13 November 2001, 12:03am IST
Reshma Kelkar.
Since the dawn of civilisation, human beings have made tremendous efforts to mitigate suffering through various ways including the use of science and technology. but we cannot call it progress in the real sense of the term. has science and technology taught us love, sympathy and humility? certainly not. we do not want nuclear bombs. we require food, shelter and clothing for everyone. we do not need hatred and racial discrimination but love, sympathy and universal brotherhood of mankind. selfishness and stress due to a modern lifestyle have made man disoriented. racial discrimination, apartheid and military supremacy deeply rooted in the minds of some nations have caused much harm to humanity. we kill and burn in the name of religion and tend to forget that no religion preaches violence and hatred. we quarrel over what name god is to be given. not realising that a rose will continue to smell sweet even if a new name is given to it. the gita, bible and qur’an preach universal messages of love, sympathy and brotherhood. only wicked people spread violence and hatred among the masses. this must be condemned and countered by preaching noble thoughts. about 2,500 years ago, gautam buddha preached his doctrine of four noble truths: that the world is full of suffering or dukha ; that the source of this suffering is craving or vasna ; that this suffering can cease; and that the practice of the eight-fold path — of right views, right intention, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration — can help bring about this cessation. let us resolve to follow this path in letter and spirit. we hardly worry about the kind of life we lead. consequently, we suffer owing to our own faults. whether money is earned by fair or foul means, everybody wants to become a millionaire overnight. corruption has destroyed the decency and propriety of our social and public life. it is said that there is enough in this world to satisfy the needs of everyone but not enough to satiate the greed of even one human being. we do not adhere to the basic formula that for a healthy and contented life, we must first deserve, then desire. today, our desires are unlimited. everyone desires everything without deserving anything. lack of self-discipline and the indifference of intellectuals and educated class towards corruption — all these disturb and damage the basic tenets of leading a principled life. education, during the good old days, was expected to inculcate right conduct and truthfulness among pupils. today, education needs to be redefined to emphasise the importance of moral and spiritual values in life. montesquieu rightly said that indifference of the intelligentsia is more dangerous than the ignorance of illiterates. the most critical aspect of worldly suffering today is the undue obsession with consumerism which has jaded our senses. politicisation of crimes, criminalisation of politics and violence in daily life has poisoned our lives and behaviour. the world today needs to practise spirituality. a peep into history provides glaring examples of how the most horrible and shocking crimes have been committed against humanity by men of outstandingly sharp intellect and wide knowledge. but for the want of spiritual strength, they could not tame the beast within. spirituality frees minds from tension and can lead to the creation of a strife-free world. to travel far, you have to start near, start with yourself. you can always change yourself. resolve to create first a family and a society of sensible, honest and upright citizens. let us follow mother teresa’s noble thoughts and emulate her good deeds. she taught us to love the downtrodden and destitutes. not caring for her own ill-health and extreme old age, she cared for the disabled and sick who were shunned by society. t s eliot says in the wasteland that this world is inhabited by the dead and that modern civilisation is heading towards degeneration. he throws light into the ‘‘immense panorama of futility and anarchy which is contemporary society’’. to save this civilisation from degeneration, he has emphasised the practice of three qualities: datta or giving; dayadhvam or sympathy and damyata or control. s radhakrishnan in recovery of faith and aldous huxley in point counter point have expressed similar views. self-restraint and self-correction are the means available to us through which we can mitigate our sufferings and sorrows. through moral and spiritual values, we can save the modern civilisation from further decadence.
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