Yes the idea of freedom means different things to the East and the West. In the Western context there is the liberal idea of doing or saying whatever we feel like so long as one is not violating the law. The reference point is outside and the yardstick is outer action. In the Eastern, especially the Indian context it is not an external rule book but Dharma which is an intrinsically woven network of ethics based on some eternal fundamental laws of existence. The yardstick is within and is in the inner motives rather than outer action alone. There is a great stress on inner values than the outer gains and profits one can derive from the action.
To put it very simply there cannot be an absolute Freedom given the interdependence of life and society. However the West restricts the degree of freedom by the rule of law which is based on the application of reason to certain ideals it holds dear and sacred. In the Western context ideals and idealism form the basis of ethics. They are a poor substitute of dharma as the seat of Dharma is not the mind nor its flight a mental idealism. The seat of Dharma is in the heart and its deepest depths connect us to the Divine Presence in Creation and the laws of the Divine Working. While the ideals are upheld by the rulebook Dharma is upheld and transmitted through cultural values, – family and national. This is what the Woke wave is trying to attack and destroy, the deep cherished values of dharmic cultures by destroying the very means of transmitting it, that is the family, the nation and, the sacred institutions that bring the Divine closer to our lives. By flattening everything they hope to impose their own ideas on the whole world through legislation, governance, administrative units and the media used for their propaganda. Their weapon is money and intellectual arguments playing upon certain high sentiments such as social justice and equality so as to appeal to the young impressionable minds. It has replaced God with man, the Scripture by books that promote violence and unrest, the priest by the arm chair intellectual in prestigious universities whose word must be taken as gospel truth even if there is no truth in it.
How are we to stop its wheels that are trying to run over civilizational values? Well by the very means we have lost it. First by strengthening the values within the family system rather than wealth. By strengthening the national values rather than only militarising and indistrialising the State. By looking upon humanity as sacred not because we are humans but because it is meant to become a vehicle of the Divine. It is necessary that children have a true and deeper understanding of their cultural values and the Scriptures and not just asked to follow blindly.
The concept of Dharma should be taught or rather ingrained at a young age through stories especially from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. At the same time children should be taught to consult their deeper heart, to be quiet and learn to feel what is true and good and beautiful without any outer compulsion. When the children grow up the essence of the stories, the dilemmas and the course of action and the idea behind the decision should be explained through logic. One most important element is cultivating the sense of beautiful in thought and feelings and actions. If consulted they themselves should come up with what they feel is beautiful.
Finally it is best if they have a living example to emulate from from a person in the world around them or else from a figure of the past or present.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
