||Aum Sri Ramakrishna Sharanam||
||Aum Namo Narayanaya||
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| Aum- google images |
Authenticity. Many dictionaries share the same
sentiments with regards to the meaning of the word. They refer to it as: the truthfulness of origins,
attributions, commitments, sincerity, devotion, and intentions. Authenticity
seems to play out quite evidently in the commercial world where everything
requires verification for authenticity. Contracts, applications, etc. require
many identification checks and proof of various aspects before being approved.
Of recent it has also become a schlep to cross borders with the mountain of
paper work that one has to process from visas to proof of employment right down
to proof of residency.
Last week I was amused whilst was browsing through
the vegetable isle of a large supermarket chain-store. Having grown up in a
farming community, we were accustomed to purchasing fresh, succulent vegetables
at the market. We would notice how people would test the vegetables for
freshness and value before purchasing. The most glaring one would be the scars
left on the calabash by fingernails. I erupted into an internal burst of
laughter to note that even in this day in large chain stores this practice
continues, as I noticed the calabash being victim to the uncertainty of the customer.
All these measures -some of which extreme- ensure that we are not cheated or
hoodwinked into accepting inferior quality or anything less than that which we
have opted for.
We have taken such precaution to ensure that we are
not cheated from society… but what precautions have we taken to prevent us from
being cheated by ourselves? This relevant enquiry arose from reading the
glorious accounts from the Katha Upanishad. The pragmatic arguments delivered
by protagonist Nachiketa comes as a panacea to his father who was afflicted
with insincerity, anger, and remorse.
There was, in ancient times, a very rich man
Vajashravas - who made a certain sacrifice which required that he should give
away everything that he had. Now, this man was not sincere. He wanted to get
the fame and glory of having made the sacrifice, but he was only giving things
which were of no further use to him — old cows that were barren, blind, and
lame. He had a boy called Nachiketa. This boy saw that his father was not doing
what was right, that he was breaking his vow. In order to save his father’s
honour, he beseeched his father to offer him as a sacrifice as well. This
inauthenticity displayed by Nachiketa’s father is not unknown to us. Take a
little time to think of how sincere or authentic you are towards every activity
that you do. Are you sincere to your family, your work, your service to
humanity and most importantly to yourself?
If there is single phrase that would be the essence
of Swami Vivekananda’s teachings, it would be “Arise, Awake and stop not till
the goal is reached”. Those who have read Swamiji would realise the extent to
which He drove this idea in all his works. His inspiration for this teaching
comes from the Katha Upanishad, where Yama (Lord of Death) said to
Nachiketa in the 1.3.14 chapter of Katha Upanishad: "Uttisthata Jagrata
Prapya Barannibodhata" ("Arise! Awake! Approach the great and learn).
Many people, especially youth, unaware of their
inner nature… live an aimless, mediocre life. In order to sustain this life,
they resort to be inauthentic and they together with others like this, become
the basis for the degradation of society.
Swamiji’s inspirational and personal accounts in
America that relate to this from the Katha Upanishad can help humanity live a
life of authenticity . Swamiji relates:
Travelling through many cities of
Europe and observing in them the comforts and education of even the poor
people, there was brought to my mind the state of our own poor people, and I used
to shed tears. What made the difference? Education was the answer I got.
Through education comes faith in one's own Self, and through faith in one's own
Self the inherent Brahman is waking up in them, while the Brahman in us is
gradually becoming dormant. In New York I used to observe the Irish colonists
come — downtrodden, haggard-looking, destitute of all possessions at home,
penniless, and wooden-headed — with their only belongings, a stick and a bundle
of rags hanging at the end of it, fright in their steps, alarm in their eyes. A
different spectacle in six months — the man walks upright, his attire is
changed! In his eyes and steps there is no more sign of fright. What is the
cause? Our Vedanta says that that Irishman was kept surrounded by contempt in
his own country — the whole of nature was telling him with one voice,
"Pat, you have no more hope, you are born a slave and will remain
so." Having been thus told from his birth, Pat believed in it and
hypnotised himself that he was very low, and the Brahman in him shrank away.
While no sooner had he landed in America than he heard the shout going up on
all sides, "Pat, you are a man as we are. It is man who has done all, a
man like you and me can do everything: have courage!" Pat raised his head
and saw that it was so, the Brahman within woke up. Nature herself spoke, as it
were… Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached.
Progress, prosperity and strength cannot come to
those who hide behind religious practices ordained in the scriptures alone.
This book knowledge is only worth the paper it is written on. It is until one
develops firm faith in oneself with the understanding of the nature of the self
and bases and lives their life in accordance to that nature (authenticity) then
and only then can one say with authority that he has knowledge.
Nachiketa comes to us in this age as an inspiration
and a catalyst for blissful living and peaceful co-existence. Swamiji Himself
said: ”If I get ten or twelve boys with the faith of Nachiketa, I can turn the
thoughts and pursuits of this country in a new channel.”
May Nachiketa be the pole star that inspires and
guides us to lead an authentic life, is my sincere prayer.
Ever yours with all love and blessings
Yogan
www.sudarshanavidya.blogspot.com
www.google.com/+YoganNaidoo
