UNO’S MEDITATION DAY TO MOTIVATE SELF INTROSPECTION – By N.S.Venkataraman
It is gratifying that United Nations Organisation has taken an unanimous decision to observe 21st December as the world’s meditation day. This decision of UNO is very significant and is long overdue.
From time immemorial , the world events have been marked by wars between countries ,conflict between regions and quarrel between individuals. This has made many discerning observers to think that inclination towards violence and conflicts may be in the basic mind set of individual humans and it is further said that the battle for peace and harmony in the world has to be fought in the minds and hearts of men and women all over the world.
In the human mind, it is essential that the baser elements leading to hatred and disharmony should not gain upper hand , to ensure peace and harmony in the mind of individuals and consequently in the society Most of the feelings of animosity, greed and consequent conflicts have taken place, since those involved do not have the inclination to think and introspect about the life process in a holistic way .With such holistic mindset, it would create understanding about the futility of conflicts and the fact that conflict would not lead to climate of peace but would only lead to more conflict.
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Often, individual and leaders of countries seem to think that violence and conflicts would provide immediate benefits , not understanding that it would only lead to long term misery and unhappiness for everyone concerned.
The only way to make humans appreciate the importance of co existence that would bring happiness all round is to motivate them to meditate from time to time. Obviously, the meditation, that would be accompanied by period of silence, would lead to self introspection and take the thought process to a deeper level.
In the Hindu religious scriptures, it is stressed that everyone should involve himself in constant introspection as a part of the way of life , even as the individual would involve himself in the materially oriented life pursuits As a matter of fact, Hindu scriptures recommend that meditation and mental introspection exercise has to be cultivated as a matter of habit from childhood days.
The Hindu scriptures further explain that human life is not about the human body consisting of flesh and bone alone but there are deeper aspects that have to be searched for and realised by meditation. Mental restlessness often happen due to an outward focus on life pursuits that invariably is marked by greed , jealousy and perhaps, violent methods too. Such outward life pursuits have to be conditioned by constant introspection / meditation , that would ultimately lead to a feeling of bliss and supreme happiness in the self within.
Similar to Hindu religious scriptures, all other religions including Buddhism, Jainism also stress that the ultimate object of life should be to live with peace and harmony, which would be possible only by introspection about what could be the purpose of life and to reach the abode of God. The meditation exercise is recommended by all religions, though may not be in he same manner as the Hindu religious scriptures do.
The observation of meditation day by UNO would not immediately bring about a big change for better in the conflict torn mental state of humans. Nevertheless, it would pave the way and bring awareness about the importance of meditation exercise in the day today life of individuals , that would steadily and slowly contribute to the cause of peace and harmony amongst people, amongst regions and around the world.
