Mera Bharat Mahaan‘Be Indian buy Indian’ remember this maxim? A lot of water has flown under the bridge since Independence; the so called “Pillars of Democracy” of the yesteryears are today are regarded as those filled with the ‘Papers by Bureaucracy’. The mantra in today’s government is ‘disinvestment’. It has become highly fashionable to talk of reorientation, attitude revitalisation and training. The Mantra today is “India on the Move!”. It is also true that India generates the fastest millionaires in the world today, every thing is looking great and bright.
Has this enthusiasm, permeated across the strata of population? Does rural India have hope? Let us also make a small commitment in doing our little bit to give rural India hope.
India Inc. perhaps has a vision statement, and a mission statement too, the question is how many of us have really committed ourselves to its Value Statement.
Dr. A.P. J. Abdul Kalam has made invaluable contributions in defining the Vision and Value statements of our Mother Land, but for reasons best known to India Inc these have largely been ignored and consigned in the mountain’s of files maintained by the government
The stark truth is, the government alone cannot make India regain its past Glory.Hence my appeal is, realise that the onus is on us to move the Country forward---all of us can and only we can. …..
Let us make a concerted effort in imbuing excellence in all our activities and thus help create a new generation of citizens who “ Worship Excellence”,the only way to regain its past glory.
Mera Bharat MahaanLike every Indian I firmly believed that no other Country could boast of citizens more patriotic than those in India. The truth was revealed when I happened to visit another Country for a four-week training. I was initially surprised to see every factory or company (all are private enterprise there mind you!) having their Country’s flag flying high on their premises. It was more surprising to see some earmarked employee coming early in the morning every day at the appointed hour, to hoist the flag and pay respects to it! Can we imagine such an open demonstration of Patriotism in any private or government enterprise here in our Country? Well take the government establishments, there are a section of people who claim Overtime allowance if they are asked to come for saluting the National flag on the two days!! That is as far as the concept of Mera Bharat Mahaan is concerned .
Can we afford to remain mute spectators to this decay of National Pride in EVERY DAY LIFE? Must we rise as one nation only at times of crises? Do we need calamities and wars to keep our Country United?
THE GREAT INDIAN PHYSICO
I studied in an Anglo Indian school for the major part of my school days, I still remember what my Tamil Teacher told me.. His explanation of an average Indian’s physiology was “ For most of us, what the White Man says is gospel truth, the sight of a Black man scares the wits out of us, the Arabs because of their handsome looks make us jealous,”. “ When will we really be proud that we are unbeatable Indians?”
Friends, nearly thirty years have passed since he made this statement I still find that we have not been able to rediscover our past glory.
I find today that the average Indian is caught between his spiritual wisdom and material obsessions. Religion and GOD still dominates the core Indian’s mind. The thirst for knowledge, wealth and happiness also looms large in the foreground. Lack of education, superstition all add to the confusion.
We can make a SWOT analysis, of our Nation and prove in a Seminar with the help of a Power Point Presentation (conducted in a Five Star Hotel!) that Poverty is on the bane, to add spice the economists will also say the Country’s economy is booming, experts will also point out that our scientific endeavour is reaching the highest levels of excellence, now the question we must ask ourselves today is – ‘Whether all these fellow citizens responsible for this success of the country achieved all this alone? Whether the Vision of India Inc has reached the grassroots? Do the majority believe about better times ahead?
Have you ever thought why Africa with all its poverty & corruption is able to produce more humans who pursue excellence than in India?
Now does not killing mean termination of life or matter? Do our core value systems accept such a theory? Is it wrong to earn wealth? Do we give up easily? If so, why? Do we care for quality? Do we care for discipline? Do we really believe that we can change this Country? Do we commit our selves to excellence? Let us try to answer these questions by going into some the fundamental beliefs and values we hold. The idea here is to examine whether we as responsible citizens have given back to our Nation the Best of our efforts.
God in IndiaIt would be hypocritical to say that Religion is a non-issue in our country. The number of Swamis, church workers, mullahs and Imams are perhaps the highest in our Country. Many say that religion is one of the prime causes of failure in achieving excellence, since there is over dependence on God, a confused understanding of the word Detachment etc. Unfortunately the truth lies elsewhere. Our prime reason for failure to achieve is the lack of commitment to excellence.
GOD . Perhaps there is no other word that has created stronger emotions and influenced people. Let us try to demystify this word.. Take your self back by a few thousand years.. You see the stars, the moon, the sun, rainy days bringing lightening followed by thunder. The quest for inquiry is limited to a very few and the majority are governed by Instincts. As a child wonders about the moon and stars you too would be wondering who they are? This inquiry then translated in various explanations, leading to astrology etc.
What would you have done if caught alone in a deep forest on a rainy day? Do the same thing what you would do if you were caught all alone in a stormy night, seek shelter and hope for better times. All men are not physically equal, as you know the prime worth of the ancient man was judged only by his physical strength hence , the sense of fear and respect of brute physical strength slowly got drilled into the human’s mind. The foundations of Worship were thus based on fear. Naturally Mother Nature’s fury was the biggest of them all, so began the worship of Mother Nature in all her manifestations. Can you really fault our ancestors for this?
Since men were not physically equal, the concepts of rulers and subjects gradually developed, we have studied in history instances where the Kings were worshipped as GOD. Now these leaders were the founder fathers of Management, they knew that God’s anger meant fearful destruction and every human was scared of this God’s anger, so in order to ensure order in the society, we had many Gods. The people did not destroy many things named as Gods for the fear of incurring their wrath, look at it this way we must really praise our ancient leaders for their forethought in conservation of Nature. Then comes religion and the way of life, a few religions ask you to seek the God within you while others ask you to seek the kingdom of heaven externally. Here I would like to mention about the wisdom of the ancient Tamils, do you know that the tamil word for God is “ Kadavul ”the ‘Ka’ pronounced as in Kabul, ‘da’ as in dart and ’vul’ as in Wolf . It simply means one who is outside you and also within you, I am not aware of a more beautiful explanation of God than this. If you have read books on religion they tell you about the universal presence of the Almighty, let me tell you one thing for sure, the concept of God is one of the most noblest and is also the most difficult to understand. All rationalists say man created God, but I only ask so what, the concept is beautiful, its goals are noble, its purpose is to peacefully co-exist so why not seek God. As the scientific quests developed, the GOD was condemned and thus began the destruction of Nature. The question is, do we blame God or man. Many dismiss those seeking God as Lazy incompetent people, my answer to those sceptics is “ well those seeking god are only those who dare to conquer and control their Minds”. All of us appreciate, wonder and applaude physical achievements but then why not extend the same courtesy for those who are willing to attempt it on a mental plane? Science has proved that two fundamental emotions are prime drivers for all humans, the Sexual energy and the sense of fear, must we not bow respectfully to such people who have conquered these senses, which are the most difficult of all senses?. One may put forth an argument that cutting off the relevant hormones supply can suppress the sexual energy , may be so, then what about fear, one may say he is fearless, have you really experienced fear? I have enough of real account experiences of War, ask any who soldier was in the thick of battle you will then understand what fear means, if even this does not convince you then let me ask you another question , Would like to marry your daughter off to a person who says be likes to blast the brains of the enemy? Well by any standards such a person is not accepted in the society hence the sense of fear is a very strong factor responsible for many of our actions. Terrorists carrying out suicide attacks are known to consume drugs for suppressing fear. What is really gained by conquering these senses? fair enough, then what is also gained by running a 100meter dash sub 10 seconds?.What is gained then by trying to climb Mt. Everest?. What is gained at attempting some things that seem impossible for most? Since you know the answer I don’t want to go further. Let us be brave and honest to accept one fact, that as humans we consciously or subs consciously need a guide or a guru – teacher or Mentor, call what you may and we also love showing respect to such persons whom we consider worthy. The fact, human beings need a god has been proved by the fact that Buddhism containing the teachings of Buddha degraded to levels where humans now finally have started worshipping him as God. Now do you hold God or Buddha responsible for it? Let us accept the brute truth humans need God whether God needs humans or not. Let’s not waste time further in trying to analyse about the existence of God, he is there very much in front of you and in you!
I therefore make my appeal to all of you to not to confuse GOD as coming in your way of striving for excellence. Nothing prevents us from leading a noble life and committing ourselves to those noble virtues attributed to God whom, we will try to realise through the path of Worshipping excellence.
Worship—Building a relationship with God?The dictionary definition of worship suggests that worship is an old English word. Worship is better read as “Worth - Ship”, and therefore the worship of God should be giving God the “worth” that he deserves!
This has become an umbrella word to cover the aspects of our relationship with God. Whether this is right or wrong is only what we make our relationship with God! Is praise not part of worship? Is not thanksgiving part of worship? Is not prayer part of worship? Is not faith part of worship? It is not pursuit of excellence a part of worship?
Let’s start at the beginning; what is He worth to me? At this point, one needs to look at the value systems. There is a need to understand where my place is, as a person in “the great order of things”. If I have no self-worth then it is unlikely that God will be worth anything to me. Consider - if I see myself as so lowly that I am or feel useless, not good for anything - am I worth saving?
If God is who He says He is, then I should have a problem with that - He made me the way I am (excluding sin and all the baggage that I have allowed to get added with what He created).
There is no point in looking at developing “worship” if there is nothing obtained that cannot be gained elsewhere.Praising the Almighty is a very conscious thing. It is not automatic, it isn’t optional, it isn’t something done on a whim. Normally it is related to consciously putting one’s whole being into worship of God, so as to help oneself. Listing the things that God does for him is one of the most common reasons why worship/praise of the Almighty is accounted for, be it for a happy life on earth or lot of wealth or it could be even realisation of ‘Brahma’ or the ultimate truth. Is then worship coming down to relationship? Does my relationship with God determine everything? If all I see is a righteous, holy, and judgmental God, we miss the loving and gracious God.
So when I worship God, can I say that I hit the very heart of God? Is my worship ceiling limited or is it heaven bound?Long distance relationships rarely work, are always dissatisfying and always second best. Is my worship accompanied by healing or by signs and wonders, dreams and visions, or prophecy and so forth? If not, then my worship may not be based on a real relationship.
Now again if God only talks to me through the Scriptures then is that a relationship like a pen pal?
You may be saying ‘Hello’ what has Relationship with God got to do with this book on worshipping excellence? Well friend let me tell you unless we absorb /understand and realise the entire meaning of the two words – Worship & excellence then we would have missed a point!
So again I repeat what worship means to you and to me may not be the same, mentioning the word could bring spontaneous thoughts on GOD, Nature’s Beauty, Your Work, or ‘Guru’ , Mentor etc, once you have decided what this word relates you with, then the next step is to examine that relationship through self analysis.
Looking into one’s self means again making a “curry in your mind” with thoughts borne out of, your parentage, environment, philosophy, religion, which have influenced your upbringing.
Worship to a large percentage of humans means something relating to the divine or in other words, building up a rapport with the ‘Supreme Being’ using the methods handed over to you. As humans we must not criticise this very personal relationship a fellow human being tries to establish with GOD. Misusing GOD for attainment of personal wealth by some, deserves condemnation, but only after you have cleared yourself after all dirt!
Religion plays a very important part in defining these relationships let us now look at Hinduism:A fine summary of what Worship or ’Bhakti’ means is given below :- ( Extracts from Swami Vivekananda’s speeches/ lectures )
“ There are four general types of men- the rational, the emotional, the mystical and the worker. For each of these we must provide suitable forms if worship. There comes the rational man, who says ‘I care not for this form of worship. Give me the philosophical, the rational- that I can appreciate’ so for the rational man is the rational philosophic worship. There comes the worker. He says ‘ I care not for the worship of the philosopher, give me work to do for my fellow men’ so for him is provided work as the path of worship.
Every man must develop according to his own nature. As every science has its methods, so has every religion. The goal and the methods employed for reaching the ultimate – reunion with God could be different but the final result is the same.
The methods employed for reaching this goal are called ‘Yoga’. In English ‘Yoke’ means ‘to join’ here it means to join with God, well the question would be where? In heaven or in earth or realise the God within!!
So for all practical purposes lets take God to mean--- Truth, Mother Nature, Your Mentor, The urge for discovering one’s self, intellectual honesty, lack of greed, empathy, Love for ones Mother land, Commitment to quality & pursuit of excellence.
Let us now try to understand ‘Excellence’ in its full form
1. The state, quality, or condition of excelling; superiority.
2. Something in which one excels.
3. Possessing good qualities in high degree
Spiritual maturity is a quest for character for which there will be little progress without the pursuit of excellence. Without pursuing excellence, life will remain bland, lukewarm at best .The quest for excellence fuels our fire and keeps us from just drifting downstream gathering debris. The pursuit of excellence must be motivated by the right values, priorities, and motives. If we go astray here, the pursuit of excellence can quickly become a mark of immaturity and just another result of man’s obsession with his own significance.
Pursuing Excellence is not to be a Quest for SuperiorityIn the first definition in The American Heritage Dictionary, excellence is defined as “The state, quality, or condition of excelling; superiority. The word excel is defined as, “to do or be better than; surpass; to show superiority, surpass others.” Then under the word excel, the following terms are listed and explained as synonyms for excel.
The words excel, surpass, exceed, transcend, outdo, outstrip all suggest the concept of going beyond a limit or standard or in other words – competition and being better than others form the foundations. However we must think of the pursuit of excellence from a different standpoint is that what is meant? Those who approach or look at life from the viewpoint of the world typically think in terms of competition, of outstripping others, but such is usually done for one’s own glory or significance or for the praise and applause of men.
So then, what the pursuit of excellence refers to is, pursuing and doing the best we can with the gifts and abilities God gives, giving our best to the glory of God. But ideally, it is done without the spirit of competition or seeking to excel simply to be better than others. Excellence includes doing common, everyday things, but in very uncommon ways regardless of whether people are watching. Lets look at these examples that demonstrate Excellence in every day life activities:
· Respecting traffic signals even if there are no cops around.
· Not blasting your horn in a crowded street when there are slow moving vehicles in front of you.
· Making punctuality a way of life.
· Keeping your table and your room update (including the Desktop of your computer!).
· Getting up everyday at a fixed time irrespective of the Day of week. Etc. etc.
· Getting up with a smile on your face.
· Wishing your colleagues with a smile every day.
· Keeping your self-updated with what is happening around you.
· Spending specific time every day on exercising your body and mind.
· Walking upright and maintaining eye contact during speaking.
Pursuing Excellence should not be limited by the Nature of the Task
The emphasis is that, we are to do whatever we do, in the best way we can do, whether it is viewed as important by society or very menial and insignificant, whether one is the president of a large company or one who cleans the offices at night, all is to be done to the glory of God. Regardless what we do, it deserves our best for in the long run, a society that scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water!
Pursuing Excellence Is a Matter of Choosing the BestThe pursuit of excellence is never a matter of simply choosing between what is good or bad, but of choosing what is best or superior because it will better enable us to accomplish what God has designed us to be and do .One needs to be able “to approve the things that are excellent” or choose what is best. The term “approve” or “choose” carries two ideas: First, it means, “to put to the test, examine,” and then as a result of the examination or testing, “to approve, make the right choice.” This means the pursuit of excellence must include the elimination of some things even though they may be good and legitimate. Lets understand this with the help of an example:
A wealthy businessman with varied interests happened to visit a district where there were plenty of sugar mill co-operatives, this was sustaining the entire economy of the District, his immediate inclination was to start a big sugar factory in this District and capture the market, there was nothing illegal in this process, after having ruminated over the idea he decided not to start a factory there, since he felt he would be destroying the existence of the cooperatives, this is a demonstration of Excellence in choosing the best.
Pursuing excellence is a matter of the heart, of the inner person and proceeds from a inner faith/relationship with God. The term heart speaks of the inner person and the spiritual life as the seat and centre of all that proceeds from a person’s life. The primary step thus in the pursuit of Excellence will be the path of trying to Discover one’s own self. Like the physical pump, the spiritual heart is central and vital to who we are and how we live.
What we do in word and deed is first of all a product of what we are on the inside from the standpoint of what we truly believe and how we think. “
Because of the central place and importance of the heart in all we do, which naturally includes the pursuit of excellence, it would be well to think a moment about some issues concerning the heart, the heart is not a safe haven. It needs guarding or protection from invasion by the world system around us and from the sinful nature that dwells within us. The heart needs special care because the heart, which includes the mind, the emotions, and will, is the place where we deposit the knowledge, it is the place of our values, priorities and where vital choices are made. Thus, it becomes the wellspring, the source of whatever affects our life and character
The quest for character requires that certain things be kept in the heart as well as kept from the heart. An unguarded heart spells disaster. A well-guarded heart means survival. If you hope to survive the jungle, overcoming each treacherous attack, you’ll have to guard your heart.
Indeed, the heart needs guarding. We need to place a sentinel over the heart because it is the storehouse for the treasures that lead to the formation of good character. But these treasures can be stolen by the variegated deceptions and temptations, lust, patterns of destruction like power, prestige, pleasure, possessions, fortune and fame. This guard is your GOD!
In keeping with the idea of excelling, the pursuit of excellence naturally works against a half-hearted, drift along or go-with-theflow kind of mentality. Pursuing excellence is a matter of giving the whole heart. But this does not mean there is no place for leisure or rest and relaxation.
A certain amount of rest and relaxation is essential to our physical, emotional, and mental well-being. It is not only okay to relax, but it is essential as long as it is kept in the scheme of its purpose and not used as an excuse for laziness and irresponsibility. The goal is to enhance our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being . Strangely, however, in our workaholic society many people, get their sense of identity and significance from work and a busy schedule. They often give their all, but for selfish reasons—the pursuit of position, praise, or significance. Some would view such behaviour as a sign of pursuing excellence when in reality, it can become a hindrance because of the debilitating impact on one’s physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being.
Strangely, the one thing we need is often the last thing we consider. We’ve been programmed to think that fatigue is next to godliness. That the more exhausted we are (and look!), the more committed we are to spiritual things. Haven’t you heard about persons’ who say they are planning to start their social work activities after retirement? I have heard about a person who planned to start the process of self-inquiry after retirement, but unfortunately could not do so since he became blind with diabetic retinopathy. We have become a generation of people who worship our work… who work at our play… and who play at our worship.
The pursuit of excellence will mean hard work and diligence which may take on various forms—research, study, time, sweat, planning, brainstorming for ideas, etc. It may well mean swimming against the stream and sometimes navigating the rocky and swift rapids of life. It will often be exhausting and bring us up against that which is really beyond us. Thus, in keeping with our own shortcomings and weaknesses, the pursuit of excellence in the execution of our daily routine or special projects that must be pursued by God’s strength.
The Role of Attitude in the Pursuit of ExcellenceHow does one develop the pursuit of excellence? What are some of the things involved by way of the means for pursuing our best?
From the standpoint of that which affects the way we work, there is probably nothing more important than one’s attitude! Our choice of attitude impacts every decision we make on a day-today, moment-by-moment basis. Our attitude can either fire our hopes and the pursuit of the things that are important or it can extinguish our hopes and pursuits.
There are many books written on the importance of attitude but let’s understand what is excellence in attitude through this real life story:
SEEN GODThis incident happened years ago but I cannot forget it. I was travelling long distance in a sleeper class compartment of a train. Twice or thrice in the night I got up to go to the bathroom. Every time I noticed a really old man leaning against the door in the passage. When I saw him again later at the same place, I asked him why he was standing there. He replied, ‘This door had been making a rattling noise. I observed that if I held it or leaned against it, the noise stopped. I thought that if I forego my sleep, all others in the compartment can get good rest.’ This old man had stood right there almost the whole night. His reply brings tears to my eyes even now. If you ask me whether I have seen God, I would say yes – I have seen God in this man.
-Sent by Sri Raama Raghavan, Mukya Sevak, Anandashram Satsang Samiti, ChennaiHence for attaining excellence in attitude one must commit to the following slogan:
Do as much good as you can, to as many as you can, in as many ways as you can.
And as long as you can. – Dada Vaswani
· Build up self confidence
· Spread Excellence around you
· Develop unconditional love for your Mother Land.
· Attempt sincerely at making Truth an important part of your lifestyle.
· Demonstrate to your friends’ colleagues, what excellence means in every day activities.
· Do not neglect even the smallest or silliest of tasks.
· Show anger when your core values are threatened! You will be surprised to the effects:
· Your zone of influence starts expanding.
· You start seeing beauty in all living things.
· You would reach levels of empathy where you would go all out to clear the cobwebs in your house without killing the spiders!
· You would start appreciating & respecting the sense of individuality and love for personal freedom in very human being.
· You would also develop the ability to wholeheartedly wish your fellow beings good times.· See how the Law of Nature “ What you sow you reap” works.
· You become totally committed to quality
· You have an involuntary urge for punctuality and respect for the laws of the land.
Don’t you think it is worth attempting worshipping excellence through your GOD if the effects are as tangible as listed above?
Finally