If material obsession has twisted the balance of human society, the tilt towards spirituality should have restored the balance
Dr. Jernail S Anand
If material obsession has twisted the balance of human society, the tilt towards spirituality should have restored the balance. But, the way things are happening in the world, spirituality is being branded like a material art, it tends to lose its essence. Moreover, those who confused spirituality with abandonment of human desires, forcing the body on the bare minimum, have also not done any good to society. If the material man suffered the pangs of misery, the spiritual world of the earth has not given any respite from physical and mental suffering. Rather, when I look at hordes of young and old men, moving in queues from door to door, begging alms, I start feeling, which God would have desired His men to turn beggars?
Human life is a onetime affair. It is not certain you will get this boon again. After how many years, you have got this body, no one knows. And, some people tell you this world is an illusion, its desires are fake. It is short lived. Leave it before it leaves you. Become a renunciate, and live in meditation of the divine. Such romantic things appeal to two types of people. One, those who are at the beginning of their life career. It can be a wonderful idea to shun everything, and go to some sect, become a ‘bhikshu’ and enjoy being alone, without any encumbrances. The other type of people who are happy at such prospects are those who are fed up with family life. They take a turn out to the woods, in search of peace.
An Irresponsible Life
I have no patience with the philosophy of the renunciates, who think, they are in non-stop prayers to gods, while living away from life. The big question is: Why live away from life. If God had wanted us to turn renunciates, why would He grant us life and send us here? Moreover, it should not be forgotten that He has given us a beautiful body, a heart that loves, and a mind that thinks. If you put all these faculties in limbo, and without weighing the suggestions to renounce everything, decide to quit, you are violating the commands of the Almighty. How can He be happy with you if you have thrown your duties to the winds, and are now trying to lead an irresponsible life?
Human life is a onetime affair. It is not certain you will get this boon again.
I think it needs to be understood that once on this earth, we must treat ourselves as responsible citizens of this world. We must live in human society, and have a family, and rear the kids to the best of our ability. A duty well discharged will give us a feeling of dignity and importance in the divine scheme. If we turn our face away from our responsibilities, how can Gods entertain us when we go back?
When I see young men in long queues moving in holy places in search of peace, my head starts reeling. This country has a long tradition of people relinquishing the joys of the world and going to mountains, to lead a life of solitude. I do not agree with this suggestion. If body is such a bad thing, and its normal passions so obnoxious, then, instead of giving yourself pain of abstention all your life, it is better to jump into a canal, and try to reach the other end of life.
The Abnormal Tribe
I am sure, these people are abnormal people. A man who cannot eat what he wants to eat, cannot go to a place he wants to go, cannot meet a woman when he needs her, cannot have children and craves for it, – the life that he has imposed on himself, the discipline which forces him away from life – all these things actually distance him from his duty. And its results are not good for human society. Men who lose physical contact with society, remain mentally attached, and their spiritual attainment too is zero. Anybody, who denies his body its essential needs, soon finds itself languishing for the joys of the body. But, the acquired discipline forces him away from carnality. Such men cannot make any spiritual progression. Rather they keep suspended between the two worlds.
The Two Worlds
We can see huge numbers of people running to the mountains and the riversides, to life in huts, and contemplate God. They run away from active living, in search of peace. But no peace comes to a person who has fled from his duties. You are needed in the world, to help it grow better, and you are spending your time in the mountains? Gods do not relish such nonchalance from you, what your godly fathers on earth uphold.
Discordance and Crime
If we look around, we shall find a lot of discordance in society, lots of crime, and people too are not at peace. Even those living in society, and who are discharging their duties as human beings are not happy at all. We tell them, they can be saved from suffering if they leave this world, and go to shrines or holy places. Actually, as expected, this act of abandonment should have restored the balance or the human society, which has not taken place. Rather, there is so much worldliness and crime in the spiritual order as well.
It is all goof up. Religion and spirituality do come to our rescue, but only if we return to the world charged with a new vision of reality. Holy teachings do not go far, if you have nowhere to apply them. In fact, human beings with their knowledge and wisdom, must have by now, learnt the art of living this life in the best way, which should be a mix up of the two domains: the material and the spiritual. Only material or only spiritual -both these options make things hopeless.
Take Away
If men are still suffering in this life, or if they have gone to the mountains to suffer alone, I think it is better to suffer in the family and live together, at least man will have the joy and satisfaction of having performed his duty towards his family and the human society. If too much of human attachments disturb man’s balance, and turn them into semi-monsters, too much detachment bordering on renunciation also, does not help mankind. Their suffering is different. More than the divine, they are found craving for their bodies, their thirst and their lusts, which have been willfully subdued.
Read: OF INDIFFERENT GODS & HUMAN PAIN & MISERY
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Dr. Jernail Singh Anand, President of the International Academy of Ethics, is author of 167 books in English poetry, fiction, non-fiction, philosophy and spirituality. He was awarded Charter of Morava, the great Award by Serbian Writers Association, Belgrade and his name was engraved on the Poets’ Rock in Serbia. The Academy of Arts and philosophical Sciences of Bari [Italy] honored him with the award of an Honorable Academic. Recently, he was awarded Doctor of Philosophy [Honoris Causa] by the University of Engineering and Management, Jaipur. Recently, he organized an International Conference on Contemporary Ethics at Chandigarh. His most phenomenal book is Lustus: The Prince of Darkness [first epic of the Mahkaal Trilogy]. Email: anandjs55@yahoo.com
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