WHITHER CHARACTER THAT WILL ALTER ATTITUDES?

WHITHER CHARACTER THAT WILL ALTER ATTITUDES?

The problem of soft spirituality is that it cannot break through the crust of hard politics. And if it has to be hard spirituality, then it more often than not degenerates into hard politics itself. Here lies the predicament of spirituality today where, as Swami Vivekananda rightly said, "Religions of the world have become lifeless mockeries. What the world wants is character." And here may I add, what is needed is raw courage to face the brute, not soft preaching of unpractised principles, singing and dancing that are utterly devoid of character. The dilemma remains as to how best to forge character that will alter the attitudes of people in much the way Guru Gobind Singhji so successfully did. And this certainly cannot be done by the present-day effeminacy that goes by the name of monasticism with all its mercenary motivations and cultural compromise to pander to common human weaknesses. "Strength," Swamiji said, "is the watchword of the Upanishads." Instead of manifesting that masculine strength that can catch the bull by the horns, it is only idle quotation of Upanishadic verses that has come to characterise such Vedantic allegiance interspersed with social service with high-sounding spiritual names. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof, the evil of allowing the devil to dance destruction while indulging oneself in platitudes and passive piety and the puerile pastime of song and dance.

Written by Sugata Bose