A Prophesy on Terrorism...

Even though the following observation was made by Swami Vivekananda(1863-1902), more than 100 years ago, we can see that these are more relevant today than ever before.

"The one great advantage of Bhakti (Devotion to God) is that it is the easiest and the most natural way to reach the great divine end in view; its great disadvantage is that in its lower forms it oftentimes degenerates into hideous fanaticism. The fanatical crews in Hinduism, or Mohammedanism, or Christianity, have always been almost exclusively recruited from these worshippers on the lower planes of Bhakti. That singleness of attachment (Nishthâ) to a loved object, without which no genuine love can grow, is very often also the cause of the denunciation of everything else.

All the weak and undeveloped minds in every religion or country have only one way of loving their own ideal, i.e. by hating every other ideal. Herein is the explanation of why the same man who is so lovingly attached to his own ideal of God, so devoted to his own ideal of religion, becomes a howling fanatic as soon as he sees or hears anything of any other ideal (or concept).

This kind of love is somewhat like the canine instinct of guarding the master's property from intrusion; only, the instinct of the dog is better than the reason of man, for the dog never mistakes its master for an enemy in whatever dress he may come before it. Again, the fanatic loses all power of judgment. Personal considerations are in his case of such absorbing interest that to him it is no question at all what a man says — whether it is right or wrong; but the one thing he is always particularly careful to know is who says it. The same man who is kind, good, honest, and loving to people of his own opinion, will not hesitate to do the vilest deeds when they are directed against persons beyond the pale of his own religious brotherhood. " -

-Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) .

You can read more on Swami Vivekananda's teachings on this site:**http://cwsv.belurmath.org/ **

Ahimsa: the weapon of mass change (into peace)

Ahimsa is not merely eating vegetarian food or stopping oneself from using products from animals like woolen, milk or animal fat. Ahimsa is consciously distancing oneself from all kinds of actions that may give harm to anybody or any living beings, physically or otherwise. We should also remember that, one should not over-do it in a way that may disrupt one’s normal life.

Ahimsa is the practice of Universal Love in every-day life and not merely a non-violent way of doing things. It teaches us to treat everybody alike in an affectionate way, even those who try to harm us. The Spiritual Guru (teacher), Amma (Mother), Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi says,' suppose we fall into a pit. Do we poke our own eyes because they didn't guide us properly? Just as we endure any defects in our own eye sight, we should be compassionate towards others, always putting up with their shortcomings'. It urges to show compassion towards fellow beings while dealing with day to day problems.

It is the most effective weapon that a present day, modern era nation can use against all the ills in this world. The solutions found through Ahimsa (non-violent means) not only solve the problem but also reaps compassion and love in this world. Actions rooted in compassion towards others will not only make our hearts more expansive but also fill others with compassion.

Ahimsa can be followed as a very noble and practical base for any genuine reaction of an advanced human race. It should have been the by-law of every society and every country by now, only if we consider the years gone by and the wealth of knowledge and experience the human race possess.

Our human race suffered endless pain and suffering from numerous wars we fought against each other for land, resources, money and for a whole lot of reasons. Every problem in this world has a solution. When we start to address every problem with a positive outlook and try to find out a solution in an atmosphere of mutual respect and brotherhood we can solve every problems of this world or at least get the strength to face it and the sweet fragrance of Universal Love

will fill in this world.

Violence reaps only Violence. How can somebody do good to somebody by hurting.

How can somebody serve a community or a country by demolishing the same?

Only Actions firmly based on Ahimsa and selfless love can lead us towards a bright future.

These days people prefer to expresses their opinions and dissents through violence. If anybody needs to be heard or seek attention of the society, media or government, resorts to violence as their medium. They try to disrupt, destruct and demolish public property to get attention. It is happening in a country where the noble act of Satayagraha, the non-violent but powerful way of fighting for truth and justice once flourished. The word Satayagraha itself had been discredited many times by the politicians of all the political parties (including those which claim to bear at least the name of the ‘national party’ before Indian independence, even not the legacy or principles). Remember this is the land of great souls like Sri Buddha, Sri Ramana Maharshi, Swami Vivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi.
Dated 11/27/08 6:55 AM

Wake up! Our Country needs you.

Our country, our beloved mother, is in pain. She suffers from terrorism, hunger, corrupt leaders and her irresponsible, lazy people. Attacks on our motherland with help from outside the country and with the traitors inside, in the name of terrorism is killing her children, young and old. The freedom and unity of our country is in danger; from our enemies, religious fanaticism (of Hindu, Muslim and Christian), local favoritism and separatism of regions (of Tamil people in Tamil Nadu, of Telungu people for Telungana, of Maradthi's in Maharashtra, as in Assam, Bihar). The factors that hurt our progress are increasing and getting stronger day by day. Where are the men and women of Iron-Will in our country? Are you still sleeping in this hour of distress?

The infidel politicians of our country are making her weak and insecure. They 'serve' our country to satisfy their own greed of money, power and other selfish-needs. They value their respective political parties than our beloved country. The principles and policies of each political party in our country are so diverse that some of them are contradictory in nature. The basic principles and ideologies of some political parties even weakens our nation's integrity and often times over rides the common interests of the public. Often times there are cases when the different States of our country and the Center is ruled by different political parties and the decisions, policies, recommendations and programs by the Central Government is not followed and duly ignored by the State governments and vice verse. This includes policies on our national security and overall development of the country.

Our country has a diverse culture. Our countrymen follow different ideas, principles, religions, languages, clothing, etiquette, cuisines, etc. We in the middle of all these diversities are united in our Indianess. We unite in the name of one country, INDIA. But the politicians in our country see we people as their 'vote banks'. They cash in on our diversities. They treat us in groups based on religions, castes, wealth, etc. It is necessary for them to divide the people into small groups, the interests and opinions of which can be easily manipulated to their favour in elections and to get to power.

It is easy to break a stick than a bundle. If we are divided into different fractions or groups of people, based on our religion, castes, mother toung, ect., it will be easy for the politicians to keep us occupied in silly pursuits, like the progress of a particular group of people based on different factors, say religion or caste, etc., rather than focusing on the development of the entire nation. Focusing on identifiable groups of 'vote-banks' and catering to their petty needs, will make the job of the politicians and political parties easy and it will help them to enjoy their tenure at the government without bothering much into the core problems of our country and its overall development. The interests and needs of a particular community, when compared to that of the whole country will be very meager. Raising a cat is much easier than raising a Tiger. It is more beneficial for the politicians to appease a small group with small appetite which will in return will make the number and support them in power, than the country as a whole for the collective good.

Now we are in an age where the patriotism in our country is very low. (We show some glimpse of it for brief periods only when some national disasters happens.) Now a days we often mistake communalism, separatism, local or regional favouritism for 'patriotism', thanks to powerful politicians and so called ‘national leaders’ who manipulates and misguides people’s mind and perception beyond rationale. Our own people can conspire against our country for money, greed or for personal gains.

The values in our society are degenerating, we became more selfish, and globalization made us slaves of consumerism and materiality. We were so engrossed in the pleasures inside our four walls that when the alarm bell of terrorism at Mumbai (26-29Nov 2008)shook our consciousness and woke us up through the little black box (T.V.). By just changing the channels could have given anybody to realise what the mess we are in. We are in deep muddle of our own ignorance. We are in a fool’s heaven. When the terror strike was showing 'live' on T.V. by News channels for three days the other channels were showing the daily soup opera's, reality shows and the like as usual. This shows that we are missing something in our lives as an Indian. There are no uniting factors other than a less productive, time consuming slothful game of cricket, and most depressingly most people just prefer to watch than play. There are no role models or national heroes or ideas which can lead this country into a new era, or which can be looked upon by our younger generation for inspiration and run the wheel of progress faster in the right direction.

It is in the youth that she looks for hope. It is in her children she has faith.

Wake up! Act now! for a better tomorrow. Awake Arise and Go on for a peaceful and productive tomorrow.
Dated 11/30/08 7:33 AM