Correct action - 1
From Gautama Buddha in his eight fold path to Patanjali in his niyamas, correct action have also found great emphasis in Indian spiritual discourse (probably in a lot of others also). I have been intrigued by this for a long time. When life was much simpler in small communities, correct action was probably slightly more easier to define that today (am not implying that it was easy to follow). But, in todays world, where the actions of one person living in one part of the world has its effects on the four corners of the world, it is not easy to define. Some questions that evade easy answers would be
a.) I want the sky to be blue and the river water pure enough for me to drink directly from it. But, does it mean that I quit my jog which depends on an economy that for its very existence has to pollute both land and water?
b.) I want to be friendly and compassionate to everyone around me. So, do I fight the oppressive and often violent social structures of which I am a part of?
The questions are endless. The answers are not readily forthcoming. From my experience, the actual answers are quite personalized to every individual. But, that is not to deny a common factor in the different ideosyncratic answers. The methds I try come from three different domains - spirituality, science and misc (for want of a better word). I do acknowledge sometimes the directions from any two of these are directly opposite to each other but its part of the problem to deal with such situations.
Spiritually, I find that it really helps to contemplate on compassion and selfless action. If the action that I do is contradicting either of this, it is a big red flag to me. I would be extremely cautious even moving a centimeter in that direction.
Scientifically, I find it is important to have a basic understanding of evolutionary biology, human psychology, physics (at both the particle and astronomical granularities), computer science (this is slightly questionable), anthropology (society, culture, language) and philosophy. Now, I am not an expert in any of these. But, many times, our society decides to take a course of action with the reasoning couched in the language of one of these sciences. Without a basic understanding of these sciences, it is certainly not possible to identify most of the baloney dished out to us in the name of science.
The miscellaneous title gives an impression of this being not so important. But, that is certainly not the case. Its use only reflects the poverty of my english vocabulary. This category contains the fields of environmental studies and current affairs. Undoubtedly, my study of environmental effects of my middle class life practices and awareness of current affairs played a huge role in creating a huge shift in my outlook to life.
PS: In the next post, I will post some example of when each of these were helpful to me.
From Gautama Buddha in his eight fold path to Patanjali in his niyamas, correct action have also found great emphasis in Indian spiritual discourse (probably in a lot of others also). I have been intrigued by this for a long time. When life was much simpler in small communities, correct action was probably slightly more easier to define that today (am not implying that it was easy to follow). But, in todays world, where the actions of one person living in one part of the world has its effects on the four corners of the world, it is not easy to define. Some questions that evade easy answers would be
a.) I want the sky to be blue and the river water pure enough for me to drink directly from it. But, does it mean that I quit my jog which depends on an economy that for its very existence has to pollute both land and water?
b.) I want to be friendly and compassionate to everyone around me. So, do I fight the oppressive and often violent social structures of which I am a part of?
The questions are endless. The answers are not readily forthcoming. From my experience, the actual answers are quite personalized to every individual. But, that is not to deny a common factor in the different ideosyncratic answers. The methds I try come from three different domains - spirituality, science and misc (for want of a better word). I do acknowledge sometimes the directions from any two of these are directly opposite to each other but its part of the problem to deal with such situations.
Spiritually, I find that it really helps to contemplate on compassion and selfless action. If the action that I do is contradicting either of this, it is a big red flag to me. I would be extremely cautious even moving a centimeter in that direction.
Scientifically, I find it is important to have a basic understanding of evolutionary biology, human psychology, physics (at both the particle and astronomical granularities), computer science (this is slightly questionable), anthropology (society, culture, language) and philosophy. Now, I am not an expert in any of these. But, many times, our society decides to take a course of action with the reasoning couched in the language of one of these sciences. Without a basic understanding of these sciences, it is certainly not possible to identify most of the baloney dished out to us in the name of science.
The miscellaneous title gives an impression of this being not so important. But, that is certainly not the case. Its use only reflects the poverty of my english vocabulary. This category contains the fields of environmental studies and current affairs. Undoubtedly, my study of environmental effects of my middle class life practices and awareness of current affairs played a huge role in creating a huge shift in my outlook to life.
PS: In the next post, I will post some example of when each of these were helpful to me.
1 comment:
hey partha, this series sounds interesting. looking forward to further posts.
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