By Vikas Bhatia
The 3 P’s which drive the entire world of politics, business and societies are power, profit and pleasure. The 3 P’s have been the fundamental forces which have shaped the world we live in, right from the days of Ramayana, Mahabharata, Jesus Christ or that followed by the rise of Roman empire, the conquest of the British empire, the industrial era, and the global economy as we see it now. The challenges we face whether it be that of global warming, the oil crisis, the rising inequality, the economic recession have the indelible imprint of these 3 P’s. So profound are these and so deeply embedded that we possibly cannot imagine. Trying to remove them is possibly as inconceivable as removing the DNA from our bodies.
Can we then ever expect Peace, Purity and Pluralism to be around, the counter or the spiritual P’s. It would appear that what we are wanting is that these forces to balance the overwhelming and destructive power of the three P’s of power, profit and pleasures. It is apparent that the positive P’s often make their presence felt only after the devastation created by those forces has left the individual or the society completely paralyzed. Revolutions are often brought about once the destruction is near complete…this battle of Ying and Yang forces is as eternal as the universe and this drama often witnessed at the sub atomic level as well as the cosmic level. Galaxies often eat up other galaxies, black holes gulp down everything around them. Such is the power of monster black holes swallowing matter, if Hitler ever knew about them would have felt utterly defenseless.
The world problems as we have seen are also created by these powerful P’s. The Mayaa created by the 3P’s are so blinding, that individuals and societies at large mostly overlook the Frankenstein in making. So what is then the solution to the ills the world faces? Can we ever look at Utopia? The answer is yes and no…If the fundamental forces are embedded as it appears, we will continue to oscillate between periods of turmoil and then relative peace. It is the constant churn which has been documented in the Vedas, through the movement of time through the Yugas.
Essentially, one of the forces of profit, power and pleasures have found strength alternatively or collectively by the changing mindset of the society. The roman society became decadent with pleasure after the conquest to establish the Empire. The British too got caught up with profits after the power was established. It is when the excess are committed on any of the three dimensions, a revolution brews. In the current Kal Yug, the worst of the four Yugs, the forces profit, power and pleasure have been very dominating. So caught up is the current generation in pursuing profits or being in power and all this with pleasures and comfort of the world, that if continued unchecked will lead to total destruction as we have seen in the past. Can this be avoided?
At some point the seed of purity, peace and pluralism needs to be sown, watered and nurtured. That is the balancing P’s, or the spiritual forces which are also embedded, though they remain dormant unless awakened. That awakening is the dance of Siva, the God of Transformation, happening both at the individual and collective level. We are often awakened rudely and suddenly by the events around us or by an enlightened Master, the nurturer of these three spiritual P’s. While the material P’s will always be around, we can be released from the stranglehold of their malefic effects, if the spiritual P’s are brought to the fore. Often the awakening or the revolution at the individual level happens towards the mid life of the individual when the plans as set out by the individual fail to materialize or due to events which create a significant emotional turmoil. At the collective level, the strengthening of the spiritual P’s is a much more complex process. It requires an inspired individual who takes collective responsibility for the society or group in concern, identifies with the cause of the negative effects of the materialistic P’s and strives to generate a collective will to counter the effect through spiritual P’s. Gandhi was one such example. India’s freedom movement was achieved through the pluralistic efforts and peaceful movement against the British rule. The role of spiritual leaders like that of Sri Sri Ravishankar, founder of Art of Living is immense in bringing this balance, or awakening of the spiritual P’s. Such leaders through their personal quest, wisdom and dedication to the cause, work towards restoring this balance.
The individual also needs to invoke the awakening, if he wishes to experience the beauty of life. There is possibly no escape to the dreadful P’s, but the quality of life can be significantly enhanced by inculcating the spiritual P’s, through a conscious and determined effort, or either through a revolution, sometimes violent.
Is the dance of Shiva, the lord of transformation, going to create a Tandav in us?
