Religion vis-a-vis Dharma

The term Religion may substantially be defined as a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
The term religion assumes significance in Indian context especially and more particularly in the present phase of the post independence era. The indian constitution is often cited as a double edged weapon, on the one hand professing secularism while,on the other, guaranteeing freedom of religion as a fundamental right. Secularism implies state's non-attachment towards any religion, akin to what communism patronises. On the other hand the freedom of religion guaranteed as fundamental right underlines the very same spirit though its context is expressed in the manner of a constitutional right for which remedy is also provided under Article 32.
The above discussion tends to focus on the absolutely indifferent plank in respect of religion on which the state (i.e India as a nation) is constitutionally liable to stand, treating religions as something unworthy of being reckoned.
What prompted the framers of the constitution to distance itself from the term religion is not of any relevance. What is relevant is the simple logic that may be construed from what might have been the said promptings. State and governance is supposed to be founded on a logic system, the rationale whereof may be interpreted and deciphered. A state action which fails to disclose its object and which object, even though reasoned out, fails to conform to the objectives that the constitution ratifies, falls through as ultra vires. So what would be the consequence of a state action that would have been inspired by mere faith or belief or something like that , using religious dictum of any denomination as its justification.
Nevertheless, while detesting and thus discarding the role of religion in any state action, an unwelcome confusion is generally entertained, confusing the term Dharma with Religion, the former wrongly deemed as latter's vernacular translation. Scholars of sanskrit and hindi literature would, however, testify to the fact that the term Dharma means righteous Karma (deed). Mulla, the authority on Hindu Law, in his treatise has taken great pains to codify the law as found in the Hindu Community, citing even vrihaspati , the sage (seer) as its source. The set of ideal human conduct which constituted righteous human conduct, is/was the law which ruled the society. Its disobedience would cause a defaulting subject to fall from grace and thus receive punishment. In that sense , the term Dharma stood defined as an abiding principle which were not any codified set of code of conduct in the ancient society, but were just a way of life. Its codification was facilitated in the present times due to the loss of the core concept as to what exactly Dharma means, inasmuch as this sacred term, called dharma got misunderstood as being the same as religion.

Life? An empty dream?

Life is just an empty dream, it is said, as there is no armour against fate. Is that what life has as its intrinsic value, in that a dream has no substantial continuity either to precede or succeed?This basic premise has a defeatist implication. The non-substantiality of life comes as a spontaneous realisation as soon as our near and dear ones bid us good bye without any forewarning, much less a clue as to life's unpredictability steeped in concomitant mysteries.I have deeply pondered in this much discussed , yet scarcely answered question. A focused attention given to an idea is called meditation, they say. Meditation fetches answers. But meditation is not possible unless the mind is emptied, for a loaded psyche is repugnant to the reception of creative inputs.So, I tried to empty the mind. In the process I leant a great deal about the art and science of emptying. The basic principle of this trial was effortlessness.  As soon as an effort is put in, the target vanishes. The target would elude the practitioner as long as the practice revolves round the rituals of practice. Rising above the limitations of rituals is the first per-requisite if effortlessness has to be achieved. For instance, become aware of your natural breath. As soon as you turn your awareness to the breath, the involuntary nature of the breath begins to lose its spontaneity. What to do then. Nothing at all, just go on observing the breath without effort. The breath will come back to its spontaneous rhythm. This offers us a clue. Whatever is involuntary may also be slightly voluntary. This slight link of voluntary control over the involuntary functions of life allows us an access into that which is the arena beyond human controls, especially that which leaves humans guessing without a convincing answer.

Hindutva, Hinduism and the Hindu.
The term Hindutva is a recent innovation and so is the term Hindu which is said to have got coined due to mis-pronounciation of the name of the river Sindhu that underwent a phonetic metamorphosis to become Indu, whereas the dwellers owing origin along its course were called Hindus.
Notwithstanding the historical veracity of the above analogy, neither the term Hindu nor its derivative, Hindutva, has any direct bearing on the scores of belief systems which the race called Hindus followed. For instance, a joint Hindu Family is not government by two different schools of law, namely the Mitakshara School of Hindu Law and the Dayabhaga School of Hindu Law. Both these schools still have varying legal mandates . Each still holds the field and both co-exists, without influencing either despite being diametrically distinguishable.
Suffice it to say that an un-legislated legal system subsisted, better say it still subsists, that all through carried the force of law even without any sovereign's backing. It needs to be appreciated that the legislated laws today exist in such volumes which even the legal professionals might fail to faultlessly enlist without the aid of an in-depth research. Thereby, it would be too much to expect of a common man to be aware of it, much less compliant thereof. Non compliance or disobedience as a result of ignorance is one aspect, express violation is another. The unbearable pendency of litigations which is mounting each moment with greater intensity than its disposal, is a material point of reference. This reference is expedient in evaluating the fact that the ancient legal system known today as the Hindu Law, has stood the test of time without state support, rather say, despite state interference.
These lines are not meant to glorify a system, rather to drive home a rather inconspicuous and thus overlooked and misconceived idea regarding the term Dharma as being anything akin to that genre of belief system which is founded on the term religion.
Dharma , in its pure and simple import, is the law that regulate the Karma or human deeds. In that sense, Dharma is the law of Karma. The whole philosophy of the law of Karma is encoded in the volumes of scriptures, Srimad Bhagwat Gita being one. The Dharma or the thus codified principles of the law of Karma  is not derived from one single source or entity, but from a stream which is more vast and perennial that any stream, river or ocean, which has a name called the Sanatan Dharma, though it has been lost sight of in the glare of the conflicting politics built in the recent times over its recently coined by-name Hinduism, Hinduva, and like things, as though a perennial law of Karma can be incarcerated within such limits as religions.   

Times of India carrid a story on Bhagat Singh's diary which admires western philosophers like Marx, Russel, etc, which the author considers to be anti-BJP stream, linking the same to Modi's program to launch it. My comments thereto, carried by the journal runs as below:-

	THE TIMES OF INDIA
	Dear Reader,
	Your comment on the article ''Bhagat Singh’s book may leave BJP red-faced'' is now displayed ontimesofindia.com.
	''That's indeed wonderful. Our writers can create anything out of nothing. What is more, the readers are condemned to digest it. Bhagat singh's diary purports to quote marx or other philosophers on religion. So? How does it offend eithe BJP or any party standing on Hindutva plank? In the first place, there are few , at least not the author, conscious of the distinction between religion and dharma. These two terms are not synonymical. The western philosophers, be that Marx or whoever, can not be interpreted or viewed in isolation. The core of every religion stems from the term Dharma, which means righteous act. Its codified form is religion. In small space these cant be elaborated, but suffice it to say that your inference is misconceived, in that Bhagat Singh's appreciation for the western celebrities among the philosophers do not imply anything repugnant to the concept of dharma, and the Hindutva as a plank, or say political plank should not be cited as anything which Bhagat Singh's diary may be construed as having decreied, much less to cause any discomfiture to the BJP. ''
	To reply to this comment , or see the whole conversation, click here.
	Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
	Regards,
	Team TOI

All the accused convicted in the Laxmanpur Bathe massacre have been acquitted clean by the Patna High Court, in tune with earlier such acquittals in other Dalit massacre incidents. The whole story is dedicated to the gross injustice thereby meted out to the victim community.
These projections are misleading. The findings of the court which form the basis for such acquittals have not been cited. Why?
The requisites of an objective legal reporting have been overlooked. A prosecution case commences at the level of the police where courts have no role to play until investigations are completed and final form , like that in the shape of charge sheet is submitted. The police role ends there to an extent, in that its role with that of the State as prosecutor out-stands in pursuing the prosecution including adducing of evidence.
The Court has to over look every fact or fiction which the prosecution case either omits or fails to either contain or substantiate.  Court has to give its finding in accordance with the law. An appellate Court, like the Patna ahigh Court in the present case, has to travel extra yard, to agree or disagree with the findings of the trial court.
The above analogy would be wholly philosophical without the exact reference to the contents of the judgment, which ought to have been cited and discussed in detail instead of irrationally describing half glass of water either as half-empty or half-full.

Logic in electoral platform?
Don't punish me for up govt.'s follies, beseeches mulayam singh. So should congress say, not to punish it for the follies of the sonia-manmohan duo. That is exactly what lalu-rabri pleaded in bihar but failed. No, no. That is incorrect to say that they failed. In fact they did succeed, but what failed them was the three cornered contest, bjp-nitish in coalition which surmounted lalu-ramvilas whose votes were split by congress. Had the congress been in coalition with lalu-ramvilas, bjp-nitish(jdu) would have tasted defeat. The situation would have been worse if nitish and bjp were apart, as they are now. Suffice it to say that misgovernance may not necessarily unseat a ruling party. Rightly or wrongly, 2002 gujarat riots are cited as an example of mis-governance. Yet modi returned to power and kept returning despite national hue and cry. What must be realised is the reality that indian electoral platform is too skatty and bereft of logic. The promptings that motivate the electorate are equally ignoble. And above all, likes of mulayam, lalu, ramvilas know how to exploit it. So, their success in hitting their target, can not be wished away, much less ruled out, inasmuch as any logical appraisals would be illogical.

The animal within.
We are humans. 
Are we? Or aren't we?
Not kidding. It's a sensible and bona fide poser.
According to Yoga philosophy, there are seven psychic centres along the spinal column, which respectively represent different characteristics that drive human consciousness. These centres are generally active to a very meagre extent in the normal humans. There are numerous practices in yoga, tantra and various other disciplines which claim to be effective in its awakening. An evolved mind has an awakened set of psychic centres, it is believed.
Spiritual discipline is the one and the only means of evolution? That is not so. Every human act has direct impact, whether negative or positive, on the human mind. So, it is better to discuss only the non- formal means of evolution, picking up cue from every human act or omission that occurs each moment, consciously or unconsciously.
There is another belief that the psychic centres referred to above along the spine are not the only set of centres in the human system. There are two other identical sets, one that situates beneath the spine and the other beyond the crown of the head, in the space. The latter concept might seem misconceived to those who have not realised that whereas all body is in the mind, the converse is not true. All mind is not in the body. Mind extends even beyond.
Leave aside the above analogies. Just clutch only one simple idea that the psychic centres beneath the spine represent the animal instincts that humans carry. Whereas animals' instinctive features often find reflection in human conduct, humans fail to appraise the legacy that this evolved species of animals are condemned to carry.
That explains why the animal within keeps ventilating itself through ignoble human conduct. That is but natural. What is not natural is than one loses sight of this indispensable feature that is socially condemned as fault of varying degrees, including those which are punishable. 

Test, on which rung of evolutionary ladder,you stand?

Anger is a negative emotion. This is accepted to be a natural behaviour in reaction to something annoying. However, one can not take credit for being swayed by anger. It should be avoided. That is what is a general belief. Anger impacts health as well as relationships, personal as well as social.
We generally overlook its underlying machinations. Anger does not arise on its own. It is substantially an effect, caused by negative emotion generated within one's core. The same cause generates anger of varying magnitude, depending on the mental evolution of the subject. Just think, how would an irked dog react ? The same way as would a sober gentle person? Comparisons mean nothing unless one understands that any emotion may find an outlet by means of fierce outburst if involuntary responses are akin to instinctive promptings that dominate the creatures of lower origin.
Anger may be involuntary and voluntary, both.
An assumed mental status accompanying an assumed emotional build up may as well be expressed in the form of anger that is voluntary, not involuntary.
An involuntary expression is that which arises by default, i.e., without your doing anything, it occurs, irrespective whether you chose it or not.
Then how to distinguish what is involuntary and what is voluntary? Simple. Put yourself to this test. Let reasonable time pass by. Recreate the same situation which evoked the anger , the genre of which you wish to test. If it was voluntary, the same may be recreated, but if it was involuntary, its recreation would not seem feasible.
Besides, an involuntary outburst leaves one somewhat exhausted and out of ones own stead. The voluntary expression would rather energise, as does an energy producing breathing exercise.
It is wrong to assume that becoming angry is a natural conduct. It is ,of course natural, for those who are still stuck up on the evolutionary ladder in the instinctive world that dominates lower creatures. They are, so to say, evolved animals, but undeveloped, or at best, developing humans.
Evolution is a term that has vast spectrum, one being ascertainable by the extent of voluntary or involuntary nature of expressions or reactions which keep arising on regular basis. There are other ingredients or shades in the spectrum, like the level of objectivity. What is objectivity is not difficult to understand. We have five senses which feed our consciousness. Think, what rules over what, the consciousness on the senses or vice versa. One who is aware of the fact that the inputs and outputs which are routed through the senses can be seen as some thing happening as though on a cinema screen is capable of achieving levels of objectivity. One laughs or weeps or feels sorry, but the question is whether while undergoing such experiences one is aware. Being aware means, while weeping, I unconsciously say to myself, I am weeping and also see myself weeping, laughing or scolding or being scolded or being abused or whatever. Once a level of objectivity is achieved, there might not arise a situation to get involuntarily angered or even elated. Things tend to pass by like it does on a stage where characters playing drama do all sorts of acts that we do on this world-stage, but without registering any negative or positive impacts on the human mind. Once the artist steps down the stage, the character vanishes from the person, but the person that originally subsisted in the artist, carries on. This can, better say this does, happen in real life. This is one facet of evolution. Test yourself where, on which rung of the evolutionary ladder, you stand.

That's not news.
Today my attention was drawn by a news story published in the Times of India, stating that people here offered dharna, and resorted to Satyagrah, protesting the wretched civic life here, road wise, electricity wise, sanitation wise, and so on. I feel like adding what has been missed out.

Bhagalpur roads were full of ditches, till recently. Now the ditches have disappeared, replaced by craters. The most important and busiest road, i.e., the church Rd., now renamed MG Rd., would soon be un-motorable. Same is the fate of Patal Babu Road and R.P.Road. That is a fitting pooja gift that Nitish seems to have given to the two important BJP leaders, Ashwani Chaube and Shahnavaz, the former being Bhagalpur MLA and letter M.P. Why did these two celebrities stay away from the reported Satyagrah, in fact makes news. Why you have missed that? This is what I have to ask from the newsman. The vegeterian style of reporting no longer impresses. People want to read between the lines and see more than meets the eyes.