The Spiritual Paradigm_2. Dr. P. Subbanna Bhat आत म द प भव. Be a Lamp unto yourselves...

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1 1 The Spiritual Paradigm_2 The Lamp within Dr. P. Subbanna Bhat आत म द प भव Be a Lamp unto yourselves Goutama Buddha 2.1 Introduction Shraddha like its associates such as Dharma, Karma, Yoga, Moksha, Spirituality, etc. derives their meaning from the background of Spiritual paradigm. Spirituality implies seeking the Divine which is at the base of the Creation. Each soul, in its journey towards the final realization, eventually finds a need to establish a link to the Divine, irrespective of its Path towards its goal. In principle, the Divine can be sought anywhere in the Creation; but, the direct and shortest Path is to seek the Divine within one s own Self, rather than outside. The link established with the Divine in general the essential Divinity of one s own Self in particular is termed as Shraddha. Shraddha is the Pipe that connects to the infinite Resource residing within one s own heart. Shraddha is the rope used by a mountaineer to pull oneself up to the top of the mountain. The climber may not be fully aware of what lies at the mountaintop as and when he climbs; but he has the faith that something glorious is awaiting him at the top. Shraddha, gives him a direction; it gives him the tool to grip and climb; it gives him the strength to pull himself up. Without Shraddha there is no spirituality (spiritual growth). 2.2 Trust Thyself Shraddha is not a blind faith. Shraddha is open to reason; it is faith, provisional and flexible. It demands that the devotee use his reason to review, examine and understand the deeper implications of the experience gained in the Path. The Bhagavadgita extolls the importance of Shraddha for spiritual progress thus: श रद व न लभत ज ञ न तत पर स यत न द र य I ज ञ न लब ध व पर श न द रतमच र न ददगच छतत II Shraddha va n labhate jna nam tatparah samyatendriyah nanam labdhva para m sha ntima hirena dhi a hhati

2 2 He who is endowed with Shraddha, with his senses restrained, (and) engaged in steadfast pursuit of knowledge he alone gains wisdom. And, through wisdom, the ultimate peace अज ञश श रद ध नस स शय त म ववनश यतत I न य ल क न द स त न पर न स ख स शय त मन II jnash ha shradhadha nash ha samshaya tma vinashyati a yam l sti na par na s ham samshaya tmanah He who is ignorant, devoid of Shraddha, filled with cynicism, is doomed; he is unable to enjoy this precious life, nor the life hereafter [Bhagavadgita,4 39, 40] Buddha s final teaching to his disciples, highlights the importance of Shraddha in spiritual practice. As the moment for his final departure was approaching, Buddha called his distraught disciple Ananda to his bedside, and gave his final teaching. Buddha taught him to look inwards, rather than outwards, for solutions: आत म द प भव tma deep bhava Be a Lamp unto yourself. Rely on yourself; do not depend on external help. The more you draw from within, the more will your potentialities be realized Ralph Waldo Emerson, the 19th century American author and transcendalist, echoed Lord Buddha when he said : 2.3 Examples of Shraddha Trust Thyself; every heart vibrates to this iron string (i) When Shraddha entered Nachiketa s heart... The story line of Katha Upanishad begins with a householder by name performing a Yajna. Upon the consummation of the Yajna, the performer was expected give away all his wealth by way of charity. To meeting this requirement, however, resorted to a subterfuge, of giving away a few old cows that are old and barren ( stopped bearing calves and yielding milk), to the priests

3 3 and other Brahmins. His son still a boy, by name noticed this failing on the part of his father. Concerned that such vain acts would only bring misery to his father, attempts to caution his father, by gently nudging him. Assuming that his father may would merit if he bestows his son as charity as he could be more useful to the guests than the old cows politely asks his father, as to whom he would be bestowed as charity. ignored the provocation once, and twice, but when child persisted, he lost his temper, and uttered harsh words that he would bestow him to Yama (Lord of Death). took it seriously, and went on to meet his new master Yama. The encounter and the ensuing discussion between and Lord of Death forms the content of the Katha Upanishad. The narrator of the Upanishad says that When he saw the old cows lined up for charity, a hi eta s action was prompted by Shraddha. was impelled to think and act:... श रद ववव श स म रयत shraddha vivesha s amanyata :... When shraddha entered Nachiketa s heart.. he thought.. : Note that the young boy was sure of himself, willing to go to any length (even to the Lord of Death) to obey his inner voice, was confident yet polite, and stabilized on the path of righteousness.... (ii) Sri Rama crosses the ocean An instance in the story of Ramayana: Sita was lifted by Ravana by deception; Sri Rama, with Lakshmana, Sugreeva and other vanara friends, had reached the seashore at southern tip of India, desirous of crossing ocean and conquering Lanka. Poet Kalidasa describes the situation in his inimitable style: ववज तव य ल क रण तरण य जलतनचध ववपक ष प लत स य रणभ वव स य रस कपय I पद ततममत य स सकलमवध क षसक मम क र य ससवद सत व भवतत मह द म न पकरण II Vijetavya Lan a haranataraneey jalanidhi... Vipa shah Pa latsy ranabh vih saha ya ns ha apayah Pada tir marty sa sa alam avadhi d ra shasa lam Kriya siddhi satve bhavati mahata m n pa arane

4 4 The thought was on the conquest of Lanka surrounded by huge expanse of the Ocean. Yet, Sri Rama, born to the human kind, with untrained Vanaras for his army, accepted the challenge, crossed the Ocean, vanquished the formidable Ravana, king of Asuras, son of sage Vishwavasu, grandson of sage Pulatsya, on his home ground, along with his army, and the whole of Rakshasa clan.. : Great deeds are accomplished by inner resolve, not by external instrumentalities (iii) Legend of Panini... Panini codified the Sanskrit grammar. The legend of Panini his transformation from an apparent duffer to a most celebrated linguist in human history is an interesting example of Shraddha. Panini, it is said, spent quite a few years in his Gurukula; but the results were not very encouraging. He was slow; and most of his colleagues had advanced quickly, completed their studies and left the Gurukula. Finally, one day, the kind hearted Guru called Panini aside for some plain talking. The Guru indicated that like everything else, his schooling also has to end someday; and that day cannot be pushed any further. By way of assuaging his feelings, the Guru (banking on Astrology and Palmistry), looked at Panini s palm, and said that he was unable to locate any lines indicative of learning (Vidya- Rekha). The Guru suggested that pursuit of scholarship was perhaps not the best option for Panini; and that he should seriously explore taking up some other vocation for his living! As the message sank in, Panini was shattered; he was inconsolable, but he had no other option. On his way back home, Panini was resting under a tree; and presently, he saw a young woman - a girl of years walking past to a well nearby, to draw water. The girl was smart; she noticed the stranger sitting under the tree, his face sodden under a cloud of sorrow. She then accosted the stranger, offered him fresh water from the well; and displayed concern about his apparent state of mind; and enquired as to his where-about. Touched by this humane feminine concern, Panini broke down, and eventually opened for her wise counselling. The encounter proved a turning point in Panini s life. Invigorated by the sage advice of the stranger on the way, Panini turned around and returned to his Gurukula, with a new determination to carve out a different destiny for himself! The rest is history. Leonard Bloomfield ( ), a reputed American linguist, has described Panini s shtadhya yi, as One of the greatest monument of human intelligence... (iv) The final moments of Socrates...

5 5 Socrates, a carpenter of modest means, a brave soldier, a philosopher par excellence, was 70 years of age, when he was charged (by Meletus) of impiety ( not worshipping the gods whom the state worships ) and corrupting the young of Athens, and was hauled up before the Senate, demanding death penalty for the offence committed. Socrates was tried and declared guilty, by a by 500 strong jury - a mass of people, without a presiding judge - by a majority vote of 280:220. Socrates, lived up to his convictions, the way he had lived all his life. He did not engage a lawyer to argue on his behalf; did not resort to rhetoric, used the simple language to examine the charges against him; but stoutly defended himself. When someone told him that the Senate had condemned him death, Socrates quipped: And Nature, has condemned them (Senators)... to death! Under Athenian law, he was entitled to propose an alternative to the death sentence demanded by his prosecutors. Every one (of his friends) expected that Socrates would propose banishment as a substitute. This was not acceptable to Socrates. Instead, he stoutly defended his position: for what he had done to Athens, he should be treated (like the victors in Olympic games, or certain generals and statesmen who had rendered exceptional service to the city, who are invited to partake celebratory dinner at the Prytanium) with free meals for the rest of his life. So he proposed: a fine of thirty minas, which he was confident of raising with the support of his friends. Now the jury turned against him completely; some 80 of the jury members changed their position to endorse his conviction. Socrates chose death. The execution was delayed by a few days, due to extraneous reasons. He was kept in a prison. He was chained during the night in prison (as was usual in the case of common prisoners) to prevent escape. [Ref: Paul Johnson, Socrates ] (v) God s first servant... Sir Thomas More ( ), was an English statesman, philosopher, author, was close to British king Henry VIII. Son of Sir John More, a successful lawyer in London, Thomas was educated in one of the finest schools in London. Highly successful, he rose to be the Lord Chancellor (October 1529 to 16 May 1532) under King Henry a position next only to the King in power and prestige until he fell out with the King and was arrested, tried on false charges, and was executed. As a devout Roman Catholic, Thomas More opposed the Protestant reformation; did not support the nullification of King Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, did not endorse Henry s marriage to Anne Boleyn. (Neither of them had the approval from the Pope.) King Henry fell out with the Pope, founded the Church of England, and declared himself the Supreme Head of the new Church. In 1533, More refused to attend the coronation of Anne Boleyn as the Queen of England. More was forced to resign his position, was arrested and imprisoned on fabricated charges of corruption and treason. On 1 July 1535, More was tried before a panel of judges that included the Lord

6 6 Chancellor (Sir Thomas Audley), as well as the new queen s ( Anne Boleyn's) father, brother, and uncle. More was tried, and was found guilty, and sentenced to death to be hanged, drawn, and quartered (the usual punishment for traitors who were not from the nobility), but the King commuted this to execution by decapitation. The execution took place on 6 July When he was taken the scaffold, from the prison, he was weak and his steps were unsteady. But his inner poise was intact. About to mount the steps to the scaffold, he sought the support from the guards. He is widely quoted as saying (to the guards): "I pray you, I pray you, Mr. Lieutenant, see me safe up (the steps) and for my coming down (following the execution), I can shift for myself". More followed the dictates of his conscience, maintained his balance under tremendous pressure loss of a successful career, loss of power and prestige, his family reduced to penury, imprisonment and persecution by a ruthless king, and eventually executioner s sword. More stood at the scaffold about to be beheaded gave a final short speech to the assembled onlookers. To them he explained his position, and declared: "I am still the king's good servant, but God's first. Centuries later, Thomas More was conferred sainthood by the Catholic Church in (vi) Emancipation proclamation... Abraham Lincoln, was the 16 th President ( ) of United States of America. But historians as well as other segments of the intellectual class, such as Lawyers, journalists etc generally agree that he was perhaps the greatest- and certainly one of the greatest American President so far. The greatness of Lincoln gets accentuated by his background. He hardly had any formal schooling. During the first 19 years of his life, he might have attended school only for about four months. In his childhood, he assisted his father in his farm ; in his early youth, he worked as a farm hand, a rail-splitter (hacking wood), boatman and various other things. He took to self study, passed qualifying examinations, and became a country lawyer at Springfield, in the State of Illinois. He took interest in politics, joined the Whigs Party, organized election campaigns, contested elections to the State Legislature, the Congress, the Senate and finally the President of United States as a candidate of the Republican Party (which he helped to found). Those were the turbulent years in the politics of the country. The issue of Slavery (of Blacks) in certain States was at the Center stage. Among the 25 million populace, about four millions were slaves largely concentrated as labour in the cotton rich Southern States. The political storm was gathering up in the North against slavery (seeking the abolition of slavery as an institution); whereas the South was hell bent on retaining the institution.

7 7 Lincoln, during his campaign for Presidency, attempted to steer clear of the contentious issue, by advocating status quo on the issue; but promised to enact laws to limit the institution to the southern states where it existed; but prevent the spread of the institution to other states. But the issue had developed into a stage, where there were no easy solutions. A deeply suspicious South took the first step towards breaking the Union and Lincoln was faced with the prospect of civil war even as he was being sworn in as the President! Lincoln was clear, firm but cautious. In his inaugural address after swearing in as the President (March 04, 1861), Lincoln stated emphatically that he had just taken an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the United States Constitution"... that there would be no use of force... unless it proved necessary for him to fulfill his obligation to "hold, occupy, and possess the property and places" belonging to the federal government.. And that he had "...no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. As the civil war progressed, accompanied by an enormous toll in terms of human casualties, Lincoln clarified again and again that the Union needs to be saved at any cost: In his letter to an Editor Horace Greeley, Aug 22,1962, he stand was clear and unambiguous : I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored; the nearer the Union will be the Union as it was... My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. --[Abraham Lincoln, letter to Horace Greeley, Aug 22,1962] But, on January 1, 1863, using the war time emergency powers invested in the President, he declared slaves in 10 states (not then under Union control) as free. This proclamation (of releasing the four million slaves behind the enemy line) was made as a strategy of war. Slavery was made illegal everywhere in the U.S. by enacting a Law in the Congress, much later, which took effect only in December But even so, when Lincoln was signing the Emancipation Proclamation, he said : "I never, in my life, felt more certain that I was doing right, than I do in signing this paper.

8 8 The American Civil War took a toll of 600,000 American civilians. (Approximately 2.4% of their population at that time). It is an enormous loss by any standards. But the consensus opinion is that Lincoln handled it with great far sight, determination and sensitivity, which has few parallels in human history. To quote Leo Tolstoy, on Lincoln: "The greatness of Napoleon, Caesar, or Washington is only moonlight by the sun of Lincoln. His example is universal and will last thousands of years... He was bigger than his Country bigger than all the Presidents together.. and as a great character he will live as long as the world lives --[Leo Tolstoy, The World, New York,1909, quoted by Doris Goodwin, in The Team of Rivals ] The greatness of Lincoln cannot be traced to his family, education, or social-economic background, but to himself his own inner resources. (vii) Milovan Đilas conscience... Milovan Đilas ( ) was a revolutionary activist, thinker and writer from Yugoslavia, who was a key figure during the Partisan movement during the Second World War, and subsequently in the regime of Marshal Tito. He joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia in 1932, was a political prisoner between , was elected to the Central committee in 1938, and to the Politburo in When Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy defeated the Yugoslav Army in 1941, Djilas helped Josip Broz Tito to organize Partisan resistance, and Đilas became a Guerilla commander under Josip Tito. With the establishment of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, Đilas became Vice-president in Tito's government in Đilas was widely regarded as Tito's possible successor and in 1953 he became the President of the Federal Assembly of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, but he only held office from December 25, 1953, to January 16, Between October 1953 and January 1954, he wrote 19 articles (only 18 were published) for Borba, the official newspaper of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, where he stated that a new ruling class was formed in Yugoslavia, for which he was expelled from the Central Committee of the party, of which he had been a member since 1937, and dismissed from all political functions. On November 19, 1956, Đilas was arrested for criticizing soviet intervention in Hungary, and was sentenced to three years imprisonment. In 1957, Đilas published a book titled The New Class: An Analysis of the Communist System, in which he criticized the Communist regimes in Soviet Union and Europe as not egalitarian, and the emergence of the Party Functionaries as a privileged class. For The

9 9 New Class, Đilas was sentenced in 1957 to another seven years imprisonment. In the prison Djilas turned to writing biographies, novels and short stories. He was conditionally released from prison in January 1961, but was re-arrested in April 1962, for publishing abroad a record of his Conversations with Stalin, which became a huge success. For the publication of this book for revealing state secrets Đilas was sentenced to another five years of imprisonment. On December 31, 1966, Đilas was amnestied and freed unconditionally, after nine years in jail. He continued to live in Belgrade (Yugoslavia), continued to be a dissident, remained a controversial figure until his death on April 20, [ Đilas] Đilas was a revolutionary soldier, a great leader, widely respected intellectual of international standing; and was regarded as a natural successor to Marshall Tito to power and authority of Presidency of his country. He grew up in a communist system Dialectic Materialism and yet he responded to the call of his inner voice, which led him to years of imprisonment. He continued to be guided by his conscience, continued to do what he considered as RIGHT, till the very end. A classic case of Shraddha. These are examples drawn from different socio-cultural backgrounds, different geographical locations, different epochs of history, but have one thing in common. Each of these is a case of Shraddha rooted in one s own Self guided from the Inner Lamp, convinced and steadfast, noble and righteous serving beacons for all mankind. It is this Shraddha which when enters the heart, people perform great feats, rise to new heights of achievement, blaze uncharted paths. Cynicism is the opposite of Shraddha, when men feel alienated from their roots, lose their poise to face challenges, and very often end up under a heap of rubble and waste... Swami Vivekananda, the fireball Hindu monk identified the cause of India s down fall as the lack of Shraddha among his people. Said he: *** I would not translate this word to you; it would be a mistake; it is a wonderful word to understand, and much depends on it.... Unfortunately it has nearly vanished from India, and this is why we are in our present state. What makes the difference between man and man is the difference in this and nothing else. What makes one man great and the other weak and low is this shraddha.... This must enter into you... Swamiji then gave a rousing call to retrieve this Shraddha as the a panacea for all ills of the society: Believe in that infinite Soul, the infinite Power which, with consensus of opinion, our books and sages preach. That Atman which nothing can destroy, in It is

10 10 infinite Power, only waiting to be called out. Here is the great difference between all other philosophies and the Indian philosophy. Whether dualistic, qualified monistic, or monistic, they all firmly believe that everything is in the Soul itself; it has only to come out and manifest itself. --- [Swami Vivekananda, CW, Vol-3, pp ] Swami Ranganathanada, another illustrious monk of Ramakrishna order, a great exponent of Vedanta, terms Shraddha as the totality of positive attitude, an impelling force behind the search for truth in science as well as spiritualty : 2.4 Shraddha and Faith It is necessary to distinguish shraddha from the Faith of Semitic paradigm. The latter implies a compete trust in words of the Prophet. Where loyalty total adherence to the Creed is an essential qualification for the follower. Where the believer does not have the freedom to review or criticize or reform what has been handed over by the Prophet. Where Every revision is an error! Indian Philosophical tradition attaches great value to the proper use of reason. At the end of the discourse at Kurukshetra [The Bhagavadgita], Sri Krishna explicitly urges Arjuna to use his critical faculty to evaluate the entire discourse (of Bhagavadgita), and then, to accept or reject, as per his own judgment. इतत त ज ञ नम ख य त ग ह य द ग ह यतर मय I ववम श य तदश ष ण यथ च छसस तथ क र II Iti te jna nama hya tam hya d hyataram maya Vimr shyaitadasheshenah yathe hhasi tatha h r So far, I have shared with you some of the most secreted Truths of life. Now use your critical faculty to evaluate them comprehensively, and make your decision to accept or reject them [Bhagavadgita, 18-63] Note the complete absence of dogma theological compulsion in Krishna s voice. The Shraddha expounded in the Bhagavadgita and the Upanishads is not blind faith ; it demands a sincere, dispassionate, humble and respectful enquiry free from disdain or contempt for evaluation of knowledge base available in scriptures.

11 11 Cynicism.. also uses reason but quite unlike Shraddha it shows no respect (often with conspicuous disdain) for the object of enquiry. A crude display of intellectual arrogance standing on the presumption that human intellect is the ultimate tool for knowledge (nothing is beyond the grasp human intellect) it does not see value in anything spiritual or sacred. An inevitable consequence of spiritual vacuum even when it swears by humanism a cynic gets easily alienated from one s own cultural roots. Cynicism has a corrosive impact on one s inner life. Forever complaining, a cynic does not find value in anything. He is there ever complaining, ever unhappy over everything around him. To quote George Bernard Shaw:...[A cynic] is a clod of ailments and grievances, ever complaining that the world does not devote itself to making one happy... George Bernard Shaw, Author, Playwright 2.5 Strangers in their own land If we need to trace the reasons for alienation of the elite class of India, their sense of diffidence, we need to look at the education system hoisted by the British rulers, with a clearly perceived objective of perpetuating their Raj over India. By the end of 18th century, the British East India Company had consolidated its political hold over the whole country. India had become the brightest jewel in the British crown. The British Raj undertook an extensive survey of the prevalent by now dying of starvation, under the Raj education system, and initiated steps to uproot the beautiful tree and replace it by a centralized British education system (For the nature and spread of primary education prevalent in India, before the advent of the British, see Sri Dharampal s book The Beautiful Tree ) The objective of the new education was clearly laid out by Lord Macaulay, (Chairman, Board of Public Instruction) in his Minute, dated Feb 2, 1835, which was approved in its entirety, by Lord Bentinck, Governor General, on March 07, Macaulay enunciated a pragmatic policy for dealing with the vast multitudes of India :... In one point I fully agree with the gentlemen to whose general views I am opposed.... We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern; a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect. To that class we may leave it to refine the vernacular dialects of the country, to enrich those dialects with terms of science borrowed from the Western nomenclature..." ---- Macaulay s Minute, Feb 02, 1835

12 12 Macaulay was a British ruler. He was very proud of his lineage. As is common l with conquerors, he harbored contempt for the vanquished people and their culture. Note the unmitigated contempt in his expression: I have no knowledge of either Sanscrit or Arabic. But I have done what I could to form a correct estimate of their value. I have read translations of the most celebrated Arabic and Sanscrit works.... I have never found one among them who could deny that a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia. The intrinsic superiority of the Western literature is, indeed, fully admitted by those members of the Committee who support the Oriental plan of education..... But when we pass from works of imagination to works in which facts are recorded, and general principles investigated, the superiority of the Europeans becomes absolutely immeasurable. It is, I believe, no exaggeration to say, that all the historical information which has been collected from all the books written may be found in the most paltry abridgments used at preparatory schools in England. In every branch of physical or moral philosophy, the relative position of the two nations is nearly the same Macaulay s Minute, Feb 02, 1835 What Macaulay sought to achieve through a centralized Public Instruction system under the British Raj, seems to be a great success! It took only a few decades, before it could carve out an elite class of babus in Bengal, about whom perceptive writers like Bankim Chandra Chatterjee made the caustic remark in 1873: The babus will be indefatigable in talk, experts in a particular foreign language, and hostile to their mother tongue... Some highly intelligent babus will be born who will be unable to converse in their mother tongue.... Like Vishnu they will have ten incarnations, namely clerk, teacher, brahmo, accountant, doctor, lawyer, magistrate, landlord, editor, and unemployed...babus will consume water at home, alcohol at friends, abuses at the prostitutes, and humiliation at the employers. ---[quoted from: Pavan Verma, The great Indian Middle Class, pp.4-5]

13 13 A couple of decades later swami Vivekananda echoed the same opinion: "The child is taken to school, and the first thing he learns is that his father is a fool, the second thing is that his grandfather is a lunatic, the third thing is that all his teachers are hypocrites, the fourth is that all his sacred books are lies. By the time he is sixteen, he is a mass of negation, lifeless and boneless. And the result is that fifty years of such education has not produced one original man in the three presidencies.... We have learnt only weakness [Swami Vivekananda, India and her problems, pp.38-39] A graphic description of the more privileged products of the Macaulay s education system was given by the great art historian Ananda K. Coomaraswamy as early as 1908 (Modern Review, Calcutta, Vol. 4, Oct. 1908, p.338): Speak to the ordinary graduate of an Indian University, or a student from Ceylon, of the ideals of the Mahabharata he will hasten to display his knowledge of Shakespeare; talk to him of religious philosophy you find that he is an atheist of the crude type common in Europe a generation ago, and that not only has he no religion, but is as lacking in philosophy as the average Englishman; talk to him of Indian music he will produce a gramophone or a harmonium and inflict upon you one or both; talk to him of Indian dress or jewelry he will tell you that they are un-civilized and barbaric; talk to him of Indian art it is news to him that such a thing exists; ask him to translate for you a letter written in his own mothertongue he does not know it. He is indeed a stranger in his own land..---[quoted by Dharampal, in the The Beautiful Tree, p. 91] 2.6 Light the Lamp Swami Vivekananda, had his fingers on the pulse of the nation. After touring the length and breadth of the nation as a parivra ja a, and after visiting and studying the Western culture in great depth, the Swami returned to his motherland, recommended a spiritual remedy, for all the ills afflicting the nation, thus: Therefore, this is what I want,... and what all of us here want, this faith in ourselves, and before you is the great task to get that faith. Give up the

14 14 awful disease that is creeping into our national blood, that idea of ridiculing everything, that loss of seriousness. Give that up. Be strong and have this, and everything else is bound to follow. --- [Swami Vivekananda, CW, Vol-3, pp ] Shraddha is not blind faith; Shraddha implies a combination of faith and an eager, receptive rational faculty; Shraddha implies trust in oneself; it implies trust in the Divine self; trust in the infinite potential of the Self. Shraddha is the conduit using which, the Prajna the lower Self draws from the infinite potential of the Over-Self. Shraddha is practical Spirituality. श रद दह परम ग र Shraddha hi parama r h the lamp with in is the supreme Guru. 2.7 References 1. Swami Vivekananda, India and her Problems, Advaita Ashrama, Calcutta, Swami Vivekananda, Complete Works, Vol-3 [< 3. Swami Ranganathananda, The Message of the Upanishads, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Paul Johnson, Socrates, a man of our times, [< >] 6. Doris Goodwin, in The Team of Rivals: The Political genius of Abraham Lincoln, Text of Lord Macaulay s Minute, Feb 02, 1835 < 835.html>