Dear Friends Essay, Research Paper
Dear friends,
After being inspired with the philosophy of the different ‘Mahapursa’, I felt that really ‘A gentle man is he who gives more to the world than what he takes ‘. And ‘A complete man is he who with his learning and knowledge dedicates himself in the service of mankind.’
Therefore, with the objective to do some thing for the society, I feel that it was one of my moral duties to make efforts to re-awaken in man his dormant spirituality, by which only we can be optimistic about building a loving, selfless faithful, disciplined and fearless society. Because without changing the individual the society can’t be changed.
While going through the history it is crystal clear that the human race, during the last two hundred years in creating an ideal social order in the name of free democratic society or communism or dictatorship, have dashed on the rock of self centered individualism. Man has clearly cheated the church, the State and even the ‘Avtars’ and prophets and cultural institutions.
We all are clearly seeing the deterioration in all parts of the society. The systems have failed. There is neither law, nor law-abiding citizens. The root cause of this deterioration is that present society is in deficiency of love, diseased with acute selfishness and is lacking faith. Being a man, the modern man is only physically, morphologically a man, but is lacking the basic characteristic of a man that is – humanity and so he is behaving like an animal. Some has rightly said, ‘We have guided missiles but unguided men.’ So, to raise men from the depths of lust and greed, clean him and to teach him to build family units on love and co-operation is the main demand of this ‘Mahakal’ and hence it should be the main objective of a complete man, who loves the entire creation of almighty.
All attempts of total social revolution will prove futile unless the individual’s life undergoes a total change. Man’s man hankering after material pleasure has made a cunning beast of him and he will frustrate all efforts at building a new society which will demand restraint of his expensive desires and passions. Jealousy, hatred, anger and lust are the fires which constantly consume him, and like a hungry wolf he will tear to pieces every thing that is good, beautiful and true. Unless this all devouring self of man is restrained, no human experiment in social order will succeed.
Therefore, the sine-qua-non for the coming New World transformation today is to re-awaken in man his dormant spirituality. To re-inspire man, three basic institutions must be re-organised. They are: – (1). Education (2).Family (3).Society.
(1).Education :- The whole mankind needs re-education. In the educational institutions of the world various things are taught but no one seems to care, to teach man the fundamental question who is he? Or what this world is? For thousands of years great sages of the words have said time and again, ‘Know thyself.’ But who bothers! Educational institutions are caught in the morass of secularism and job-oriented education and till such time as university degrees are not completely delinked from employment and jobs, and the end and purpose of all knowledge become the building up of character we can’t think of a whole man. As said above the test of a whole man or a complete man is that – with his learning and knowledge he dedicates himself in the service of mankind. Of course in order that he may serve, his worldly needs must be satisfied but the main basis of his life must be love and service.
(2).Family :- But the above said work can’t be accomplished by educational institutions alone. The basic unit of society is family. Society is an enlarged form of family. Socialisation of man begins at home. ‘Tulsidas’ has written that parenthood is fulfilled were the child is ardently devoted to God. The tragedy is that modern parents are so much engrossed in earning livelihood, or in getting power and prestige that they do not get time to devote to the character building of their offsprings. They think that their duty is fulfilled by arranging money for their upbringing and in turn, they expect that their children too should have only one aim to lay golden eggs, to get power and prestige by hooks or crooks. Under the circumstances, without getting real love, care and share from their parents, even little innocent children early develop unbridled and expansive appetite and remain life-long slaves to worldly desires, and if they cannot achieve that goal in the long run they!
commit suicides or they follow immoral way to have lavish life, which is apparent in the society as there is no relationship inside the family. All members are just adjusting with each other anyhow.
(3). Society: – But it is also true that a healthy family unit can’t be conceived in such a social environment. If society continuously wants its members to be only making money individuals, if it will give priority and prestige to so called rich and powerful persons in place of honest, moralistic and characteristic persons, then it will force the members of the society to remain slaves to morbid cupidity. His total mental makeup will be molded to accept economic activity alone as the end of the human endeavor.
It is up to you people to decide whether any political party or religious organisations or any institution can solve the above said problems or other problems, which you people are facing today? It is apparent that without aim and character and devoid of all sense, mankind today fails to make out what it really wants.
Political parties and organised groups are pursuing the devious courses of their narrow and selfish interests. They seem to have come to the conclusion that what ever sin they commit in the name of the party are ethically justifiable. Such being the state of parties, the question is what should be the basis of political activities? Do you people believe that people are joining politics or political parties to serve the society? Have you got the faith upon this criminality in politics? Can the booth capturists be helpful for the society? It is well said -’ when faith is lost and honour dies man is dead’. I feel every thing is dead. Have you not lost faith upon the political parties and the political system? What is the honour of democratic system? If 51% unwanted person are united and will vote for a criminal, he will rule over the state or over the country for at least five years. Is it not the proper time to think over for a new system?
The institutions, which had come up early in the name of religion and spiritualism, were obliged to compromise with untruth when they yielded to the craze for huge institutions, Ashrams, buildings and fund raising. While the real luminaries of the spiritual world, denying even bare necessities of life to themselves remained observed in ‘taps’; pretenders and ghost-mongers had a field day wielding influence and amassing huge wealth.
Science, too, on one side, has fulfilled mankind’s dream of power and on the other, it has turned man into brute. Dazzled by its astounding success, man has taken it for granted that there is no noumenal truth, higher and beyond the physical truths.
Thus, science, religion and politics all have gone stray and today man doesn’t know where to seek, refuge and whom to lookup to. One must therefore try to understand the course of history. Do we not see that capitalism, communalism, socialism and Marxism are all being cast aside by the inexorable march of events? The trend of history is very clearly pointing towards the coming ‘New Age’ establishing (1) world state (2) world religion, for which the board is being cleared.
Mere change of a government is not revolution and total revolution is further away. Some spiritual giants of 19th century have said that in this very ‘Mahakala’ the entire world needs a spiritual revolution, which will be the total revolution. To give a new code of conduct, a new social system, a new economical and new educational system a new spiritual pattern to every man of the society is the real spiritual revolution.
1. The present endeavor for the creation of a New World order may be summed up as the total revolutionary spiritualism. The age old traditions regarding various systems of spiritual practices, meditation, worship and social customs etc; cannot be acceptable in the present changed circumstances just because they are ancient. In the view of the coming new age and creation of a New World order, the necessity of revolutionary transformation in very sphere of life is crystal clear. On the other hand, by the intemperate denial of ancient values we have ignored the great eternal truths and ruled out the basic tenets of ideal conception for the future. The long cherished-dream of man -faith in divinity, freedom, love, equality, justice, democracy etc; be fulfilled simultaneously, is the urging and stimulating idea of total revolution. Socialist and communist slogans for social and economic !
change cannot be revolutionary until and unless they are based o!
n spiritualism. Individualism based on materialism and economic setup based on collectivism is contradictory to each other. Without spirituality neither poverty can be wholly eliminated nor healthy society can be built.
2. Detached family life – The foundations of the universal code of conduct: – The ideal of detached family life which was given a healthy and concrete shape by ‘Rajarshi Janak’ in the past, has to be established. Mere ‘Bramha Jnan’(God realisation) is one sided. Only the combination of ‘Brahma Jnan’ and detached family life can be the basis for the creation of a New World order. One who remembers the Lord truthfully and honestly even in poverty is spiritual in true sense. Blessed is the man who doesn’t forget the lord even while living amidst the burning fire of poverty, suffering, misery and injustice. Leading a detached family life in such a burning fire is the real test of a spiritual person and forms the basis of highest spiritual order. Service to humanity based on universal love should be an integral part of daily routine for those who are leading a detached family life.
3. Spiritual practices are essential for the maintenance and protection of faith in the concept of detached family life. One can make spiritual practices given below — (a) Repetition of ‘OM’ loudly with meditation on the sound. (b) Repetition of one’s dear name of God associated with or without the breathing process. (c) Inquiry into the nature matter and consciousness.
There are two aspects of spiritual practices. The first relates to prayer (Jap) and natural withdrawal of the mind from the periphery to the center, meditation and self-inquiry-Who am I? The important aspect of the spiritual practice lies in the acceptance of this fact that it is only ‘HE’ who is at the root of this creation. This honest and faithful acceptance will lead to the idea that ‘HE’ pervades all. It is ‘HE’ and ‘HE’ only who exists in forms and also beyond forms.
4. Service to humanity – Service to humanity is the genuine expression of one’s faith in the idea that he pervades all. ‘Service to man is the truth or the ultimate expression of any kind of religion’. The first step of the service to humanity for a detached house-holder is the preparation for physical, mental, intellectual and spiritual development of the members of his family. ‘Charity begins from home’. Like wise service to the society, in which one lives is the second step – as for example, mass cleaning program, spiritual youth organisations, formation of co-operative societies, medical care of the poor etc.
5. Meaning of ‘Dharma’ (Religion) :- To know the meaning of ‘Dharma’ is essential due to the distorted use of the word ‘Dharma’ and its perverse practice. The immediate effects, of the utterance of the word ‘Dharma’ on the mind of a person are – Hindu Dharma, Islam Dharma, Christian Dharma etc, or whether food touched by some particular person (cast) can be taken or not, how to call for offering prayers in temples or mosque, stabbing the one holding a different faith, discrimination between the high and the low, establishment of monasteries and ashrams, organisation of large number of disciples and various yogic and tantric practices etc. The sight of these heaps of rubbish produces the spontaneous feeling in the hearts of the modern man of throwing out this burden from the shoulders of the human race. This is why in a country like India such a foolish word as ‘Dharma-Nirapeksha’ has come to be in use. Therefore today the difficult problem before man is either to stop!
the !
use of the word Dharma or to extricate it from the encircling net of its concocted meanings. There can be no words more appropriate than Dharma if we are to give a name to the expression for the great non-material Truth. Therefore, the most essential work in this direction is to restore the true meaning of the word Dharma. In Sanskrit the two words Dharma and Dhritih have been derived from the same root i.e. Dhri. Dhritih has the topmost place in the order of creation because this is what holds the universe. Further the author of Gita has explained the term Dhritih. Dhritya yaya Dharyate Manah pranendriya kriyah.