No one can be averse to giving rest and rest to a hardworking man, be he an ordinary man or an inspired man. Most of the world leaders take holidays throughout the year to recuperate and refresh. We cannot be averse to a generally well-deserved rest from governance and administration, especially at the national level, which is perhaps one of the most taxing jobs.
Modi has chosen to enjoy some quiet time between the end of the campaign and the announcement of the results on June 4. This is his personal choice, and it is hard to blame someone for choosing to indulge in the time-honoured tradition of reflection and meditation rather than something more mundane like, say, a beach holiday. But it should not be forgotten that Modi recently retreated to the seaside islands of Lakshadweep.
This year’s election season has been hectic and as the BJP’s leader and star campaigner, Modi has maintained a gruelling campaign schedule, especially during the scorching Indian summer. His voice is fading as the election draws to a close.
I hope that in this quiet moment, this space of reflection, we can reflect on how Prime Minister Modi has tried to get his message across, how he has reached out to the people – the people themselves. PrajaAlso, why should meditation be broadcast on television? This is also a point to ponder. Ekanta In any serious endeavor of introspection, silence is probably a more important element than having cameramen roaming around.
There has been a consistent assessment on social media of many of his statements and assertions that they are unapologetically bigoted, and many of them come across as completely ignorant and bizarre.
But shouldn’t we be a little tolerant of politicians, especially in the area of mental consistency and general education? We have lampooned Rahul Gandhi for many inappropriate and offensive statements. Joe Biden and Donald Trump, as well as Kamala Harris in the US, are often seen making incoherent statements.
So in that sense, we can roll our eyes, if necessary, and forgive the nasty opinions about Mahatma Gandhi, or that Modi felt some hint of divine connection or inspiration. The former is certainly a sign of weakness on “GK’s” part, while the latter is perhaps in keeping with the Mahatma complex that too many people in this country are beginning to display.
As the saying goes, some great people are born great, some achieve greatness, some have greatness thrust upon them, and some have greatness communicated to them from heaven.
From the events leading up to the Ram temple consecration and the actual ceremony, it is easy to surmise how seriously Modi took all this as God’s work, literally and figuratively. He fasted and performed penances beyond those prescribed in the scriptures. He summarily dismissed all senior religious officials like shankaracharyas from various temples. MathModi, a senior political figure and leader of the Hindu faith, accepted to officiate the ceremony. The Hindu clergy felt utterly powerless and alienated, with one exclaiming that if he had been invited, his role would have been to applaud Modi. Talk of the clergy as handmaidens to the political class.
Such self-absorption is not unknown, and the annals of the various respected journals of psychology are sure to contain cases of gradual or sudden inflated self-esteem and self-image, which might be discussed as symptoms of delusions of grandiosity, feelings of invincibility, and moral absoluteness.
Most methods, processes and paths of meditation are aimed at deeper self-knowledge and self-examination. They suggest an attempt to remove any layers of illusions and delusions that one may have.
I hope that Prime Minister Modi will also reflect on any false, hurtful or dishonest statements he may have made, even unintentionally. Summer IdiotThe instruction to avoid all hateful, divisive and slanderous speech is one of the teachings of the renowned Indian teacher, the Buddha.
It is an essential part of the path to eliminating the suffering all around us. Swami Vivekananda would have approved, as he said in a famous speech in Chicago in 1893: “Sectarianism, prejudice and their terrible offspring, fanaticism, have long held sway over this beautiful earth.”
Their own citizens Guspytie It would be a very despicable act to condemn (the invaders) as it would publicly insult and condemn part of our own people.
It is truly vulgar and irresponsible to make such blatant and baseless slander against Muslims by accusing them of being “prolific breeders.”
The context, the framework within which we view the exercise of political power, is the protocol that governs the duties of the country’s prime minister. As part of that, there is an expectation that there must be an appearance of dignity, poise, civilized conversation when using the public platform, and, perhaps more importantly, a willingness to embrace the diverse population that he governs.
Instead, what was witnessed was repeated direct insults and criticism of minorities.
Perhaps such thoughtless comments and violent attacks could have been justified coming from people who were labelled as ‘extremists’ in the wake of rampant lynchings in the country not long ago. But this ‘verbal lynching’ came from the mouth of an elected Prime Minister who has been at the helm of power in a highly diverse country like India. Have we been wrong about who the ‘extremists’ are all this time?
One would expect that a man who has led a country for so many years would have some awareness of the different beliefs and customs of his own people, and who is also a man who enjoys visiting Arab countries and boasts of his strong relationships with all-Muslim Arab leaders.
But when he takes to the campaign stage, he seems to forget all that. He comes across as a man possessed. He casts aside all decorum appropriate to a national leader and threatens all sorts of punitive measures based on unsubstantiated data. He vilifies and tries to make India’s minorities “outsiders” and seems to revel in his own characterisations and statements.
He forgets, either in deliberate arrogance or from a grandiose sense of historical legitimacy, that he may be speaking to a mixed crowd. He launches into the story of the 500 years of anticipation for the construction of a Ram temple, and then demands that people say so if they are not happy that such a dream has finally come true.
Of course, one can talk about the Ram Temple as a glorious achievement of his term, but to sell it as the righting of a historical wrong means rushing to exact revenge against all those who allegedly caused the loss of the temple in the first place. Such language is highly dangerous and reprehensible, born out of unconcealed anger and hatred.
One can only hope that Modi finds the opportunity to pay careful attention to all that is causing him so much agitation and anxiety. What else is meditation if not confronting one’s own demons and distortions of thought and belief?
of Summer Baka These are the words of the Buddha’s Eightfold Path and, of course, the slogan on our national emblem. Satyameva Jayateis also part of a call for honesty with ourselves.
However, on several occasions recently, especially in interviews, Modi has appeared to tactfully deny making any kind of degrading or prejudiced statements.
Often, when our sense of righteousness or moral superiority clouds our senses, we fail to realize that we are deceiving ourselves. We become fooled by our own sense of impeccability. We deny the unpleasant aspects of ourselves, like our Mr. Hyde alter-ego. We forget that as we play God, we may be creating many Frankensteins, including ourselves.
Ananda Maitreya is a social writer
