Please read my book on spirituality which is available on Amazon.com.
--------------------------------------------------------
I was inspired to write this article after recent incidents in India wherein the justices of the Supreme Court have been accused of sexual harassment of interns who are old enough to be their grandchildren. Considering that these judges come from the highest strata of society and are supposed to be upholding right societal behavior, what makes them stoop to such low level acts? I looked for examples in ancient Indian history since that is what I am familiar with.
In the famous Ramayana,
there is a character Ravana who is an emperor. He is knowledgeable, very well
versed in scriptures and God fearing. But when his eyes fall on Sita, the wife
of Rama, the banished prince of Ayodhya, he is mesmerized and kidnaps her and
tries to force her into marriage. Then we have the character, Duryodhana, the
prince of Hastinapura who was also well educated. He infamously made the
following statement, “ I know what is right, but cannot bring myself to do it.
I know what is wrong, but cannot bring myself to avoid it.” I am sure such
examples will be there in every culture wherein seemingly educated people who
are held up as models end up doing wrong things.
Before we proceed further we
need to understand what is right and what is wrong from various perspectives.
Let us say, a married man looks at Miss World and desires her. Is this right or
wrong? People would shockingly tell me that as a married man, desiring another
is a bad thing. Let us consider this from different planes. On the emotional
plane, it is wrong for a married man to even think of another woman
disrespecting the institution of marriage. But is this sufficient justification?
There are some cultures in the world where the institution of marriage does not
exist and everyone belongs to everyone. Even in ancient Indian history, there
are references to a woman having multiple husbands and each of these men to
have their own separate wives. So if one of the husbands desires his “common” wife,
in effect, he desires another man’s wife. So the argument about marriage being
a sacred institution may not stand the test that a thing that is right or wrong
has to be that in every situation anywhere. What then is the basis to define a
wrong act? For this I will take a hypothetical situation and build up the case
for right or wrong.
Assume you are in a huge
exhibition place, the size of a mini city. As one sees one shop after another,
we are enamored by the brightness and attraction of various objects. I go into
one shop full of latest electronic items and buy what I think is the best and
come out and after walking couple of steps, see another shop offering an even
more advanced version of products I bought. I am already heart-broken. Let us
assume that I bought this special item also and as I am walking, someone bumped
against me and the product fell down and is damaged. I am totally grief stricken.
Point to note is that possession of a product gave me momentary happiness till
I saw another product and even that was lost when I damaged the product. Now,
when I am in this dejected state, assume someone comes and tells me about a
mystery shop that will make everyone happy with something that is guaranteed to
give everlasting happiness.
Just like many other people, I start walking in that direction only to notice that the road is
now a dirt road. Many people who were eager are now dropping off. I continue on the
dirt path tell I see another obstruction in the form of a dirty pond. I look sideways and
notice a bright shop selling flashy clothes and am tempted to go there rather than
continue to cross the pond. Assume I did not continue and bought some clothes and
went home and the next day they announced that no one had reached till the end and if
they had, they would have met Mr. Billionaire who wanted to bequeath all his wealth to
anyone who came there. I would have cursed myself and said it was wrong on my part
not to have continued on the path.
In exactly the same way, we as human beings are constantly being reminded that there
is a path which leads to eternal happiness and that path is reached by giving up any
binding desires to worldly objects and focusing on attaining that infinite Oneness.
However just like in the example above, we are attracted by the shiny objects of the
world and do not continue on the right path. This act of becoming astray from the right
path is the only sinful act. Using this, let us try to rationalize why one should not do the
wrong things mentioned above.
Let us take this judge who is trying to sexually harass a young girl. Thinking about him
and the girl as two separate entities is the original wrong act. As a consequence of this
wrong thinking, he has developed an attraction for her and wants to possess her. That
is very similar to the example above, wherein when an obstacle came in my path and I
saw a bright shop, I went into the shop and did not continue on my journey to Mr.
Billionaire. Here also, every human being is on a path to attain Infinite happiness, but
the judge on seeing the girl, forgot the path and lusted after her. As a consequence,
legally whatever is to happen will surely happen. But more crucially, he has fallen far
away from the path where Oneness of life is recognized. This is a far greater sin as a
human being and this logic will stand the test of time and place anywhere.
In summary, any act that I do, any thought that I entertain that negates the Oneness
principle; when I see another individual as separate causing lust, anger etc.,, and thirst
for objects of the world to bring me temporary happiness, I am indulging in the true sin
or wrong act. I as a human being who had the unique intellect to realize the Oneness
principle am doing the wrong thing by negating that principle and going on a wrong
path.
Just like many other people, I start walking in that direction only to notice that the road is
now a dirt road. Many people who were eager are now dropping off. I continue on the
dirt path tell I see another obstruction in the form of a dirty pond. I look sideways and
notice a bright shop selling flashy clothes and am tempted to go there rather than
continue to cross the pond. Assume I did not continue and bought some clothes and
went home and the next day they announced that no one had reached till the end and if
they had, they would have met Mr. Billionaire who wanted to bequeath all his wealth to
anyone who came there. I would have cursed myself and said it was wrong on my part
not to have continued on the path.
In exactly the same way, we as human beings are constantly being reminded that there
is a path which leads to eternal happiness and that path is reached by giving up any
binding desires to worldly objects and focusing on attaining that infinite Oneness.
However just like in the example above, we are attracted by the shiny objects of the
world and do not continue on the right path. This act of becoming astray from the right
path is the only sinful act. Using this, let us try to rationalize why one should not do the
wrong things mentioned above.
Let us take this judge who is trying to sexually harass a young girl. Thinking about him
and the girl as two separate entities is the original wrong act. As a consequence of this
wrong thinking, he has developed an attraction for her and wants to possess her. That
is very similar to the example above, wherein when an obstacle came in my path and I
saw a bright shop, I went into the shop and did not continue on my journey to Mr.
Billionaire. Here also, every human being is on a path to attain Infinite happiness, but
the judge on seeing the girl, forgot the path and lusted after her. As a consequence,
legally whatever is to happen will surely happen. But more crucially, he has fallen far
away from the path where Oneness of life is recognized. This is a far greater sin as a
human being and this logic will stand the test of time and place anywhere.
In summary, any act that I do, any thought that I entertain that negates the Oneness
principle; when I see another individual as separate causing lust, anger etc.,, and thirst
for objects of the world to bring me temporary happiness, I am indulging in the true sin
or wrong act. I as a human being who had the unique intellect to realize the Oneness
principle am doing the wrong thing by negating that principle and going on a wrong
path.
As readers may be aware, 3 of my books on spirituality are available on Amazon.com.
I invite readers of my blog to try any of the books and give me feedback so that I can make changes in the next edition.
1. My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality
My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality
2. Attain Infinite Bliss
Attain Infinite Bliss - A Spiritual Guide
3. The Spirit Of Spirituality
The Spirit Of Spirituality
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave comments for me here.