Harmonious cultural synthesis between Bharat and rest of the World

Presently Bharat commands the respect and admiration of the whole world as a progressive nation. It was Swami Vivekananda’s hope that Bharat would create a new “Social Order” and a new “Civilization” by harmoniously merging the very best of the nation’s spirituality with the latest technological advancements. He strongly believed that Bharat would be rich both materially as well as spiritually.

The time has come for Bharat to correctly interpret the nation’s spiritual heritage with special emphasis on the relevance of the “Vedanta Philosophy” and undertake the daunting task of bringing a harmonious synthesis between India and the rest of the developed world, particularly Europe and North America as far as religion and science is concerned.

The “Harmonious Cultural Synthesis Between Bharat and the Rest of the World” is an ongoing process and the present global scenario is an opportunity for Bharat to showcase the very best of Bharat’s 5000 year old spiritual heritage.

Today we are facing the age of great transformation, caused by the end of World War III. Everybody is well aware of the consequences of World War I and II; however, the other important war that many people have not yet come to recognize is the Cold War between the East and the West, which is what the World War III was all about. There are many phenomena occurring in this rapidly transforming world and at the same time we are facing another crisis, that is, the beginning of World War IV.

The Second World War was fought between the fascist regimes and the free world and the Third World War was the fight between the East and the West. Now the Fourth World War might be fought between the North and the South. Under this situation, the global community is trying to build a “New World Order” and the United Nations is at the center of this movement.

The world is grappling with millions of problems and searching for a new civilization; otherwise we might face a very dangerous era in the coming decades. Modern civilization is based on mass production and mass consumption. If the people of the industrialized countries continue with their present life style as they do today, then by mid 21st century we will have used up all of the resources available. On the light of the above observations, what the world really needs is the creation of a totally new civilization, which can supersede the modern civilization.  Now who will take the initiative in creating such a new civilization?

If there is one thing we fear – and fear it most desperately than death itself, it is the dread of living a life without significance. This dreadfulness has become more prominent as we advance technologically in our struggle to master the external world. We chase impossible goals that turn to ashes in our own hands. Our interior world remains unexplored, uncultivated and barren. Even though we have enjoyed remarkable technological progress, the psychic cost has been great. It is like we have dangled ourselves over the edge of a rocky promontory.

The world that we have made for ourselves is a very complex one indeed. Particularly in the Western world, where life is vastly easier and most people live longer, eat more and work less. Many live in private homes and drive to work alone in their own cars. Office workers communicate instantaneously across continents through telephone, fax and E-mail. Industries crank out new goods faster than people can buy them in ever-bigger shopping malls. All these advantages comes for a price : new kinds of health problems, many caused by dirty air and water left behind by industries, the loss of parkland as highways devour open spaces and sprawling desolate suburbs where neighbours are strangers and fear of crime isolates people behind locked doors.

Psychologists and Psychiatrists lay more and more emphasis on the mental health of the people living in highly automated urban surroundings and rightfully advise leisure and recreation activities which need not necessarily mean physical rest but also genuine mental regeneration. But in what form? The answer is – Go Back to the Vedas!

In fact Vedanta philosophy has much deeper meaning in that its goal is to improve the quality of human life, enhance human potential, enable humans to meet the potential, support local environment and culture and be environmentally sensitive.

Drawing succor from Swami Vivekananda’s predictions, the new civilization will be created by Asian countries. The economies of USA and Europe are on the decline; however, the Asian economies are rapidly expanding and growing and all the leading international organizations like the United Nations, The World Bank, The World Trade Organization etc…. are unanimous in their opinion that in the 21st century Asia will continue to lead the global economy.

At least a century back, the great “Cyclonic Monk” Swami Vivekananda had predicted that Asia will lead the world not only in terms of economics but also in terms of culture and in the creation of a new civilization.

Do we have to rely solely on politicians, businessmen, bureaucrats, scholars or journalists to bring change to the world? As per the latest statistical data of the World Tourism Organization, by the year 2010, the number of tourists is expected to touch the magic figure of 1 billion. Even a decade back, the people from the “North Block” formed the bulk of the tourist traffic but now there seems to have occurred a complete role reversal as more and more people from the developing countries are also beginning to travel frequently.

With the advent of modernity, a new human breed has emerged whose beliefs correspond very little in the heritage of their forefathers. As a consequence, religion and spirituality – the kingpins of that heritage has been marginalized, both intellectually and politically. Progress has turned into something of a nightmare. According to Huston Smith, a leading figure in the study of comparative religions, “it is discouraging to discover that not only are we no wiser than our forefathers were; we may be less wise for having neglected value questions while bringing nature to heel”. Also, it is a fact that the three hundred year old tension between science and religion shows no sign of easing; for science continues to be what modernity believes in.  Science still can’t deal with values and existential meanings.

Another aspect that humanity faces in the present times is religious disharmony. Though the truth of religious harmony has been affirmed and proclaimed by the enlightened few in every generation, humanity as a whole has not yet come to terms with it. In today’s world, religious differences still rankle and continue to produce disharmony, misunderstanding and mutual distrust.

Questions arise: How do we deal with all these differences? Would these vanish in course of time or are they here to stay? Are they in any way reconcilable? Is it possible to discover some thread of harmony connecting them? What is the significance of the presence of so many religious traditions in the history of the world? Such are the questions that every serious student of religion and spirituality has to reckon with.

It is here that the “Harmonious Approach” of the ancient saints and Rishis of Bharat who through direct spiritual experience proclaimed the harmony of religions.

The following three fundamental principles, form the cornerstone of Bharat’s “Harmonious Approach” to the phenomenon of religious plurality –

All religions have the same ultimate purpose, namely, God-realization; everything else in religion is secondary. Stripped of all theological trappings, every religion has for its goal the transcending of human limitations to contact the Reality beyond.

There is only one transcendent, ultimate Reality, which manifests in various forms, with various attributes, and even as formless, and is known by various names.

The Ultimate Reality can be realized through various ways developed by the world religions. Every religion has the inherent power to take its followers to the supreme consummation of human life.

Swami Vivekananda put it succinctly when he said in a lecture in USA – “The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth”.

In another instance he explained the idea of “Harmony of World Religions” beautifully in a lecture he gave at the Universalist Church, Pasadena in the year 1900, which is quoted hereby – “Take four photographs of this church from different corners: how different they would look, and yet they would all represent this church. In the same way, we are all looking at truth from different standpoints, which vary according to our birth, education, surroundings and so on. We are viewing the truth, getting as much of it as these circumstances will permit, coloring the truth with our own heart, understanding it with our own intellect and grasping it with our own mind. We can only know as much of truth as is related to us, as much of it as we are able to receive. This makes the difference between man and man, and on occasions sometimes even contradictory ideas; yet we all belong to the same great universal truth”. How nice a summation for the doctrine of “Harmony of Religions”.

With the advent of globalization and Bharat’s relentless march towards attaining the tag of a “Vishwa Guru”,  the nation has become one of the most preferred holiday destination as per the latest reports from the National Geographic Traveler and a slew of other renowned global travel publications. With the opening up of the Tourism and Civil Aviation industries, there has been a three fold increase in tourist traffic and tourists from affluent countries like USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, France etc….are increasingly opting for Bharat as their preferred holiday destination. They are driven primarily by the element of “Exoticism” and India’s 5000-year-old spiritual heritage.

The Government of Bharat under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi views the present tourism scenario as an opportunity to showcase the very best of Bharat’s spiritual heritage and to take an active part in the formation of a “New World Order” based on the “Harmony of World Religions” as propounded by the ancient Rishis and saints.

Bharatiya Sanskriti does not believe in talks or doctrines, or theories; nor is it sectarianism… It is the relation between soul and god. Religion does not consist in erecting temples or building churches or attending public prayer congregations. It is not to be found in books or in words, or in lectures, or in organizations. Religion consists in realization. Humanity must realize god, feel god, see god and talk to God. That is what the essence of religion.

It is also true that awareness about Bharat’s “Vedanta” philosophy is pretty high in affluent countries like USA, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland and Netherlands. There are millions of devotees who follow the Vedanta philosophy.

In America alone, there are Vedanta centers located in places like California, Boston, Chicago, Hollywood, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Washington DC, New York to name just a few where the ideals of Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda are preached.

The Western world is witness to stress, frustration and emptiness. Grief, loneliness and despair. Those of us who have experienced any one of these know what a devastating effect it can have upon our lives. We loose our balance, our friends, our spouse and our family. Contentment is something we all treasure. But real contentment is the treasure of a very few.

People in the Western world are obsessed with “Vedanta” – a set of Indian religious scriptures, which are believed to be among the most ancient in the world. The process of spreading the eternal message of the “Vedanta Philosophy” was started by Swami Vivekananda. First in the USA and then in UK and the rest of Europe.

Vedanta asserts that beneath this appearance, this flux, there is an essential, unchanging “Reality”, which it calls “Brahman” or the “Godhead”. One of the greatest human exemplar of the Vedanta Philosophy was Sri Ramakrishna himself who appeared in the world’s spiritual stage during the late middle years of the 19th century. It was from him that the great Swami Vivekananda learnt the essence of “Vedanta” which later on so successfully preached throughout America and Europe.

Time has come for Bharat to spread religious tolerance, and the “Universality of Religious Truth. ”