I was reminded of the third today when I came across the book Dreaming in Hindi by Katherine Russell Rich, an American journalist. According to its reviews, the book is about how – overwhelmed by her fight with cancer, loss of job, and having her Manolo Blahniks chewed by her cat – Ms Rich decides to move to India in order to master Hindi. What follows is, quite naturally, her spiritual self-discovery in Udaipur (with some divergences into the science behind learning a whole new language). The book has just arrived in England, even though it was launched in America last year, where it quickly (and dare I say, predictably) made it to Oprah’s list of summer reads. And if Eat, Pray, Love is anything to go by, there will be a film to follow in a couple of years.
Ms Rich is not alone. I’ve met several people over the last couple of years for whom India represents some kind of mysterious spiritual awakening waiting to happen. The notion is further aided and abetted by a whole Eastern spiritual industry comprising massage parlours, yoga classes, meditation centres, healing foods, and of course, books about spiritual journeys to India.
I once asked one such spiritually-minded Canadian, what exactly he meant by wanting to visit India to experience its spirituality, in what way did he think that Indians were more spiritual than the rest of the world. What I gathered from his incoherent mumble was Indians are “non-materialistic unlike the west”.
Now, let me get one thing clear. It is rather difficult to be materialistic when there isn’t much “material” to go around. Just because a lot of poor people make do with whatever they can, doesn’t mean that given the opportunity – that is money and access to shiny goods – they won’t give in to material pleasures. They will, and they are in increasingly larger numbers, if my last trip to Inorbit Shopping Mall in Mumbai was anything to go by. I don’t think my Canadian friend would have found much spirituality-in-action there.
Sometimes I wonder if celebrating India’s supposed spirituality is West’s way of dealing with its poverty. Because they can’t understand how people can continue to live, work and thrive in such deprived conditions, they make themselves believe that Indians must have some kind of super-human spiritual armour to keep them going. Indians don’t have money because they simply don’t care for it – they are too busy enjoying spiritual nirvana.
Now I lived for twenty-three years in India, but let me assure you, I wasn’t enjoying any spiritual nirvana. Nor could a single person out of my extensive network of friends and family be strictly described as spiritual. Yes, they pray to God quite diligently, but mostly it is a tit-for-tat arrangement: I’ll pray, and you nust get me that seat in an engineering college/job/pay packet/car and whatever else is the latest at Inorbit Shopping Mall. That is not spiritual, non-materialistic, meditative or other-worldly in my dictionary of self-attainment.
But still women like Ms Rich arrive in India and promptly achieve enough self-fulfilment to write books on it. Perhaps, we Indians are just not trying hard enough!
***
Here is a trailor to my favourite spiritual journey through India, Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited.
22 comments:
Agree, that you cannot see spirituality in Inorbit mall but neither can u see poverty there. I don't think you deny that India is a poor country, even though you ignore the very fact that in last 2000 yrs India was richest country in the world for almost 1600 yrs. Check Maddison Tables, if you don't believe.
If you want to see poverty, you don't go to some mega mall, in the same way if you want to see spirituality you have to visit places like Arbindo Ashram in Pondicherry, Vivekananda rock in Kanyakumari, AOL in Banglore etc etc where millions of devotees come from around the world to embrace spirituality. Please spend just 10 mins in any of these places with an open mind and you will understand the power of spirituality.
Regarding Eat, Pray and Love, movie on this book is releasing this Friday in US and soon in India. It is starring Julia roberts, who was so inspired by India, that she became Hindu.
To end this, yes there may be thousands of bad things in India but it is still the best. India and the spiritual power of Hinduism has guided the world for thousands of years and will guide it for coming thousands of years.
I've also wondered why India is considered such a spiritual mecca. I've never been there but am still allowed to have theories right? I wonder whether it's because India is so different a country from the one we grew up in that westerners can "see" our lives more clearly from there? A good vantage point from which to reflect? Or whether it's considered a place of spiritual learning because people go there specifically to learn how to meditate, live in an ashram etc - as opposed to our own everyday lives where the focus is on work and whatever else we manage to do.
Take care
x Lex
Hi Anonymous (it would have been so much nicer if you had left a name),
Point taken, I shouldn't look for spirituality in malls.
I did visit Auroville, hoping to find spirituality there. To begin with, it was full of foreigners not Indians. And second, as I found out through an insider, there was tremendous amount of in-fighting going on within the commune over, get this, its rich assets and resources. I, for one, didn't find the fact particularly spiritual!
What I don't get is this: how can we be the most corrupt and most spiritual country at the same time? To be corrupt requires us to be materialistic and exploitative: obviously, that cannot go with other-worldiness and a preoccupation with the soul rather than the material world.
The book I really liked reading was Inspite of the Gods by Edward Le Puce. Perhaps, you should try it and we can carry the discussion - hopefully with your name there next time.
Hi Lex,
Yes, that could be true. To be honest, I feel like I had a spiritual experience in Denmark - mostly because I was so isolated that I had a lot of time to reflect about my life and decisions.
But people would laugh in my face if I wrote a book about my spiritual journey through Denmark ;-)
Hey,
Interesting and engaging enough to provoke a comment from me...:)..I agree with the intrigue factor for the west towards India's spirituality. But here is an example of their perspective, at least what I have been told regarding their fascination with the Indian spirituality. In the west, simple things like not having to stand it line waiting for a ticket and just when you get to the window, the window being shut down is plain unacceptable. The highly materialistic set up in the west, it seems, raises their expectations for perfection in life. This in turn leaves them with very little patience for "shoddy" - hence frustration, anger unhappiness....While India, with its "complacent" - "ho jayega".." chalta hai"...attitude, appeals and is frankly fascinating to the perfectionists and almost becomes an ideal to accomplish. Growing up in India,what I would view as insensitivity, apathy and complacence is being perceived as " self acceptance" , "contentment" and "being okay with oneself as is" in the West - which is a core spiritual concept..Am I making sense?
Subha
Hi Subha,
To think that there are lots of Americans sitting there practicing their "chalta hain" attitude to perfection is a little alarming ;-)
But I see your point. We don't let things get to us, the way people do in the West. To what extent that is a virtue - I don't know.
This connection doesn't come from today completely, it has been carried over from thousands of year!:-
"I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such calibre, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self-esteem, their native culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation."
Thomas Babington Macaulay, Speech to British Parliament
Hi ,
Anonymous 1 again. Well my name is Shiv Bhosle and I am also a Mumbaikar as u were.
I guess to understand how the most corrupt nation can be the most spiritual nation, you first need to introspect why the richest country on earth from the inception of human civilization thousands of years ago became one of the poorest country of the world in last 200-300 yrs. When you understand the process through which we Indians became so poor you will also understand how our glorious past was defamed and western culture and practices were promoted. And of course western culture is materialistic and do promote corruption as it is the easiest way to fulfill the materialistic needs. To give you a simple example just 20-30 yrs back before liberalization struck India, in summer season lots of rich folks used to setup facilities on the footpath to provide free drinking water to the people passing on the road. This thing was a common sight in Mumbai and almost all cities of India. Free food was distributed for everyone in almost all major temples of India. I don't know if you have seen this but you can confirm this with your elders. This is an example of spirituality which was lost in the blind race of aping west or what we call it as liberalization.
Today when west is dealing with breaking families, collapsing societies, majority of folks having depression and worst thing kids have suicidal tendencies; they see the only solution to most of these things is being spiritual. They see how meditation cures their depression, they see how yoga keeps them healthy and they understand that the roots of all these great things lie in India with Indian gurus mastering and promoting this knowledge. It is a different thing that we Indians feel that whatever west is doing needs to be correct and whatever our ancestors taught us should be a piece of junk. The very fact that the % of urban India doing yoga is less than the % of Americans doing yoga; but the good thing is rural India is till now not aping west.They are accepting the good things from west and are still promoting good Indian values. They still respect their elders and their culture, they still provide free food and water to poor whenever possible. And thank god 80% of India still live in villages and small towns.
-Shiv
Shiv: Thanks for the name.
Doesn't the very fact that we took to liberalization with such dramatic zeal show that the desire for material things was always there in us - we just did not have the means.
Why blame the West all the time? We have a choice in the matter, we are agents in the creation of our environment. After all, those Levi Jeans and McDonald's burger is being dangled in front of us not forced down our gullet. We choose to buy them because we have materialistic instinct in us - just as much as any American or European. So let's stop blaming them for what we CHOOSE to do.
Like I said, it is easy to be non-materialistic when there isn't much material to go around. It is when you have means to attain material pleasures - and still forgo it - that you are truly spiritual.
I can't speak for rural India, but the urban India I grew up in was always materialistic - even 20-30 years ago.
Hi Chetna, As Shiv pointed out we have to understand the process-past and present and in the same context he said things about the west that he did!
India is not a magical land of any sort where people are born with mystic spirituality. Indian spiritualism is more related to culture and education (of the past) and less because of “mystic spiritual non materialistic instincts”.
When people were serving water to everyone, it was because they thought that was the right thing to do. Now where does a person realize what is “right thing to do”? It is culture, isn’t it? So the point really is how we lost this culture of which spirituality was a part.
Not everyone even in the past was spiritual; there was crime even back then. It’s just that the proportions of spiritual ,material and greedy people have changed over a period of time. Why did this happen? This is because of change in social structure. In the past, people who’d leave everything and follow a path of spirituality (called rishis) were treated with respect; people used to pray them and offer meals to them? What happens today if someone comes to your doorstep and asks for food? People who are crooks outnumber the real spiritualists and so you won'e be able to believe even the true seekers.
Why is it so? One reason is population. In this context, there are three kinds of people-
1. Spiritualists- they will follow the right path even if they die with lack of resources
2. A common man,- This is the majority of population, they are good people , but lack of resources and basic needs and a hungry stomach would turn them into category 3. These same people could have turned to category 1 with proper education and would have also supported spiritualists in good times.
3 Greedy ones- Nothing is good enough for them, they can hurt others for their benefit….
In a society where resources lack, the shift happens towards category 3 from category 2. That’s what we see in India. People who have been brought up in difficult times, either turned to greedy side or became too overwhelmed when they saw a bit of wealth or even prayed hard for it(this is not spirituality). So what, it doesn’t mean that category 1 doesn’t exist!
Lack of resources per capita is one of the factors that made this proportion change?we are completely responsible for population explosion but if we point British era for taking away resources why is it considered blaming? Isn't it known that they came first for money and took away wealth? It’s not blaming and it’s not like anyone is asking for revenge! Its pure reasoning. Why does it hurt Indians?
Second reason for loss of spiritual culture is that in the past spirituality was tied with education system. However, today the moral code of conduct is separate from education. As far as spirituality is concerned a child is limited to his family values and god gifted prudence(or lack of it).
Yoga and meditation are examples. West knows the value but we lost it. It was a part of Indian education system and would have sustained health and peace of mind in society to a degree, but foreign rulers banished it. English education system too did the same. But after independence we thought everything west is good and didn't rethink what were our assets, our knowledge and competitive advantage. Why didn't we include these practices in our system which world is embracing? Spirituality like yoga and like any other good concept needs a support structure to flourish. That knowledge is still in India but doesn't have a support system in India.
India is not a magical land of any sort where people who are born are some mystics and blessed spiritualists. Indian spiritualism is more related to culture and education (of the past) and less because of “mystic spiritual instincts”. When people were serving water to everyone, it was because they thought that was the right thing to do. Now where does a person realize what is “right thing to do”? It is culture, isn’t it? So the point really is how we lost this culture of which spirituality was a part.
Not everyone even in the past was spiritual; there was crime even back then. It’s just that the proportions of spiritual , material and greedy people have changed over a period of time. Why did this happen? This is because of change in social structure. In the past, people who’d leave everything and follow a path of spirituality (called rishis) were treated with respect; people used to pray them and offer meals to them.What happens today if someone comes to your doorstep and asks for food? People who are crooks outnumber the real spiritualists.
Why is it so? One reason is population. In this context, there are three kinds of people- 1. Spiritualists- they will follow the right path even if they die with lack of resources
2. A common man,- This is the majority of population, they are good people , but lack of resources and basic needs might turn them into category 3. These same people could have turned to category 1 with proper resources and education and also support spiritualists in good times.
3 Greedy ones- Nothing is good enough for them, they can hurt others for their benefit…. In a society where resources lack, the shift happens towards category 3 from category 2. That’s what we see in India. People who have been brought up in difficult times, either turned to greedy side or became too overwhelmed when they saw a bit of wealth or even prayed hard for it(this is not spirituality). So what, it doesn’t mean that category 1 doesn’t exist!
Decline in resources per capita caused some of these changes. We are responsible for population but if we point out British era for decline in resources, it’s not blaming and it’s not like anyone is asking for revenge! Its pure reasoning. Why does it hurt Indians?
Along with resources, second reason is, in the past spirituality was tied with education system. However, today the moral code of conduct is separate from education. A child’s view of morality and spirituality is limited to his prudence (or lack of it) and family values. One might argue that same thing is in the west, but west doesn’t have same lack of resources and fight for survival and so law and order is less difficult to maintain. While in our country, where mob can become uncontrollable and country doesn’t have resources for law and order, values can only save the country. If we had retained yoga and meditation as a part of education system, that would have been one step. But foreign rulers banished it and even after independence we didn’t embrace yoga in education system as preventative medicine for body and mind. Rather, we again looked at west’s medical system. But we are just too many people to be all taken care by reactive medicine. Any good concept needs a support structure and so does spirituality and that support is lacking in India!
Hi Swati,
Thanks for your really thoughtful response.
I am still mulling over it!
Chetna
Well, I am an Indian American , so in no way I am criticizing liberalization or west for anything. For me liberalization is sharing the best in both worlds, not just blindly aping someone without even understanding if it is good or bad. If someone should be blamed its us only or may be the education system and the government which is producing coconuts like us(u know brown outside but white inside :))
It is definitely not the fault of Mcdonalds who is selling thr products in India, its ofcourse our fault who do not understand the fact that USA is the most obese country in the world mainly because of burgers and soft drinks. Its probably the education system which presents western food as great but doesn't teaches us the benefits of Indian food and medicinal benefits of each and every spice that we put in our food.
As Swati mentioned spirituality doesnt mean to leave everything and just take sanyas. Fearing god, respecting elders, giving a helping hand to poor and so on is also a part of spirituality.
In west majority of folks miss these qualities and they see it in Indians. Talk to a 80 yr old lady who has to do her groceries, cooking and laundry on her own as her son can't have her in his house and she doesn't want to rot in an old age home, or ask a school teacher on how will she rate her students with Indian origin; they will tell you what I mean.
West understands the actual meaning of liberalization and thats why they want to take/learn good things from us like yoga, meditation, spirituality as they see it as a source of inner happiness. Its we who are shutting them off by saying that “Our ancestors were fool that's why we are ignoring their culture and beliefs; and trying to copy you. Now as we are copying you, you cannot say that your lifestyle is having some problems and what our ancestors taught us was a gem.”
-Shiv
Hi Shiv,
I studied in the Indian education system through the textbooks approved by the Indian goverment - and I knew that sugary drinks and burgers will make me fat:-)
Most people know what's bad for them - they just don't pay much heed to good sense.
My point is - whether India was the most spiritual country in the world or not - the foreigners coming to India today will be disapppointed. That's my feeling anyway.
1).I am so happyI learned that burgers and sugary drinks in your textbooks. Unfortunately, my textbooks didn’t have that stuff! In mid- nineties when I was in my teens, my parents told me that it’s not good, but I didn’t listen to them because I didn’t believe them, I believed TV commercials and friends more. I stopped eating and drinking this stuff, at age 27, and ironically in the US because the discussions going around me caught my attention and I decided to research. We might know it, but most teenagers don’t think so much and go with what’s going around- in the society, in friend circles and also the popular press and media. Do we have such discussions often? In US health debates on food choices & new healthy options in the market prime people to think about food choices every day( and they should ). That’s what makes people think. But we don’t have these often. However, I am sure we will come around after seeing a trend change in the west…. The question is why society and media doesn’t question this enough before west decided to?
2).” Foreigners coming to India today will be disappointed”—Yes from your perspective or mine or of your friend who just wanted to go to India because he perceives Indians non-materialistic! But Indian spirituality doesn’t come from there….
I have met people who practice, yoga and meditation in US for years, and then can’t get enough of it here in the west… They want to learn various styles and know that here their education is limited. These people travel to India with specific goals. These are not casual seekers like us, who decide to go to Vrindavan( I did last year and was sad to see the city!) or to Auroville, be there a day and expect some change in a flash!
These are people who have practiced for years unlike “ eat, pray ,live”(haven’t read the book, just a perception)! I haven’t seen these people who have returned from India disappointed! They talk about India with deep affection. When they go to Haridwar and Varanasi, they don’t see the crowds and the dirt, they learn what their Gurus have to teach about mediation, yoga and the spirituality. As I said earlier spirituality is not magical concept that you go to a place and it happens…. It needs a lot of effort to get started, to learn about different schools of thought.. and decide what appeals to you. Then when they go to India, they just see what they came for!
Like any other education spirituality is not magical and it takes efforts. One step at a time! Why else we hear stories of people praying for years and taking several lifetimes to achieve moksha! I know nothing about it, how and what to do, but I am just trying to portray the other side of the picture.
Neither,I am not trying to discount your opinion which is based on what you feel, know and your interactions with people. But I can’t discount the affection of so many India return US gurus and people who have embraced that way of life!
Well I was mainly highlighted the point that in our education system we are not taught why taught the value of Indian culture and food. I don't remember my teacher teaching anything about how turmeric helps or what are the health benefits of coriander or clove.
Most of the folks know the harm these food cause but they choose to ignore them as they see movie and cricket stars telling u all the time that if u wanna look cool then start eating/drinking these things.
Regarding the foreigners being disappointed, I guess that's just your belief which is not true. If few folks have chosen to forget their culture and ignore their past then those few people doesn't make India. Julia Roberts just came to India for shooting a movie, not in search of spirituality. But when she meet one totally unknown guru called Neem Karoli Baba, she decided to became a Hindu and practice a spiritual life. If a unknown guru can change an orthodox Christian family to a devote Hindu, then there are hundreds of famous gurus in India who have dedicated their life for spreading love, peace and spirituality.
In west when folks see towards an Indian family they see a stable marriage, a strong family bond, kids respecting elders, that is why they are inspired by Indian culture and spirituality. Its our job as the brand ambassadors of the great country called Bharat to learn and respect our past and culture and promote it.
-Shiv
Hi there,
Found an article by Sandip Roy on The Huffington Post which sort of reflects my sentiments. Wanted to add that to the debate:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sandip-roy/eat-pray-love-aka-i-me-my_b_680966.html
Well my reply to the Post..
------------------------------
If u call the ladies who chauffeur u to the Church so that they can convert u, as spiritual then I guess as per u the crusaders, who murdered millions of pagans as they did not believe in Christ, should be the most spiritual folks ever born on earth. Spirituality means do good and good will happen to you. You will reach god if you have a pure heart even you though u call him with a different name or worship him in a different form. Not by saying that u r going to hell now but start believing in what I m saying a u will receive salvation.
----------------------------
And regarding Bongs, I am sorry to say that the land which one produced great souls like Tagore, Bose, Swami Vivekananda is producing folks like Sandip Roy who are preaching totally opposite to what they taught the whole world.
--Shiv
As I said about the casual seekers, they might definably shoot and run, but trying to make it a universal truth doesn't seem right without acknowledging the other side.
Shooting movies is no new thing and it happens with any concept/happenings is the society. We don't always find love the way movies portray! So why do we expect to find spirituality the way movies portray.
I didn't want to get specific people into discussion, but as it is publically available profile, I will use this as an example. Now see this guy-
http://www.barsanadham.org/e-list/twbd/images/preachers/SwamiNikhilanandjiBiodata.pdf
I have met him, he has read scriptures in India for years and now taking Hinduism classes all over US and teaching not only to Americans but more to Indians ! You and I might not agree with the philosophy. But he is no casual seeker.... He is well read in scriptures, eats simple food and sleeps where ever his living arrangements are made by the devotees.... I want to reinforce, he works as hard as anyone else- reading and preaching.
So, point is you may not think, he found spirituality in India, but he thinks he did and has devoted entire life to it. He is not one but one of many(minuscule compared to casual seekers, but they exist). Based on a casual book or a movie, just making a statement that- "they just eat shoot and leave doesn't appeal to me!
In conclusion, it’s my view, based on my knowledge and people I have met!
Spirituality could mean different things. When Westerners or non-Indians remark that they find India to be 'spiritual', it doesn't necessarily imply that all Indians are metaphysical, or are obsessed with retiring off to a cave to ponder the oe ultimate reality. A few Indians certainly are. But spiritual could also mean devotional in the sense of being devoted to their religion and its various symbols and/or avatars.
Spiritual could also mean not obsessed with being acquisitive and chasing endlessly after material wants and possessions. Spiritual may mean gentle or non-aggressive in behaviour. And of course, spiritual could be equated with being philosophical in the sense of wisdom bordering on nobility. A strikig feature of India is the number of people who dicuss philosophy openly; that would be considered generally weird or fringe activity in most countries, particularly in the West, also in China where there is an emphasis on cold pragmatism.
So yes, India is indeed spiritual when you take one or more of the above qualities into consideration.
Oh quite right. But if religiosity is at the core of it surely the southerners in America and the Christian right should also count as spiritual? But somehow I don't see people make that connection! As for west not discussing philosophy that has not been my experience. But I think we see what we want to see!
It's the combination of the degree of religiosity plus more transcendent spirituality, that gives India that extra spiritual image. When I said that there are discussions about philosophy, I meant by common people in India. That's very rare in the West. Harvard or Oxford are another matter.
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