CHENNAI: We all dream for a better world where there is peace, happiness and harmony. However, when we look at the present scenario, we come to the conclusion that certain things have gone wrong and we feel that something is definitely amiss. It is either our ignorance of the principles of happy living that holds us back from our goals or it is willful violation of certain basic laws of life and living.
Despite achieving highest level of scientific and technological development, people are still living in a state of trauma, tension, turmoil of poverty, squalor and disease. Real happiness has only illusory existence in our life, and deep and lasting peace has become a thing of the past. Our managerial skills have become so sophisticated that we can run mega industries and multi-national corporations and yet we are unable to manage ourselves. As a result, we find our society continuously struggling for existence.
Billions of people live on alcohol, narcotics, sleeping pills or pain-killers. There is increasing environmental deterioration, economic stagnation in advanced countries and unemployment, inflation and misery in less developed countries, hunger and malnutrition in many parts of the world and urban deterioration and crime rise everywhere. The media uncovers cases of corruption daily. Do these things not point in the direction of either our ignorance of basic laws of happy living or to such actions on our part that contradict certain essential principles of life? Else, how can we explain our present predicament?
There are certain laws that govern human behaviour in general. These are known as moral laws or ethical principles. Based on these are certain norms, codes of conduct or rules and regulations to be followed in life in an organised society. If we follow these laws, the quality and quantity of happiness in our life is enhanced and if we violate these, then we have to face disturbances. The observance of these moral norms is of great value if we wish to be happy with ourselves and build a society which is free from friction in human relations and tensions in day-to-day life. These are, therefore, called values.
Our present state is the result of violation of those values. We have gradually lost the human aspect of our life and have become like machines, as a result of which there is no spirit of friendship, fellow-feeling and love in our life. Our knowledge of science, technology, communication skills, managerial skills, etc.. has not been able to bring inner happiness because our level of honesty, sincerity, cordiality, fellow-feeling, fairness, discipline and mutual trust is declining.
In other words there has been rapid erosion of social, moral and family values. It is not that science and technology or management skills have caused our present sufferings. But the fall in standards of morality has prevented even science and technology, and management or administrative ability from giving us their full fruits.
It is not that people do not know that moral values are necessary to build a happy and peaceful society. They do not have that spiritual knowledge that should enable them to follow successfully these values in their life nor do they know that kind of meditation which should make the values stay in them and should give them a deep experience of peace and happiness.
Thus, the need of the hour is to create mass awareness among people about values like tolerance, humility and mutual respect in order to realise our dream of a world where there is peace, happiness and harmony.