Man's illusion or delusion ?

Man's illusion or delusion ?

 

This is with reference to the interview of P.Rajendran with Hemant Mehta ( IA,June 5) and two letters (IA,June 19) on God. "Steve Grand ( in his book,Creation: Life and How to Make It ) points out that you and I are more like waves than permanent 'things'.  What we see of the real world is not the unvarnished real world but a model of the real world, regulated and adjusted by sense data.  The nature of that model depends on the kind of animal we are. A flying animal needs a different kind of world model from a walking, climbing or a swimming animal", says  Richard Dawkins in his book, The God Delusion. This sounds more like maya (illusion) of Shankaracharya. In fact, Albert Einsteins theory of E=mc2 (mass and energy are equivalent and transmutable) is in tune with the philosophy of Advita (oneness of the world) of Shankarcharya. This is unity in diversity. Things look different but the substance is the same.

 

Mehta and his role model Dawkins question the existence of God who can be known only by certain discipline. Just as one needs acclimatization to snow to climb the Everest, one has to follow the discipline of yoga ( jnana , bhakti , raja , karma ) to know God. The book, An Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda has much to say on this. The mystics of all religions – Hindu yogis, Muslim sufis and Christian mystics ( the kingdom of God is within you)  – have seen the God and the oneness of the universe (Advita).

 

Many crimes have been committed in the name of religion and God. That does not invalidate the truths of religion or God. The condemnation of religion is akin to condemnation of the rule of law. Just because laws are broken, we cannot conclude that there should not be laws. You can always change the laws by consensus. The Bhgawadgita, The Ten Commandments and The Sermon on the Mount have given to the world the  rule of law – Dharma, the law that sustains society.  These laws have elevated humanity from the level of animal instincts (selfishness and self-preservation) to that of human values (brotherhood of man).  Spirituality can elevate man to a higher level (everyman is a flame of the Divine) if he tries. Of course over a period of time all religions have acquired rigidity in their frame-work – hierarchy, rituals,- which override human values which are the bed-rock of religions. There is an urgent need to change all religious practices which are not in tune with the human values.

 

Many have said religion is the root of the evil. But we have to imagine a world without religion where everybody for himself – the rule of the jungle (might is right). The religious injunctions have given the world a moral compass to judge our behaviour. That is why, we cannot throw baby (religion and God) with the bath-water (rituals etc.). We cannot throw the ladder through which the world has climbed the cultural and civilizational level  that we find today.

June 1,2009.

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India is becoming a bi-polar polity.

India is becoming a bi-polar polity.

 

The unexpected success of the Congress Party and the UPA in India's recent general election along with the decimation of the Left and the caste-based parties is a vote for stability. It also signals the emergence of a bi-polar polity as only BJP and NDA are the second largest party and the group in the next parliament. The UPA with 263 seats ( including 206 of the Congress) has been given the mandate to rule for the next five years by the electorate. The NDA with 159 seats ( including 116 of the BJP) will have to sit in the opposition to keep the ruling coalition on its toes.

 

Now the UPA and the Congress have no excuse for not delivering good governance. They can go ahead with the reform agenda on the economic front  as they have been liberated from the clutches of the Leftists ( indeed heresy of one age becomes the orthodoxy of another age) – re-structuring the public sector which includes corporatising, privatising, down-sizing and even vacating (why should government own hotels and airlines when rural people do not have drinking water and primary schools and health care ?) , encouraging private and foreign investment, labour reforms etc. The new government is also free from the caste-based parties who had many leaders with corruption charges and who have no clue as to what is good governance.

 

The BJP and the NDA have not been able to highlight the lapses of the government properly to the electorate. The major failures of the Man Mohan Singh government in preventing and punishing repeated terrorist strikes and the phenomenal price rise in daily requirements such as cereals and vegetables were drowned in the media with some minor issues like the pub-bashing incident in Mangalore and some violence incidences following the murder of a respected Swami who was running schools in Orissa. The BJP, the NDA and the media failed to nail the government on the colossal leakage of funds meant for rural employment and other development schemes. There was hardly anything which could be called an achievement by the government. The one thing on which Dr.Man Mohan Singh was ready to sacrifice his government – Indo-US Nuclear Agreement – was not even an issue in the election. Nobody is sure how this will benefit India in the long run, if not in the short run. India would still be at the mercy of uranium cartel, if not the oil cartel. Neither the BJP and the  NDA, nor the media have done their job as watch-dogs of the public interest in adequate measure. The media even said that the election was issue-less. What a farce  !

 

The only silver-line for India is the emergence of a bi-polar polity in India.

May 29,2009.

 

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