Culture is a state of mind that is generated collectively within a sect, a community, an institution, an organisation, a region, a religion, a nation, so on and so forth. Culture exerts great influence in the socio-political thought. Expressions of culture are seen in the arts, the literature, the poetry, the ideals, the principles and the voice of the times.
Travelling in a crowded Indian train is a grand experience of different sorts. Sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touch etc. One such visual scene that caught my attention was a family of a father, mother and two young boys who were in the same compartment. The younger of the two was around five years old. The innocence of his eyes had a shadow of the seeds of a lifetime. He seemed to be more protected by the parents as the older one was quicker and smarter. The older one dug into the mothers purse and pulled out an I pad. That became the centre of attraction for all the passengers. That became the object of rivalry between the two brothers. The smarter one was good at driving the car/bike through the obstacles of the game. The father and mother insisted that he share the thrill of playing the game with the younger one as well. But as the younger one was trying his hand at it, the impatient older one disrupted it, causing irritability to the younger one. The parents were stressed out trying to be fair in bringing justice between the two. In the bargain the disturbance causing potential seeds lying inherent got stirred up arousing charged emotions in the two boys, in the parents and the on looking co-passengers. Charged emotions mirrored from one to another, to another, to another, to another like wild fire. Some may be more vulnerable than the other just as dried twigs and grass that feed on fire. Such is the nature of collective consciousness.
Culture is a state of mind that is generated collectively within a sect, a community, an institution, an organisation, a region, a religion, a nation, so on and so forth. Culture exerts great influence in the socio-political thought. Expressions of culture are seen in the arts, the literature, the poetry, the ideals, the principles and the voice of the times. The historical past reveals strong personalities that have influenced the cultural psyche, the philosophy, the moral vocabulary arousing moral and emotional sentiments radically. This has been both constructive and destructive. Many historical moments have shaped the destiny of mankind. Accumulative impulses are recorded and stored up generating its own projection assuming control in a collective consciousness that takes shape as the root of a tradition. Consciousness is of time – experience, recording, storing, its own projection. Moving from one experience to another there is a constant accumulation that is generated in individual and collective consciousness. A social stigma gets slapped on the back as a seal for the rest of life.
The state of mind of the spirit of our times is in the voice of the youth, its in the state of the audio visual media, its in the education system, its all around us and in us whether we know it or not. The innocent minds that go to Sunday school are taught about ‘them’ and ‘us’. The torn flesh and meat of goats and cows dripping with blood hang around places of worship desensitivising the believer, weapons of destruction adorn the temples of God, promise of relief and sanctuary to the chosen few in the name of religion, powerful messages on social media, charismatic motivational talks, adventure hype, lure to a false sense of camaraderie, all such dehumanising prejudice builds within a seemingly harmless veil of culture. The cries of the recent killing of school children, the scream of numerous helpless voices the world over stand testimony to this building psyche of insensitivity. We have a choice and a place in this vast universal consciousness to groom the cultural psyche of our time.
When the ‘God’ of one man is fixed within a frame, then the ‘no God’ of another is fixed within another frame. Speaking of discrimination, we create another discrimination of no discrimination. When love, compassion, kindness and generosity does not become just theoretical knowledge we start to focus on bringing meaningful value into our own lives filling it to the bones, our spontaneous natural response becomes kind, compassionate and meaningful as an outcome of our own purity.
Value is something we build into life. Value and right understanding are like the warp and the woof that give shape to this very existence. Even though the world at large looks for talent and skill, building up the persona (persona in Latin means mask) creating a functionally suitable personality, at the end of the day it is the shaping of character that matters and looms large. It is the quality of life and not the quantitative content that matters. Life becomes meaningful and gives a sense of contentment when giving and sharing goes along side with receiving and fulfilling.
As told to us by Nataraja Guru who personally lived with a great Master of our times, the life of Narayana Guru who fostered Unitive Understanding and Universal Brotherhood with a sense of keeping with the times revaluing and restating what needs to be changed with due respect to the validity of eternal Truth is like a finger pointing to the moon that guides us in the midst of all the illusive fantasies that man has created for his own existence. He imparted a sense of value to all who came in contact with him. He would insist that the barber who shaved him had the sharpest razor, and would see to it that the best of methods were used in the art. He would complain of a chauffeur who did not gently put on the brakes when he came to an uneven part of the road. He would teach him to be proud of his car, and find fault with him if he had omitted to observe a new kind of car that came by. He would insist on good cooking more with a view to reforming the food habits than for his own sake. He would insist on small details in building and order an alteration in spite of the expense in order to set a better example in architecture. He would like to listen to music thereby patronizing musicians. Himself an adept in the art of healing, he missed no opportunities, whenever he was ill, to call together a little group of doctors of different schools of medicine and discuss with them the various bearings of the case in detail. Even though suffering himself, he would be the subject of the experiment to unearth and apply the valuable aspects of a forgotten ancient system of medicine, he would find some point in one system that failed and in which someone else knew better. He would discuss the minutest details with the doctors and those who attended on him. The lives and teachings of great Masters of our times who taught beyond labels and segregated groups or cults speak of an eternal Truth that is true for all of mankind. They never rejected or separated anything from life, in fact everything was inclusive with an added sense of values.
When the ‘God’ of one man is fixed within a frame, then the ‘no God’ of another is fixed within another frame. Speaking of discrimination, we create another discrimination of no discrimination. When love, compassion, kindness and generosity does not become just theoretical knowledge we start to focus on bringing meaningful value into our own lives filling it to the bones, our spontaneous natural response becomes kind, compassionate and meaningful as an outcome of our own purity. Then we will think twice even before harming a fly. Let us simply allow a culture of meaningfulness to fill our lives without labels. Let our reasoning be towards a common interest of values that we can share on a common platform without discrimination. Let us be inspired and nourished by those whose life itself was a paradigm of true eternal value that is true for all of mankind and stands good for all of time. Let not emotional sentiment be the centre of a group dynamic that gets charged into potential rage. Ultimately the question is ‘Do we really feel good?’ The warm tingling feeling in our heart is the yardstick that can measure the sense of contentment. You are the only one who can create your own sense of ease; nobody else can make or break it. When your happiness contributes to the happiness of all you feel the virtue of benevolence in your degree of satisfaction. Wishing you a Happy New Year ~ May your uniqueness bring forth the brilliance of an eternal Value through the year 2015.
Jesus Christ said to the masses – “Do not use my name in vain”.
“When a man does not know what his innate tendencies are, what his natural talents are, and what his basic drive is, he is likely to miss his mark in life. For such a person the rediscovery of his true Self brings to him a joy he has never experienced before” – Nitya Chaitanya Yati
“Be the Change you want to see” – Mahatma Gandhi