SELF, STRESS AND SYSTEM: DR. SHRINIWAS KASHALIKAR

When we refer to ourselves as “I” or “we”; we do not really know what we are referring to.

Our “I” or “we” actually refers to a combination or mixture of phenomena such as our physical needs, passions, emotions, concepts, convictions, ideas, and perspectives and so on. This mixture incorporates the pleasant and unpleasant memories of our past experiences, and future dreams, which may be emotional, economic, social, cultural, religious, and racial. In addition; the components of this mixture are variable in terms of the proportions, intensities and influence at different times, age, maturity and situations.

The chaos within our “I” and “we” and the chaos in the society complement each other and create either a vicious cycle or a wellness cycle depending upon our ability to manage stress within and outside.

Most of us are unable to manage stress inside and outside because our “I” and our “we” is torn apart between our passions, emotions, concepts, likes, dislikes, dreams, aspirations, missions; and our priorities. Often we think very nobly but are constrained, restrained and made helpless in terms of our actions in personal and social life.

Even as psychology textbooks, counselors, spiritual leaders, moralists, social thinkers and egalitarian leaders; preach a variety of norms for total revolution; let us realize that NO arbitrary formula or commandments can bring about individual and universal blossoming.

Neither an individual nor the system per se; is exclusively responsible for the ubiquitous suffering. Both complement to either vicious or wellness cycle. Inappropriate decisions at personal and social levels vitiate the system, which in turn; aggravates chaos in individual and social life!

NAMASMARAN is said to culminate the passions, emotions, fetishes and fancies into true “I”; our innate core. It is also said to embody; the evolution and crystallization of practical concrete solutions; in terms holistic perspective, policies, plans and implementation; so as to rectify the system and thereby conquer the inner and outer evils; and realize individual and global blossoming.

STRESS EQUALITY AND NAMASMARAN: DR. SHRINIWAS KASHALIKAR

When we see inequality in the form utterly miserable living conditions on the one hand and extremely luxurious life style on the other; we almost instantly feel the need for equality.

This is so, especially if we are not used to, habituated to; or addicted to; luxurious life style or miserable poverty; because such addiction makes us callous and insensitive; or helpless and moribund; respectively!

The innate urge for equality is actually due to the humane feeling that we all (and not just few) should get food, shelter and other pleasures of life. This noble pursuit of equality is thus due to our high emotional quotient and being one with the aspirations of millions! The urge for equality is born out of our sensitivity; whether we belong to the class of luxurious life style, middle class or utter poverty and socio-economic exploitation.

Thus Gautam Buddha was a king; Karl Marx was born in middle class; while Dr. Ambedkar was born in socio-economically exploited class, but the revolutionary idea of equality was articulated by all three; as a vitally important value and was upheld by millions.

But the noble vision of Buddha, Karl Marx and Dr. Ambedkar; which we seemed to share once; are far from being realized. The aspirations of millions are still being throttled in the abysmal and miserable living conditions. Even as the slogan of “equality” has stayed in the forefront; it has hardly made any difference in the life of millions.

Why is this so?

Why have we failed to bring the dream of equality in reality?

Why do we still suffer from the STRESS of inhuman inequality, disparity and discrimination in and around?

Have we failed to understand the essence of the teachings of Buddha, Marx and Dr. Ambedkar?

Have we failed to rise above our subjectivity and pettiness and to help ourselves and our brothers in getting empowered?

Are we knowingly or unknowingly trapped in the semantics?

Are we playing with the words?

Are we indulging in slogan mongering for the sake of our petty gains and vested interests?

Are we shackled (and opted to be shackled) in illusory, sectarian and ineffective “solutions” such as favors, subsidies and reservations?

Have we knowingly or unknowingly; “misused” the slogan of “equality” for getting blind followers and building sociopolitical clouts; for our ulterior motives?

The answer is:
We have not understood, appreciated and internalized the spirit underlying the concept of equality. We have also not realized the immaculate and impeccable essence the element of complementarity inherent and integral to our dream of equality. Our sublime emotion associated with the urge of equality; is not enriched by the wisdom of appreciation of the complementarities; and has therefore remained naive and in restrictive shackle; that is hampering our blossoming!

We would continue to fail in absence of the wisdom of appreciating complementarity inherent to the concept of equality! In fact; if we go on insisting on unrealistic and impossible equality; it would indirectly and unknowingly help the spirit of exploitative inequality amongst us!

Insistence of mere superficial or external aspects of equality in terms of similar food, similar clothes, similar houses, and similar behavior is obviously fanatic and coercive! It throttles our blossoming of all species! This is because; the spirit of equality embodies complementarity and freedom of growth and blossoming of everyone! This spirit of equality gets jeopardized by insistence of superficial or external aspects of equality!

Let us see; how in the following instances; mere insistence of superficial or external aspects of equality; harms and does gross injustice!

An infant without teeth should get milk or other liquids, a grown up person with good teeth should get food that can chewed and eaten and an old person with dentures should get food that could be easily chewed with dentures.

The children should get toys and blessings, grown up people should get scope for fulfilling their creativity and productivity according to their aptitudes; and elderly should get rest, respect and opportunity to advise, pamper and bless the youngsters!

An ailing individual should get care and a healer should get freedom to deliver the care! A mother should get the freedom to breast feed and a new born to suckle!

We differ in our constitutions, capabilities, strengths and weaknesses and hence should have a provision for being groomed to fulfill our selves and contribute to the blossoming of society.

But apart from this ineffective and counterproductive fanatic and coercive insistence of superficial and external equality; many of us insist on more sophisticated equality of opportunity or material abundance. They feel that material abundance would nullify all the inequality and injustice.

This is also not true. If I am provided with all the abundance; without wisdom; then in all probability I am likely to misuse it to my own and others’ detriment.

Conversely; vain glory of spiritual equality; without consideration to material conditions; is certainly; a cruel mockery of the concept of equality. It blatantly supports and strengthens the spirit of exploitative inequality.

Thus, distributing pamphlets of “spiritual wisdom” to those amongst us who are “equally and uniformly starved”; or “are equally diseased” as in epidemics; is callous humiliation of the complementarity inherent to the true spirit of equality.

It is necessary to understand that equality in its true spirit is actually; commonality that runs through not only all human beings; but also through other species. Hence appreciation of this commonality is true spirit of equality; and most justifiably upholds with utmost intensity; the provision of everything that is required for the blossoming of all the individuals and the species!

This value of provision of everything for the total blossoming of one and all; is magnanimous, insuperable, invincible and essential. It helps everyone to ascend from; getting all the optimal material provisions; to the ultimate aspiration of realization of the eternal bliss.

Based on this holistic perspective; we can evolve and practice international policies, plans, programs, laws, conventions, national constitutions, local laws/rules essential for realizing the visions of Buddha, Marx and Dr. Ambedkar! This is Total Stress Management i.e. blossoming of one and all!

It is said by the saints; that; for the true equality to materialize; it is urgent and essential that; in addition to the billions of people practicing NAMASMARAN; many more billions; in every nook and corner of the world; have to practice NAMASMARAN; with far greater intensity and selflessness.

NISHKAMA KARMA: DR. SHRINIWAS KASHALIKAR

One of the interpretations of this Sanskrut word is work without expectation of a specific result.

In day to day life; we can conceive this as focusing on the excellence in the task; and not on the result of task, which could be award, fame, reward, money, honor, power, popularity; etc.

But if we go a little deeper; then we get even more profound interpretation.

If we consider any activity or task, then we have; doer, the act of doing and the deed.

The experience of oneness of all these is considered the excellence or God! If the doer is alien from the act of doing and the deed, then he or she is not in the core of the deed and not one with God! He/she is in immersed in peripheral consideration; result; which is MAYA; a variable subjective phenomenon.

In other words; the “soul”, the “core” or the ultimate purpose of any work or task; is ISHWAR. The result and subjective perceptions about the result; are MAYA!

This is actually an art of making our “whole being”; selfless, objective and universally blossoming! Hence it is taught by most saints; to do NAMASMARAN during every action!

It is said; that as we grow further; NAMASMARAN becomes so intense; that we get connected with the NAMA i.e. ISHWAR and every act of ours; or actually our mere existence becomes the most blossoming activity; the true NISHKAMA KARMA.