Sociological Dimension of Sri Sri Thakur’s Thoughts

Society is a collective life that follows Ideal and leads a progressive living by indulging in blissful activities. Society keeps all engaged in cultivation of culture, by putting them in a cluster of identical qualities, such that cultural distinctiveness of every group is maintained and promoted in mutual fulfillment.

Culture is a way of life by which special features, both manifest and potential, of life are nourished towards promotion of existence. Culture is that continued exercise by which the existential progression is acquired through repeated habits. The collective prosperity of existence and of the specialities creates a natural egalitarian parity, despite the expression of uniqueness, as each one is regulated by the dictates of Ideal.

In an egalitarian society each individual or group would grow and elevate itself on its line of distinction, by cultivating its traits and accelerating its possibilities, while overcoming its limitations. In a network of interdependence, while one
individual or group would follow its line of growth it would fulfill and propel the others to grow.

FOUR STAGES OF LIFE:

Life in society passes through various stages and phases. Life as a whole is a process of evolution wherein a person attains levels of refinement and aims at ultimate goal, which is to attain divinity. Traditionally, an Aryan life is said to pass through four phases in the order of spiritual pursuit. These are brahmacharyaashram, grihastha-ashram, vanaprastha-ashram and jatibrata – ashram. Sri Sri Thakur has deciphered the true meaning and intent behind each phase, as these have been named, and has put them in contemporary perspective.

Without devaluing other phases, Sri Sri Thakur has outlined the basis of life as domestic life, that is life of a household with family and relatives. The foundation rock of a family life is a personality evolved out of knowledge, wisdom and reined complexes, born out of service to the preceptor, Dharma, the basis of being and becoming, provides guidelines of a household life and the ultimate of life is to attain a state of complete extinction of thirst and a great awakening
of consciousness.

Sri Sri Thakur has highlighted this natural phenomenon and has unfurled the underlying causalities behind this. Each person has got an eternal urge to evolve himself further and further. This propensity for becoming is possible if and only if the individual distinctiveness of the person and the group is maintained and allowed to improve by following certain principles.

Secondly, growth of a person in a community is possible only if each person and community cooperates and complements in the growth process of the other person and community. Each person while proceeding on his line of progress would be an asset for others. This kind of inter-interestedness is possible if people follow the prophets, present and past, who all are the same in origin and approach. People in the society are different from each other and each one carries a distinction of his own. Yet the life urge flowing in them is common. The inspiration to live and grow,
that keeps life force flowing in a perennial and eternal motion, is identical, though its expression in each person is unique.

The inner force is universal, but its manifestation in each person is unique. As long as that uniqueness is allowed to be maintained, society will have its diversity. The evolutionary outburst of life force takes shape in the form of different life entities. As long as life exists, the distinctions in its manifestation will continue to flow towards eternity, in a pleasant rollover of memory. Therefore when a person loses his specialty, he loses his identity and life in its collective expression
vanishes into a state of dematerialized concentration. In a social context, so long as distinctiveness is there, classes will continue to remain, carrying among themselves a meaningful integration. When that integration supports existential upkeep and propels a regulated and radiant move then the country and the society rejoice with crowning glory.

National Without Ideal : If a nation and the populace do not hold the Lord’s interest as the supreme goal, then their cultural heredity and group identity tend to get ignored. Selfiesh tendency begins to spread and the fabric of unity begins to decay. Social bondage develops crack and drifts away from service and administrative security. As the nation becomes weak and corrupt; valor flights away. Nation’s dignity takes a beating when people look outside the country for their livelihood. Thus the nation’s soul finds no way other than falling prey to someone else’s appetite. Greater the
extent to which social groups fight shy of Ideal, the tendency of voluntary service becomes more and more weak.

Cooperative attitude among the people gives way to narrow search for selfish interest. As need grows, laziness comes to play its slumber game and misery becomes inevitable. With the erosion of spiritual vitality, human personality gets lost in obsession. With trust assuming deaf and dumb, the nation has no other way but to lick other’s feet.

By Dr. Umesh Ch. Patra

HOD, Hepatalogy
Department, SCBM,
Cuttack
Mob.: 9437051957

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