तपस्विभ्योऽधिको योगी ज्ञानिभ्योऽपि मतोऽधिकः । कर्मिभ्यश्चाधिको योगी तस्माद्योगी भवार्जुन। गीता ६.४६॥
tapasvibhyo'dhiko yogi jñānibhyo'pi mato'dhikah karmibhyaścādhiko yogi tasmādyogi bhavārjuna ||
Gītā 6.46||
A yogi exceeds a monk, exceeds a scholar, exceeds a priest worker, be a yogi, Arjun.
To be a yogi, to have a direct vision of God, is the highest knowable and achievable goal given to us humans. This belief is the very soul of every Indian. Every migrant Indian is a fertile seed for a tree with yoga, the union with the Divine, as its fruit. An Indian is a seed, a plant, a tree, and yoga and union are the fruit. In an Indian, nothing from the seed to the final union is missing. This is every Indian without exception.
Yoga has entered the West, including Australia. Many yogis in the West have given up old prejudices, to accept not only the ripe fruit, but the tree as well. A large majority that has accepted the fruit refuses to accept the tree. Many wise persons and influential institutions have made it their mission to sever yoga from its roots, ie religion. This error arises from a wrong understanding of religion and extreme prejudices against the Hindu religion.
We Indians have migrated out of the holy land to bring seeds, plants, and trees to give an endless supply of its fruit, yoga. There is nothing in this universe that is not dynamic and no life that is not organic. The fruit, yoga, cannot be different. Without the seed, the plant, the tree, the fruit will wither away.
As physical sciences are one, so is religion. True religion has qualifying adjectives but no defining adjective.
The world as we see it is incomplete. A complete world cannot have sorrows and pain. This manifest world has come out of an unmanifest infinite. Our manifest world is incomplete, as ignorance is this manifestation's very fabric. Religion is to use ignorance to put faith in a better world; find the means to connect to the unmanifest infinite, ie union with it, be a yogi, and draw down that to reduce sorrow and pain.
Science studies what is manifest, and religion is our connection to the unmanifest to create something new and bring joy. Religion is like drawing water, at first invisible, from a well. No matter who draws it and what they call it, it is water. Every form of religion draws the same water. Thus, as Swami Vivekananda said: we not only tolerate but accept all religions as true.
Like every other human being, an Indian is not only a tree of yoga, but also a bundle of traditions. However, a Hindu has a clear distinction between religion and traditions. Take away their traditions, and the religion is there. The religion that is the same for all humanity.
Hindus have been unsuccessfully protesting the boxing of their traditions as the Hindu religion. These protests have been labelled most politely as aggressive Hinduism and far worse otherwise.
Diaspora literature on India-Australia is scarce, particularly among the diaspora cohort itself. I felt the need to research it because the Indian diaspora in Australia is not simply a post-colonial phenomenon, and many diaspora members are not aware about the trials and tribulations of their predecessors in colonial Australia.
There is a dire need for this sort of literature, as I feel there has only been a prescriptive description about the Indian identity in general, and the Hindu identity in particular. The image of our identity in media, society and academia does not represent our daily life or our life views. In this scenario, mindless assimilation and integration into the host society could lead to lack of self-esteem and self-image. The people of the diaspora need to gauge themselves and others with confidence and assertiveness. I believe more and more scholarship needs to be undertaken in the future by diaspora scholars, to elucidate their culture and philosophy. Many a time while drafting this book, I was tempted to follow mainstream templates for wider acceptance, but then consciously deviated for objectivity.
I thank Indian diaspora members who enthusiastically came forward to support my work. Garuda Prakashan's swift response to publish the work from an unknown genre, especially from a novice author, is heartening.
Hindu (948)
Agriculture (125)
Ancient (1105)
Archaeology (814)
Architecture (568)
Art & Culture (933)
Biography (731)
Buddhist (550)
Cookery (166)
Emperor & Queen (588)
Islam (245)
Jainism (325)
Literary (889)
Mahatma Gandhi (393)
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Visual Search
Manage Wishlist