somehow after watching this whole episode I could not keep control over me and what came out was this article. I was surprised to note that even the mainstream media was not able to make any comment about the extravagant expenses for someone to become a monk. I have been seeing all sorts of wasteful expenditures by many people all around. That too in a country where farmers commit suicide just because of untimely rains in one season. I am of the opinion that our society needs to get up and make law against the wasteful expenditures, whether it is done by a political leader in a marriage function or by a film star in a film success party. Unequal distribution of wealth is not actually due to “karma” of anyone, but very often it is due to cunningly planned strategies of some people, who turn the flow of money in their favour by snatching the rights of many others. We do have hardworking wealthy people in our society. The purpose of my write up is not to make a generalized remark. It is rather to raise a small voice against extravagant and vulgar display of some people in this country. I was surprised, when I surfed the net, I found that our neighbour Pakistan has been able to implement “One Dish, one Rule” rather well in their marriages. We do have Guest Control Act in India too. We have many committee reports that have spoken against “Big Fat Indian Celebrations”. But so far only files have been moving and so much so when a seasoned RTI activist wanted to know about the original guest control order, even that file is missing. We have a state like Assam, where at least a similar order is in action. 

I know we are a fun loving society. The only little issue is that sometime our fun crosses the limits; we do not even realize that such limits existed. So I just finish my post with a best wish to the future life of “A Monk Who Sold Nothing”. Tomorrow we will have MBA case studies on “Marketing Techniques of Monks”. 

Dr. Sunil Ji Garg 

Thoughts Never Die

Tomorrow, on 3rd June 2015, Indian Thoughts completes 11 years of relentless and silent service. Today, it has come to be one among the most subscribed online moral education services in the world. That is how the world accepted Indian Thoughts. The credit goes to all our contributors, technical support team, committed promoters and above all, the many thousands of readers from around the world. 

Why is Indian Thoughts relevant in so confused and so tumultuous a world of fabricated Smile Apps? I remember the story of a lady who was asked to write the names of 25 most important persons in her life. Next she as asked to delete 5 out of 25, again 5 out of the remaining 20, all depending on importance. At last there remained just five: her parents, her husband, her child and her servant. When asked to remove two more from the list, she reluctantly cut her parents. When asked to remove one more, she cut off the servant. The next one she cut off was her only child. Her stand was that it could only be her husband who would stand by her in pain and pleasure all the 24 hours. This is the situation in our physical life. We need some one to love us rather than someone to be loved. 

In our emotional/subtle levels of existence, if we are asked to cut off personal attributes/contributing elements one by one, the last thing to remain could be our thoughts. It is from a thought that word was begotten and it is word that became flesh. On the core, each one of us is just a sponsoring thought that culminated into flesh and blood. In a world where we think luxury is everything, our spirits inside are choked or starved. No one easily accepts the fact that we are enslaved to every comfort that we have added into our life. Without electricity, without phone, without car… if we can’t live, this means that they are our masters. On the other side, if we let loose our thoughts so that it merges and harmonizes with the collective consciousness of the universe, we become one with everything and thus master everything. It is like a drop of water in the sea; when it lives part of the ocean, it is the ocean. 

To bring humanity back to an awareness of spiritual solidarity and thus to a realm of complete freedom, Indian Thoughts helps. India is perhaps the only continuing culture of its’ kind. Even in almost all sematic religions, what we see is Indian philosophy revisited. Our purpose is not upholding the sentiments of a particular country but sharing the vision of a chain of Great sages and saints who blessed humanity with their wonderful thoughts and presence. Indian knowers were not promoters of sectarian spirituality or religions, Temples or Churches, rituals or practices, rites or tithes, idols or monuments but promoters of a realm of freedom from where we emerged and to where we are bound to return. They knew that evolution is natural and a living being with double consciousness need to evolve in a revolutionary mode. Revolution requires a process; if it is an inward journey, the process required is meditation. 

Indian Thoughts don’t teach anybody anything; it just helps everyone to be what they are, which is the first step towards an evolution, consciously controlled. On this auspicious anniversary day, Team Indian Thoughts solemnly thank everybody in this fraternity for being together with infinite patience at hand. In darkness light makes a difference. 

Joseph Mattappally

(Director – Indian Thoughts)