SPIRITUAL COMMUNISM --- IDEALISM AND PRACTICE ... 1
Spiritual communism is the perception of the equality of all in the light of the divinity within. But terrible incongruities on the surface remain and these must be removed to facilitate a human face to such a grand philosophy, to make human life appear at least a semblance of this perceived grandeur of sameness, to give every soul a chance to raise himself from the mire of material deprivation and seek the sunshine of a fast-evolving life.
Speaking equality and divinity is one thing and acting in accordance quite another. Rooted human selfishness born out of the instinct for self-preservation, greed and hunger for power must be sublimated in the light of a growing awareness of the inner truth. But this again is easier said than done. These instincts are so deeply ingrained in the lowest sheaths of the human personality --- the physical, the vital and the mental --- that mere verbal education in morality, virtue, righteousness and philosophy prove utterly inadequate in bringing about even minuscule change in the human being. Despite the tallest lessons imparted to him from childhood, man grows up into the exploitative unsympathetic soul whose sole job is to gather the earth's resources for himself and create poverty in its wake for the masses. It is a case of ill-distribution of wealth on account of inefficient economic system, governmental inefficiency and apathy, lack of awareness of the masses about their basic rights and lack of the spirit of selflessness and sacrifice among the educated and the culturally refined.
The question then remains. How does one convert the devotee to a foot soldier of this divine mission to bring about the real equality for all, not in absolute terms but in proportionate terms where sanity rules over this indiscriminate acquisition of wealth that reduces millions, nay, billions to becoming beasts of burden?
Swamiji had hit upon his grand plan for the resuscitation of his motherland whereupon he activated the energy of renounced souls to attempt the transformation of society and the amelioration of the misery of the poor and the downtrodden. Those were days of dependency on the British who were sucking the life-blood of India and Swamiji must have felt that the common man was not yet ready to take up the cause of this social regeneration. But times have changed and we are a free nation today. The challenges have grown in geometric progression and it is no more meet to rely on monks alone to carry out this Herculean task of national reconstruction. The common man must now participate and sink in his ploughshare of work for the motherland's cause.
End of Part 1
To be continued...
Written by Sugata Bose
Photo : The disciples of Ramakrishna, the fledgling Order at Baranagar, the site of the first monastery of the Ramakrishna Order.
Spiritual communism is the perception of the equality of all in the light of the divinity within. But terrible incongruities on the surface remain and these must be removed to facilitate a human face to such a grand philosophy, to make human life appear at least a semblance of this perceived grandeur of sameness, to give every soul a chance to raise himself from the mire of material deprivation and seek the sunshine of a fast-evolving life.
Speaking equality and divinity is one thing and acting in accordance quite another. Rooted human selfishness born out of the instinct for self-preservation, greed and hunger for power must be sublimated in the light of a growing awareness of the inner truth. But this again is easier said than done. These instincts are so deeply ingrained in the lowest sheaths of the human personality --- the physical, the vital and the mental --- that mere verbal education in morality, virtue, righteousness and philosophy prove utterly inadequate in bringing about even minuscule change in the human being. Despite the tallest lessons imparted to him from childhood, man grows up into the exploitative unsympathetic soul whose sole job is to gather the earth's resources for himself and create poverty in its wake for the masses. It is a case of ill-distribution of wealth on account of inefficient economic system, governmental inefficiency and apathy, lack of awareness of the masses about their basic rights and lack of the spirit of selflessness and sacrifice among the educated and the culturally refined.
The question then remains. How does one convert the devotee to a foot soldier of this divine mission to bring about the real equality for all, not in absolute terms but in proportionate terms where sanity rules over this indiscriminate acquisition of wealth that reduces millions, nay, billions to becoming beasts of burden?
Swamiji had hit upon his grand plan for the resuscitation of his motherland whereupon he activated the energy of renounced souls to attempt the transformation of society and the amelioration of the misery of the poor and the downtrodden. Those were days of dependency on the British who were sucking the life-blood of India and Swamiji must have felt that the common man was not yet ready to take up the cause of this social regeneration. But times have changed and we are a free nation today. The challenges have grown in geometric progression and it is no more meet to rely on monks alone to carry out this Herculean task of national reconstruction. The common man must now participate and sink in his ploughshare of work for the motherland's cause.
End of Part 1
To be continued...
Written by Sugata Bose
Photo : The disciples of Ramakrishna, the fledgling Order at Baranagar, the site of the first monastery of the Ramakrishna Order.
No comments:
Post a Comment