The Art of Living is in the news in a very big way, especially on the satellite TV channels from India – for both wrong and right reasons.
In the beginning of the 20th century Swami Yogananda was the most well-known preacher of Hindu spiritualism, especially in the USA. He followed the path (geographically) of Swami Vivekananda.
Yogananda, a Bengali-origin sanyasi, was a scholar of Vedanta with proficiency in Sanskrit and many other Indian languages, besides good command over English. He was very popular in the West Coast (California) as well as Chicago area of the USA. President Barack Obama has mentioned about “The Autobiography of a Yogi” by Swami Yogananda which he had read.
Yogananda promoted the theory of Art of Living and at one stage it spread to innumerable locations in the USA.
As it happens with such spiritual movements, Yogananda was challenged by some of his own disciples and the movement of Art of Living incurred unwarranted and damaging publicity.
Some 35 years ago, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar began the Art of Living project from Bengaluru (Karnataka, India). It’s a very well thought-out programme to regain one's sense of direction, peace of mind, to encourage development of self-consciousness which, in turn, can boost self-confidence, self-esteem and inspire positive attitude to life.
Over the years Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's message has become truly international and he is one of the most well-known spiritual leaders of India with followers in almost all major countries.
Last weekend the World Culture Festival attended by some 3 million people was launched on the banks of the river Yamuna (near Delhi) with great razzmatazz, singing, dancing and all that jazz. Such a mega congregation of cultural representatives from so many different countries has never been seen before at any one stage, at any venue in modern world.
The parties opposed to BJP in general and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in particular spared no efforts to raise controversy and level umpteen number of allegations against the festival and its inspirer Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
There were some genuine concerns about ecology, environment, planning permission, traffic management and such other issues, but it appears they all stemmed from the fact that Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was one of the earliest “big names” who came out openly in support of Narendra Modi as the choice for India’s prime minister.
In India, in spite of Modi’s thunderous victory in 2014 General Elections, the Prime Minister’s detractors do not miss any opportunity to put him down through such silly attacks on cultural festival.
Time will prove what is the net gain or loss of such a worldwide epoch-making event.
Art of Collecting:
Till June 1979, Britain was called “Sick man of Europe”. It was true in economic terms. Britain lagged behind Germany and France from the European mainland. Our prosperity especially productivity was far behind. Margaret Thatcher, within a few hours of becoming Prime Minister, removed the exchange control regime and opened many doors for “free enterprise”.
Keith Joseph and others had convinced the Iron Lady that the UK will gain enormously by keeping its door open for international business.
Subsequently with the Big Bang, the UK has enhanced its prosperity almost unparalleled in the recent past and is not far behind Germany. The facts are there for all of us to see. In the last 30-odd years the prosperity has permeated to all over the country. London today is much more beautiful and prosperous than ever before and our GDP also shows we are the sixth richest nation in the world. However, such a progress comes at a price. The rich are, of course, becoming richer. And it is not that the poor are becoming poorer, but the gap between the two is undeniably widening, with the consequences for all us to see.
The generation gap, the attitude to work, dependency on benefits and tendency to acquire wealth through both legal and illegal means as well as unabashedly opting for non-doms or tax havens are surely creating tensions which are harmful to the fabric of the society.
Those who have made millions and billions here are reluctant to pay the due taxes and their unwillingness to pay taxes where they have made their fortune is both confusing as well as is not welcomed by the law abiding citizens who pay their taxes and have stayed productive and remained resident in the country. The generation gap has its own roots somewhere in this disparity.
Every weekend the national tabloids publish glossy, attractive and bumper specials titled –
1. Art of Collecting (Financial Times)
2. The wise guise – how to spend it
men's style edition (Financial Times)
3. Luxury by The Telegraph
Such promotion or marketing of the most expensive goods or lifestyles is not to be frowned upon simply because those at the lower rung of the society can develop some sense of envy or jealously which, in turn, can lead to crimes.
Pub crawling, alcohol, drug dependency too has its roots in such extravagant lifestyle.
A House Full of Daughters by Juliet Nicolson will be published on 24th March. Sunday Times magazine on 13th March produced a beautiful extract from the book.
Juliet describes with great sensitivity her growing up at Sissinghurst Castle with details of secrets long held out of sight.
A House Full of Daughters is a family memoir which is a moving account of seven generations of women in Juliet’s family. Juliet, a renowned historian, uncovers her family's past and makes significant discoveries about herself in the process, especially her initial awkward relationship with her mother Philippa is beautifully juxtaposed with the gradual easing of that tense relationship as she enters into matrimony.
The excitement of coming together of a couple in a marriage is delicately contrasted with a home truth when Juliet’s father Nigel declares: “The most important lesson of all is that the sex element of a marriage is about 10%.”
Her revelations of her mother’s descent into infidelity and alcoholism, especially her second marriage to an old but stinking rich Sir Robin McAlpine and her subsequent extravagant lifestyle is remarkably chronicled in the memoir. There is hope as well when she realizes her challenge is to embrace the good and reject the hazards that have trapped past generations.
The contrast is in the expectations and what we get in life.
I would recommend everyone to read this book, especially to those who have to acquire better understanding of their parents in spite of several contradictions and crises.
Along the way one cannot escape that Juliet and her husband James had opted “a normal life” which could be ideal for all.
Science of Living
It leads me to think about the Science of Living as practised by Mahatma Gandhi.
On 9th January, 1915, Gandhiji returned to India for good after spending some 20 years in South Africa where he gained worldwide fame for his non-violent peaceful protest against racial segregation and apartheid.
It is difficult to visualise the Indian political situation 101 years ago. Indian National Congress was established in 1885 helped by a senior Indian-British civil servant A O Hume. It was supported by many people from this country, but it remained a group of people meeting in some cities mainly Calcutta (now Kolkata), Bombay (now Mumbai) and Madras (now Chennai) and passed resolutions. At the most they were pleading for Home Rule.
Common Indians desirous of Independence had no clear idea how to go about it. Gandhiji by putting into practice a simple and well-planned process of mass mobilisation created an unparalleled following where people were willing to protest against the imperial power by adopting peaceful and non-violent means. They stuck to these principles despite being provoked by baton-weilding horse mounted police or lathi-charge or even firing. In this piece, today I need not elaborate much on the change of scenario within 5 years' of Gandhiji's return to India. How it happened?
Vinoba Bhave of the famous Bhoodan (land gift) movement, who was dedicated to Gandhiji’s ideals, was a lifelong follower of Gandhiji and inherited his spiritual mantle. According to Bhave, Gandhiji preached and practised the following 11 principles to live a good life.
Truth, non-violence, not to steal, not to hoard, practising celibacy, self-help, embracing untouchables, fearlessness, using indigenous goods, simple food habits, and respect to all faiths.
This is ideal way of living life. It may not be possible to follow all the 11 principles, but some of them like – to be fearless, self-help, not to steal, not to acquire possessions more than what is needed (or hoarding), respect to all faiths can well be put to practice in our day-to-day life.
The idea behind bhoodan was that land, wealth and even learning, belonged not to an individual, but to society. Bhudan, therefore, was not to be seen as charity, but as sharing, which was the right way to live.
Vinoba Bhave said: “If there is poverty in the country, it should be shared, and if there is wealth, that too must be shared.”
Wealth creation is not the problem but it should not come at a price i.e. not at the expense of ethics, values or others.
Perhaps Art of Living is teaching the same thing. Perhaps the Science of Living preached by Gandhiji was much more fundamental.
- CB
