Eternal India - Secret of Work

A while ago, before embarking on the trip to Kailash-Mansarovar, I had written two posts based on some inspired writings and sayings of Swami Vivekanand. The first one - "I am a Voice without a Form" and the next "Eternal India - A Woman's Place in our Society".

My last post was on Khalil Gibran's piece on Rest and Passion. This talks about the need to balance reason and caution on one hand with passion on the other. Both are seen as necessary in appropriate proportion to be of use to any person. Gibran was a Lebanese-American and was influenced by Syrian (his native) and American (adopted) cultures.

I happened to chance Swami Vivekananda's thoughts, amongst others, on "Secret of Work". Let us see how the Orient sees this. Is it in contrast to what the Occidental believes or do they mean the same thing?

Swamiji was always asked about the presence of passion in work. Let us see his view and then understand it.

"I find it is not true. The less passion there is, the better we work. The calmer we are, better is it for us, and more the amount of work we can do.When we let loose our feelings, we waste so much energy, shatter our nerves, disturb our minds and accomplish very little work."

"The energy which ought to have gone out as work is spent as mere feeling, which counts for nothing. It is only when the mind is calm and collected that the whole of its energy is spent doing good work."

This view puts a lots of emphasis on a cool and collected mind. This state, if and when achieved, is a superior state and best output is achieved then. The conflict that arises is whether the "western" view is the right way or this thought prevails. Are they different, or, both mean the same thing, but say it differently.

On reflection it was clear. Passion in Swamiji's context meant feverishness, restlessness, anger, hatred or something done with an intention to take revenge, and, these had to be rightly rejected. They had no place at all in our thought process. A cool and collected mind inclued a pleasant outlook, interest, enthusiasm and a positive approach. A sort of energy without the negative attachments. A calm and a collected mind has all these qualities and any work done with this turns out to be superlative.

There is no difference in the two thought streams.

I can vouch for this having observed that the day we are relaxed and calm we have a great day at office and the day we are irritable (whatever be the cause) or overly excited, we come a complete cropper. I never imagined that our ancient wise men had thought of such practical philosophy applicable in this day and age.

Eternal India - A Woman's Place in our Society

In India, "the female" is supposed to be worshipped as the "other half" necessary to make one complete. The "female element" is worshipped as "Shakti" and as "destroyer of evil".

All this in the realm of history and popular religious ritual. Let us now see the reality as potrayed, as experienced or probably as it exists.

We witness umpteen instances of women being abused in our country. These are events which have been reported. There are, probably, a million more cases which never get reported. Physical and sexual abuse is the most common and wide spread. Gender based discrimination, denial of education and dowry related abuse are also evils that have taken root deeply as part of our contemporary culture. Equally true, though vehemently denied, is the fact that many "educated" (read: westernised) women have strayed so far away from their roots that an alien culture is found more comforting.

We express disgust at such news reports but think nothing when we ourselves stoop to low levels and indulge in abuse on our own women. We profess great respect for "the female element" and worship "Devi Mata" and make countless trips to Vaishno Devi. Back home, no thought is spared before an angry hand whacks "the female element" and establishing an ephemeral male superiority.

I wondered what could cause this steady decline (if you could call that) in our personal standards and the situation that exists today.

• Is it our education system that makes us ashamed of our own roots?
• Are we exposed to a culture (movies, literature, arts, movies and others) that glorifies being licentious, at a very young age?
• Have we been influenced by our elders who probably behaved in an irresponsible fashion?
• Are we so stressed out that we just cannot behave in a civil manner with women and abuse is the only option?
  

As I was reading literature on Swami Vivekananda, I was curious to know his views on the state of women in India and how this should evolve...Read on and let us discover what this Divine Being had to say

"If you do not raise the women, who are the living embodiment of the Divine Mother, don't think that you have any other way to rise. That country and that nation which do not respect women have never become great, nor will ever be in the future."

On another occassion HE goes on to say..."Otherwise, how could the country come to such a fallen condition? How can there be any progress of the country without the spread of education, the dawning of knowledge?.......but know for certain that absolutely nothing can be done to improve the state of things, unless there is spread of education first among the women and the masses...."

Read further...."It is only in the homes of educated and pious mothers that great men are born and you have reduced your women to something like manufacturing machines; alas, for heaven's sake, is this the outcome of your education?"

"The uplift of women, the awakening of the masses must come first, and then only can any real good come about for the country, for India"


Amazing words and how true they ring today. We seem to have forgotten all these words of advice and caution. Our show of respect seems, in comparison, almost ritualistic and superficial. Have we lost our innate goodness or it is just covered by some garbage that needs to be removed. Is it possible for our society to move towards a more humane, more just and a balanced one?

I stand to be enlightened by your views.

I am a Voice without a Form

...so said Swami Vivekananda at the begining of his mission.

I want no name - I want to be a voice without form....Through the Lord's will, the desire for name and fame has not yet crept into my heart and I dare say never will. I am an instrument and HE is the operator. A brilliant life that lived to its fullest potential, Swamiji was and (I would say) still is a great inspiration to us Indians.

His was a life conveying complete surrender to the Divine and yet so rooted to the ground realities of India of those days. He represented limitless energy and tireless action with a serene mind devoid of any feverishness or sense of attachment.

His appeal crossed all boundaries but to us Indians he foresaw the rise of this giant more than a hundred and ten years back. He was a live wire and sought to awaken a mass which seemed to be in very deep slumber for over a millenia. He awakened Indian society to the new realities and inspired them to be strong and purposeful.

As I read more about this divine soul, I am awe struck by an amazing clarity of thought and an ability to pinpoint to where we as a society had gone astray. His advice to our society is so apt and relevant (even today).

We seem to have all the wisdom and knowledge within our culture and somewhere it is ingrained in our psyche. The question which keeps repeating in my mind is why inspite of all these treasures we seem to be constantly looking outside for inspiration and direction. Why is it that our society appears so fractured and where have we forgotten this noble way of living?

It is tempting to presume that our society has descended into a black-hole never to recover or are we just being too pessimistic?

I would like to share some examples of this "Eternal Wisdom" in the following posts and hope to reflect on our current state. I have liberally referred to various books and published material and would refer them in quotes with appropriate acknowledgements.

With this, I dedicate my fiftieth post to the blogging world.