Thought 167: The inspection model VS the quality model

In an inspection regime, we sentence a product, as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ – and accept the good product and throw away the bad product. Here, the emphasis is on sorting out the good from the bad – and keep the good only and dispose of the bad in a suitable manner.

In a quality regime too, we resort to sentencing – products into ‘good’ and ‘bad’. Unlike in the inspection regime, however, the action does not stop at mere sentencing. In the quality regime, additionally, we want to find out, why the bad product was bad in the first place. Having found the cause, we apply corrections to the system – to prevent the future products becoming bad.

Similarly, we label or sentence people also, as ‘good’ and ‘bad’. In case of those persons, in whom we are not interested or who are not close to us, the action stops with the sentencing – as in the inspection regime. However, where closely related persons are concerned, such as the wife, children, etc, we try to find the reason why they are behaving they way they are. Then, we keep on working on them, and with them, where possible, in various ways, to bring about the desired changes in their perceptions and attitudes.

It is not easy to change perceptions and attitudes. It takes a lot of time, effort and agony, to bring about such changes – and therefore, we apply the quality regime only to those few special cases, where we are highly interested. In all other cases, we apply the inspection regime. This is the commonsense approach to life.

The next thought is about “You be fair to the world but do not be disappointed if the world is not fair to you”

Thought 166: Things are never static, they are always dynamic

Things are never static in this world. This is a dynamic world; things are always changing - matter into energy and energy into matter (This is what Einstein’ equation, E=mc2, implies). There are ceaseless changes taking place everywhere. Take geography for instance. Where there was a sea some years ago, there is land now - and where there was green and fertile land once, it is a scorching desert today. Even within the human body, all the cells are replaced once in three years approximately. Night is always followed by the day. A day is always followed by night. Seasons occur in well-defined cyclic sequences.

Thus, change is the fundamental law of Nature. We constantly see in the life of every person, the fortunate and unfortunate circumstances are changing constantly – they alternate one after the other regularly. If the circumstances are bad today, they are bound to be good tomorrow. These are the dynamics of all life on this planet.

If you are a philosophical and positive person like my daughter Sashi, you will beleive that every change happens for your good only; she believes that tomorrow is going to be alright even if today is a little disturbing. It is said that unless you hit the bottom, you cannot come up. Similarly, unless things become worse, they will not become better. Until they become better, however, Sashi says that you need to resort to her 3 P’s philosophy. The 3 P’s are “prayer, positive thinking and patience (for the good things to happen to you or for the bad things to disappear from your life)”.

I am an optimist and I believe firmly that one should always be optimistic and enthusiastic – amidst these fast changing dynamics. That is the only sensible way of dealing with these fast changes.

The next thought is about “The inspection model VS the quality model”

Thought 165: You may sometimes forget the bad done to you, but never ever forget the good done to you.

These days, people do not seem to remember the good done to them at all. These are the selfish and self-centered persons, of course. With such persons, you have to be worldly wise – that is, you should be on your guard. In any transaction, whenever there is a great deal of difference in cultural levels between parties, it is highly unproductive to adhere to your higher standards unilaterally (of course, in any case you should not compromising on your basic values); your higher standards are not appreciated by the other party. On the other hand, they laugh at you and try to take advantage of your good nature. I do not like to be laughed at; no one likes to be laughed at.

I find that there is too much selfishness in this world now - than ever before. Is that the way to succeed in the modern society? May be; but I am old-fashioned; and I like to keep my distance from self-centered and selfish persons – whenever possible to do so.

The good Samaritans are those who do good without expecting any thing in return. If you do not expect even a mere “thank you” like Mother Theresa, you go ahead do good to the world. Or else, pause and think for a while, before plunging headlong into the business of doing good to the society.

I, for instance, do not believing in doing good to selfish and greedy persons. I also do not like to give anything to the selfish and greedy persons. Bhagavad Gita says that you should only give away things – only to the deserving persons

When I find that someone deserves a better deal than what he or she is getting, however, I like to help in whatever manner I can. In such cases, I find there is more pleasure in giving than in receiving - but only in such cases.

The next thought is about “Things are never static, they are always dynamic”

Thought 164: Dharma protects and Adharma punishes

The Isvara, for whatever reason, has given choice to Man. Because he has given choice, man may choose to follow his Dharma or he may also choose to violate his Dharma. If man follows his Dharma, there would be harmony and ecological balance in the world – which, in turn, ensures proper growth and well being of all life in this world. This world would then be a very happy place indeed for all the living beings, who live in it. If, however, man chooses to violate his Dharma, the growth and the well being of the animal kingdom and the plant kingdom especially, will be in jeopardy.

If the animal kingdom and the plant kingdom were to ever come to harm, the human kind also comes to harm. Unaware of the infallible checks and balances built into the Isvara’s system, which detect and punish violations of Dharma automatically, the irresponsible, greedy and selfish elements from the human kind, try to help themselves at the expense of the other components of the ecological system.

The criminal minds always believe that they are going to escape detection and punishment – but it is never allowed to happen in the Isvara’s system. Violators of Dharma get caught inevitably - and punished. But the matter does not end there. The infringement of Dharma, even if caused by only a few irresponsible and selfish individuals, has ramifications on the entire animal kingdom, on the entire plant kingdom and on the entire human kind as well; all of them also pay the penalty for a crime that they did not commit.

Consider, for instance, the fact that a small number of greedy individuals destroy thousands and thousands of acres of forests for their own selfish gain. Not only is it unrepairable loss to the plant kingdom, but it also reduces the wild forest area that legitimately belongs to the animal kingdom and which, the animals need for their survival and growth. Therefore, the animals also suffer. Mindless destruction of forest trees in this manner also leads to droughts, global climate changes, Tsunami, etc – which are detrimental to the interests of the human kind as well. Hence, the society must be alert and must never allow the criminal elements of the society to violate Dharma. Dharma must be protected at all costs.

In fact, all ethical and moral principles, which are an integral part of Dharma, are primarily intended to protect man from harming himself and others on this planet. They serve the profoundest interests of all life on this planet. This is the reason why Hindu Saastras say that if you protect Dharma, it protects you; “Dharmo Rakshati Rakshatah”.

The next thought is about “You may sometimes forget the bad done to you, but never ever forget the good done to you”

Thought 163: Part 4 – Moksha

As long as a person focuses his mind on the outer world and its attractions, he continues to experience anxiety, agony, sorrow, frustration, anger, hatred, etc, constantly, all the time. Unless the person continues to experience misery of this type for a long, long, time, spanning over a number of Janmas (births), he does not realize that what the outer world has to offer to him is not worth all this misery. A point will then come in his life when he gets completely disenchanted - and it is only then, does he change his focus from the world outside to the world inside. It is only at this stage that he turns his attention to the spiritual goal, which is the last Purushaardha, called Moksha.

People generally think that Moksha is a place like heaven or Vaikuntha or Kailaasa. A few years ago, my wife, Sithadevi, happened to meet with a (self styled) spiritualist at a friend’s house in Ottawa, Canada. During the conversation, he mentioned the term “Moksha”. My wife Sithadevi asked him “what is Moksha, sir”. He pointed his right hand forefinger upwards – implying thereby that it is a place up above - like heaven!

Moksha is not a place at all. Moksha is Aatma Jnanam (the knowledge of the self). When you are ignorant, you think that you are the body-mind complex. If you think that you are the body, the body is going to die one day - and therefore, you die. When you die, you are going to be born again – and even in this new Janma (birth or incarnation), you will die again. Thus, you face death in every Janma (birth or incarnation).

Death causes fear – intense fear. You do not want to die. You want to escape death some how, but you also know that you cannot. Death is inevitable and inescapable – for everything that is born in the space-time dimension. In fact, death is the only certain thing in life on this planet.

When the self-knowledge unfolds in you, you realize that you are not your body-mind complex – but you are the Aatma (Awareness), which has no death – or even birth. This realization is called self-realization (self-knowledge), which is Moksha.

The next thought is about “Dharma protects and Adharma punishes”

Thought 163: Part 3 - Kaama

You may similarly pursue Kaama (desire for worldly pleasures) also – to satisfy your innate urge for pleasure and enjoyment. All efforts that one makes in this direction are recognized by our Saastras as legitimate activities of life. You may go for them with a clear conscience. But unfortunately, those who take to the sensual pleasures do not know where to stop.

Senses are wild and unruly by nature. They are turbulent when they are not restrained - and it is not easy to restrain them. They take delight in enticing you by seductively dangling sensual objects in front of you. A little taste of sensual enjoyment sharpens your craving for it - and you become a slave to enjoyment. You cannot do without it; it is highly addictive. Therefore, one should not trust his senses. They invariably deceive.

When the senses go out to contact their objects, they carry the mind also with them. Senses make the contact and the mind captures - and gets corrupted. The senses are so powerful that they forcibly carry away the mind of a man of wisdom (Jnaani) also, even while he is striving diligently to restrain them. It is a mere child's play for them to carry away the mind of a self-indulgent person.

Indulgence knows no breaks. When people do not apply breaks, they plunge – they plunge dangerously down the hill. When you apply breaks, you have better control. Breaks give power - power to stop. In self-indulgence, there is no power. In self-control, there is power; it is the moral power. It is called self-control when a person makes conscious attempts to control his senses and his mind.

Thus, unrestrained senses distract and corrupt the mind. A corrupted mind is an unstable mind. The man of wisdom (Jnaani) knows the potential of the senses for mischief. He also knows that mind alone can restrain the senses, but it will not be able to do so, unless it itself gets disciplined first. Unless the mind is properly controlled, there will be no tangible success in your worldly goals – as also, in the spiritual goals for those who have spiritual ambitions.

For the control to be effective, the urge has to come from within; no one from outside can exercise control over your senses and mind. Similarly, you cannot control others; you can only control yourself. It is for this reason that the Hindu Saastras impose certain restrictions on you in respect of the two Purushaardhas, Artha and Kaama. They want you to pursue these two goals strictly within certain moral and ethical bounds – which is what the first goal, Dharma, signifies. In fact, Dharma is the very first goal – which implies that you should first embrace a life style, which emphasizes righteousness, morality and ethical behavior in all your worldly transactions. You may then strive to find fulfillment in respect of Artha and Kaama, while leading a life of Dharma.

Desires for worldly success, pleasure, enjoyment, etc mark the beginning of misery in every life. Worldly experience and wisdom tells us repeatedly that very few desires of a person get fulfilled; the majority remain unfulfilled. It is the unfulfilled desires that cause all the misery to a person. Desires, however, would continue to rule the minds of persons, no matter how much misery they cause. Such is the power of Maayaa on the minds of all mortals.

The next thought is about Purushaardhas (Continued), Part 4 - Moksha