Not of the World

A few days ago I was meditating about my own identity. Who am I really? For a long time I was known in the USA as a Resident Alien. The term, resident alien, came from the Alien Registration Card, more popularly known as the green card, denoting the status of a permanent resident.  In the USA I was an Indian, in India I was an American. Over the years I began to see myself as an alien in that I feel terribly uncomfortable with a great deal of hypocrisy that goes on around me.  By no means I want to imply here that I myself am free of all hypocrisy.  At this point I can only say that I am striving to get rid of as much of it as I can. Also, I have great difficulty with the organized, institutionalized, strictly regimented religion that I was born in, and to that I devoted most of my adult life. As years passed I began to see my religion with its rigid doctrines, medieval theology, rituals, and practices more like the Pharisaism Christ condemned in his days. So I opted for spirituality beyond religions. It is a simple spirituality with a simple theology: 1. See and respect everyone as God’s children who are designed to join God out of their own free will, 2. Love humanity and live one’s life according to God’s will as communicated to one’s duly formed conscience, 3. Use this world’s natural resources wisely and frugally without exploitation of anyone, and share them with others especially with the needy.

The question then is: How many of us can live a life that is not defined by our religion, culture, nationality, and race? Not many. My own best estimate is that about 99.99 per cent of humanity are defined by external determinants, and only, perhaps, .01 per cent are determined by internal factors.  And those .01 per cent, in my thinking, are not of this world. They cannot be contained or defined by any nationality, race, religion, or culture. In a world where truth does not matter, corruption abounds, and criminals get away, all of us may wonder once in a while whether we belong to this world.  But when a religion that is supposed to connect us with God is practiced more and more for social acceptance and worldly prestige, I have no doubt that we are not facing reality.  When the man born blind was healed by Christ, his parents did not want to acknowledge Christ for fear of being put out of the Jewish synagogue (John, Chapter 9).

That is why we in the ashram are looking for an alternate mode of living that is more congruent with our ideals. We think our community life paves the way for future forms of religious and/or spiritual living. Practically speaking, we attempt to live a simple community life of spiritualty following the will of God on the basis of our own rigorous discernment using the available knowledge and wisdom coming from the treasury of human heritage.  We in the ashram pooling our resources come from different cultures, nationalities, religions. We, married as well as celibates, have not come together due to blood relationships. We heartily accept everything good that comes from everywhere. We choose to live this life and celebrate it because we find it highly satisfying and fulfilling in a world that is confined and limited by so many “narrow domestic walls” as Tagore described. We believe and earnestly think that we are representing realities beyond this world that humanity needs to march towards.

Swami Snehananda Jyoti 

Colour Me Saffron

Before your start connecting this ‘title’ to anything else, let me tell you that it is being used here simply as an English translation of famous Indian freedom fighter’s song, “Mera Rang De Basanti Chola”. Many people who relate saffron colour to religion, may not be knowing, that the freedom fighters who sung this song while walking towards the rope of capital punishment were completely atheists. Just read this line from Sardar Bhagat Singh. “As regard the origin of God, my thought is that man created God in his imagination when he realised his weaknesses, limitations and shortcomings”. 

Today on Martyr’s day, while I am penning this article for you, I decided to delve little deeper into Bhagat Singh’s philosophy of freedom and of Religion. I found that both Mahatma Gandhi and Bhagat Singh had similar opinions on the matter of human weaknesses. The reason for Mahatma to pray was this weakness and the same reason applied for Bhagat Singh, for not praying. While the concept of religion seems to be binding us into many rituals, the concept of freedom is actually not much different from the real concept of religion. Bhagat Singh advocated the need for freedom to help an Individual move above the boundaries of religious beliefs. Mahatma, however thought that religion helps to fill social gaps, by explaining the concepts of empathy towards others and thus achieve inner freedom. Today saffron colour has become a sort of brand for many to promote and force their own faith, in the name of “Return to Home”. The same colour is almost hated by few other groups for the fear of losing the political battle. I always relate to saffron as being a colour that provides the head to our tricolor. Head relates to thoughts and it was the power of thoughts that Bhagat Singh demonstrated to the world. So folks! Let us power our minds with saffron power, or the power that gives freedom to our expression, freedom to our deeds and freedom to choose our beliefs. 

Dr. Sunil Ji Garg

None of the Above

Quite recently, there were public uproars for admitting NOTA option in Indian General Elections. NOTA had been introduced, clearly because there were people who did not like to stand by any of the candidates in the list. When election rules were set in India, nobody might have thought that Indian politics is going to be a byword for open corruption. However, not too many have envisioned the problems this little NOTA might invoke in case it scores majority of the vote. Will NOTA save the nation is another question. 

There was a time when every Indian citizen loved to be identified with the faith/religion, culture, or cast to which he/she belonged and so an application/submission form with a box to indicate the applicant’s religion was not at all an odd thing. This is not the case now. The number of people with indifferences towards religions is slowly increasing. This is not any kind of atheism which administers the doctrine that deities are not real but a movement limited to an understanding that the logics religionists follow are wrong. Once, if Indians were born into a religion and always died in a religion, now all those who are born in a religion are not buried in the same. Non religionists courageously say that they belong to None Of The Above (NOTA). These non religionists believe that in most cases religions are derailed and avoiding them could be better. This NOTA attitude is not restricted to elections and religions only; it has spread to social/family relationships too. People love to live maximum unattached. 

This has come to be a trend. 

Recently, I read about entrepreneurial religion, that is founding one’s own religion. A month back, Indian Express had published news on unattached Christians staging a demonstration in Nagercoil, demanding separate burial grounds. Hinduism in India has ever been open; nobody cares too much about one’s religious faith exercises and almost all have entrepreneurial approach at least in some cases. Entrepreneurship is not alien to Islam too, where some people yearn for peace and tolerance while some others insist on might and rights. Elements of irresponsibility in total consciousness generated by this People, who have chosen to be entrepreneurial in faith and NOTA in action is enough to change the world, absurd in spirit. That is my concern.

Joseph Mattappally

The Fall of Shivalik

After I joined at Calcutta in July 1994, I wanted to join a club for tennis. Calcutta is known for its clubs and there are many which provide good facilities for the game, the South Club of Calcutta being considered the best, as it has produced many national level players. I used to watch tennis in this club from the balcony of my friend’s house during my visits to Calcutta prior to my posting and always entertained a desire to play there. This wish of mine was fulfilled when a friend arranged for me to play there soon after I shifted to Calcutta. That friend himself, though bulky, was a good player of tennis and we soon developed a liking for each other.

My friend used to live in a five-storey building called “Shivalik” which was located in central Calcutta. His flat was on the fifth floor. Being somewhat bulky, he usually complained about it as the occasional climb up was arduous. l always advised him to look at the positive features of the flat and to accept gladly what providence had provided him. From the viewpoint of location and layout, it was a good flat and, therefore, he had all reason to feel happy. He, however, never took my word as seriously as I wished him to. The matter ended there.

After about a year, one morning, the newspapers of Calcutta carried the headlines about the sudden sinking of the “Shivalik” building into the ground. The news did not give a clear picture about the inmates and only mentioned that efforts were being made to rescue them. This created great anxiety and we tried to enquire about our friend. After sometime we learnt that he had been successfully rescued along with his wife and daughter. His only son also survived as he had left for IIT, Chennai, only a few days back. This gave us tremendous relief though it was eclipsed by the fact that all the inmates of the other flats died and it turned out to be a great tragedy in the city. The newspapers carried the news related to this mishap for many days. In due course, the builder was also arrested.

When I met my friend after the mishap, he had not fully recovered from the shock, but showed great respect towards the advice I used to give him about the flat. It was only because his flat was on the top floor, that he had survived the mishap. That was the only floor which remained above the ground, while the other four sank completely. Subsequent enquiries revealed that the foundation of the building had not been prepared properly which was why the soil had given way. Due to commercial reasons, undue haste was also shown in the construction of the building. The Calcutta Municipal Corporation became more alert when sanctioning building plans after this accident.

I thought over this event from two points of view. One was the providential escape of my friend which changed his attitude greatly. The second was about the role of the foundation in the construction of a building. If the foundation is not prepared properly, there is always a danger of its falling. The same is true for nation-building. When I see the falling values in our nation, I always feel that, perhaps, something has gone drastically wrong in its very foundation. Therefore, there is a need to take corrective measures, otherwise the day may not be far away when its collapse will come like the fall of the “Shivalik” building of Calcutta. No purpose will then be served by complaining about the weak foundation. We must, therefore, learn appropriate lessons without any delay and start taking corrective steps. No beginning is too late. Our nation is great and has survived many a crisis in its long history because of its strong foundation. Now that the entire nation-building is on a weak foundation, the collapse is a very distinct possibility. 

The same logic is applicable in the case of individuals, families and societies. If the very foundation of development is faulty, how can we think of a healthy development? In all these cases, it is the character which acts as the foundation. If we want strong and durable nation-building, there is no option but to have a strong foundation for the national character.

Rakesh Mittal IAS

Anomalies of Democracy

Some recent events in the world should make those of us who love democracy to ponder.

1. Kerala Legislative Assembly: Kerala should hang its head in shame for the way some of the legislative members of the assembly indulged in violence and destruction in the very temple of democracy. These members disregarded human rights and all canons of human decency as they freely broke the laws of the land.  They attempted to systematically break the law and order situation in the state to create anarchy and chaos. They do not deserve to be members of such an august law-making body. They are very poor models for all law-abiding citizens. They need to realize that the finance minister could legally present the state budget in the assembly as long as he is not found guilty andlegally barred by the court. In a civilized democratic state every citizen is considered to be innocent unless proven guilty. To add insult to injury, these perpetrators of crimes had the temerity to declare with impunity a strike (hadthal) that would paralyze the whole state on the following day. Little do political parties in Kerala know that any strike that denies safe freedom of movement and conduct of businesses is a violation of human rights and democratic principles.

2. Some days ago the Finance Minister of India, while unveiling a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the Parliament Square in London, referred to the United Kingdoms (U. K.) as the oldest democracy. The title, oldest democracyis rightly and justly deserved by the United States of America (USA). No country with a constitutional monarch as its head deserves, in my opinion, to be called a fully democratic country. In other words, in a democratic country there are no privileges or hereditary rightsthat come merely from one’s birth.

3. Recently there was a report in the media that Pope Francis was against the ordination of women to the priesthood in the Catholic Church.  My question to him would be: Would Pope Francis be alright if he were denied the right of ordination because he happened to be born as a woman? I know I would not be alright. May be he would not have difficulty with his faith as I would have. But the fact of the matter is that none of us chose our gender.My wife had to settle for being a nurse because her mother did not think that women in those days became physicians. Well, there is no theology against the ordination of women. There is only tradition against it. But then many old traditions have changed as they turned out to be unenlightened and even outright immoral and illegal. Holiness is compatible with faith and democracy. Nay, I, who was against women’s ordination in my less enlightened days of the past, now believe equality of genders promotes holinessbetter. I firmly believe that it is good for the future of the Catholic Church to embrace demoracy in electing bishops and cardinals who in turn then can elect the pope.

Democracy is a very fragile institution. It may not foster fast economic growth and material prosperity as a dictatorship would. Yet it is the only way to preserve human rights and human dignity.  Many countries do not have it. Many persons have risked their lives for it. In the modern age only democracy can bring a fair and orderly life and, above all, real emotional and spiritual satisfaction.

Swami Snehananda Jyoti 

Childhood Dreams

Those days, He was in his early teens. He used to play cricket in an open space in front of his house. Many other children of the colony also used to play there. He was considered to be a poor cricketer. Whenever he tried bowling, it was difficult for him to pitch the ball anywhere in the line of the stumps. Most of the times his over was limited to three balls in the name of a local cricket rule, called ‘Baby Over’. For batting he was definitely a tail-ender. Total run he scored in his lifetime was less than a good batsman average batting score. But, one thing was still amazing, whenever he used to ball, he always thought, that one day he will make it to the Indian squad as a bowler. He felt that, his style of bowling was like Bhagvat Chandrasekhar, the famous leg spinner in those days. His dream used to repeat in a different way whenever his chance of batting used to come. He also dreamt of playing “late-cuts” like Gundappa Viswanath, a legendary Batsman of Indian squad in seventies. These are the ways I feel every child used to dream. 

A dream of becoming a big shot at whatever he tries. By this time, readers must have understood that I am talking of my own childhood days. As we grow old, the rawness in our dreams starts diminishing. The power of weighing pros and cons in everything takes over. Other than dreaming of becoming the best cricketer, I also used to dream many other things. I wanted to become the best painter in India. I wanted to become a sitar maestro. My most realistic dream was to get my name on school honours board. As per my academic performance those days, it was a little difficult. Five exceptionally brilliant students were ahead of me. In next four years, things slowly changed in my favour and I could make it. This gave me a belief that it is possible to get to some of your dreams, only if you see it in the first place and then work hard towards your goal. This learning helped me all along my career to reach a few milestones. I wish, I can maintain the same rawness of childhood dreams even now. 

Dr. Sunil Ji Garg

Lights Please !

The Bible says, “You are the light of the world….” Buddha said, “Be a light unto others,” and we call the saints ‘the enlightened’. Is light so inseparable in our lives? At a glance we find that without light around, all our activities, all our discoveries, all our innovations turn useless. What can we do without light? Ligt is so important. It was light that God created first. It should have been from light that everything manifested. The science of Physics knows that an electron can be created at a specific voltage and an atom at a much higher ratings. Then why not we create things at our pleasure? There is the truth that human laboratories cannot hold that much of high voltage. We regretfully admit that it is only the powers of the cosmos that is competent to do this and that it can do this in abundance. 

I used to think on the wisdom of the universe and the solar system in particular. Each planet, sub planet and the sun are rotating at various speeds quite in harmony with each other. The planets’ overall orbiting path and speed also are hilariously harmonious. Definitely, the entire system is controlled by a consciousness with high wisdom. It is clear that this wisdom is not confined to a particular corner of the system or a particular planet. The whole space used by the solar system is filled with this consciousness. To be precise, wisdom fills the entire space, everything in this finite universe. Our attempt to split the universe ends up in atoms and an analysis ends up showing that what we get inside the atoms also is nothing other than space, because the theory holds that particles in any atom are by nature waveforms only – just lines of force condensed. According to science, the only reality then comes to be that nothing exists. Einstein put in a beautiful rule- time and space do not exist. 

We were thinking on our connection with light. If matter is split into atoms, animate things are interpreted in combinations of cells. How many of us know that each cell is radiating thousands of light waves, different in frequencies? All energy radiations are ‘light’ according to science. If so, each human body should be a complex web of radiations that keep crisscrossing all the time. So it is. Like beams repel and unlike beams attract. The net result is that the emanating light shapes into a spectrums of colours around the cells and around the body. A part of it can be seen with naked eyes, and a trained reader sees a little more. There are aura readers who translate the beaming light around a body into meaningful information. If it is light that rules a cell, since we carry some 50 trillions of cells, why not we simply be called light? Seers knew this and it is what they said too. Unfortunately, most of the human stars are hid behind clouds of ignorance or resists to part with darkness.  They claim that they are in search of their purpose. Strange! What else can I say?

Joseph Mattappally