Why Secularism Is Not a Bad Word and Why India Will Remain Secular

The recent incidents of violence in the name of Hindu ideology have created unrest in the minds of secular Indians. BJP says that similar or worse incidents have occurred in the past which have not received the same treatment by the ‘secularists’. They are right. But the problem is that BJP, which is viewed as ‘Hindutva’ party, is in power and such incidents can be easily be viewed as ‘blessed by the state’. True, the PM cannot speak out to clarify the government’s stand on every such incident. But, again, this is not an ordinary government. This is Modi government all in and all out. Therefore, people don’t take anyone in the government seriously, except Modi. It is good that he is making statements that put his irresponsible partymen and ‘well wishers’ in their places. He is intelligent enough to know that such incidents if not controlled, will soon spiral into a whirlwind that will uproot his development agenda and erode the goodwill he is trying to create abroad.

The other fundamental problem that Modi is facing is his inability or helplessness in differentiating Indian Culture from Hindu Religion. Culture is much more accommodating and free than religion which is bound by a set of rules. The word ‘culture’ connotes openness and harmony while the word ‘religion’ connotes restrictiveness and control. Culture has loosely defined guidelines while religion has strictly defined rules. That’s why, cultures evolve with time but religions resist change.

Hinduism is more often referred to as a ‘way of life’ or culture than as a religion. That’s why secular hindus fear guardianship for, in cultures there are no power centers. Hinduism has stood the test of time only because it is a culture.

Every religion has a culture associated with it. And this culture is highly localised. If you come across a secular Muslim or a Christian they will most certainly be following the culture associated with their religions and not respecting the religions’ power centers.

Intolerance is another hallmark of religious powers. There is a growing tendency among the Modi ‘followers’ to ‘kill’ any voice of opposition. Anyone who questions Modi is immediately stamped as ‘anti national’. Writers and artists who protest by their own non-violent means are ridiculed and and stamped as ‘pseudo secularists’. Certainly this is not a representation of Indian culture which is respected by the whole world for its tolerance.

Agreed, we need to uphold the Indian culture. For this, we need a society governed by cultural values than by religious values. Benefits to people should be based on merit and economic status. Appeasement of religious minorities for political gains should be stopped. So is enforcement of the beliefs of the religious majority (beef ban is a case in point.) While the former causes grudges in the minds of the majority, the latter causes fear in the minds of the minorities. Both come in the way of forming a uniform civil code which is essential for a well integrated, harmonious society.

BJP, has intentionally confused culture with religion in order to come to power. However, they as a political party cannot sustain in power ignoring secular Indians, for there are many of them who voted Modi to power in support of his development agenda. Modi knows this too well. And as long as he does, he will keep the secular fabric of the country intact - whether his ‘well wishers’ like it or not.

Spiritual Entrepreneurship

(This article is not about spirituality in entrepreneurs but about entrepreneurship in spirituality.Both are very different.)

Despite the enormous impact we have had in the global arena of science, technology, research etc. in the last two decades, the first thing that comes to the mind of an average westerner when they think about India is Spirituality. Thanks to Vedanta, our ever-relevant treasure of wisdom, India has always been, and will continue to be, the land of Spirituality.

Vedantic wisdom is so powerful that once internalized, it can transform one’s life into a blissful existence. However, this highest form of wisdom is not easily comprehensible for average men. They need Gurus who would guide them in the path of this ultimate knowledge. The spiritual journey is an ongoing, and for most, never ending process. Gurus are like street lights which help you to walk from one point to the next in the spiritual path until you no longer see darkness.

India has had several great spiritual Gurus. Many known only to the real seekers and many visible and accessible to the common man. Millions of people have benefited from these Gurus. But, why do many of them come under criticism for commercial wrongdoings, sexual misdeeds and violence? The most recent one being revelations of a former disciple and close aid of Mata Amrtanandamayi.

Indeed, the accusations of sexual misdeeds and violence in spiritual organisations are hard to prove. And unless proven, the Gurus enjoy the benefit of doubt. However, history shows us that oppression and violence are always associated with two things: money and power. Where there is money, there is fight for power. Where there is fight, there is violence. And where there is power, there is oppression.

So, the fundamental problem lies in the fact that today’s spiritual Gurus deal with money. It could be in the name of charity but, money has a overt distinction of attracting bad people. Why is today’s spirituality associated with charity? A spiritual person indeed should be charitable but should a spiritual Guru run hospitals and schools, receiving money from the rich and giving it to the poor? (It is this argument that the spiritual organisations use to counter any allegation.) Is charity work and spirituality anyway related?

They are not. (If you say "yes" then you would be disqualifying some of our greatest spiritual Gurus.)  If a spiritual Guru deals with money - in whatever name - he needs to operate in certain manner which is not characteristic of the spiritual guide that he claims to be. He needs to operate like an entrepreneur running his business. That’s why these Gurus create brands. They have marketing strategies. They have targets and performance reviews. They have competition. They have profit and loss. They have balance sheets. In effect, they are "Spiritual Entrepreneurs".

Now, is it wrong to run a charitable organisation or for that matter a business? Absolutely not. Neither is it 'un-spiritual'. But, a spiritual Guru has no business to run hospitals and schools and social welfare programs. It is best left to people who specialise in it. There are many honest and highly committed social entrepreneurs whose goal is not name and fame, who just follow their passion. Can’t the spiritual Gurus help social entrepreneurs perform in their chosen field of activity by redirecting all the contributions they get and confine themselves to their own chosen field of activity, that is, Spirituality? For that, they should place spirituality before entrepreneurship in the order of priorities.

Where there is money, there is fight for power. We have seen the fight for power come in open when Sri Sai Baba died. It came out because it existed before. It always existed and is existing - in all spiritual organisations. Fight for power exists because power exists. Therefore, it is not illogical to assume that violence and oppression exist too.

The biggest casualty of Spiritual Entrepreneurship is spirituality itself. Spirituality has no brand. Brand colours the light the Guru throws on the spiritual path. A Guru’s disciple is trained to believe in his brand and has a coloured perspective of the spiritual path. There are competing Spiritual Entrepreneurs promoting their own brands. They paint the spiritual path in different colours deceiving the seeker, denying him the real perspective. Like any brand, once addicted, it is hard to liberate.

Find your Happiness in the New Year!

A few thoughts that came to my mind in the New Year's eve.

Places of Supreme Spiritual Importance and Spiritual Tourism

Recently, there was a news about plans to build a helipad in Sabarimala. We already have everything that a man who lives a “material” life needs available in Sabarimala, except women which is due to the sole reason that women are not allowed there. Transportation is available up to Pamba and there is a man-made walkway up to the sannidhanam. There are sufficient number of eateries where you can get your favorite food and hotels and lodges where you can have a comfortable night’s stay. The only hardship people go through is when there is overcrowding - when the infrastructure and the systems become incapable of accommodating the crowd.

The very idea of temples is to bring man out of material life and bring him to the path of spirituality. It is a way to remind him of the supreme reality called God - in whatever form that one is comfortable with - and of the futility of the materialistic living and the importance and benefits of spiritual living. For an ordinary man, the sense of peacefulness experienced in the temple is temporary: it lingers for some time before he completely falls back to his mundane activities. Frequent visits to the temple helps in experiencing this sense of peacefulness more often.

There are places of supreme spiritual importance such as Sabarimala in Kerala and Amarnath in the Himalayas. These places have different histories but one fact that runs common in all is that they are hard to access. These are the places where people seeking spiritual realisation went and meditated. For them these places were the ultimate stage in the path of spiritual journey and self realization. At that stage, their minds were pure and were filled with with eternal love towards everything - living and non-living - around them. In this state of mind, there was no fear of death - leave alone hardships. Their minds were focussed on the supreme goal of self realization which made anything they faced on the way as part of the journey. One set off on this journey when he had already achieved this state of mind that neither saw nor recognized any hardships or adversities.

Now, what has happened to these places of supreme spiritual importance? Do they provide the atmosphere that the spiritual seekers wanted to experience? Majority of people who visit these places are “spiritual tourists”. The Government is facilitating spiritual tourism by organizing everything the tourists need and making their journey “comfortable”. Instead, what the Government should do is to keep these places as sacred and pure as they had been by restricting access only by the spiritual seekers. Once all the “facilities” and “comforts” are removed, the “spiritual tourists” will automatically stop coming. Let the forests grow. Let the man-made roads be gradually taken over by the nature. Let a walkway be formed by the footsteps of the real seekers.

The real seekers won’t complain. Nobody needs to facilitate anything for them. Allow women in Sabarimala. Men won’t get distracted by women. Women won’t worry about any hardships or discomfort. Let these seekers inspire the lesser mortals and lead them in the path of spirituality. Let more and more people be inspired to take up spiritual living. This will eventually create a  happy society. This is the essence of Hindu philosophy. This is what Vedanta prescribes. Let the places of supreme spiritual importance serve their purpose.