Debate, not rage, defines India
Except for a few fringe elements, we have been largely peaceful because it is our spiritual ethos
Many people believe that being in rage is a solution. Rage is not really a solution. Rage is just the tool for an uninvolved person to act. When one has no sense of involvement, rage can propel action. When many aspects of life which are neglected for a long time finally spin out of control, we feel helpless and go into rage.
Whenever we face an injustice in society, we are told to be outraged, because most people are so lethargic and insensitive that they cannot act unless you set fire to them. It takes tremendous energy to be in rage.
Growing up, I was simply angry with everything. Unlike today, when youth is concerned with career and finances, revolution was the main thing for me in those days. As a youth, I also read Che Guevara, who was a revolutionary and a phenomenon in the 50s and 60s. Today many people do not know who he is, but still many young people are wearing his image on tshirts – don’t think they are all revolutionaries! When I asked a young man with Che’s image on his t-shirt, he thought it was Bob Marley.
Che went on to say, “If you are in rage, you are one of us.” I am saying, “If you are out of rage, you are one with everything.” The moment you are angry with someone or something, you go against it. It is only a matter of time and resource before you will want to destroy it.
If you act out of rage, for one injustice, you will cause another injustice. Maybe you can get some things done with this rage. Seeing your anger, suddenly the government may act out of fear that you will burn something on the street. But anger simply means you are burning yourself. Burning a bus or whatever else, is just an expression of that.
Medically it can be proven, by seeing your blood-work and other parameters, that in just five minutes of anger, you are actually chemically poisoning yourself. And as long as negative emotions are a part of your system, you will somehow convince yourself with some reason or philosophy, to vent it upon the world. That is what is happening right now – people are doing the most horrendous things with a clear conscience, because they truly believe they are fulfilling the divine will.
There is a certain intense force and passion which happens when you are raging in anger. But with the same intensity, if you can sit here with a calm mind, miraculous things can be done. Look at it this way: is human intelligence the solution, or is just blind passion the solution?
The difference is just this. To be in rage, you do not have to be conscious. To see how to remain out of rage, you have to be conscious. Once you are conscious, you are inclusive. Once you are inclusive, you are a solution.
This is why the approach should be: “I am willing to change.” This is a tremendous revolution – a silent revolution. Without shouting any slogans, without slaughtering people, without throwing stones at each other – very quietly, the world will change. That is the only way well being will come into society, because there is really no such thing as “society.” There are just individual human beings. If you know how to be well within yourself, this wellness will grow into a society. If you are sick person, how will you make a society well? You will only spread your sickness, nothing else will happen.
Instead of addressing the individual human being, attempting to change society will just bring more empty rules and morality. The world is already full of the highest morals, but the world has not become clean – because of morality, the world has become filthy.
Now, those who talk about India being consumed in rage, have obviously never travelled outside the country. This is one of the only places left on the planet where people can do and say what they want. In some places, if you open your mouth in protest, you may end up with a bullet!
We are 1.25 billion people. Yes, we have our share of nutcases, which every nation has. We have our share making irresponsible statements. But why are we making it out as if these statements are the discourse of the nation? Except for a few fringe elements, we have remained a peaceful country because the general ethos is peaceful.
The spiritual basis of this land always made space for acceptance and understanding. India is not a land of persecution, but of debate and dialogue. Let not the limitless possibilities that the sages of this land explored and expounded be lost in religious bigotry and senseless simplistic dogmas.