Vedantic Guidelines for A Globalising World

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THE SPEAKING TREE: Vedantic Guidelines for A Globalising World

 

AMRITA LAHIRI

"For those of us who grudgingly go to the temple or mosque, and feel

infuriated jostling through crowded Durga Puja pandals, it is

worthwhile to consider religious experiences as a small but crucial

contribution towards strengthening society."

 

Globalisation transforms our understanding of space so that distance

and separation become marked by something other than borders.

Distance is defined by our willingness or unwillingness to traverse

separations that can be bridged by economic alliances and

technology.

 

All that happens within us impacts the external world. The Chandogya

Upanishad says: "A person who knows that the space outside is the

same as that within, and that the space within is the same as that

within the heart, attains".

 

Vedanta offers appropriate spirituality in a rapidly globalising

world, providing valuable guidance on our responsibilities as

members of an interconnected, integrated world. It urges us towards

action that can help strengthen the solidarity of a closely

interlinked society.

 

Vedanta — 'end of the Vedas' — is the culmination of entire Vedic

and Puranic knowledge. Advaita, the philosophy of non-duality,

emphasises democracy and unity. The aim is not to worship the Divine

or Brahmn in a hierarchical relationship, but to become one with It.

Through meditation, we realise that Brahmn is within us and around

us. There remains no distinction between the self and the other.

 

Compared to Vedanta, globalisation is relatively recent. It gained

momentum with the 16th century oceanic expeditions, ex- pansion of

empires, colonialism, world wars, and continues today, even as we

sip Colombian coffee out of mugs made in China, viewing American or

Indian TV channels reporting on the ongoing conflict in the Middle

East.

 

Today, the intensity and speed of transport and communication have

made the world far more interconnected than ever before.

 

Emile Durkheim in Elementary Forms of Religious Life says that God

is a symbol of society, and praying to the Divine is a way of

recognising the forces that surround us, sustain us, and vex us as

well.

 

It is an appealing theory, for it rationalises our beliefs and

rituals. For those of us who grudgingly go to the temple or mosque,

and feel infuriated jostling through crowded Durga Puja pandals, it

is worthwhile to consider religious experiences as a small but

crucial contribution towards strengthening society.

 

Just as through meditation a person can attain unity with Brahmn,

each community can, through an introspective reassessment, embrace

global interconnections across boundaries, beyond artificial

constructs of what is 'ours' and what is 'theirs'.

 

Vedanta recognises that the path to attaining oneness with the

Divine is not unproblematic just as the path to a perfectly balanced

and equitable global order is not trouble-free.

 

Some protest that they do not get a fair share of benefits. However,

Advaita holds the key to sustaining stability both inside and

outside: we must see others as ourselves. Perhaps the poor's lot

would improve if we could think of the beggar on the street as a

part of ourselves.

 

The war in Iraq might never have happened had those who committed

violence thought of the repercussions. The golden rule is, 'Do unto

others as you want done unto yourself', which in Vedanta, is 'tat-

tvam-asi' (I am that). We are all Brahmn, a unitary divine flow of

energy.

 

We could remind ourselves during prayer to pray for those very

people and situations that seem to be hindering our achievement.

Then every mundane action and conversation will become sacred.

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