Contemprary indian society-2015.doc

7/25/2019 Contemprary indian society-2015.doc

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THE NATURE OF VALUE CRISIS IN THE CONTEMPORARY INDIAN SOCIETY

To every man born on earth Truth is the visible manifestation of God. The entire cosmoscomposed of moving and immovable objects has emerged from Truth, is sustained byTruth and merges in Truth. "Sathyam-Jnanam-Anantham Brahma" (Truth isBrahmam.

Truth is eternal). Vedantins equated Truth withBrahmam (the Supreme). ence everyonehas to revere Truth alone. Sathya and Dharma will not submit to any one. !very "ind ofstrength, physical or otherwise, will have to come under their sway. Success followsSathya andDharma. #hatever your scholarship or position, you have to cultivate respectfor human values. $ndian culture is une%celled and stands supreme. Students haveforgotten its grandeur and glory. $n the pursuit of modernity, students are oblivious totheir inherent divinity.

&ust as the hands, ears, eyes and legs are all angas (limbs or organs) of individual humanbody, the bodies of all human beings are the limbs of society. 'gain, society itself is alimb of man"ind. 'nd humanity is a limb ofPrakrithi (ature) and ature is a limb of

ivinity. *ne should understand this Anga-Angee-Bhaava (intimate limb) relationshipbetween ivinity and human beings, in the proper perspective.

$ndividual values and Societal values ma"e up the life values and this impacts ature ie.standard of living.

Betrayal by people who pretend to adore is happening since ages.+orrupt, greedy andselfish people spread falsehoods about their own asters. #e hear of a &udas, - yearsago. /ut in theKali Age, people are obsessed with money and &udases have multiplied.They see" to amass paltry riches whereas good character, good conduct and "nowledge ofmotive force are the three real treasures to be gathered. 0and and buildings, silver and

gold, dollars and other currencies are temporary and trivial. They are possessions onlyuntil life lasts. /ut those three treasures will stay on, sustain and strengthen you until youattain union with the $nfinite.

Decline of Truth an ri!htenou"

Fo"terin! or Protectin! Sathya (Truth) anDharma(right action)

To safeguard the nation, Sathya andDharma have to be protected only. These two willprotect all. Giving up Truth and right conduct, educated persons, in the name of countryand nation, are undermining the country. $t is more vital to cultivate virtues than go afterscholarship or other possessions of a transient nature.$t is a pity that even the elders, lured by modernity, are following occidental ways, givingup their own ancient culture. $t is no wonder the younger generation is following theire%ample. 0eaders, parents and teachers are not setting the right e%ample to young people.*ur ancients led e%emplary, noble lives because of their practice of virtue. They pursuedthe fourPurusharthas (goals of life) and shared the benefits and joys derived therefromwith others. 1oung people today indulge in all sorts of practices. *f the four2urusharthas33harma, Artha, Kama and Moksha--they have given up Dharma andMoksha and are only pursuingArtha (material welfare) andKama (sensual desires). 's a

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consequence, disorder and insecurity have grown in society. The loss of peace andsecurity is the direct result of forgetting Truth and 5ighteousness.#e should notforget our ancient culture. This is the very life3breath of /haratiyas. /harathas offered to the world the gems of this culture. Samskriti reers to the process ofrefinement of every object before it is made fit for human use. 6or e%ample, paddy has to

be converted into coo"ed rice before it is fit for consumption. $n the process it undergoesmany changes and acquires added value. 0i"ewise, man should not remain in the state inwhich he was born. e should manifest his inherent divinity. Students should thereforetry to acquire, in addition to academic "nowledge, qualities li"e humility anddiscrimination, which will help them to become full3fledged human personalities. 's aseed finds fulfillment in a fruit3bearing tree, man should find fulfilment in a purposefullife.

INTELLECTUAL Value"

True eucation fo"ter" hu#an $alue"

uman values do not depend on education alone. They depend more on culture. #hat doyou mean by culture7 Culture #ean" !i$in! u% one&" 'a conuct( 'a 'eha$ior( 'aee" an culti$atin! !oo thin)in!( fo"terin! !oo "enti#ent" that lea to !oo

action"*

The state of the whole world depends on human activity. #hen the actions of the peopleare noble, the country is equally noble. The people8s behavior and conduct depend ontheir thoughts. Thoughts depend on the mind. Good thoughts are the basis of humanvalues. $t is not difficult to go through the education process. /y some effort, mar"s maybe scored. /ut neither the blossoming of intelligence nor the unfoldment of good qualitiescan be witnessed in such students. The scoring of high mar"s or ran"s is nottran"for#ation of #in. $n pursuit of education, practicing what one learns is most

important. The e%ternal gains derived from eucation are acco#%anie '+ an e,uala#ount of lo""e"*The %o-er of intelli!ence an i"cri#ination i" lo"t. .no-le!e of-hat i" !oo( -hat i" "i!nificant an -hat i" "u%re#e -i"o# i" lo"t* 2eople are slaveof senses. 9The slave of the senses is a fool. *nly man who subdues the senses is a hero83:athopanishad. ;almi""i called 5avana a oor"ha3stubborn fool.*nly the student who has mastered the senses can be heroic in his life and be strong andeffulgent as a diamonds. The one who is slave of the senses will be a slave of the world.Self3control must be primary aim of education. The end of education is "nowledge.ow to control the sense7/uddha tried different "inds of sadhanas. e studied sacred te%ts. /ut no literatureclearl+ e0%laine the nature of fi$e "en"e"*


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Eucation i" for life*

Life i" for #an*

Man i" there for "ociet+*

Societ+ i" #eant for "%iritualit+*

The "%iritualit+ i" there for the nation*The nation i" %art of the -orl( an

the -orl i" for %eace*

Toa+ e$er+one -ant" %eace.$n fact you can attain and acquire peace only out of human values. 6or peace andhappiness, human values are most important. /ereft of human values, man can never bein peace. 2ithout uner"tanin! thi" %rinci%le( #an trie" to ac,uire eucation. antoa+ con"ier" that recei$in! infor#ation i" eucation. $t is not information thatconfers human values. Moern eucation #a)e" a #an #achine( a co#%uter.3reatne"" lie" in 'eco#in! not a co#%uter 'ut a co#%o"er* 1ou have to acquireeducation to ma"e your life ideal. odern education tends to ma"e men selfish. There

should be a limit even for selfishness. !very student must necessarily cultivate humanvalues. The Government, by establishing educational institutions in every village andstreet, thin"s that the education in the country has progressed. #hat are the qualities ofeducation1 Virtue"( !oo intellect( aherence to truth( e$otion( i"ci%line( an ut+are e""ential ,ualitie". !ducation must teach these values. Students have to learn thesethings. #hat is the progress in modern education7 $n fact, students try to ruin those whoare responsible for their food. They harm those who help them. They ma"e fun of thosewho teach them. This is the progress in 9modern8 education. Students have to fosterobedience, humility, and human values and attain ivinity. This is true education.odern students do not understand what true education is. 's a result, society is polluted.Truth and other human qualities have been distorted and perverted altogether. Sanctityand sacred quality of human nature is fast disappearing. The practices of righteousness,compassion are viewed as bad practices. o you call this 9progress8 in education7o. you should e%press human values by practicing righteousness and cultivatingcompassion.

The true #eanin! of eucation

#ith good education, you will have culture, when you have culture, that is truelife.

$f you have good education, you will be happy. #hen you are happy, you will bepeaceful.

#hen you have good education, you will be in good company. #hen you are ingood company, you will have good qualities.

#hen you have good education, your life will find fulfillment. Thereby, you canattain liberation.

Thoughts to ponder=!eading and riting #annot make a man edu#ated.

Are those a#$uiring degrees s#holars%

&ithout right knoledge and 'ro'er #ondu#t,

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(an one )e deemed edu#ated%

* learning or earning a living is esteemed as edu#ation,

Are not )irds and )easts a)le to live ithout learning%

Thi" ecline in )no-le!e i" ue to chan!e fro# S%iritual 4co#%lete5 to Secular4inco#%leate5 eucation

#e must go bac" thousands of years to the time when $ndia was steeped in the ;edictradition. The pursuit of "nowledge was then a serious matter, and the Guru who in hisashram collected disciples and groomed them, considered the sustenance and thepropagation of the ;edas as his prime duty and a sacred mission. The disciples and theGuru lived together, and instruction was continuous, not being restricted to the formalsessions alone. 0iving with the Guru was true education in those days.

$n every respect, the Guru was God8s pro%y in human form. The Guru did not e%pect anypayment, and accepted with humility what was offered to him by students and patrons.

.no-le!e -a" not onl+ freel+ "hare 'ut it -a" the ut+ of tho"e -ho %o""e""e"%iritual )no-le!e to %a"" it on to a" #an+ %eo%le a" %o""i'le.

This school of the ;edic age was called Guru"ulam. owever, to understand its fullsignificance, one must place the Guru and his Guru"ulam against the bac"drop of ;edicSociety. $ shall attempt that shortly.

/oys were accepted as disciples in the Guru"ulam at the tender age of fi$e(after they hadgone through the ceremony of


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surgeon serves Society, it means that he or she is actually serving motive force, Societyitself is God.

$t is this "ind of training wherein one regards everything as belonging to God anddedicates one8s life to God8s service that the Guru of old really imparted. !ven children

were supposed to belong to God, parents being mere careta"ers.

'ccording to the ;edas, man is a combination of the body, the ind and the 'tma. So,strictly spea"ing, all three components of the human being must receive propernourishment in balanced proportion and in a disciplined manner. The day begins withgod, then e%ercise etc., after which students have a bath, eat brea"fast and go to +ollege.$n the +ollege, the day always begins with prayer. 'fter this the classes, where maths,physics, chemistry, biology, computer science, etc., are taught. $n the afternoon, allstudents assemble in the temple, and moral lessons should be taught. iscipline is theundercurrent of all activities, $n Guru"ulam where the disciples played a "ey part in"eeping it going.

isciplined life can ma"e a hell of a lot of difference. &ust to place all this in conte%t letme also draw attention to a news item that a friend in 'merica sent me. $t appears that thearvard edical School has done an e%tensive survey of students of universities in'merica and discovered that on the average, each student spend AB,BC3 per year onalcohol. This is shoc"ing and shows what damage the lac" of discipline and selfregulation can cause.

5ecently, newspapers in $ndia went gaga about the achievements of business schoolgraduates coming out of the so3called elite institutions. They went gaga because many so3called big companies were hiring these students at real fat salaries. *ne boy was being

offered A 4B,C3 or so and many others were being offered salaries in the range4B, to 4, dollars per annum. 'nd many of these jobs were in 'merica. So thepapers gushedD This is what brand names are all about.

'll this may sound great, and that e%actly is what it is. 1ou might wonder what8s wrongwith that7 /efore $ come to that, let me mention that the companies that offer such fatsalaries also e%pect a tremendous lot and it won8t ta"e them more than one minute to sac"a person. $ "now a person in the


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e%cellent team players, wor" hard, and are scrupulously honest. 'll this flow naturallyfrom good character. +ontrast this with what a senior teacher in a business school in'merica said after the recent rash of corporate scandals. e as"edD E#hatever happenedto old3fashioned ideas about truth and honesty7F #ell, in the name of training managersto be aggressive and highly competitive, values just got thrown out, that8s all.

Say for e%ample the drain is clooged and is about to enter the "itchen and ruin everything7 #hat would you do7 $ts an emergency, ow many of us will go into the gutter andclean7

This reminds me of a nice story. $t appears that an 'merican tourist once went to +alcuttaand there saw other Teresa drag a dying man from the gutter, cleaning him and all that.The tourist was shoc"ed and e%claimed, E3ee I -oul not o that( e$en if I a# !i$en a#illion ollar".F other Teresa turned to the 'merican, smiled and said 6I -oul nottoo* In fact( I -oul not o it e$en if offere t-o #illion ollar"*7The 'merican waspuled and said, E/ut you are doing it=F other had the last word. She said, E'h, this $

am doing for God.F That is perhaps a story but what $ narrated is a real incident. *urstudent did it for Swami.

$n the ultimate analysis, man"ind, if it really wants to get out of the present mess, which,by the way, is caused almost entirely by mass selfishness and greed, can do so only whenindividuals develop strong character. 'nd when students in large number receive what $would call true education for life, then in later life they would automatically act in thespirit of Trusteeship. #hen that happens, most of man3made problems would disappearand the world would become a much better and holier place to live in.

$ maintain that without character, one simply cannot e%pect any major improvement in

Society. Character i" #oule in the ho#e an in the eucational in"titution". #henthousands and thousands of young men and women go out into Society with strongcharacter, they would for sure lead a harmic life. True harmic life calls forselflessness, and actions performed in the spirit of trusteeship. $f people in all wal"s oflife and even organisations follow that principle, then the Golden 'ge that we all dreamabout 'S to dawn.

2eople may shrug their shoulders and dismiss all this as a wild pipe dream. $t cannothappen, they might say. y answer isD $t #$00 happen if we want it to. 're we reallyserious about changing this world or we want someone else to do it for us7 $f the latter isthe case, we can be sure that nothing would ever happen. $f a person is hungry, then thatperson has to eat? someone else cannot eat for that person. $t is as simple as that=

odern education produces only Hlearned fools?H it does not produce wise men who canmeet life calmly and bravely. $ts products "now how to fill themselves with information,device tools or handle them for the destruction of fellowmen or cater to the whims of thesenses333but, they are helpless to meet the crisis of death, a crisis that is inevitable.

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S*+$!T'0 ;aluesDRelation"hi%"8

Truth is the mother because it transcends time, gunas and is equally applicable toeverybody.#isdom is true father. ot materlistic wisdom but 'dvaita arshanan &nanam3non3

dualism is the real wisdom.harna (5ighteousness) is true brotherD harma varies depending time, country, religionand tradition.+ompassion is true friend. 1our friend may turn enemy tomorrow, but compassion doesnot.2eace is your true wifeD 2eace is precious jewel6orgiveness is the true son. o greater quality than forgiveness. $t encompasses truth,dharma and non3violence.

Social Chan!e"8 Fro# Varna to ca"te "+"te#8 De"ta'ili9ation of Societ+

$n the structure of ;edic Society , it was organised into strata, often referred to as the;arna System. $n the Gita, :rishna declares that it is e who created the ;arna System.$n later years, the ;arna System came to be "nown as the +aste System, and than"s to themany evils that contaminated the +aste System, it earned a very bad name. $n fact, manysocial and political activists of today have a dim view of 0ord :rishna because,according to these critics, it was :rishna who started all the trouble.

$t is useful to spend a few minutes chec"ing out all this. 6irst of all, what e%actly is the;arna System, and what precisely did :rishna mean when e said that e is the one whocreated the ;arna System7 y view is this. The ;arna System merely says that people are

born with different aptitudes. This is another way of saying that there is diversity inhuman nature. Thus, according to me, :rishna was merely saying that all diversity in+osmos, including in human beings, originated from im. #hat8s wrong with that7

$ mean let us ta"e a country li"e, say, Germany. They have no caste system there, right7'nd yet in this very same Germany, some people have a passion for sports, some arededicated to music, some just love business, some are deep into science and so on, right7ow come7 'll this happens because different people have different aptitudes andtendencies? and this is simply a reflection of the diversity of human nature.

Seen in this manner, the ;arna System is a #ere for#al coification of the

"tratification of hu#an nature that alrea+ e0i"t". Today, in practically every countrythere are intellectuals, captains of industry, artists, scientists, men of the armed forces,and so on. 2eople do different things based on their natural instincts and inclinations.This reflects nothing but the stratification of that particular country. obody says it iswrong, unethical, or immoral to have such stratification. This "ind of natural stratificatione%isted even in the +ommunist countries, and the +ommunists too" it in their stride.

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So let us be clear about this. Different %eo%le ha$e ifferent a%titue" an that i" ,uitenatural* Such "tratification al-a+" e0i"te an al-a+" -ill*obody can condemn orcriticise this. $ "now some of you who are listening might jump and sayD E/ut hey, wait aminute. 1ou are distorting everything= 1ou have got it all wrong=F $ "now e%actly whatyour objections are going to be? please be patient and $ myself shall bring them up.

O.( -hat i" !oin! to 'e the fir"t o':ection7 $t would be that the ;arna Systeminstitutionalised stratification, that the son of a /rahmin was a /rahmin while the son ofSudra was a Sudra. 'greed. /ut you "now what7 $f you go bac" say a thousand years, inall societies, activities that people pursued were largely hereditary. A hunter&" "on -oul'e a hunter( a far#er&" "on -oul 'e a far#er an "o on . /y the way, have younoticed how many !nglish names are associated with trades li"e, 3ol"#ith( /a)er(Iron#on!er( Car%enter( and so on7 So you see, if in ;edic times a /rahmin8s son was a/rahmin, a ;aisya8s son was a ;aisya and so on, it was in "eeping with what wascommon in those times in all societies? nothing wrong in that.

1ou might at this point argueD E#e are not complaining about the hereditary business butthe stigma attached to the lower castes in the ;arna System and the indignity andhumiliation the lower castes had to suffer.F $ must admit that you have a point there. 1ou"now something7 #hen $ was young, my friends and $ were all hopping mad about theinjustices of the +aste System as it was then being practiced. $f you recall, even Gandhifought against the evils of the system.

There is a boo" entitled The Gita 'ccording to Gandhi. This boo" is by ahadeva esai,a close associate of Gandhi, and is essentially an !nglish translation of a boo" thatGandhi had written earlier in Gujarathi. $n that boo", Gandhi comments e%tensively onthe ;arna System and the +aste System. $nterestingly, 3anhi %rai"e" the Varna

S+"te# an "har%l+ cone#n" the Ca"te S+"te#*/ut are not the too the same7 otquite? what we had to start with was the ;arna System? what it later became was thedegenerated +aste System. Thus it is that Gandhi supported the ;arna System butopposed strongly the +aste System. 1ou thin" there is a contradiction7 0et us e%amine.

1ou see, ;arna System was born when the Scri%ture" for#ali"e natural "tratification'+ eclarin! that Societ+ -oul 'e i$ie into four ca"te" co#%o"e of the

/rah#in"( the ."hatri+a"( the V+"+a"( an the Sura". 6urther, people born to/rahmins would be /rahmins, people born to :shatriyas would be :shatriyas, and so on.The utie" of each co##unit+ -ere al"o "%ecifie . Thus, /rahmins would be modelsof humility, concerned mainly with the preservation of the ;edas and guiding people onhow to lead their lives in accordance with what the Scriptures say. The :shatriyas woulddefend the "ingdom, the ;ysyas would be concerned with trade and commerce, while theSudras would ta"e care of what today we might perhaps call the service sector.

This was how it was when the System got started? all nice and smooth, /ut systems havea way of getting corrupted and atrophied if one is not careful and that precisely is whathappened to the ;arna System. 2eople in the so3called upper castes started becomingselfish and greedy and began to e%ploit those below, especially the Sudras. That is when

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the entire System went haywire and remained so for centuries if not thousands of years. $tis this aberration that Gandhi fought against tooth and nail, and *T the original System.*n the contrary, since :rishna had said it was e who had

!arlier, $ described what the members of the different ;arnas were supposed to do. There

was something else that $ should have mentioned but did not? $ shall ma"e up for it now,especially since it is a very important point. $n the ;edic age, every individual wassupposed to act always for the benefit of Society. Selfishness was taboo, and everythingwas done in the name of God, and for God. This is an important point and needs somee%planation.

0et us ta"e /rahmins. The+ -ere the cu"toian" of Scri%tural .no-le!e* Thi".no-le!e -a" al-a+" to 'e u"e for the 'enefit of Societ+ . 6or e%ample, /rahminsadvised :ings on how to rule and :ings accepted their advice with humility. The serviceto .in!" -a" renere a" a ut+ an not for an+ %a+#ent or re-ar* The :shatriyasli"ewise efene Dhar#a 'ecau"e it -a" their ut+ to o "o* $n fact, if you

remember, that is e%actly what :rishna tells 'rjuna, namely that it is hi" ut+ to fi!ht to%rotect Dhar#a( an not ,uit !i$in! la#e e0cu"e"*

The long and short of it, when everyone wor"ed for Society and scrupulously observedharma, there was really no problem. obody loo"ed down upon anybody and there wasno e%ploitation either. Pro'le#" a%%eare onl+ -hen %eo%le "tarte to 'eco#e "elfi"han "elf;centre*&ust to illustrate my point, imagine how different life would be if therewere no %atent" e"%eciall+ on life;"a$in! ru!"* .no-le!e i" nature&" !ift an -eha$e no ri!ht to a%%ro%riate it an a #a)e 'u"ine"" out of it.

#e now come to the central point about stability in Society. The question isD ow to

maintain stability in Society when there is stratification7 #ill there not be e%ploitation7The answer is as followsD There will be no e%ploitation when individuals believe that theyare the Trustees of the motive force and discharge their duties accordingly.

This in fact is the "ey point, that of Trusteeship. !ach one of us is blessed by the 0ordwith unique gifts? that is why we are all different, and that is why there is a naturalstratification. *ne person may be rich? his wealth is a gift of God, and he is supposed tohandle that wealth as a Trustee of God. 'nother person may be very intelligent? thatperson is supposed to use his intelligence as a Trustee of God. 'nd so on. $f every oneacts this way, stratification cannot lead to social problems.

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CULTURAL Value"

Verily like a massive tusker

Knows not its own might

The sons o Bharat are !uite unaware o the greatness o their

culture"

Tolerance and compassion its beauteous orm"Truth above all other rituals strict"

#other$s love and reverence" the very eli%ir eternal"

&haracter" true" greater than mere living o comort"

'nmindul o ones own heritage"

The Bharatiya runs ater ashions occidental"

Sad is the sight" sadder the plight.

The 3lor+ of /harat

The world to3day is in the grip of a supreme moral and spiritual crisis. 2eople everywhereare feeling frustrated and helpless and an%iously wondering what is in store for humanity.

The hopes raised by the advances of science and technology have proved dupes. #hilescience has overcome the barriers of time, distance and nationality, it has done little topromote better understanding between man and man and nation and nation. ever hasthere been so much distrust, hatred and violence as is witnessed to3day, in almost everycountry. en have forgotten their essential divine nature and have even failed to observethose basic human qualities which raise them above the level of animals. $n the ceaselesspursuit of material acquisitions and sensuous pleasures, they have forgotten that the realsource of happiness and bliss is the discovery of the Aathma (the true self) that is in eachof them.#ithout the conquest of oneMs passions and desires and without realising the divinity thatis immanent in every living thing, man cannot achieve peace, bliss within or harmonywith the outside world. The message of H6atherhood of God and the /rotherhood ofan,H which &esus +hrist proclaimed - years ago, should become a living faith forthe achievement of real peace and the unity of man"ind. The oneness of all creationaffirmed by the ancient seers and sages must be e%pressed in a transcendental love whichembraces all people regardless of creed, community or language. ay you all developthis ivine 0ove and stand out as theThe hi"tor+ of /harat i" one lon! "a!a of "acrifice

$n the modern world, /harat stands for all that is sacred. Since, ancient times, it has beena model and an ideal for the rest of the world. There is Truth in the air of /harat. There isdharma in the dust of /harat. There is love in the sands of /harat. 'nd there iscompassion in the water of /harat. 6orbearance is the core of Bharatiya ($ndian) culture.$n order to enjoy and e%perience these values, even foreigners have decided to come andsettle down in /harat. $n ancient times, Bharatiyas were determined to follow theprinciple of sacrifice. They were dedicated to righteousness and truth. aving been bornin the sacred land of /harat, you should not forget this important aspect. $f you gothrough the history of this sacred land, you will certainly understand that /harat nevertried to invade or conquer any country. They had to resist foreign invaders. Bharatiyasstand for selflessness. They were never selfish at any point of time. Bharatiyas nevercoveted the lands of others. The history of /harat is one long saga of sacrifice. !mperor

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arischandra was prepared to give up everything for the sa"e of Truth. !mperor Sibisacrificed his own flesh and blood to save a dove. /harat has given birth to men andwomen who stood for sacrifice. odern students are trying to change this land ofsacrifice, from a land of spiritual practices into a land of pleasure see"ers. /ut allpleasure is transient. 1ou should see" the bliss that is enduring by realiing your inherent

ivinity.

0et our education become true education. !ducation that is not practised is boo"ish"nowledge.1ou should have love for your country also. 5ama Said, Eotherland is greater thanheaven itself.F That spirit of patriotism is very important.

I#itatin! other culture"

3i$e ue %lace for Inian $alue" Sto% a%in! the re"t

!;!51 man has three bodies33the gross or physical +sthoola, the subtle +sookshma andthe causal +kaarana. #hen the physical body is rendered pure by ta"ing pure food, the

subtle body consisting of the mind is purified by pure desires, and the causal bodyrepresented by the antahkarana (conscience) is sanctified by sacred thoughts, theinherent divinity in man can be manifested and fullness in life achieved.$t is essential that every boy and girl should learn and practise the basic ethical principlesfor the blossoming of their true nature. Their primary obligation is to recognie thedivinity that is in each of them. $n the olden days, students used to pray to the Goddess of:nowledge, Saraswati, to ma"e them good, truthful and sweet loo"ing. andsome is thathandsome does. #here truth and goodness e%ist beauty is present as a natural outcome.+ontrol of the senses and observance of the accepted code of discipline are the hallmar"sof a cultured man.

A$oi i#itatin! %ractice" of other countrie"

There is no meaning in one country simply imitating or copying the managementpractices of another. Such imitation often leads to waste of resources and manyundesirable results. This is what is happening in many countries, including $ndia. #hat isgood or suitable for one country need not necessarily be good for another. #e shouldhave regard to the circumstances, the individual attainments and the specific requirementsof our country. *ur culture and values are different from those of others. These differentsituations cannot be treated ali"e. The attempt to combine different sets of values mayresult in the loss of values of the less developed country. There is a story which illustrateshow by listening to the views of all and sundry one ma"es himself a laughing stoc" and aloser in bargain. ' fruit vendor put up a board over his stall to theeffectD H6ruits are sold here.H ' passerby told the shop"eeper the word HhereH in the signboard was superfluous. The vendor arranged to get the word erased. 'nother man camealong to say that there was no need to announce that fruits were being HsoldH as that wasobvious to anyone. 'nd so, the word HsoldH was erased. ' third man said that there wasno need to mention that HfruitsH were being sold, as it was patent to any one what wasbeing sold in the shop.


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his own judgement. $n the sphere of business management, a similar situation hasdeveloped in $ndia. /y following the advice of one country or other $ndia has made ahash of its economy and finances. $n ancient times, $ndia served as an e%ample to othercountries.

Inia then an no-

' "ing from Greece came to $ndia to study the conditions here, especially in regard toeducation and religion, after visiting other countries in 'sia. e was impressed by thegurukula system of education and the "ind of relations that e%isted between the guru andthesishyas (students). The ashram of everyguru was a veritable university, without anyof the paraphernalia of modern universities. The students were prepared for all "inds ofhardship to acquire "nowledge from the gurus. e also noted the discipline and highcharacter of the students. e collected boo"s li"e the


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sense of unity that has been the core of /haratMs age3old culture. $t has sought to promotethe well3being of all as a cardinal faith. #hen $ndians realise the value and validity of thisheritage, they will ma"e their lives meaningful.

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En$iron#ental i""ue"

*ne of the fundamental aspects of culture is the relationship it prescribes between

individuals and environment. 'm $ part of the natural environment, or am $ separate andperhaps superior to nature7 The answer to this question influences the types of attitudesthat individuals within a given culture are li"ely to develop, the types of environmentalbehaviors that individuals are li"ely to adopt, and more generally, beliefs about how tosolve environmental problems. This chapter e%amines differences in attitudes aboutenvironmental issues across cultures. #e distinguish between egoistic environmentalattitudes, and biospheric environmental attitudes, and summarie recent cross3culturalresearch on the relationship between cultural values and attitudes about the naturalenvironment.

INTRODUCTION

#e live in an era of unprecedented growth and change. The last 4 years have seen thetransformation of the daily lives of millions of people living in industrialied nations,brought about by scientific discoveries. !very facet of our daily lives has been changedby technology3from how we wor", travel, and obtain food, to recreating and maintainingsocial relationships. 2eople living today in industrialied countries spend a large portionof their lives mediated by technology. #e live, wor", drive, shop, and do almost everyother daily activity in a built environment. /ut this is a relatively new phenomenon, andmany of the modern comforts that we ta"e for granted (air travel, supermar"ets, cars,computers, electric lights, telephones, televisions, etc.) were fantasies 4 years ago. 1etwith this growth have come challenges. *ne in particular is the damaging effect of

consumptive lifestyles on the natural environment. /y the dawn of the -4st century, theseeffects were becoming readily apparent.

The cumulative result of technology and economic development has wrea"edhavoc on the natural environment. This is not to say that damage to the naturalenvironment did not occur prior to the -4st century, because it did. Throughout historyhuman activity has impacted surrounding environments (2onting, 4LL4). /ut what haschanged is the magnitude of the effects. The once localied damage that resulted fromproduction and consumption has reached global proportions. /y the end of the -thcentury, it was clear that the lifestyles of those people living in industrialied countrieswere not sustainable (ertsgaard, 4LLL). 2ollution of air, water, and land that resultedfrom human activity threaten the very e%istence of our species.

Pro'le#" A""ociate -ith En$iron#ental I""ue"8 Two problems in particular deserveelaborationD consumption and population.

.(onsum'tion. #ith the industrial revolution came increasing demands for rawmaterials. +oal, oil, wood, and metal ore are needed to manufacture the many productsthat we ta"e for granted today. 1et the rate at which we consume these materials is notsustainable and cannot continue indefinitely. The termsustaina)ilityrefers to the balance

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between the rate at which a particular system is depleted and the rate at which itreplenishes itself. uman use of nearly every natural resource is currently occurring atunsustainable rates. *ur use of natural resources must change, and our throw3awaysociety where products are used only once and then discarded cannot continue for muchlonger.

6ollowing is a brief list of some of the environmental problems that have resulted fromhuman activity and consumption, e%cerpted from a recent article by *s"amp (-4). 6ora more complete description of these problems, see *s"amp (-? -4), or the mostrecent volume of the State o the &orld, edited by 0ester /rown.

Global warming due to the greenhouse effect. The primary source of human3made

greenhouse gasses is the burning of fossil fuels in cars and to produce electricity. 0oss of the earthMs protective oone layer due to the release of cloroflourocarbons

(+6+s). Global climate change and loss of biodiversity due to destruction of tropical and

temperate rain forests. *verfishing and e%haustion of the worldMs ocean fisheries and decreasing

agricultural productivity due to many unsustainable harvesting practices. 'cid rain, which damages forests and crops and also "ills fish, plants, and other

organisms in la"es and rivers. To%ic pollution of air and drin"ing water supplies.

Genetic and hormonal damage and cancer due to e%posure to dio%in and other

to%ic chemicals.

/.Po'ulation. ' second, and related problem to consumption, is population growth. orepeople means more consumption, greater demand for resources, and more pollution and

waste. 2opulation growth over the past 4 years has been staggering. 6or LL.LO ofhuman e%istence on this planet, fewer than 4 million people inhabited the planet. $n4K>, less than - years ago, the human population reached 4 billion? in 4L> it reached- billion, and the growth continued e%ponentially. 's of -, there were appro%imatelyI billion people on the planet. 2rojections about the number of people the earth cansupport vary, but it is clear that I billion people living the consumptive lifestylewidespread in industrialied nations li"e the


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change. 2sychologists can wor" to develop theories of human cognition and behavior thatlead to environmental problems develop and assess program that move us towardsustainability, or study the impact of culture on environmental attitudes, beliefs, orbehavior. 't the very core of environmental problemsis an individualMs understanding of his or her relationship with the natural environment.

'll cultures that e%ist today, and throughout history, have addressed the issue of therelationship between individuals and the natural environment (2onting, 4LL4). &ust asevery culture has prescribed a set of rules for social interaction, culture also frames therelationship between the individual and nature. 's environmental problems have becomemore apparent, our understanding of the problems, and the solutions we develop toaddress the problems, occur through the filter of culture. This chapter e%amines theinfluence of culture on the beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of individuals relevant toenvironmental issues.

Attitue" a'out En$iron#ental I""ue"

Different T+%e" of Attitue" 4E!oi"tic $er"u" /io"%heric5

#hen we thin" about attitudes toward environmental issues, we often assume that theseattitudes fall along a continuum from low (not concerned) to high (very concerned).These attitudes might reflect general concern for environmental issues, or attitudes aboutspecific issues li"e recycling, energy conservation, or public transportation. owever,research suggests that there are different types of attitudes, and that two people can beequally concerned about environmental problems, but for very different reasons. 6orpsychologists, the more interesting question is not whether or not a person is concernedabout environmental problems (most people are), but hy they are concerned.

5esearch e%amining the different types of environmental attitudes has attempted

to identify the values associated with different concerns. any of the respondentsindicated that their greatest concern was pollution. 'mong these, some respondentsindicated that their concern was based on the fact that air pollution has been shown tocause cancer, and they (the individuals) didnMt want to breath polluted air. 'nother set ofrespondents indicated that polluted air will increase the rate of sic"ness in people aroundthe world and reduce the quality of life for everyone. 6inally, a thir group ofrespondents indicated that pollution is "illing plants and animals and threatens to disruptthe balance of nature.

!ach of these sets of concerns reflects different underlying values. #e refer tothese as egoistic, altruistic, and biospheric attitudes (Schult, -). 0goisti#concerns arefocused on the individual, and reflect a concern about environmental problems for self.These concerns include personal health, financial well3being, quality of life, andavailability of resources. Altruisti#concerns focus on people other than self, includingfriends, family, community, future generations, or humanity. 6inally, )ios'heri#concernsfocus on all living things, including plants, animals, ecosystems, and the biosphere.

The results from this research have provided three clear findings.6irst, the attitudes of people from all of these countries can be classified as

egoistic, altruistic, or biospheric.

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The second finding that has emerged from this research is that there are cleardifferences across countries in the level of concern, and in the overall level of egoistic,altruistic, and biospheric attitudes.

The final finding from these studies is the relationship between values andattitudes of environmental concern. Throughout this volume, scholars have elaborated on

the differences between individualistic and collectivistic cultures, and the values thatcharacterie each. (ultural values are the ideals and goals that are viewed as guidingprinciples in a personMs life. The results from our research indicate that values focused onthe individual are associated with egoistic attitudes about environmental issues, whilevalues focused outside the self are associated with more altruistic and biosphericattitudes. That is, value self3enhancing goals (li"e power, wealth, success, or personalambition) are associated with more egoistic environmental attitudes. $n contrast, valuesthat transcend the self (li"e broad3minded, honesty, forgiving, or loyalty) are associatedwith more biospheric environmental attitudes. This finding ma"es sense, given that thefocus within individualistic cultures is placed on an autonomous self, while the focuswithin collectivistic cultures is placed on relationships with others. $ndeed, it may be the

case that biospheric attitudes are an e%tension of HrelationshipH with others to include thenatural environment. /iospheric attitudes reflect an underlying concern for plants andanimals, and people who have a broad self3construal are more li"ely to include otherpeople, and aspects of nature, within their notion of self.

Culture an Attitue"

The interpretation that cultural differences in environmental attitudes result fromdifferences in the importance of social relationships is consistent with socialpsychological research on the diffusion of responsibility and social loafing. *ne aspect ofenvironmental problems is that they occur on a grand scale. 'ir pollution causes acid rain

over thousands of square miles? greenhouse gasses cause warming of the entire planet?and water pollution is dispersed over miles of ocean.Solving environmental problems will require a concerted effort by a large group

of people. /ut why should $ wor" hard, when $ am just a small part of the group. $ndeed,as the group sie increases, people are more li"ely to loaf. This is what we tend to see inthe


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more li"ely to act in pro3environmental ways. *n the aggregate, women tend to be morerelationship3oriented than men, and we might e%pect results similar to those reportedabove for culture. The cumulative research evidence suggests that this is in fact the case.

Conclu"ion"8 !nvironmental attitudes in other countries. The research evidence collected

to date has e%amined the types of attitudes that people have about environmentalproblems, as well as the reasons that people give for their concerns. ifferences are theresult of cultural differences, and that collectivistic cultures, which tend to focus more onsocial relationships than on the individual, are more li"ely to foster biospheric attitudes.

owever, it is not the case that environmental problems are limited toindividualistic cultures, or to people with egoistic attitudes. #hile it is true thatoverconsumption and pollution are more serious in orthern industrialied countries thanin less industrialied countries, it is also the case that population growth is a more seriousproblem in less industrialied nations. $t is also the case that the consumptive lifestyle soprevalent in the richer countries in the world has become the model success for manydeveloping countries of the world (ertsgaard, 4LLL).!nvironmental problems affect all

living beings on this planet. The rapid growth and technological development that wasushered in by the industrial revolution have caused serious environmental problems. $flife on this plant3both human and nonhuman3is to continue, we need to change.2sychology can play an important role in moving toward sustainable lifestyles.

The %roce"" of Dehu#ani9ation

/end the body, mend the senses, end the mind.F ind will be none%istentwhen the senses are controlled. ind can be annihilated when noble thoughts areentertained.$n order to have sacred thoughts, give up vices li"e consumption of non3vegetarian food,smo"ing, and drin"ing into%icants. o not waste food, money, time, and energy. !at asmuch as you can, but do not waste, because millions are suffering for want of food. 1ouall "now what a miserable condition that the people of *rissa are in after a severe cyclonedevastated the state= $n some places, people are scrambling even for a morsel of food.1ou may not "now the value of food, but they "now it very well. So do not waste food.6ood is God.Similarly, do not waste money. Some students waste a lot of money eating in hotels, inplaying cards and gambling. isuse of money is evil. o your wor" yourself o notdepend on others. #henever you find time, wash your clothes yourself. #hy do you giveyour clothes to a washer man when you can wash them yourself7 1ou have no right towaste your father8s money.Time is God. That is why God is e%tolled asKalaya amaha, Kala Kalaya amaha,Kala Dar'a Damanaya amaha, Kalatheethaya amaha, etc. Time wasted is lifewasted. o not waste time in the pursuit of worldly pleasures.o not waste energy= !nergy is God. Today, students are wasting a lot of energy throughunsacred vision, bad thoughts, bad hearing, and e%cessive tal". *ur body can becompared to a radio. #hen the radio is turned on continuously, the cells get dischargedquic"ly. 0i"ewise, if you indulge in e%cessive tal", you will be losing a lot of energy.That is why the ancient sages and seers used to observe silence. So, conserve energy byobserving silence at least one day in a wee".

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Students should tal" less and wor" more. *nly then the latent energy develops. This wasthe sole aim of sages and seers in underta"ing various spiritual practices. *nce the latentenergy develops, your memory power as well as the power of concentration will increase.Some students are not able to perform well in e%aminations because they are not able toconcentrate even for a moment.

$n olden days education was imparted to students in the gurukulas. Students had to relyentirely on their memory power and concentration to acquire "nowledge, since there wereno papers, pens, pencils, etc. to jot down what the teachers would teach. Their learningconsisted of merely listening to the teachers, yet they could acquire high education.Though the modern students have access to papers, pens, etc., they fail to e%cel in studiesbecause they lac" concentration and memory power.You are not a co#%uter< +ou are a co#%o"er

1ou become divine once you safeguard your physical, mental, and spiritual powers. 0etyour body be engaged in good actions, mind entertain noblethoughts, and intellect merge in the ivine. /ody, mind, and intellect are merelyinstruments.

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