Tuesday, 4 August 2026

POPULAR AND UNPOPULAR VIEWS

 

                POPULAR AND UNPOPULAR VIEWS

            Given below are the miscellaneous views of  two well-known Indian personalities.

            The first one is Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh popularly known as Osho (1931-1990).

            By profession, he was a college professor but by contemplation he was a mystic, a great thinker, and philosopher. His talks on various topics of life run into a number of published  books which are best sellers in the whole world.

            He concluded one of his discourses with these words:

            But to return to a bygone culture or civilization is an impossibility. No culture ----be it Hindu, Muslim or Christian ---can ever make man happy by taking him back to the past. The ideal lies n the future ---where there is no Hindu, no Christian, no Muslim;---just man, and man alone. To this man belongs the future. To give birth to him, we need more productivity, more thinking, more consciousness.

            We need healthy people ----healthy in body and in mind.

            This man will create for us the music of bliss, the bliss that will ultimately take us to God himself!

            Osho is not wrong. Some orthodox people may disagree with him but they cannot reject all his views without valid arguments.

                                                            ----

            The second world-famous personality is Lord Buddha with reference to his secret of happiness.

            By birth he was a prince. He was born in Lumbini (in present-day Nepal). His biographical years are Circa 563 BCE-483 BCE). He was married, had a son, yet became sad when he observed outside his palace --- a wretched old man.  a sick man, and a dead man.

            This made him believe that the world is a place of suffering, and he must abandon his palace life, wander and wander, meet all sorts of learned people , and find the secret of happiness.

            After several years of this mode of life, one day he suddenly attained supreme knowledge. He was then 35 years old and was eager to share his supreme knowledge with entire humanity.

            It was at Sarnath near Benares (now Varanasi) that he delivered his main sermon. He said:  

            There are four noble truths: 1. Life is full of suffering. 2. The cause of this suffering is that man is selfish and has desires. 3. Suffering ceases when the desire ceases. 4. Desire can be abolished by following the eightfold path which consists of:

            1.Right faith. 2. Right Resolve. 3. Right Speech. 4. Right conduct. 5.Right Living. 6. Right Effort. 7. Right Remembrance. 8. Right Meditation.

            Lord Buddha also preached the middle path. Neither too much enjoyment , nor too much torture. He preferred self-control to anger; compassion and kindness to hatred and malice. He also  preached compassion, love and kindness to all living beings.

            To conclude, Lord Buddha suggested  that one should not lie, steal, kill or drink.

                                                            *******

G.R.Kanwal

4th August2026    

 

No comments:

Post a Comment