There’s much debate today over ‘Who is a good Hindu?’
The word ‘Hindu’ was given to us, because we belong to the Sindhu Ghati, Indus Valley civilisation; people from Arab nations started calling us Hindu and it became Hindustan. This was always Bharatvarsha, there was no singular religious identity that people identified with, and it was just Vedic culture. Sanatan Dharma means that it’s been there forever. Anybody who is flexible and believes in peace is a Hindu, because that’s what we have seen over thousands of years with different temples, sthan devtas, gram devtas, vastu devtas, kuldevas, ishta devtas.
How important are rituals?
Krishna says there comes a time, when you find a giant reservoir of fresh water. What need is there for a pond, then? When a child goes to school, he is expected to turn up on time; he is expected to carry a bag and greet the teacher. He is expected to sit in a certain way; these rituals are meant to train the child. As you grow older, your school bag becomes smaller. When you become something, you stop carrying a bag; you carry a phone or a tablet. Rituals are means to connect to our culture and help us make progress.
Does the ultimate spiritual experience imply that we are free of all identities?
It should not be forced, though. It should come on its own from our spiritual evolution as opposed to being forced upon us — that you have to be in a certain way — otherwise, you are not spiritual.
How can one know the extent of one’s spiritual progression?
A disciple asked his guru once, ‘how do I know that I am progressing spiritually?’ and the master said, just see how many times in a day you get disturbed over little things. A non-spiritual person gets disturbed easily over small matters. A spiritual person is not easily shaken. If you get disturbed, you may betrying to be spiritual, but are not yet spiritual. Disturbance occurs when there is conflict and conflict occurs when our viewpoint is stronger than the other person’s.
You said in your talk that it is important to take a stand. But won’t that make the other person angry?
Getting angry is not spiritual. Just like I have a right to an opinion, the other person also has a right to his opinion. Who is to say who is right and who is wrong here?
How can a leader get things done despite disagreements?
You have to keep three things in mind: One, what is the priority that the leader has been chosen for? Nobody becomes leader on his own accord; people have mandated the leader for a reason. Second, what is my principle; what do I stand for? Third, what are the resources that I have? Everybody in a public position is expected to serve the nation and a nation comprises its people. But this is often forgotten — we see that happening all the time. Politically, we are still a young nation. We got our Independence in 1947 and we are not even 100 years old. Politically, countries that are more mature, have better systems of governance in place. Transparency, accountability and education can bring about necessary transformation.
Is there a correlation between education and maturity?
In software, there is Capability Maturity Model, CMM. If you have just started a company, you can hire IIT,IIM and Harvard graduates, but ask, does that make your organisation mature? Unless you make some mistakes, deal with clients and know what involves growth, you don’t have maturity. Eventually, what happens? You move from individual heroism to corporate governance or wisdom. Similarly, in a country, no doubt leaders have charisma and that can inspire people to do countless things, but at the same time, the country’s system should be such that it can run smoothly, without having to depend on one or two leaders. The work shouldn’t stop. As Confucius said, ‘In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of, and in a country, poorly governed, wealth is to be ashamed of.’
Krishna was an avatar, yet he broke his vows, is that okay?
Absolute rules don’t work and that’s why we don’t have them in Sanatan Dharma. If you are born in a cold place, you can eat meat and still be spiritual; you can offer meat to God. If you are born in a hot region, you can be a vegetarian. They didn’t say that there is one book and if you follow its rules you are good, otherwise you can go to hell. Krishna felt it necessary to break vows.
One should be flexible enough, and if it serves a bigger purpose, then it is worth considering. We should protect people who are looking up to us for protection. Rama was maryada purushottam, he was a suryavanshi and the Sun never falters, but Krishna says ‘Look! Desperate times call for desperate measures.’