[First Draft on 19 July]
I m reading "Raj Yog" by Swami Vivekanand now a days ... [although its not a book to be read but practised still lets begin somewhere :) ] I came across this concept of evolution Vivekanand claims that the seers and the founders of religions actually went past through in their lifetime which the entire humanity will take ages to achieve whatever they did. That brings me to the topic of this post .... consumerism ... our society is becoming more and more consumerist day by day ... the kind of Yog Vivekanad describes relies heavily on renunciation .... there is absolutely no scope for consumerism ... so if we look forward as a civilisation we are not achieving our ultimate goal ... as a lifeform that is evolving ... I am not sure but it definitely seem that way from here.
So are we actually seeing the downfall ... is the civilization evolving in reverse ... probably the answer to this also lies in the same text. It says that body is the ultimate tool we have, to achieve salvation ... its like a map which by itself is not what you what and once you have achieved your target does not matter but when u start searching for your goal it is important. Only a person with a healthy body can start doing Raj Yoga ... although that is not a sufficient condition that is a necessary one. It is also said that one should neither work too hard or too little ... in summary one needs to have a moderate good life if they ever are to start practising Raj Yog ... not to mention they should not worry about getting square meals.
Probably some centuries back conditions were just perfect for that but they are no more ... if we talk of India then there are many people who are more busy fending for themselves than anything else. People travels like animals in local trains and work like asses. The same can be said of many poor places in the world where the conditions of living are not good. Consumerism as it has grown in USA seems to be a solution for this ... the middle class there enjoys just the perfect amount of luxuries needed.
The humanity missed its chance sometime in the past. But strange it may sound consumerism is the way forward towards the salvation of humanity. The standard of living has to grow ... and only when one has food in ones stomach, hygienic living conditions and good quality of life can thoughts of spirituality enter the mind.
So I believe we have hope ... we as a society are not moving backwards but towards the ultimate goal ... One may ask that if such standards of living have already been achieved in US ... why does not everyone search for the ultimate goal of life .... the answer ... Things are much better now ... an average person with his needs satisfied cares more about a fellow human than one's whose arent ...
I hope my optimism is based on facts in the other case as well ... there is nothing to fear ... coz if wat Swamiji says is to be believed ... its the destiny of mankind to be salvated ... if not today may be a thousand years laters ...
PS: Again posted during my midsems ... boy I just turn too creative around dat time
I m reading "Raj Yog" by Swami Vivekanand now a days ... [although its not a book to be read but practised still lets begin somewhere :) ] I came across this concept of evolution Vivekanand claims that the seers and the founders of religions actually went past through in their lifetime which the entire humanity will take ages to achieve whatever they did. That brings me to the topic of this post .... consumerism ... our society is becoming more and more consumerist day by day ... the kind of Yog Vivekanad describes relies heavily on renunciation .... there is absolutely no scope for consumerism ... so if we look forward as a civilisation we are not achieving our ultimate goal ... as a lifeform that is evolving ... I am not sure but it definitely seem that way from here.
So are we actually seeing the downfall ... is the civilization evolving in reverse ... probably the answer to this also lies in the same text. It says that body is the ultimate tool we have, to achieve salvation ... its like a map which by itself is not what you what and once you have achieved your target does not matter but when u start searching for your goal it is important. Only a person with a healthy body can start doing Raj Yoga ... although that is not a sufficient condition that is a necessary one. It is also said that one should neither work too hard or too little ... in summary one needs to have a moderate good life if they ever are to start practising Raj Yog ... not to mention they should not worry about getting square meals.
Probably some centuries back conditions were just perfect for that but they are no more ... if we talk of India then there are many people who are more busy fending for themselves than anything else. People travels like animals in local trains and work like asses. The same can be said of many poor places in the world where the conditions of living are not good. Consumerism as it has grown in USA seems to be a solution for this ... the middle class there enjoys just the perfect amount of luxuries needed.
The humanity missed its chance sometime in the past. But strange it may sound consumerism is the way forward towards the salvation of humanity. The standard of living has to grow ... and only when one has food in ones stomach, hygienic living conditions and good quality of life can thoughts of spirituality enter the mind.
So I believe we have hope ... we as a society are not moving backwards but towards the ultimate goal ... One may ask that if such standards of living have already been achieved in US ... why does not everyone search for the ultimate goal of life .... the answer ... Things are much better now ... an average person with his needs satisfied cares more about a fellow human than one's whose arent ...
I hope my optimism is based on facts in the other case as well ... there is nothing to fear ... coz if wat Swamiji says is to be believed ... its the destiny of mankind to be salvated ... if not today may be a thousand years laters ...
PS: Again posted during my midsems ... boy I just turn too creative around dat time
