STRAY THOUGHTS ... 1

STRAY THOUGHTS ... 1

Character is that which integrates the individual, integrates society by uniting the forces of good within the person and of the collective whole to combat the dark forces of ignorance which the Semitic religions call 'evil' but which the Vedic Dharma with rational precision calls 'avidyā' or the absence of knowledge, that is, absence of knowledge of the transcendental Self/Atman/Brahman. Character integrates society. In a like manner in the Western connotation, religion, rooted in 'religare' etymologically, is supposed to integrate people. In our Vedic scriptures we have the concept of 'Lokasangraha' which means the gathering in of people, binding them together into a harmonic whole. This gathering requires the concentration of the forces of the mind which in turn necessitates chastity which is why the Dharmic religions of India such as Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, and the Abrahamic religion of Christianity, especially Roman Catholicism, lays so much stress on absolute continence as a precondition for genuine spiritual progress.

Written by Sugata Bose