The Purpose of Words...

Over the last several weeks I have spent several hours of my 'free' time reading post after post, article after article, on or via social media websites about the movie PK, the movie Kamaal Dhamaal Malamal, other movies, books, and most recently - cartoons. The debates and protests bordering on all kinds of extremes had my intellect so extremely activated that I lost all track of what my heart was crying out. I watched myself as I first felt extreme aversion to the PK debates - I did not understand why a movie that I had no interest in watching was being debated so hotly. For long I avoided joining the debate knowing full well that it would spark counter reactions from which ever side I was (knowingly or unknowingly) opposing. When I finally did jump into the debate, I realized that with each post I was posting and each comment I was counter-commenting on, my entire intellect, mind and consciousness was getting pulled into a whole negative vibe and energy. I was angry and irritated - my intellect, in the process of analyzing so many articles and counter articles, asked all kinds of questions - "Why is the mainstream cinema and media of India critiquing only the Hindu religion (including the most beautiful aspects of it) most of the time? Why can they not see that there are ills in all religions? Why is the censor board of India only receptive of dissenting voices of representatives a specific religions? Why are TV anchors respectively listening to counter points expressed by people of some religions and drowning the voices of dissent emerging from other groups in shout-out matches? I am all for free speech - but aren't voices of dissent of ALL religions also important - isn't a dissenting opinion also an exercise of the right to free speech? Shouldnt those who critique others also be open to critique themselves?

And then came the Paris shootings and the accompanying cry of "I am Charlie" in several languages. I was shocked! Dissent and engaging in debate is one thing - but killing in the name of dissent is another! And yet, my intellect only got angrier as people started comparing the PK debates with the shootings in Paris. My intellect craved to read more articles and more comments. And as I kept reading, I got more and more sucked into the whole atmosphere of anger and irritation. I even looked at some of the cartoons of Charlie Hebdo, only to feel even more shocked! Some voices started coming out of a different part of my mind - they said - actually, I am NOT Charlie. I don't even want to be Charlie. I do not want EVER to write books or make movies or even paint cartoons that hurt the sentiments of ANY religious group. Afterall, there are so many good aspects in ALL religions. Yet, I could hear myself thinking and trying to categorize which of the comments and counter comments (or actions) are 'right' and which are 'wrong.' I continued to debate on social media. Yesterday, after a particularly nasty round of comments and counter comments, I spent a restless night trying desperately to get back to hearing what my painfully heavy heart was trying to tell me. I even wrote to Guruji (as usual) explaining to him what my state of mind and heart was.

This morning, I remembered what Guruji (Sri Sri Ravi Shankar) says often - "The purpose of words is to create silence." I remembered that if my words do not bring silence, they have failed to acheive their goal and are meaningless. Perhaps, in all of the debates on social media and elsewhere, the one thing that my intellect had been searching for desperately was a comment or article that could bring it to this space of silence. And yet, all I came across only added more fuel to the fire of anger and the feeling of injustice inside me. As they say - anger and hatred are no solution to anger and hatred.

Sri Sri says that "Even if one civilization, religion or culture goes missing, then there is something missing for the whole world. Every culture is a part of the world heritage and we have to preserve and maintain all of them." Why is it then that the most intelligent and highly educated people in the world are moving away from religion? For my own self, I can say that all the violence in the name of religion certainly has me feeling aversion even to the word religion! Yet, there are beautiful aspects to all religions. Another one of Guruji's comments that I heard a very long time ago, said something like - "religion is like the banana peel and spirituality (human values) are like the banana inside. All over the world, people seem to be throwing away the banana and are fighting over which peel is better." Adding to the whole confusion are artistic and literary works, including by famous actors and authors, focussing on the ills of one or the other religion.

Religious texts of most religions promote unconditional love, brotherhood, celebration of the diversity that exists on the planet, acceptance and patience for different thoughts and beliefs. The mystical saints and Gurus of India, the Lamas of Buddhism, the Sufi saints, Christian ascetics have all experienced the sweetness of unconditional love and the bliss that comes with this experience. And they have written volumes describing and praising this as the only experience worth pursuing. Why then are there no popular (modern) debates and discussions on books that bring out the NICE aspects of one or more religion? It seems as though we as a human race somehow get attracted again and again to the negatives. And focussing on the negative will only make the negative (and negativity) grow! Rather than focussing on artists that have highlighted yet another negative (or seemingly negative) aspect of one any religion, can we not elevate our own consciousness by discussing the virtues of texts and works that uplift human spirit? How about comparing what the Sufi saint Rumi said about divine love with what Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and the pope have to say about the same today? Perhaps then the intellectuals, the educated, the deep thinkers, all of who were, in the yesteryears, actively engaged in religion and the accompanying philosphy, will resume these constructive and uplifting debates also!

In the spirit of focussing on the good that is shared by all religions, with the aim of brining people of all faiths together, in the hope of brining some silence through words (within myself and those who I reach) I share with you some of my favorite quotes from all (major) faiths:

"Love is not an emotion. It is your very existence"~ Sri Sri

“Love is the water of life,
jump into this water.
Every drop from this ocean brings a new life.” ~ Rumi

"He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." 1 John 4:8 (Bible verses)

Today's peaceful and silent recipe:

Lemon Rice

Ingredients

2 cups Basmati rice
2/3 tsp turmeric
2/3 tsp salt
2 tablespoons cooking oil (or coconut oil)
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 whole red chillie - broken into 2 (optional)
1.5 tsp white Urad dal
2 tablespoons peanuts
8-10 fresh curry leaves (broken into 2)
Juice of one medium sized lemon

Method

Wash the Basmati rice thouroughly, add to it 3.5 cups of fresh water, add the turmeric and salt and cook till done (following the instructions on the packet). Remove from heat and carefully spoon it out (trying not to mash or break the rice) onto a larger more open bowl or serving plate. Set aside to cool. Once the rice is no more steaming hot, add the juice of the lemon and mix into the rice (carefully with a light hand so as to not break the rice)

In a tadka pan or a small frying pan, warm the oil and add the mustard seeds. Once the seeds start to crackle and jump, reduce the heat to minimum and add the Urad dal. Once the Urad dal seeds become light brown, add the red chillie and peanuts and in the end, the curry leaves. Stir for about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and pour this mixture into the rice and mix in carefully and uniformly. Serve immediately.