Community Service is Narayan Seva
Sage Veda Vyasa was given a unique assignment. He was asked to study all the philosophical and spiritual literature and sum it up in short. After intense study, with the help of his yogic power, he issued a oneliner: "The act of greatest merit is to help others and the greatest act of sin is to cause intentional pain to others". This is the ultimate in any religion, philosophy or spiritual school. Swami Vivekananda said: "So far as a single dog is hungry in the country, my whole religion is to feed it". He was exercised about inequalities. Pain is of two kinds: An individual causing intentional pain to another individual and one section of society causing deliberate pain or suffering to the another section. There are several reasons-including social issues - why pain is inflicted. A major source of pain is mishandling of human relationships. If a couple cooperates with one another and lives happily, the family is happy as well. Happy families make a happy society. Most relationships, when they break down, do so on account of entirely preventable reasons. One major factor in souring of relationships is miscommunication followed by misunderstanding. The other reason of course is lack of mutual respect. Imbalance in family life leads to social imbalance. Unfortunately. often it is the woman who is the sufferer. Little wonder then that the topic of discussion in satsangs and seminars is often: "Women: Their role in society". There is the never-ending talk of giving equal rights to women. But how can you 'give' equal rights to them? God has created man and woman as equals. In fact, woman has a larger role in life and living than does man, because she is the one who bears children and in most cases, rears them, too. What is prescribed in our sacred texts and what is practised in the society do not match. Despite exaltation of the female principle and mother-worship, a female child is victimised at every stage of her life, from the moment she is conceived. Causing intentional pain means to take advantage of the helplessness of an individual. What is the use of spiritual discourses to an individual who can't see divinity in womanhood? The breaking of family ties, too, has fractured society. The other area of misunderstanding is between parents and children. The increasing numbers of old age homes are not an index of increase in social awareness or compassion; on the contrary, they are indicative of the extent of the apathy now prevalent in social structures. Our relationship with our parents cannot be weighed in the scale of payment and repayments. It is impossible to repay the 'debt we owe our parents. Service to parents is more than a debt of gratitude. In their old age, we should take care of parents like children. MaŃ… Mueller, the great oriental scholar of Germany, said: Given the option and choice by God, I would like my next birth as a woman (mother) in India". Parents are genuinely concerned about the welfare of their children. To err is human; even if parents make mistakes, their intentions can only be good; we cannot hold their 'mistakes against them. Another important way to serve the community is to help those in need. Rather than dole out money which is likely to be counter-productive- assistance in education and health would help people help themselves. It will give them confidence and boost their self-esteem.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are HCR Mallya 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 : HCR Mallya Speaking Tree,Times of India
Community Service is Narayan Seva
Sage Veda Vyasa was given a unique assignment. He was asked to study all the philosophical and spiritual literature and sum it up in short. After intense study, with the help of his yogic power, he issued a oneliner: "The act of greatest merit is to help others and the greatest act of sin is to cause intentional pain to others". This is the ultimate in any religion, philosophy or spiritual school. Swami Vivekananda said: "So far as a single dog is hungry in the country, my whole religion is to feed it". He was exercised about inequalities. Pain is of two kinds: An individual causing intentional pain to another individual and one section of society causing deliberate pain or suffering to the another section. There are several reasons-including social issues - why pain is inflicted. A major source of pain is mishandling of human relationships. If a couple cooperates with one another and lives happily, the family is happy as well. Happy families make a happy society. Most relationships, when they break down, do so on account of entirely preventable reasons. One major factor in souring of relationships is miscommunication followed by misunderstanding. The other reason of course is lack of mutual respect. Imbalance in family life leads to social imbalance. Unfortunately. often it is the woman who is the sufferer. Little wonder then that the topic of discussion in satsangs and seminars is often: "Women: Their role in society". There is the never-ending talk of giving equal rights to women. But how can you 'give' equal rights to them? God has created man and woman as equals. In fact, woman has a larger role in life and living than does man, because she is the one who bears children and in most cases, rears them, too. What is prescribed in our sacred texts and what is practised in the society do not match. Despite exaltation of the female principle and mother-worship, a female child is victimised at every stage of her life, from the moment she is conceived. Causing intentional pain means to take advantage of the helplessness of an individual. What is the use of spiritual discourses to an individual who can't see divinity in womanhood? The breaking of family ties, too, has fractured society. The other area of misunderstanding is between parents and children. The increasing numbers of old age homes are not an index of increase in social awareness or compassion; on the contrary, they are indicative of the extent of the apathy now prevalent in social structures. Our relationship with our parents cannot be weighed in the scale of payment and repayments. It is impossible to repay the 'debt we owe our parents. Service to parents is more than a debt of gratitude. In their old age, we should take care of parents like children. MaŃ… Mueller, the great oriental scholar of Germany, said: Given the option and choice by God, I would like my next birth as a woman (mother) in India". Parents are genuinely concerned about the welfare of their children. To err is human; even if parents make mistakes, their intentions can only be good; we cannot hold their 'mistakes against them. Another important way to serve the community is to help those in need. Rather than dole out money which is likely to be counter-productive- assistance in education and health would help people help themselves. It will give them confidence and boost their self-esteem.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are HCR Mallya 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 : HCR Mallya Speaking Tree,Times of India