Wisdom removes confusion

Q I happened to read your recent column ‘Truth flows with liberated minds’ and I disagree with you on one point. You claim that the enlightened person will work only if he wants to, keeps his needs limited etc. To me this is an act of cowardice — a coward who hides underneath the bed is safe. He doesn’t have to deal with war and the trouble it causes. The same the so-called enlightened person that you admire is basically checking out of society. No one can depend on him for anything. He is out seeking moksha for himself, society be damned.
What if India could produce another hundred Nilekanis or Tatas or Ambanis? Wouldn’t India be a much better place? These men were driven by desires, their ambitions — and what has it resulted in? Employment for millions of their fellow citizens. Millions go to bed with their belly full because of these visionary men. I thank them for what they have done for the betterment of the society. Millions have been lifted out of poverty because of such men. But what does your enlightened person do? He looks out for himself and gets moksha. How has he made any difference to his fellow beings? You decry wanting things, but there are millions of workers making these ‘useless’ things. Please reconsider.
Vanamali Thotapalli

A I welcome your forceful and honest words of criticism. Yet, I think the real point has been missed here. An enlightened person becomes more helpful, less selfish, more focused and less confused. He is much more likely to help someone in distress, rush to a stranger’s rescue in an crisis and stay calm in a moment of mass madness. He is much more likely to help society in every way simply because his mind is not working 24/7 to achieve a million desires and ‘goals’.
He has managed to get out of the manic clutches of social peer pressure. His mind is clean and unpolluted by the toxic mental debris that society throws up every minute of the day. Yes he has ‘checked out’ of society, as you nicely put it. He has ‘checked out’ of the lies, the deceptions and the strategies that chain us to an illusion of freedom. He has ‘checked out’ of the need to clamber up the ladder called ‘success’ that somehow seems to be getting longer and longer as he climbs. He won’t be a sucker for a million strategies that feed upon his weakness, his fear and insecurity. He has no fear left. You can neither bend him nor break him. He may give you his heart for free, but you can never make him submit against his will.
He is not a defeatist leech that only takes but does not give. Not at all. The chances are that he will remain inside society. Whatever action he performs has a purity and beauty that comes naturally to him. He will strive for goals, but without stress, perversion and distortion. He will accept defeat with the same grace as he would face victory.
To put it shortly, it’s a state of action without attachment or decision without delusion that I am talking about. That’s the essence of Gita. That’s the teaching of Lord Krishna to Arjuna in the field of battle. After learning this Arjuna did not throw away his weapons and ‘check out’ of the war. He stayed put and won the war. In today’s age, someone who learns this deeply will not ‘check out’ either. In all probability he will stay on and do miracles. But if he does choose to walk away, don’t fault him. It’s his prerogative. He is not bound by society anymore. That’s the point.

The author is a filmmaker. Email him at mani2shankar@gmail.com