Magazine - Year 2016 - Version 2
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Language: ENGLISH
Language: ENGLISH
The Year of Nation-building through Building of National Character
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Golden Sunrise for India
New Year is all set to dawn. If you look up to the skies or listen to the sounds of the space, you will see many indications of upcoming changes. Sun rises every day at a pre-ordained time. We do not see anything special in that. However, there is something different about this year. This sunrise symbolizes the rise of India and the change in destiny for the entire humanity. Yes, it is true that the destiny of the entire world is interlinked with the destiny of India. India and Indians should realize this important national role. In order to fulfill this, we need to understand the uniqueness of our nation and build its character.
Somebody asked Annie Besant once – “Can you tell us what is special about India when compared to other ancient and modern countries?” She said, - “Whatever God has given to India, He has not given it to any other country. Whatever He has given to other countries, he has given all of that to India. God has given beauty to Greece, tradition to Rome, religion to Israel and spirituality to India that is capable of shouldering the welfare of entire creation. Beauty, tradition, religion, justice, rituals, literature, ideals, customs are all embedded in spirituality that God has bestowed on India. So, if anyone wants to see all the boons that God has bestowed on every country in one place, they have to come to India.”
India is unique, India is extraordinary
Max Muller added more meaning to this experience of Annie Besant. He lived in India for several years studying and learning the Vedas and Upanishads. After realizing and imbibing the Indian way of life, he said – ‘If anyone were to ask me for a place under the sky that provides holistic development to the mind, where the most deep-seated problems of human life have been solved, a place of which Plato’s and Kant’s followers also sing praises of, I would unanimously say that the name of that place is India. If anyone was to ask me about a country that has given the literature that transforms our inner mind and leads to fulfillment of human life and makes us truly human, literature that not only refines the physical body but also transforms our subtle body and fills it with bliss, I would again take the name of India for providing the vast and holistic literature.
Irish lady, Sister Nivedita, disciple of Swami Vivekananda, painted this picture of India in her letter – ‘India is unique and special among all the nations of the world. Each and every atom of this country is filled with the divine consciousness. This is the land of spirituality. Spirituality has assumed a body and taken birth on this holy land. The entire creation is propelled by the movement of this spiritual land. God has bestowed rituals and methods of worship to other countries, but India has given philosophical knowledge that encompasses both the animate and the inanimate world, an experience not known to others. That is why India is the Jagadguru. It is the birthplace for philosophy that encompasses the science and art of living.’
The saint of Dakshineswar, Sri Ramakrishna experienced the Absolute Brahma on this sacred land. He did not differentiate between man and God, and said – ‘O people, who take pity on other creatures, listen to me. Who are you to shower your sympathy on creatures? They are also a form of Shiv, the almighty. Why are you taking pride in showing mercy on them? All creatures are forms of the same Almighty. Serve them with the attitude of gratitude that they gave you an opportunity to serve. Do not boost your ego that you served them.’ There are so many anecdotes and examples from the lives of greatest of people regarding the Indian philosophy that even if we were to follow one of those, not only India but the entire world can be free of its troubles.
Ideals are lofty, why is their practice not so?
We have observed that though the ideals are lofty, there is no corresponding action. While there is equanimity and oneness, there is also disparity. While the ancestors are great, the next generations are low on character. Why is it that the great country has fallen into such dilapidated state? Why is it scared of its glorious past and responsibility of ushering the illustrious future? Why is it not able to accept its true identity? Sri Guru Golwalkar, the head of RSS went to meet Late Mahommedali Currim Chagla, renowned Indian jurist and union cabinet minister, who also served as chief justice of the Bombay High Court, after he returned from his trip to Russia. Both of them talked for a long time. Golwalkarji asked him, ‘What is the difference that you observed between the people of Russia and India?’ In reply to this question, Chaglaji recounted an incident. He had gone to a playground in Moscow and asked the youth playing there, ‘How many hours do you play and exercise here every day?’ They replied that they play for 6-7 hours in a day. Chaglaji was very surprised and said – ‘Brothers, why do you waste so many hours in sports and play?’ They replied, ‘So that we can make our country proud among the other countries of the world. We aspire that our country wins in each and every sports event.’ He found each and every person of that nation to be striving for the glory of his country, be it in a laboratory or in a playground. This is the state of affairs in other countries like Germany, America, Japan, France and England as well. How is it in our country? In our country, we still have to define what the glory of our nation is, what its historical greatness is, who its national heroes are and what its glorious past was.
In nutshell, there is dearth of national character here. Patriotism has become limited to cricket grounds. This is an extremely sad state of affairs. There is lot to be learnt and implemented to make things better on this front.
Where is our love for the country?
After so many decades since India got its independence, even today it is not counted among the developed countries in spite of India being a diverse and huge country with infinite possibilitiesand capabilities. The reason for this depressing failure is the lack of love and respect towards one’s own country. This is the fundamental flaw without correcting which we cannot lead our country towards success and prosperity.
What is National Character?
In simple words, national character means love for the nation and the ability to keep the welfare of the country as the supreme priority in all walks of life. Whenever a nation has achieved progress, the primary reason has been love for the nation. Without this enthusiasm, no country can achieve outer or inner progress in any field. In all these years the nations that have been successful in evoking this emotion in their countrymen are Singapore, Korea, Malaysia and Japan and have emerged as developed nations. The question remains as to why our country has remained far behind in this respect. The one and only reason for this is we are trying to achieve the possible with impossible means.
There are many possibilities of developing national character in our country, but it has so happened that we have started treading the wrong path. And once we are afoot on a wrong path, it is certainly tough to get back on the right path. After independence, India was born in terms of political and geographical view point. However at psychological level, where emotions and feelings are at play, we have not reached there. For the kind of country we envisage, our national leaders had proposed a technique that is based on shared heritage. There were three main aspects to this – religious unity, historical unity and cultural unity.
The meaning of religious unity is that basically all religions are the same. It was believed that if this was instilled in the minds of people there would be unity among all the people in the nation. This premise was wrong from a historical perspective. History is witness to the fact that whenever the essence of religion is not well-understood, people of the same religion have fought terrible wars. For example, in Mahabharata war, both sides were Hindus and they belonged to the same family too. In the first and second world wars, people on both sides were Christians. There are many such examples. Efforts to bring religious unity have been present ever since the times of Asoka. Akbar also played an active role in this and provided political basis too.
Religion is ancient and timeless
In the modern times, great scholars like Bhagwandas tried to solve this issue, but things did not work out. It is an irrefutable truth that the methods of worship and rituals are bound to be different for different religions. But the truth is also that at the fundamental level, all religions are timeless and one. If this is understood, then people following different faiths would look at one another as human beings, as members of the same family of humanity and as patriotic Indians. This would lead them to loving and respecting one another.
It is believed that a country where people of multiple faiths live, making them understand the nation’s history can evoke patriotism. When this is lacking, one must strive to put this in the minds of people. In all countries, be it a small one like Singapore or a big country like America, people from different faiths reside there. So they too have different facets of historical heritage. But these countries do not force their citizens to believe in shared heritage. This is the reason why different religions lead a harmonious life in spite of their historical differences and focus on sharing their responsibility for building their nation.
Culture cannot be imposed on someone
The third issue is regarding acceptance of a shared culture. There are problems with this as well. Culture is typically a result of a long historical process. It cannot be imposed on someone or some group through external means. After the Second World War, a movement was started in America with an objective to Americanize the entire nation and bring about a unified culture. A similar process was started in Canada as well but it failed in both the countries. Eventually, they had to relinquish the idea of a unified culture and accept multiple cultures.
In spite of innumerable internal turmoil and differences, patriotism is what binds the nation in harmony. When a person or group feels that their future is dependent on the nation and that their success is linked to the progress of the nation – this is patriotism in its truest sense. The welfare of the nation should be the primary concern for all. If there is a need to sacrifice for the progress or protection of the country, we need to gladly offer ourselves. Without this kind of love for the nation, no country can successfully be on the path of progress.
When national ideals are developed, patriotism will awaken
If we want to build a strong nation, the clash between religion, history and culture should cease. A very broad meaning for these words should be researched. Only then can the emotions of all the people be successfully imbibed in those words. Our main goal should be to develop patriotism. And the basis for this patriotism will be a past that is glorious, a present that is focused on achieving the goal of a promising future. The only way to achieve this is when the mind of each and every person is filled with love for the country. On the foundations of this inclusive patriotism, a strong national character can be built that can handle the heritage of the past, responsibilities of the present and the challenges of the future.
All of us should be inspired by our noble national ideals. There is irrefutable power and inspiration inherent in the ideals. Without noble ideals, a man may progress in the material sense but he can never realize the true meaning of human life. Science and technological advancements can increase the speed of trains and airplanes; they can create deadly weapons, but cannot awaken the consciousness of a society or nation and impregnate the seeds of idealism. Only when a man associates himself with lofty ideals, can his life become noble. The follies of human nature cannot be refuted, but that should not stop us from imbibing noble samsakras and instilling humane values in ourselves. The rich spiritual heritage that Almighty has bestowed on our country considers hurting others to be an irreligious act. It does not consider anything other than wishing the welfare of others as the most religious act. One should understand this definition of dharma and adharma and guide his actions in life. When you empathize with the sufferings and happiness of those around you, automatically a sense of social responsibility springs forth within you. This is called the Narayana Shakti. It is this power that pulls out the person from his self-centeredness and links him with his family, society, nation and the world at large. The life of a person starts from one point and it finally comes back and merges to the same point. This philosophy of interconnectedness of birth and death is a unique contribution of India to the world.
Indian culture is the basis for a peaceful world
Some people might raise the question – a country in which the people are completely connected to their nation, will there be no corruption, tyranny, violence and harassment? The answer is that they are all there but the magnitude is not such that lack of character itself is defined as their character. This also happens because of those compatriots who have been lured by wealth and not to the ideals of their nation. They are connected to materialism and not to God. They are connected to the body and not to sacrifice and auspiciousness of the creation. They have science and technology, but they are unaware of the divine energy and sanctity present within man. There is life but no ideal in it. This is the reason why they are not able to contribute to building a noble human being and a peaceful world.
India and its citizens have to develop empathy for Nature and culture. It is true that other countries have had their own experiences and, as a result, they have different perspectives about life. Similarly, India has its own fundamental view about life. And the experience of this way of life is not just hundred or thousand years old but millions of years old. These experiences tell us how the Aryans-Dravidians, Shaivites-Vaishnavites, Hindus-Muslims forgot their enmity and lived a harmonious life. They fought wars together and emerged victorious. The Indian freedom movement stands as a testimony to this fact that people of all religions came together and attained Independence for the country. Now is the time for heralding another significant National Movement. We should all come together and build a glorious life for each other based on building a noble character for the nation. We should ascend the steps of individual development, familial development and social development and take responsibility for national development. The destiny as ordained by the Almighty is entrusting us with this important responsibility this year. We all should respond to this clarion call, prepare ourselves and mold others too. During this New Year, there is a need for courageous words and even more courageous actions. New Year is giving us the message of awakening. Our country and the entire world are burning in the heat of enmity and violence. How can you sleep during such a moment? Mahakal is also calling out to you again and again. He has brought forth the dawn of a glorious future. Let us all absorb the nectar and knowledge emanating from the rays of that rising Sun. Our ancestors have given us the means for building a noble humanity and harmonious world. During this New Year, let us put that knowledge into practical use and act on it.
New Year is all set to dawn. If you look up to the skies or listen to the sounds of the space, you will see many indications of upcoming changes. Sun rises every day at a pre-ordained time. We do not see anything special in that. However, there is something different about this year. This sunrise symbolizes the rise of India and the change in destiny for the entire humanity. Yes, it is true that the destiny of the entire world is interlinked with the destiny of India. India and Indians should realize this important national role. In order to fulfill this, we need to understand the uniqueness of our nation and build its character.
Somebody asked Annie Besant once – “Can you tell us what is special about India when compared to other ancient and modern countries?” She said, - “Whatever God has given to India, He has not given it to any other country. Whatever He has given to other countries, he has given all of that to India. God has given beauty to Greece, tradition to Rome, religion to Israel and spirituality to India that is capable of shouldering the welfare of entire creation. Beauty, tradition, religion, justice, rituals, literature, ideals, customs are all embedded in spirituality that God has bestowed on India. So, if anyone wants to see all the boons that God has bestowed on every country in one place, they have to come to India.”
India is unique, India is extraordinary
Max Muller added more meaning to this experience of Annie Besant. He lived in India for several years studying and learning the Vedas and Upanishads. After realizing and imbibing the Indian way of life, he said – ‘If anyone were to ask me for a place under the sky that provides holistic development to the mind, where the most deep-seated problems of human life have been solved, a place of which Plato’s and Kant’s followers also sing praises of, I would unanimously say that the name of that place is India. If anyone was to ask me about a country that has given the literature that transforms our inner mind and leads to fulfillment of human life and makes us truly human, literature that not only refines the physical body but also transforms our subtle body and fills it with bliss, I would again take the name of India for providing the vast and holistic literature.
Irish lady, Sister Nivedita, disciple of Swami Vivekananda, painted this picture of India in her letter – ‘India is unique and special among all the nations of the world. Each and every atom of this country is filled with the divine consciousness. This is the land of spirituality. Spirituality has assumed a body and taken birth on this holy land. The entire creation is propelled by the movement of this spiritual land. God has bestowed rituals and methods of worship to other countries, but India has given philosophical knowledge that encompasses both the animate and the inanimate world, an experience not known to others. That is why India is the Jagadguru. It is the birthplace for philosophy that encompasses the science and art of living.’
The saint of Dakshineswar, Sri Ramakrishna experienced the Absolute Brahma on this sacred land. He did not differentiate between man and God, and said – ‘O people, who take pity on other creatures, listen to me. Who are you to shower your sympathy on creatures? They are also a form of Shiv, the almighty. Why are you taking pride in showing mercy on them? All creatures are forms of the same Almighty. Serve them with the attitude of gratitude that they gave you an opportunity to serve. Do not boost your ego that you served them.’ There are so many anecdotes and examples from the lives of greatest of people regarding the Indian philosophy that even if we were to follow one of those, not only India but the entire world can be free of its troubles.
Ideals are lofty, why is their practice not so?
We have observed that though the ideals are lofty, there is no corresponding action. While there is equanimity and oneness, there is also disparity. While the ancestors are great, the next generations are low on character. Why is it that the great country has fallen into such dilapidated state? Why is it scared of its glorious past and responsibility of ushering the illustrious future? Why is it not able to accept its true identity? Sri Guru Golwalkar, the head of RSS went to meet Late Mahommedali Currim Chagla, renowned Indian jurist and union cabinet minister, who also served as chief justice of the Bombay High Court, after he returned from his trip to Russia. Both of them talked for a long time. Golwalkarji asked him, ‘What is the difference that you observed between the people of Russia and India?’ In reply to this question, Chaglaji recounted an incident. He had gone to a playground in Moscow and asked the youth playing there, ‘How many hours do you play and exercise here every day?’ They replied that they play for 6-7 hours in a day. Chaglaji was very surprised and said – ‘Brothers, why do you waste so many hours in sports and play?’ They replied, ‘So that we can make our country proud among the other countries of the world. We aspire that our country wins in each and every sports event.’ He found each and every person of that nation to be striving for the glory of his country, be it in a laboratory or in a playground. This is the state of affairs in other countries like Germany, America, Japan, France and England as well. How is it in our country? In our country, we still have to define what the glory of our nation is, what its historical greatness is, who its national heroes are and what its glorious past was.
In nutshell, there is dearth of national character here. Patriotism has become limited to cricket grounds. This is an extremely sad state of affairs. There is lot to be learnt and implemented to make things better on this front.
Where is our love for the country?
After so many decades since India got its independence, even today it is not counted among the developed countries in spite of India being a diverse and huge country with infinite possibilitiesand capabilities. The reason for this depressing failure is the lack of love and respect towards one’s own country. This is the fundamental flaw without correcting which we cannot lead our country towards success and prosperity.
What is National Character?
In simple words, national character means love for the nation and the ability to keep the welfare of the country as the supreme priority in all walks of life. Whenever a nation has achieved progress, the primary reason has been love for the nation. Without this enthusiasm, no country can achieve outer or inner progress in any field. In all these years the nations that have been successful in evoking this emotion in their countrymen are Singapore, Korea, Malaysia and Japan and have emerged as developed nations. The question remains as to why our country has remained far behind in this respect. The one and only reason for this is we are trying to achieve the possible with impossible means.
There are many possibilities of developing national character in our country, but it has so happened that we have started treading the wrong path. And once we are afoot on a wrong path, it is certainly tough to get back on the right path. After independence, India was born in terms of political and geographical view point. However at psychological level, where emotions and feelings are at play, we have not reached there. For the kind of country we envisage, our national leaders had proposed a technique that is based on shared heritage. There were three main aspects to this – religious unity, historical unity and cultural unity.
The meaning of religious unity is that basically all religions are the same. It was believed that if this was instilled in the minds of people there would be unity among all the people in the nation. This premise was wrong from a historical perspective. History is witness to the fact that whenever the essence of religion is not well-understood, people of the same religion have fought terrible wars. For example, in Mahabharata war, both sides were Hindus and they belonged to the same family too. In the first and second world wars, people on both sides were Christians. There are many such examples. Efforts to bring religious unity have been present ever since the times of Asoka. Akbar also played an active role in this and provided political basis too.
Religion is ancient and timeless
In the modern times, great scholars like Bhagwandas tried to solve this issue, but things did not work out. It is an irrefutable truth that the methods of worship and rituals are bound to be different for different religions. But the truth is also that at the fundamental level, all religions are timeless and one. If this is understood, then people following different faiths would look at one another as human beings, as members of the same family of humanity and as patriotic Indians. This would lead them to loving and respecting one another.
It is believed that a country where people of multiple faiths live, making them understand the nation’s history can evoke patriotism. When this is lacking, one must strive to put this in the minds of people. In all countries, be it a small one like Singapore or a big country like America, people from different faiths reside there. So they too have different facets of historical heritage. But these countries do not force their citizens to believe in shared heritage. This is the reason why different religions lead a harmonious life in spite of their historical differences and focus on sharing their responsibility for building their nation.
Culture cannot be imposed on someone
The third issue is regarding acceptance of a shared culture. There are problems with this as well. Culture is typically a result of a long historical process. It cannot be imposed on someone or some group through external means. After the Second World War, a movement was started in America with an objective to Americanize the entire nation and bring about a unified culture. A similar process was started in Canada as well but it failed in both the countries. Eventually, they had to relinquish the idea of a unified culture and accept multiple cultures.
In spite of innumerable internal turmoil and differences, patriotism is what binds the nation in harmony. When a person or group feels that their future is dependent on the nation and that their success is linked to the progress of the nation – this is patriotism in its truest sense. The welfare of the nation should be the primary concern for all. If there is a need to sacrifice for the progress or protection of the country, we need to gladly offer ourselves. Without this kind of love for the nation, no country can successfully be on the path of progress.
When national ideals are developed, patriotism will awaken
If we want to build a strong nation, the clash between religion, history and culture should cease. A very broad meaning for these words should be researched. Only then can the emotions of all the people be successfully imbibed in those words. Our main goal should be to develop patriotism. And the basis for this patriotism will be a past that is glorious, a present that is focused on achieving the goal of a promising future. The only way to achieve this is when the mind of each and every person is filled with love for the country. On the foundations of this inclusive patriotism, a strong national character can be built that can handle the heritage of the past, responsibilities of the present and the challenges of the future.
All of us should be inspired by our noble national ideals. There is irrefutable power and inspiration inherent in the ideals. Without noble ideals, a man may progress in the material sense but he can never realize the true meaning of human life. Science and technological advancements can increase the speed of trains and airplanes; they can create deadly weapons, but cannot awaken the consciousness of a society or nation and impregnate the seeds of idealism. Only when a man associates himself with lofty ideals, can his life become noble. The follies of human nature cannot be refuted, but that should not stop us from imbibing noble samsakras and instilling humane values in ourselves. The rich spiritual heritage that Almighty has bestowed on our country considers hurting others to be an irreligious act. It does not consider anything other than wishing the welfare of others as the most religious act. One should understand this definition of dharma and adharma and guide his actions in life. When you empathize with the sufferings and happiness of those around you, automatically a sense of social responsibility springs forth within you. This is called the Narayana Shakti. It is this power that pulls out the person from his self-centeredness and links him with his family, society, nation and the world at large. The life of a person starts from one point and it finally comes back and merges to the same point. This philosophy of interconnectedness of birth and death is a unique contribution of India to the world.
Indian culture is the basis for a peaceful world
Some people might raise the question – a country in which the people are completely connected to their nation, will there be no corruption, tyranny, violence and harassment? The answer is that they are all there but the magnitude is not such that lack of character itself is defined as their character. This also happens because of those compatriots who have been lured by wealth and not to the ideals of their nation. They are connected to materialism and not to God. They are connected to the body and not to sacrifice and auspiciousness of the creation. They have science and technology, but they are unaware of the divine energy and sanctity present within man. There is life but no ideal in it. This is the reason why they are not able to contribute to building a noble human being and a peaceful world.
India and its citizens have to develop empathy for Nature and culture. It is true that other countries have had their own experiences and, as a result, they have different perspectives about life. Similarly, India has its own fundamental view about life. And the experience of this way of life is not just hundred or thousand years old but millions of years old. These experiences tell us how the Aryans-Dravidians, Shaivites-Vaishnavites, Hindus-Muslims forgot their enmity and lived a harmonious life. They fought wars together and emerged victorious. The Indian freedom movement stands as a testimony to this fact that people of all religions came together and attained Independence for the country. Now is the time for heralding another significant National Movement. We should all come together and build a glorious life for each other based on building a noble character for the nation. We should ascend the steps of individual development, familial development and social development and take responsibility for national development. The destiny as ordained by the Almighty is entrusting us with this important responsibility this year. We all should respond to this clarion call, prepare ourselves and mold others too. During this New Year, there is a need for courageous words and even more courageous actions. New Year is giving us the message of awakening. Our country and the entire world are burning in the heat of enmity and violence. How can you sleep during such a moment? Mahakal is also calling out to you again and again. He has brought forth the dawn of a glorious future. Let us all absorb the nectar and knowledge emanating from the rays of that rising Sun. Our ancestors have given us the means for building a noble humanity and harmonious world. During this New Year, let us put that knowledge into practical use and act on it.