Independence day greetings
Freedom from everything
Essence of Indian culture has always been about human liberation. On the day of (political) Independence Day, let us talk of not just political, social and physical liberation freedom (like Westerners) but of ultimate liberation: freedom from everything, freedom from prejudice, freedom from fear, freedom from death.
India is now at the peak of world attention. It is important to see how we are presenting ourselves to the world, about what we have to offer to the world. The essence of Indian culture has always been about human liberation. No other culture has looked at a human being with so much depth and understanding and created methods to evolve a person into his ultimate nature. To put it very bluntly, we have technologies to manufacture an enlightened being!
It is not about belief systems. It is about systematic practices that were so intellectually and magnificently presented over thousands of years that they sharpened the mind and body in a certain way. That is what "yoga" is. Yoga is not about various postures that people immediately think of but a whole technology, which leads you on to a sense of inclusion; to experience everything and everyone as a part of yourself, which ultimately brings absolute clear perception of the realities in which you exist.
There are two ways to conquer somebody/something - one is by conquest, another is by inclusiveness. Inclusiveness is the way of yoga. Indian spiritual ethos is conquest by inclusion, by making someone fall in love with you. Conquest, unfortunately, has become the way of modern science. We should become a counter model for dog-eat-dog type of world situations. We should establish a society that is respected not because of its aggression or wealth but because of its wisdom of life.
But today, power is the only thing that is respected. This is only because we have not created a world where gentleness is respected. But is this power, this craze to accumulate wealth, making us happy?
After receiving the Bharat Ratna award in 1992, J R D Tata said, "I don't want India to be an economic superpower. I want India to be a happy country."
Let us BE HAPPY.
Based on an article (Oasis) in Deccan Herald dt. 15.8.15 by Jaggi Vasudev.
