Where have we gone wrong? It is a time to think and rethink about the root cause. We are not to blame science or the modern times but to discover what it is that we have lost in course of time. There is something lacking or something ignored that is the cause of this lack of inner peace.
Few days back I was riding a bicycle in our ashram at Puri when there was a power failure for a few minutes. Seeing me on a bike as the power came back someone asked "Are you riding the bike in the darkness Swamiji?" I smiled and said there is no darkness.
I was born in a village forty eight years back and until the time I graduated from High School there was no electricity in our village. Now we are amazed at the progress of Science and the advancement it brought in the last few decades to even the most remote villages of India. We are proud of the modern scientific world and all the comforts it has provided but what does it really mean?
If we compare our childhood a few decades back to the present day, many things were not available at that time. We had minimum needs and at times there was also scarcity of food that resulted in rationing of supplies. Sometimes it was difficult to even get enough milk for the infants. Now we have plenty of food, milk and vegetables available everywhere. I saw the television for the first time in my life in 1997, in Delhi. Now it is hard to imagine a family without television even in small towns. While it is true that the progress of Science has provided us with many material comforts, plenty of food supplies, and cure for some diseases, it has also infected us with many diseases of a different nature. Science has given us many comforts but has it really provided us more love, peace or happiness in life?
With the availability of computers, access to information is at our fingertips. I remember my school days when even the access to a library was very difficult. Now we have plenty of information but is there any real transformation? The communication systems have improved worldwide but is there real communication between the husband and wife, parents and children or teacher and student? All these amenities should have resulted in giving us more leisure but they have only made life more hectic. It has resulted in not only more comforts to the body but also more unrest to the mind. Is this civilization providing ample peace and love? I spend a considerable part of my time in traveling from country to country. When I sometimes look down from the plane during take off or landing, especially in the Western countries, even at midnight or early morning I see hundreds of cars speeding on the highways and wonder where they are heading. Scientific age is supposed to have provided us with more time but paradoxically has stolen time from us. My mother spent a lot of time in the kitchen cooking, but also spent a lot of time talking to her children. My Sister in law spends much less time cooking in a modern kitchen but has less time to spend with the children.
Where have we gone wrong? It is a time to think and rethink about the root cause. We are not to blame science or the modern times but to discover what it is that we have lost in course of time. There is something lacking or something ignored that is the cause of this lack of inner peace. While talking at the Psychology Seminar of the University of Vienna, I asked how old is the concept and study of psychology. It could be traced back to probably 150 years. Then I asked them if they knew how old the yoga psychology is. They did not even know of such a concept. Then I asked them how old the modern medicine and surgery is. Even less than 500 years back, Barbers in England were licensed to operate on people due to lack of medical doctors. The Yoga concepts are much older than all these. We should not neglect our tradition. Sky scrapers can stand only on a firm foundation. If the super structure is to be good, the substructure should not be ignored.
The modern scientific world has provided us with a lot of information. But is it really helping? Are we living according to that knowledge? All of us know what is good and bad. The body has to be healthy for a happy living. For the body to be healthy we are to follow moderation in our food, rest and activities. Does the mind co operate? We have neglected our mind and took care of only the external problems.
Communication has become faster. After a long meditation on Christmas Eve at the Vienna ashram in Dec 2004, I checked the internet and found that a great disaster occurred in another part of the world. Without the advancement of science such quick communication is not possible but is our personal communication healthy, balanced and not emotional?
Modern transportation has become faster. There is more time, but we do not know how to use the time. Especially in the West, people do not know what to do with their time. Most people do not have a family and have a self centered, isolated life. They spend a stressful work week and when the weekend comes they sleep and get up late, over eat and drink or watch television. India is better but as the world is getting smaller and more reachable we are also catching up fast. Is this healthy human life or exhausted unhappy life?
How long will one live? Even if we assume that one lives for a hundred years it only comes to 36,525 days. If we are provided with say, a certain amount of money and are told that we will not be getting any more, would we not try to conserve that money as long as we could and minimize our spending? When the Hurricane Katerina stuck in USA what happened overnight? The challenge is to find an answer for how to achieve a calm, peaceful and happy life in this scientific modern age. (To be continued)
A talk at IIT Kharagpur, Jan 26, 2006