BOT P3 Ch 27

Invoke national self-respect – The true ambassadors – Necessity for regular Samskars – Imbibe good from others – Serve local population – Bitter African lesson – As world missionaries – Question and Answers.

THE first point to be borne in mind by our brothers and sisters living abroad is to keep alive their day-to-day behaviour a spirit of intense national self-respect. And for this, a keen awareness of the glorious heritage that our forbears have left for us should ever be present in our minds.

There is even now living evidence of the glory that Bharat was in ancient times.

What the World Expects

Right from Mexico in South America to the tiny islands in the Far Eastern Pacific, our Hindu missionaries had traveled far and wide and carried with them the fragrance of our ancient wisdom. Everywhere, they made a gift of the fruits of their achievements in medicine, mathematics, science, arts and culture. But more than anything else, it was the abiding spiritual values which they preached and practised that has left the deepest impression on the human mind all over.

When Siam became independent and their parliament was to meet in the hall, they all unanimously decided to place the statue of Manu as the presiding deity. The inscription in Siamese reads: “Bhagwan Manu, the first and the greatest lawgiver of mankind.” Indonesia is another country where the local Muslims are infused with the Hindu traditions. Their names, their songs, their drama, their national symbols – all carry the imprint of our epics like Ramayana.

True Ambassadors

It should be kept in mind that whenever a person goes out, he will go out as a representative of the country, the national culture and values of life – which have given birth to him. The world assesses the values and greatness of that country and its people on the touchstone of HIS behaviour. This is all the more true in the case of a great and ancient nation such as ours. If our conduct is not in keeping with the high cultural standards and becomes but a pale reflection of those lands themselves, the image of our country too will go down in their eyes. The respect and esteem that our country suffers will do incalculable harm both to our countrymen residing there and also to our country. It is only when their conduct is imbued with the right spirit of our dharma and samskriti that they can stand up as ideal Hindus and would be able to present an inspiring image of our nation and also receive a similar response from those people.

But Alas!

However, the reports that we receive in this respect are often very distressing. Those who go over there seem to lose their identity altogether. Their habits of food, daily customs and traditions all get changed. Their ignorance about our dharma, our cultural heritage and our history seem to be colossal. As a result, they are carried away by the so-called scholars of those lands who have willfully spread deceptive theories and interpretations about our life. And they develop a sort of contempt for all that is ours and begin to look upon the foreigners’ ways as something great and worthy of emulation. Often, they succumb to the vulgar temptations of the materialistic affluence and permissive society there, and forget all about our county and culture. Quite a few of them even decide to settle there permanently.

It is necessary, therefore, that our Hindu brethren there, who have imbibed the right samskars here, should meet regularly with a view to rekindling among all our people there the spirit of national pride, the awareness of our all-round achievements in the past and our mission while abroad. It will not be enough if we congregate on certain occasions and for some special programmes only. Even in our shastras, nritya (dance), geeta (music), and vadya (instruments) are mentioned, but these were useful only if used with the definite purpose of imparting samskars. Mere music and dance by themselves do not constitute culture. If the entertainment aspect alone is taken up and the cultural value ignored, it would surely lead to social degeneration. If the awareness of reviving the Hindu values in our daily chores is to be made intensely and continuously alive, regular assemblage with suitable samskar–imparting programmes is a “must”.

Apart from their regular assemblage, there should be daily singing of bhajans and shlokas at home. Especially the children should be taught to recite the same with due devotion and earnestness. And wherever there are our temples the Hindus should cultivate the habit of congregating on certain holy occasions and conduct programmes like satsangs and havans.

Keeping close contact with the learned men and spiritual teachers who visit those countries from time to time and arranging suitable programmes would be of great help in furthering the above-mentioned objective.

It is said that our people who go abroad are carried away by the superficial attractions there and do not try to go deeper to find out the really good points in the life of those people. No people on the face of this earth are entirely without some abiding virtues, nor will they be endowed with all the necessary noble qualities. We should be able to discriminate and make a dispassionate assessment of their virtues and vices, and so also, of our own strong points and weak points. We shall then be able to achieve a harmonious blend of the elements of excellence in both the systems. Our intelligent young men who are staying abroad should take up such a comparative study and enlighten our other brethren there with the results of their findings.

There are indeed very pious people worthy of emulation in all countries. We should do well to emulate their examples. There is the recent example of a great and saintly American, who was so full of piety and love for all living creatures that when he would sit with his hands immersed in a tank, fish would swarm and play around without the least fear or hesitation. Such was his spirit of identity with the entire living creation.

There are so many inspiring items of their literature which we could pick and make them our own. Many of our sublime thoughts are echoed in their poetry and philosophical works. I remember a most touching poem “Abou Ben Adhem” by Leigh Hunt.

Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An angel writing in a book of gold.
Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the presence in the room he said,
“What writest thou?” The vision raised its head,
And with a look made of all sweet accord,
Answer’d , “the names of those who love the lord.”
“And is mine one?” said Abou. “Nay, not so,”
Replied the Angel. Abou spoke more – low,
But cheerly still, and said, “I pray thee, then,
Write me as one that loves his fellowmen.”
The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night,
It came again with a great wakening light,
And showed the names whom love of God had blest,
And lo! Ben Abhem’s name led all the rest.

Then there is the important aspect of cultivating the right attitude and pattern of behaviour towards the local population.

The first thing that our brothers abroad have to bear in mind is, that while carrying on a profession or an employment there, earning and amassing money should bot be sole aim. They should understand and appreciate the problems of the local people and sympathise with their aspirations. Some portion of their earnings should be kept apart for promoting their welfare and enlightening them on the great principles and values of Hinduism. At the same time, they should, by their personal example and living, demonstrate that they are coming from the land of a great and hoary culture and thus set a personal example to others.

If these essential points of conduct are ignored it might very well cause disrepute and often misery and hardship to themselves. Probably, this is one of the main reasons why our Hindus in East African countries are put to a lot of trouble these days. In the past our people there, for the most part, did not actively sympathise with the aspirations of the native African people while they were struggling against the White colonialists. They also did not spend out of their earnings for promoting the welfare of the local population, for their education or for enlightening them in the tenets of Hinduism. The religious vacuum prevalent there was filled in by the Christian and Islamic missionaries. The upshot of all these lapses on our part was that when the Africans became free, they were dominated by Christian and Islamic propaganda which soon made them lose sympathy for Hinduism or for Hindus in general. They therefore set about to displace the Hindus form their positions of strength and resources. The Hindus have had to leave those countries in large numbers and suffer the loss of their properties and lifelong earnings. This experience should therefore serve as an eye-opener to all Hindus living abroad.

In a nutshell, our brethren abroad will have to bring about a total transformation in their thoughts and life-styles if they have to lead a happier, richer and more honoured life abroad and also make the image of Bharat shine brighter in those countries. And in order to do this the one supreme conviction that we are a great people charged with a World Mission, should ever be vibrant in our breasts; that a sacred duty and trust is cast upon us of bringing home to the entire humanity the sublime truths embedded in our Dharma and that the various ills and challenges being faced by it could be met successfully on the basis of the all-comprehensive, scientific yet spiritual outlook of Hinduism. If this ultimate vision is kept constantly is view then everything else will become clear as crystal.

With Friends From Abroad

Q: Some of our friends feel that it is burdensome to stick on to our mother tongues while in foreign lands. They also think that it is of little utility in their day-to-day life there. What should be our attitude in this regard?

A: It is very necessary that we use our own languages in our homes even abroad. Usually it so happens that when those who reside overseas for a long time come to Bharat they cannot speak fluently in their mother tongue at all. They take to English even with their relatives and friends. This should not be.

There is the instance of Shri Ramlal, a revolutionary hero, who was exiled for many years in America. Once when he had visited Bharat incognito, we requested him to speak to our swayamsevaks. To our surprise he spoke in chaste Marathi even though his mother tongue was Hindi. That was possible for him because of his true patriotic and revolutionary fervour. If we cherish the same patriotic fervour we could easily preserve our languages even in foreign lands. And that is very necessary to keep alive our traditional Hindu way of life.

Q: Our children lose touch with our languages very quickly. Correct pronunciation is lost. What is way out?

A: Prepare good story books with Hindu names and characters conveying the great tenets and virtues of our Hindu culture. Ramayana and Mahabharata offer a rich store for such stories.

A: That is very good. It is better if it is dedicated to Pranava or Omkar which is accepted by all sects of Hinduism, instead of to any one particular god or goddess.

Q: One of the problems of those living abroad is that many of them are unmarried and single. The foreign society would not readily admit them to their fold, and the usual entertainments like television and cinema bore them. They feel lonely.

A: One way out would be to open good libraries containing books in our languages on our culture, history, literature and philosophy. Our people could borrow books and usefully spend their time.

Q: Some feel that insistence on the word ‘Hindu’ may spoil our image when our sanyasins go to foreign lands to preach.

A: It is only defeatism or inferiority complex that makes one think so. Swami Vivekananda and Swami Abhedananda both worked in foreign lands. They never fought shy of proclaiming themselves as the champions of Hinduism. They spoke the truth frankly and fearlessly. They even criticised what was being practised there under the name of Christ though they deeply respected him.

The West admired and even respected them on that account. But now, that is not the case. Many of our sanyasins go all out to please them and in the process dilute their own thoughts and convictions. That has only made them lose respect in the foreigner’s eyes.

Q: Some Muslims in U.K. would like to join with us in this effort. Should we encourage them to do so?

A: Provided they are prepared to own the Hindu culture as their own. They could have their own way of upasana but should consider the Hindu heritage and history as their own.