Sachem- Cleanliness Inside And Outside
The Bhagwad Gita in Chapter 13 talks about 'shadchan,' cleanliness, as one of the values to be cultivated if a person wants to evolve. It refers to both internal and external cleanliness. Internal cleanliness means ensuring that our perceptions, opinions and decisions are not an outcome of our distorted view of things, but based on realities. This may sound easy, but in practice requires us to be rigorous in examining the validity of our ideas and thoughts, ensuring that we look at situations in their entirety, without getting carried away with our partial or erroneous perceptions and opinions which, in turn, lead to misguided actions. Outside or external cleanliness is more tangible and is reflected by the extent to which we keep our surroundings-our room, home, neighbourhood and nation-clean. I regularly walk on Carmichael Road, a posh neighbourhood in Mumbai. Every day i notice that BMC workers strive to keep the road clean as it houses a number of wealthy VIPs and top bureaucrats. In spite of their commendable effort, tomy distress, i regularly see dogs defecate both on the road as wellas on sidewalks, as dog owners send their pets for a walk and the walkers do not bother cleaning up behind them. What is more disturbing is that the remains attract flies. mosquitoes and make the road smelly and unpleasant These are often the very people who complain and blame the government for not doing its job. We convince ourselves that the system is not efficient and is corrupt. However, we fail to see that an unclean road is the outcome of a dereliction of duty on our part rather than inefficient BMС workers. I asked myself, is it not part of inner 'shaucham'for us to accept our role in a problem rather than constantly blaming others for it? If weare to evolve as human beings, we need to invest time and effort to see the real picture beyond our immediate perception, address our distorted conclusions and act more responsibly. I thought to myself that one of the reasons for people being oblivious to their role in creating a mess on the roads could be that they never walk on these roads as they travel in the comfort of air-conditioned cars that zoom past. However, ignorance is certainly not bliss. The Gitareminds us that we live in an interconnected and interdependent world. The complex web of things is organised in a way that our actions not only a others but eventually come back ourselves. Last summer, many aerthe city suffered from dengue. The residents of this road were also no spared in spite of their well-insula air-conditioned homes and cars. I am convinced that nobody cares cape the consequences of action There are seemingly imperceptiblconnections between our actions their consequences. I believe that have a choice-either to continue violate the value of both inner and'shaucham' orto be more responsiThe Gita reminds us that ignorsuch values comes with its own cois detrimental to everyone's well-Be We should aim to follow enlighten self-interest. This is just one issue the idea of 'shadchan' can apply tevery perception, decision and act we perform in our lives.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Neema Majmudar views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Neema Majmudar and Speaking Tree,Times of India
Sachem- Cleanliness Inside And Outside
The Bhagwad Gita in Chapter 13 talks about 'shadchan,' cleanliness, as one of the values to be cultivated if a person wants to evolve. It refers to both internal and external cleanliness. Internal cleanliness means ensuring that our perceptions, opinions and decisions are not an outcome of our distorted view of things, but based on realities. This may sound easy, but in practice requires us to be rigorous in examining the validity of our ideas and thoughts, ensuring that we look at situations in their entirety, without getting carried away with our partial or erroneous perceptions and opinions which, in turn, lead to misguided actions. Outside or external cleanliness is more tangible and is reflected by the extent to which we keep our surroundings-our room, home, neighbourhood and nation-clean. I regularly walk on Carmichael Road, a posh neighbourhood in Mumbai. Every day i notice that BMC workers strive to keep the road clean as it houses a number of wealthy VIPs and top bureaucrats. In spite of their commendable effort, tomy distress, i regularly see dogs defecate both on the road as wellas on sidewalks, as dog owners send their pets for a walk and the walkers do not bother cleaning up behind them. What is more disturbing is that the remains attract flies. mosquitoes and make the road smelly and unpleasant These are often the very people who complain and blame the government for not doing its job. We convince ourselves that the system is not efficient and is corrupt. However, we fail to see that an unclean road is the outcome of a dereliction of duty on our part rather than inefficient BMС workers. I asked myself, is it not part of inner 'shaucham'for us to accept our role in a problem rather than constantly blaming others for it? If weare to evolve as human beings, we need to invest time and effort to see the real picture beyond our immediate perception, address our distorted conclusions and act more responsibly. I thought to myself that one of the reasons for people being oblivious to their role in creating a mess on the roads could be that they never walk on these roads as they travel in the comfort of air-conditioned cars that zoom past. However, ignorance is certainly not bliss. The Gitareminds us that we live in an interconnected and interdependent world. The complex web of things is organised in a way that our actions not only a others but eventually come back ourselves. Last summer, many aerthe city suffered from dengue. The residents of this road were also no spared in spite of their well-insula air-conditioned homes and cars. I am convinced that nobody cares cape the consequences of action There are seemingly imperceptiblconnections between our actions their consequences. I believe that have a choice-either to continue violate the value of both inner and'shaucham' orto be more responsiThe Gita reminds us that ignorsuch values comes with its own cois detrimental to everyone's well-Be We should aim to follow enlighten self-interest. This is just one issue the idea of 'shadchan' can apply tevery perception, decision and act we perform in our lives.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Neema Majmudar views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Neema Majmudar and Speaking Tree,Times of India