Right & Wrong - As I see them

pause | 15 Aug 2011, 8:55pm
First of all, if you're the kind who has a blanket belief that says "there is no wrong and right" irrespective of the circumstances involved - I'm sorry, I am not interested in a debate.

I am not interested in debates anyway - have never been, am bad at them, and hate them - and if you want a back-and-forth about my ideals in life, then sorry, wrong window.

Anyway, here it comes. One of my zillion thoughts having finally taken shape of a Web page. It's a thought that brought about a huge awakening in me some time back.

Basically, there is a right purpose for doing things, and a wrong purpose.

The wrong purpose is the satisfaction of the ego, that is, to help "feel good" about yourself. The right purpose, then, is anything that is NOT this wrong purpose.

The Bhagavad Gita has always taught us this, but it takes a highly objective assessment of yourself and of life to really understand.

Someone who harms another being, knowingly, and to satisfy his own ego, is one of the most obvious examples of a person with the "wrong purpose". If you're killing someone because you're angry with him, you don't have a "pure purpose" behind your action.

On the other hand, yes, if you're killing someone/something for greater good, you might not be wrong - for this I choose NOT to take examples of encounters and capital punishment, or religious killings. I'd rather understand this with an example of bacteria, cancerous cells and viruses being killed so the human body can survive without disease.

Why it is important to identify the nature of the purpose behind your action is this: anything done for your ego either doesn't work, or, if it does, backfires.

I'm not referring to just acts of harming others. I'm mainly talking about things like false promises, attention-seeking philanthropy, and anything as seemingly innocuous as a fake apology.

A friend of mine opened my eyes to this concept when I expressed "severe guilt" over something I'd done.

One day, after hearing me rant and rant and go on about my self-righteous guilt at how "I was feeling bad" about the hurt I had caused a certain person, and how this "feeling bad" was screwing me up further, he said, "So this is all about you."

It was after that conversation that I realized that "feeling sorry", etc. does NOT make you a good person. In fact, bringing the idea of "I" into a "giving" transaction (one that involves another) COMPLETELY negates your act.

If your charity is about YOU being a great person and helping out someone in need, then no thank you, the Universe does not need it.

I now choose to go a step higher in the emotional evolution ladder.

If, in an incident, you carry guilt about YOU having failed as a person, and not concern about the possible repurcussions of your words/actions on another, you will need to shift that guilt outwards of you if you really want to to make any difference.

And then, if and when you do take action with the "right" intention, things just fall into place. Else, things keep screwing up the way they have always been.

I'm sure many have figured this out, but for someone who hasn't, it's a radical shift in thinking.

It's a powerful way to be at peace during disagreements and unpleasant conversation. It happened to me, and continues to happen.

 

What Struggle?

pause | 3 Aug 2011, 12:44pm

This is a struggle for their jobs, they scream. This is a struggle for their identity, they cry. This is a struggle for freedom, they screech.

And when you stand in their way, merely doing your thing and trying to get on with life, they thrash your vehicles. Or even slap you.

Yes, yes, I, like anyone who doesn't agree with this KCR-KTR-THR gang from the TRS, will be accused of being a cruel Seemandhrite who thinks nothing of stealing from her downtrodden, exploited cousins.

But this is what I associate with the brand of Telangana currently:

1. Conveniently patriotic politicians whose self-worth begs to be measured by the number of resignations  (knowing fully well they wont be accepted by their authorities) they put in to "showcase" their support for Telangana statehood
2. Bizarre suicide notes spanning 20-pages, that say the victim was "fed up" of waiting for a separate state
3. Foul-mouthed netas who "espouse" their "cause" by way of threats to people who don't agree with them
4. Strikes by what the media calls "students", who engage in provocative behaviour like violating Section 144
5. 4. is usually followed by lathicharges / tear gas shell bombardments, which every self-respecting Telangana activists cries foul at with self-righteous media bytes like "Is this democracy?"
6. Damage to private property
7. The one "civil society member" who actively exhorts politicians to "resign", who himself hasn't resigned

Unfortunately, the reasons of culture and identity (to promote which only 2 Vanta Varpu programs and some random folk dance & music programs were held in the recent past) blur into the sidelines in the face of naive behaviour like the above.

Where is the soul of the Telangana struggle?

Sure, ruling parties in AP have been generally good at ignoring a long-festering demand and hoping it will go away simply because it is being ignored. But what kind of a struggle is one that doesn't have a single leader who people can trust?