The True Seeker asks for Equity, Fairness & Justice
I have often asked myself whether science can one day find a cure for greed and unfairness, irrationality and arrogance; whether it can, in the new millennium, offer a pill for overblown egos, as it did for depression or schizophrenia in the old? The answer, alas, is all too obvious. The origins of ahan- kara (ego), lobh (greed) or abhi- man (conceit) lie not in flawed bodily chemistry but in mis- guided morality and belief. The human mind alone. the Vedas tell us, is the source of all agyan (ignorance or bondage), the fountainhead of our worldly miseries. This agyan is traced to a profound and per vasive sense of dual- ism-of self and moth er, subject and object, I and you - which fuels the Hu- man desire to look at the world man desire to look at the world into that which is mine and that which is not. "When a man thinks of the objects", Lord Krishna warns Arjuna in the Gita, "attachment for them ari- ses; from attachment desire is born". This desire gives birth to greed and selfishness, keeping us trapped in an obsessive web of ownership and possession. But can we leave behind this state of bondage? Listen to Sage Uddakala's invocation of "Tat Tvam Asi" (You are that) in Chandogya or the chant of "Aham Brhamasmi" (I am Brahmn) in Brhadaranyaka or the strains of "Ayam Atma Brahmn" (This self is Brahmn) in Mandukya Upanishad. Vedic wisdom says: Rise above this consciousness, this bodily self and realise that the other is a part of yourself, joined in the cosmic unity called the Brahmn. For the sadhak, the real journey begins with a willing surrender of ego and ends in a spirit of tyaag or sacrificе where there is no rancour or dwesh in giving because "nothing really belongs to me". "When one is contented with whatever occurs", says Buddha, "there is no struggle to gain more and more". Freed from desire and greed, the sadhak attains a perfect inner calm. Na punyam na paapam na sukhyam na dukham. In the same spirit, the sadhak asks not for himself, not for his own greed or glory; he looks for equity, fairness and justice, he wants bhiksha, not bheekh. This differ e nce mirrors the divide between need and greed, is lost on those who refuse to acknowledge the in tent or motivation behind any act of giving or taking. А similar confusion obscures the true import of Kri shna's message about nishkamya karma or selfless action: Karmanyewadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachan..." Have a right to action, never to its fruit. It is an error to interpret sacri fice as a sign of weakness. True giving is a mark not of submis sion but of awakening. It is the moment of liberation when the self is rid of the corrosive im pulse of "I want" and "T'll have" Sacrifice is the ultimate victo dry, the victory of self over self, a victory that is worth immeasurably more than winning a thousand people or a thousand external wars. But sacrifice comes not merely from knowledge but also faith or shraddha. This faith, in turn, is as much a function of inheritance or sanskara - a precious gift-as it is of choice. You can be your father's son or mother's favourite child without paying any heed to any of their essential beliefs or values. Or you can find in both the inspirational bedrock for all that you are and shall forever be.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are ANIL D AMBANI personal 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: ANIL D AMBANI and Speaking Tree,Times of India
The True Seeker asks for Equity, Fairness & Justice
I have often asked myself whether science can one day find a cure for greed and unfairness, irrationality and arrogance; whether it can, in the new millennium, offer a pill for overblown egos, as it did for depression or schizophrenia in the old? The answer, alas, is all too obvious. The origins of ahan- kara (ego), lobh (greed) or abhi- man (conceit) lie not in flawed bodily chemistry but in mis- guided morality and belief. The human mind alone. the Vedas tell us, is the source of all agyan (ignorance or bondage), the fountainhead of our worldly miseries. This agyan is traced to a profound and per vasive sense of dual- ism-of self and moth er, subject and object, I and you - which fuels the Hu- man desire to look at the world man desire to look at the world into that which is mine and that which is not. "When a man thinks of the objects", Lord Krishna warns Arjuna in the Gita, "attachment for them ari- ses; from attachment desire is born". This desire gives birth to greed and selfishness, keeping us trapped in an obsessive web of ownership and possession. But can we leave behind this state of bondage? Listen to Sage Uddakala's invocation of "Tat Tvam Asi" (You are that) in Chandogya or the chant of "Aham Brhamasmi" (I am Brahmn) in Brhadaranyaka or the strains of "Ayam Atma Brahmn" (This self is Brahmn) in Mandukya Upanishad. Vedic wisdom says: Rise above this consciousness, this bodily self and realise that the other is a part of yourself, joined in the cosmic unity called the Brahmn. For the sadhak, the real journey begins with a willing surrender of ego and ends in a spirit of tyaag or sacrificе where there is no rancour or dwesh in giving because "nothing really belongs to me". "When one is contented with whatever occurs", says Buddha, "there is no struggle to gain more and more". Freed from desire and greed, the sadhak attains a perfect inner calm. Na punyam na paapam na sukhyam na dukham. In the same spirit, the sadhak asks not for himself, not for his own greed or glory; he looks for equity, fairness and justice, he wants bhiksha, not bheekh. This differ e nce mirrors the divide between need and greed, is lost on those who refuse to acknowledge the in tent or motivation behind any act of giving or taking. А similar confusion obscures the true import of Kri shna's message about nishkamya karma or selfless action: Karmanyewadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachan..." Have a right to action, never to its fruit. It is an error to interpret sacri fice as a sign of weakness. True giving is a mark not of submis sion but of awakening. It is the moment of liberation when the self is rid of the corrosive im pulse of "I want" and "T'll have" Sacrifice is the ultimate victo dry, the victory of self over self, a victory that is worth immeasurably more than winning a thousand people or a thousand external wars. But sacrifice comes not merely from knowledge but also faith or shraddha. This faith, in turn, is as much a function of inheritance or sanskara - a precious gift-as it is of choice. You can be your father's son or mother's favourite child without paying any heed to any of their essential beliefs or values. Or you can find in both the inspirational bedrock for all that you are and shall forever be.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are ANIL D AMBANI personal 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: ANIL D AMBANI and Speaking Tree,Times of India