By Acharya Balkrishna
Humility
Despite having achieved the pinnacle of power, wealth, prosperity, grandeur and knowledge, to serves others with humility and believe that this life and the entire cosmos is the creation of God, is humility. He never has an ego for his work, status, position, power and wealth, who considers the unmanifest God to be the organiser and master of this man of this manifest world and feels that he is merely an instrument of God.
The Seven National Hazards
1. Self-guilt
Why are the guilt problems like unemployment, poverty, hunger, woes and curruption are being faced by everyone in the country? This question is certain to arise in the mind of every thougthful, nationalist and patriotic citizen of the country. Having made a deep study and research in the science of Yoga, physiology, Psychology, the entire structure of human emotions and, we have come to the conclusion that whenever man turns away from his consciousness and the true nature of his soul, all contaminated thoughts, debased and vile conduct and behaviour arise in him.
Self-aversion is the root cause for the downfall of personal and national character. As a result, the clouds of anarchy and lawlessness spread ove the entire nation. This is the reason for the unchecked and frenzied dance of corruption, violence and crime. Ultimately, aversion to the self leads to insensitivity due to which the feelings of distrust and despair deepen in the hearts of the people and the result: a sense of utter contrition (guilt) invades the mind and intellect of millions of citizens of our country.
The only and the most befitting solution for all the above mentioned problems is YOGA. Yoga is the science of kindling the internal inspiration to turn the extrovert proclivity into a self-centered and self-oriented one. Through the practice of Yoga, a man, slowly moves in the internal world, eventually connects with his own core, consciousness or tm; then no evil or wicked thoughts and conduct contrary to the Self, ever occur because the Self’s nature is supremely pure and upright. tm is suffused with love, compassion, illumination, radiance, peace, bliss and ever contented.
A man who is centred in the self percieves the nation in his body, experiences the scent of its soil in every pore and drop of blood of his body. He always experiences that this body is made up of the food, air and water produced in this sacred land. Friendliness ever dwells in his mind and his other-heart accepts fact every moment and chants- ‘Every cell in my body is a fraction of the soil of my country, this country has given me life, this country is my mother, the place of my birth.’ This mantr is not merely a fantasy or temporary thought in his mind; but is eternally etched in his feelings like an ideal mahmantra (an extraordinary mantra). When a man is firmly established in this frame of mind, lives with such feelings, then he can never ever betray his country, he percieves the manifestation of the maternal love of the mother in all her children.
Only through Yoga and spiritualism can we ever save the degenerating individual and national character. Through the practice of Yoga, the spirit of being centred in the self instead of self-gult; honesty in place of corruption and dishonesty; overall regeneration and development instead of of individual and national degeneration and decline; sensitivity in place of insensitivity; absolute trust rather than distrust; hope instead of hopelessness; self-confidence in place of despair, will come into force. It is through this medium that our country will regain its past glory and emerge as a super-power in the world. This must be our firm and strong belief.
2. Corruption
Dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery is corruption. The two main ill effects of corruption are-
Unemployment
Unemployment is the product of corruption. The main cause of unemployment, poverty, hunger, fear, inadequacy, theft, violence, abduction, offence and rise in crime is verily corruption. If there is no corruption in the country, then the problem of unemployment would automatically resolve, and simultaneously other problems would get resolved as well.
Impediments in Development
A great amount of wealth of the nation gets accumulated in the accounts of a handful of dishonest and criminal leaders and officials due to corruption. On the other hand, the chasm between the rich and the poor is widening and the innocent and gullible public is deprived of even its two plates of meals a day. Moreover, the black money earned through corrupt means is then deposited in foreign bank accounts by these unscrupulous leaders due to which national development gets severely hampered and the majority of the people suffer from grief and poverty.
Insult of the Patriotic and Honest Persons
The noble, nationalist, gentle and hard working people are compelled to live a humiliating life because of the ever increasing corruption. Many a times these people suffer for being honest.
Damaged Roads and Haphazard Traffic
When corruption ends in the nation, then the entire transportation system including the roads, highways and footways can be strenghthened. The money frittered away due to corruption can be used to construct roads in villages, overbridges in cities which will not only beautify the nation, but also minimise the number of deaths occuring due to road accidents. It will also save a lot of time that was earlier lost in transportation. The other important thing is that the extra 50% of fuel burnt due to potholes of roads will be saved so will save crores of money allocated for transportation. Less burning of fuel will minimise the pollution level in the atmosphere. Well constructed and maintained roads alone can result in 50% control over diseases such as Cancer, Tubeculosis, Asthma etc..
Social Injustice
No civilised nation imparts education to its citizens in a foreign language. It is an irony that 5% of people of our country who are educated in English medium, consider the rest 95% of people as illiterate and fools, so that their own offsprings grow up into Doctors, Engineers, Scientists, Professors and senior officers; and in turn, the kids of general public are forced to be exploited by them. Therefore, the medium of higher education in subjects like Science, Technology, Law, Commerce, Management is confined to English. This is corruption of great magnitude and stark injustice to milions of peopleof the country, who are being duped openly; if it is imparted in national language and other regional languages, the offsprings of the poor, the labourers, rural farmers can also become Doctors, Engineers, Scientists and high ranking officials.Thus, we are forced to believe that the polluted politics and its feaudalistic bureaucrats intend to keep the people of the country in dark. This conspiracy has been in force right from the first day of independence. Lack of proper education too is one of the major reasons of corruption. Gullible and illiterate people are forced to part with their hard earned money due to their ignorance, who are then exploited by the unscrupulous, corrupt officials. There is rampant corruption in the education system of the country as well. Unqualified persons procure degrees by corrupt means and adorn positions of great importance and thus cause havoc in the lives of millions. Newspapers abound in news of terrible mishaps on a daily basis which are caused due to the corrupt and negligent attitude of the concerned officials. Education will help people to become aware of their rights and prevent them from being cheated.
(Extracted from the book: “Divine Transformation: Building Blocks for Enlightened Life, Ideal Nation and Peaceful World”. Author: Acharya Balkrishna).
