Meeting of minds

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Can bharatiya worldview meet western worldview ? Can both come together and co-exist ?

bharatiya Worldview

bharatiya worldview or darshana is based on the original thought processes that shaped bharatiya samskriti through millenniums, exemplified by thoughts such as: –

“lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu”
May all worlds experience well-being

“sarveshAm swastir bhavatu, sarveshAm shantir bhavatu, sarveshAm poornam bhavatu, sarveshAm mangalam bhavatu”
Health, peace, fulfilment and auspiciousness to all beings

“sarve bhavantu sukhinaha, sarve santu niramayAh, sarve bhadrAni pasyantu, mA kashchit dughabhAgbhaved”
Well being, fulfilment, secure-prosperity and happiness to all.

“Aum, shAntiH shAntiH shAntiH”
Peace to all

“vasudhaiva kutumbakam”
Whole universe is family

These altruistic thoughts were the result of realization by rishis that supreme reality is one and the apparent diversity is a result of perception. This realization inspired them to understand themselves as comprising of purusha and prakriti, integral with the supreme reality; and they nurtured Nature and respected all beings.

Western Worldview

Western worldview is based on thought processes that shaped the aggrandizing behaviour of alexander’s greece, imperial rome, the catholic church and its offshoots- islam and protestant christianity, capitalism, communism, nazism and fascism. This worldview is characterised by fixation on materialistic things. Its roots may extent to the ancient egyptians who built massive tombs and displayed attachment to material objects.

The Contrast

In contrast to bharatiya darshana, western world view is unable to consider life as spiritual. It is perennially fixated on things physical and on material acquisitions.

bharatiya darshana considers supreme reality brahma as pervading the whole creation. Western worldview considers supreme reality as confined to some place apart from this world called ‘heaven’ and entirely dependent on the allegiance offered by the people on earth to feel contented; or they fail to recognise any supreme reality at all, beyond what is perceived by their limited senses.

While bharatiya darshana recognises spirituality as the core of every being, every creation in the world, western worldview denies spirituality in every being in this world, assigning it to an entity out of this world called God or Allah, an entity that threatens ‘eternal damnation’ upon people unless they bow down to it. Or else denies spirituality altogether, both in this world and in every other world, terming it ‘super-natural’, ‘meta-physical’, ‘irrational’ etc.

A Metaphor

Metaphorically, bharatiya darshana inspires and provides opportunity to consider life as a sacred experience and to rise up to spiritual heights using intuitionary wisdom, like a bird rising in air using its wings.
The western worldview on the other hand impels people to behave like processionary caterpillars in their beliefs while wallowing in materialism, like a worm crawling in mud.

The western mind seeks to expand horizontally in the flatworld of materialism while bharatiya darshana inspires growth in a third dimension- the spiritual dimension.

The Question

This poses the question- Can a bird that rises in air dialogue with a worm immersed in mud ?

Answer

It is possible only if the bird stops flying and immmerse itself into the materialistic-mud world of the worm.
But, if the bird does that, it is not flying any more and will not be able to explain to the worm. On the other hand, the bird will have mud sticking on its body that will weigh down and hamper its movement of wings.
Even if the bird joins the worm in materialistic world and dialogues with it, the worm, limited in its flatwordly experience, may not comprehend the experience of flying that the bird talks of, it may misconstrue the message.
Some worms may even seek to devour the bird in their relentless search towards self-aggrandizement.
The case of Jesus was one such, of a bird who got devoured by the aggrandizing imperial rome that later hoisted his skeleton as a divine symbol from spiritual dimension and used that to maliciously brainwash and subjugate millions of people.

At present there are many birds who, through conditioning, have forgotten their wings that if used could take them to spiritual heights, and are instead engaged in crawling in the materialistic mud, competing with worms. Many such birds have, through lack of use, shrivelled their wing muscles.

When such birds exercise their wings, gradually developing their muscles, they may realise that they have the capacity to rise above the materialistic mud world and experience a new dimension.
With such continued exploration of the spiritual dimension, their intuitionary wisdom will gather strength and help them reach further heights. As they continue to do that, the mud sticking on their body, materialistic attachments, will dry out and fall away, making them lighter, feel more free, and able to fly higher.

When the birds start to fly, the worms may get curious. Many of them may discover that they too have budding wings and exercising it, over time, attain heights. Some others who do not have wings may start to introspect. When they emerge from such introspection, like from a cocoon, they may also have acquired wings that could take them to spiritual heights.

When that happens, dialogue between the bird and the worm-turned-fly would be meaningful.
It would be only then that bharatiya samskriti would be understood by the reformed western mind- one that recognises its own spirituality.

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A clarification:- bharatiya darshana and western worldview are not genetically acquired. They are acquired during the course of life. Upbringing and environs definitely plays a part in consolidating them. But it is quite possible for a person born and brought up in bharata deshaH to have western outlook (in fact most indians do so) while another born and brought up outside acquires bharatiya darshana through spiritual enquiry (although rarely does it happen).

Thoughts on Shiva Ratri

Shiva

Shiva symbolises the consciousness that has opened the third eye through which all existence is seen as creations of the mind and thus, with that realisation, dissolves all creation.

Ganga

Such a Yogi receives the flow of wisdom in his head represented by Ganga flowing into the head of Shiva.

The one who has immersed himself/ herself in the flow of wisdom represented by Ganga realises all world as creation of his mind and such a self-realised one does not need to take birth again.

In such a self-realised Shiva, who has dissolved all creation through the sight of his third eye, all creation lies dormant and all apparent opposites represented by Linga and the Yoni are joined as one.

Sacrifice

It is said that the pouring of ghee into the sacrificial fire represents the offering of thoughts of mind to the burning fire of self-enquiry, upon which the thoughts which were earlier dense and opaque turns transparent which facilitates seeing the world through it with clarity.

Creative efforts by Brahma, the creator of the universe to rise to the pinnacle of the self-realised consciousness Shiva through creation and the main efforts by Vishnu, the sustainer of the universe, to arrive at the base of the self-realised Shiva are equally unsuccessful as represented by the analogies of Swan and Boar.