Spiritual resilience through meditation can help reform criminal behaviour
The whole nation was jolted by a recent hit-and-run tragedy, wherein a teenager, reportedly intoxicated behind the wheel of a luxury car, collided with a motorbike, claiming the lives of two promising young IT professionals . As per criminal psychologists, before a crime can be said to have occurred, it has to be committed. So, without action, there can be no crime. Hence, they say that in most of the cases, a person commits a crime in a moment of high tension, irresistible temptation, uncontrollable passion, deep infatuation, extreme provocation or utter frustration or in answer to an undying call of conviction or conscience. So, according to them if he/she could withstand the pressure of these conditions of restlessness for even a couple of minutes or perhaps, even for a few seconds, he/she would have, perhaps, been out of the crime zone and be free at least from any charge of a cognisable offence. Considering it from another perspective, it could be said that, if a man's rational sense, his self-respect, his control over the emotions, his sober judgement, his noble sentiments and his spiritual or ethical sense had not forsaken him, then, perhaps, the blinding storm of negative forces would have subsided and subdued and he would have refrained from the actual committal of crime and would thus have been saved from the traumatic experience that generally follows the crime. Once a gory crime has been committed, the gentle spirit in man has to go through a humiliating and excruciating experience even before he is jailed for a criminal offence or has to pay a heavy amount as punishment, under the relevant act for his civil offence, or has to suffer both. Not only does he feel depressed and carry a heavy burden on his chest but also, he is unable to face his conscience, stand before a mirror and see his face as before. We have to consider does the law cover all acts that may cause injury to public welfare? Hence one can say that there is no objective, simple definition of crime. Because the meaning of crime is affected by the particular society in which we live.
Like, there are crimes that occur within strict legal definitions and those that relate to codes or conventions known as normative definitions. They are usually formal moral codes such as religions, or informal codes such as socially acceptable behaviour. The acts of crime and the punishment by the court go on as usual. However, one important question to which no government or judiciary has seriously and assiduously addressed itself lingers on. The question relates to the state of mind of a person before he commits the crime and after he has done the act. It is common knowledge that the forces that goad a person to committal of crime are none other than the maddening feelings of anger, consuming fires of hatred, jealousy, rivalry, vengeance or enmity, expanded greed, aroused strong passion, inflated or injured ego, surge of emotional attachment or grave fear of the unknown. We cannot reduce crime or have a crimeless society unless and until we have greatly reduced or fully removed these negative traits from the minds of the citizens.
It is unfortunate that pre-natal and post-natal aspects of crime have never been adequately dealt with by our society. It is hardly realised that what is required, in fact, are such measures that increase the psychological and spiritual immunity of the citizens to situations of stress and strain or to tempests of greed, ego and passions. This cannot be done except by spiritual education and guidance in Meditation. Because it is meditation which can burn the hidden roots of anger, hatred and other negative and criminal tendencies in a person. The over-all expenditure and the manpower and effort required for this will be "far far less" than is involved to keep the cogged wheels of law oiled and moving.
(The writer is a spiritual teacher and a popular columnist; views are personal)
