India needs a new revolution

My greetings to all my fellow countrymen on the occasion of the 75th Independence Day. It's a day to celebrate her special geniuses and also commit ourselves to uphold the values that make India unique and beautiful.?

The Old Young

India may have secured political freedom 75 years ago, but the freedom of thought, expression and worship has always been an integral part of her traditions. The oldest living civilisation of the world,? she is young and vibrant in the heart where the eternal wisdom of the Vedas seamlessly coexists with science and technology.

The beauty of India lies in its diversity. The Vedas proclaim, ‘Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma’ - everything is filled with divinity. India is a continent in itself with immensely diverse cultures, languages, races, religions, cuisine and art forms that change every few kilometres. She has continued to move ahead and prosper taking along this diversity, while many other erstwhile nations have not been able to sustain such diversity and they disintegrated.?

In spite of her many challenges, the motto of Satyameva Jayate (Truth Alone Triumphs) stands tall and provides the road map for a progressive and prosperous life.

Time for a revolution

India cannot rely on just one single idea in her quest to live up to her full potential.? It has to be a series of holistic and sustained interventions that will set every Indian free from limitations that stop them from reaching their true potential. Economic empowerment is crucial but not sufficient to take India forward. Personal empowerment,? peace, education, skill up-gradation, and a check on the rising levels of stress in society will have to go hand in hand with the economic progress of our people.?

This body of holistic interventions is what I would call a spiritual revolution; interventions that have the potential to set every Indian free from limitations that stop them from reaching their true potential. When the majority of our population attains this character of being physically strong, mentally alert and socially responsible, progress and prosperity will be a natural course of progression. ?Undoubtedly, the country needs such a revolution.

We need the rich to be more compassionate, the poor to gain more confidence and move towards self-dependency;? we need people to move from blame and a victim mentality to a heightened state of feeling empowered for them to take responsibility not only for themselves but also for the larger good. To achieve this we need a spiritual revolution in the country.

Core Values for Sustainable Prosperity

And this requires a rekindling of the core human values, without which it will be challenging to sustain progress, be it social, political or economic. Financial prosperity without a holistic vision could even be counterproductive.?

No society can claim to be civilised if is grappling with increasing violence and crime. Rising incidents of violence and crime in domestic and social life has to be checked and this can happen only with spiritual wisdom.?

We need the rich to be more compassionate, the poor to gain more confidence and move towards self-dependency;? we need people to move from blame and a victim mentality to a heightened state of feeling empowered for them to take responsibility not only for themselves but also for the larger good. To achieve this we need a spiritual revolution in the country.

Do not wait for someone to come and create employment. Light the entrepreneurial flame so that we can make every village self-reliant and every district economically prosperous.

The spiritual approach will also provide direction to the energy of our younger generation. We need to instil confidence and encourage the innovative spirit in our youth and help them to become entrepreneurs. Do not wait for someone to come and create employment. Light the entrepreneurial flame so that we can make every village self-reliant and every district economically prosperous.

A holistic, all-encompassing perspective alone can inspire our people to true progress. Human Values and spiritual practices that uplift the human spirit must become an integral part of the social discourse so that we build a society free from corruption, hate and violence. In this endeavour, we must learn not only from our achievements and drawbacks but also from other societies and their successes and failures. Societies that have successfully conducted experiments to become corruption-free must be studied.

Everyone is a stakeholder

Steps for this will have to be taken jointly by the government, NGOs, corporates and civil society.? We in the Art of Living are running programs to create young leaders in rural communities to take responsibility for educating their communities on Harmony in Diversity, Health, Hygiene, Women’s Empowerment and caring for the environment. We have successfully organised deradicalisation programs in Kashmir and the northeast, helping in the integration of formerly armed youth into the mainstream.

Over eighty million trees have been planted and 42 rivers and water bodies across India are being rejuvenated. Our volunteers are actively working on projects aimed at empowerment of women empowerment. Trained counsellors are offering their services to uplift the mental health of society which is a dire need today. Volunteer mediation cells are being set up across the country to settle disputes are at the local level.?

All of the above is aimed at creating talented leadership at the grass root to build a healthy, self-reliant and happy society.? I urge everyone to do their bit in this collective undertaking