Our present-day society is characterised by hundreds and thousands of big and small problems, portraying an image of an ailing or sick society, which seems to be dynamic and progressive from the outside, but inwardly, it has become hollow because of negative traits like hatred, jealousy, anger, lust, ego etc. The question therefore is, what is the main cause or reason for its afflictions?
A possible answer to this question could be that the problems are not of one kind but are different. For example, there are economic, political, social, ethnic, racial, communal and all sorts of problems, and it is, therefore, difficult to name one or two causes of the present sufferings. The answer seems to be correct, but if we make a comprehensive list of the major global or national problems and classify them under various heads, we will find that these various problems are mainly due to five basic factors. Take, for example, the problems of eve-teasing, abductions, wife-burnings or dowry deaths; these are due to lust.
Likewise, anger is another factor that has led to great social turmoil. Extremism, terrorism and violence of all kinds are offshoots of anger. Similarly, economic exploitation, tax evasion, adulteration, smuggling, hoarding, black marketing, corruption, and bribery are all due to greed, lust for money or obsession for possessions. Much of favouritism, nepotism, extreme forms of nationalism, etc, are due to attachment to one’s relatives, country, etc. Lastly, pride is the factor that leads to confrontation, divisiveness, domination by a few people, prestige postures, etc and leads to rivalry, leg-pulling, litigation, and a revengeful attitude.
Further deep thought will, however, reveal that these five are the result of the degeneration of love. XThere is no doubt about it that Love is the inherent quality of every human soul, but it may exist either in its pure or perverted form. If it exists in its pure and unconditional form, then there are no problems and everything is fine. But, if it becomes impure, then it brings along a lot of miseries. How? When love, which is inherent in every soul, gets directed to physical appearance, it takes the form of lust. When it takes the form of a desire for physical proximity or dependence or emotional bonds, based on physical relationships, it is called attachment.
If, on the other hand, it manifests in the form of desires for objects of sensual pleasures and comforts or objects of delights, for money, or property and possessions, then, it is known as greed. If, instead, love becomes self-centred, i.e. if the person loves himself rather than anyone else, then, it comes up as selfishness. The rest of the vices, such as jealousy, hatred, rivalry, anger, pride, etc are the result of these perverted forms of love. When love is directed towards the body or material objects, then it is called ‘perverted love.’ In other words, when a person forgets that he is a soul and, instead, considers himself a body and looks at all others also as physical entities, then his love becomes of a low quality. If the person is, instead, aware of his true identity as a soul and looks on to others also as souls, then, his love is pure and has no negative element in it. In the final analysis, therefore, we arrive at the truth that ‘pure love’ is the only solution to all the problems of the world, for these problems are born from either the absence of love or from the debased forms of love such as lust, greed and attachment, or from the emotions that arise from the non-fulfilment of these four and are called jealousy, hatred, anger, etc or from the fulfilment of these negative forms of love and emotions. Hence, the remedy for getting rid of all the problems in the world lies in the purification of love. This is what is called ‘self-purification’ or ‘self-change’. It is for this that one is required to learn and practice meditation and inculcate divine qualities within oneself.
Meditation is a practice that enables one to stabilise in the love consciousness of the almighty, and the inculcation of divine qualities means taking due care so that love does not take the form of lust, greed or attachment but takes the form of contentment and detachment which are the basic virtues. It is, therefore, time that mankind understood this diagnosis of the ailments from which mankind presently suffers and set to cure itself by purifying its emotion of love using meditation and inculcation of divine qualities.
(The writer is a spiritual educator & popular columnist. Views are personal)