08/26/07
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The Awakened One
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True Teachings of The Awakened One
The Noble Path
Skillful actions eventually bring good results, while unskillful ones bring bad. But best of all are the actions that lead to the ending of actions altogether.
” True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One, these four types of kamma have been directly realized, verified, & made known by me. Which four? There is action that is dark with dark result. There is action that is bright with bright result. There is action that is dark & bright with dark & bright result. There is action that is neither dark nor bright with neither dark nor bright result, leading to the ending of actions.
“And what is action that is dark with dark result? There is the case where a certain person fabricates an injurious bodily fabrication, fabricates an injurious verbal fabrication, fabricates an injurious mental fabrication. Having fabricated an injurious bodily fabrication, having fabricated an injurious verbal fabrication, having fabricated an injurious mental fabrication, he rearises in an injurious world. On rearising in an injurious world, he is there touched by injurious contacts. Touched by injurious contacts, he experiences feelings that are exclusively painful, like those of the beings in hell. This is called action that is dark with dark result.
“And what is action that is bright with bright result? There is the case where a certain person fabricates a non-injurious bodily fabrication … a non-injurious verbal fabrication … a non-injurious mental fabrication … He rearises in a non-injurious world … There he is touched by non-injurious contacts … He experiences feelings that are exclusively pleasant, like those of the Ever-radiant Devas. This is called action that is bright with bright result.
“And what is action that is dark & bright with dark & bright result? There is the case where a certain person fabricates a bodily fabrication that is injurious & non-injurious … a verbal fabrication that is injurious & non-injurious … a mental fabrication that is injurious & non-injurious … He rearises in an injurious & non-injurious world … There he is touched by injurious & non-injurious contacts … He experiences injurious & non-injurious feelings, pleasure mingled with pain, like those of human beings, some devas, and some beings in the lower realms. This is called action that is dark & bright with dark & bright result.
“And what is action that is neither dark nor bright with neither dark nor bright result, leading to the ending of kamma? Right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is called kamma that is neither dark nor bright with neither dark nor bright result, leading to the ending of action.
“These, True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One, are the four types of action directly realized, verified, & made known by me.”
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Community of The True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One
Worthy
“A True Follower of the Path shown by The Awakened One endowed with eight qualities is worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of respect, an incomparable field of merit for the world. Which eight?
[1] “There is the case where a True Follower of the Path shown by The Awakened One is virtuous. He dwells restrained in accordance with the Patimokkha, consummate in his behavior & sphere of activity. He trains himself, having undertaken the training rules, seeing danger in the slightest faults.
[2] “When given food, whether coarse or refined, he eats it carefully, without complaining.
[3] “He feels disgust at bodily misconduct, verbal misconduct, mental misconduct, at the development of evil, unskillful [mental] qualities.
[4] “He is composed & easy to live with, and doesn’t harass the other True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One
[5] “Whatever tricks or deceits or wiles or subterfuges he has, he shows them as they actually are to the Teacher or to his knowledgeable companions in the holy life, so that the Teacher or his knowledgeable companions in the holy life can try to straighten them out.
[6] “When in training he gives rise to the thought, ‘Whether the other True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One want to train or not, I’ll train here.’
[7] “When going, he goes the straight path; here the straight path is this: right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.
[8] “He dwells with his persistence aroused, [thinking,] ‘Gladly would I let the flesh & blood in my body dry up, leaving just the skin, tendons, & bones, but if I have not attained what can be reached through human steadfastness, human persistence, human striving, there will be no relaxing my persistence.’”
“Endowed with these eight qualities, a True Follower of the Path shown by The Awakened One is worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of respect, an incomparable field of merit for the world.”
” True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One, this assembly is free from idle chatter, devoid of idle chatter, and is established on pure heartwood: such is this community of True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One, such is this assembly. The sort of assembly that is worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of respect, an incomparable field of merit for the world: such is this community of monks, such is this assembly. The sort of assembly to which a small gift, when given, becomes great, and a great gift greater: such is this community of monks, such is this assembly. The sort of assembly that it is rare to see in the world: such is this community of True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One, such is this assembly — the sort of assembly that it would be worth traveling for leagues, taking along provisions, in order to see.”
08/25/07
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The Awakened One
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True Teachings of The Awakened One
Affection
The opinions of our friends and enemies often influence our own thoughts and feelings about others. This kind of thinking is rooted in craving, and the Awakened One offers a cure.
“True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One, these four things are born. Which four? Affection is born of affection. Aversion is born of affection. Affection is born of aversion. Aversion is born of aversion.
“And how is affection born of affection? There is the case where an individual is pleasing, appealing, & charming to (another) individual. Others treat that individual as pleasing, appealing, & charming, and the other one thinks, ‘This individual is pleasing, appealing, & charming to me. Others treat this individual as pleasing, appealing, & charming.’ He gives rise to affection for them. This is how affection is born of affection.
“And how is aversion born of affection? There is the case where an individual is pleasing, appealing, & charming to (another) individual. Others treat that individual as displeasing, unappealing, & not charming, and the other one thinks, ‘This individual is pleasing, appealing, & charming to me. Others treat this individual as displeasing, unappealing, & not charming.’ He gives rise to aversion for them. This is how aversion is born of affection.
“And how is affection born of aversion? There is the case where an individual is displeasing, unappealing, & not charming to (another) individual. Others treat that individual as displeasing, unappealing, & not charming, and the other one thinks, ‘This individual is displeasing, unappealing, & not charming to me. Others treat this individual as displeasing, unappealing, & not charming.’ He gives rise to affection for them. This is how affection is born of aversion.
“And how is aversion born of aversion? There is the case where an individual is displeasing, unappealing, & not charming to (another) individual. Others treat that individual as pleasing, appealing, & charming, and the other one thinks, ‘This individual is displeasing, unappealing, & not charming to me. Others treat this individual as pleasing, appealing, & charming.’ He gives rise to aversion for them. This is how aversion is born of aversion.
” True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One, these are the four things that are born.
“Now, on the occasion when a True Follower of the Path shown by The Awakened One, quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful (mental) qualities, enters & remains in the first jhana — rapture & pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation — then any affection of his that is born of affection does not come about. Any aversion of his that is born of affection… any affection of his that is born of aversion… any aversion of his that is born of aversion does not come about.
“On the occasion when a True Follower of the Path shown by The Awakened One… enters & remains in the second jhana… enters & remains in the third jhana… enters & remains in the fourth jhana, then any affection of his that is born of affection does not come about. Any aversion of his that is born of affection… any affection of his that is born of aversion… any aversion of his that is born of aversion does not come about.
“On the occasion when a True Follower of the Path shown by The Awakened One, through the ending of the mental fermentations, enters & remains in the fermentation-free awareness-release & discernment-release, having known & verified them for himself right in the here & now, then any affection of his that is born of affection is abandoned, its root destroyed, like an uprooted palm tree, deprived of the conditions of existence, not destined for future arising. Any aversion of his that is born of affection… any affection of his that is born of aversion… any aversion of his that is born of aversion is abandoned, its root destroyed, like an uprooted palm tree, deprived of the conditions of existence, not destined for future arising.
“This is said to be a True Follower of the Path shown by The Awakened One who doesn’t pull in, doesn’t push away, doesn’t smolder, doesn’t flare up, and doesn’t burn.
“And how does a monk pull in? There is the case where a True Follower of the Path shown by The Awakened One assumes form to be the self, or the self as possessing form, or form as in the self, or the self as in form. He assumes feeling to be the self, or the self as possessing feeling, or feeling as in the self, or the self as in feeling. He assumes perception to be the self, or the self as possessing perception, or perception as in the self, or the self as in perception. He assumes (mental) fabrications to be the self, or the self as possessing fabrications, or fabrications as in the self, or the self as in fabrications. He assumes consciousness to be the self, or the self as possessing consciousness, or consciousness as in the self, or the self as in consciousness. This is how a monk pulls in.
“And how does a True Follower of the Path shown by The Awakened One not pull in? There is the case where a True Follower of the Path shown by The Awakened One doesn’t assume form to be the self, or the self as possessing form, or form as in the self, or the self as in form. He doesn’t assume feeling to be the self… doesn’t assume perception to be the self… doesn’t assume fabrications to be the self… doesn’t assume consciousness to be the self, or the self as possessing consciousness, or consciousness as in the self, or the self as in consciousness. This is how a monk doesn’t pull in.
“And how does a True Follower of the Path shown by The Awakened One push away? There is the case where a monk returns insult to one who has insulted him, returns anger to one who is angry at him, quarrels with one who is quarreling. This is how a True Follower of the Path shown by The Awakened One pushes away.
“And how does a True Follower of the Path shown by The Awakened One not push away? There is the case where a monk doesn’t return insult to one who has insulted him, doesn’t return anger to one who is angry at him, doesn’t quarrel with one who is quarreling. This is how a monk doesn’t push away.
“And how does a True Follower of the Path shown by The Awakened One smolder? There is the case where, there being ‘I am,’ there comes to be ‘I am here,’ there comes to be ‘I am like this’ … ‘I am otherwise’ … ‘I am bad’ … ‘I am good’ … ‘I might be’ … ‘I might be here’ … ‘I might be like this’ … ‘I might be otherwise’ … ‘May I be’ … ‘May I be here’ … ‘May I be like this’ … ‘May I be otherwise’ … ‘I will be’ … ‘I will be here’ … ‘I will be like this’ … ‘I will be otherwise.’
“And how does a True Follower of the Path shown by The Awakened One not smolder? There is the case where, there being ‘I am,’ there doesn’t come to be ‘I am here,’ there doesn’t come to be ‘I am like this’ … ‘I am otherwise’ … ‘I am bad’ … ‘I am good’ … ‘I might be’ … ‘I might be here’ … ‘I might be like this’ … ‘I might be otherwise’ … ‘May I be’ … ‘May I be here’ … ‘May I be like this’ … ‘May I be otherwise’ … ‘I will be’ … ‘I will be here’ … ‘I will be like this’ … ‘I will be otherwise.’
“And how does a True Follower of the Path shown by The Awakened One flare up? There is the case where, there being ‘I am because of this (or: by means of this),’ there comes to be ‘I am here because of this,’ there comes to be ‘I am like this because of this’ … ‘I am otherwise because of this’ … ‘I am bad because of this’ … ‘I am good because of this’ … ‘I might be because of this’ … ‘I might be here because of this’ … ‘I might be like this because of this’ … ‘I might be otherwise because of this’ … ‘May I be because of this’ … ‘May I be here because of this’ … ‘May I be like this because of this’ … ‘May I be otherwise because of this’ … ‘I will be because of this’ … ‘I will be here because of this’ … ‘I will be like this because of this’ … ‘I will be otherwise because of this.’
“And how does a True Follower of the Path shown by The Awakened One not flare up? There is the case where, there being ‘I am because of this (or: by means of this),’ there doesn’t come to be ‘I am here because of this,’ there doesn’t come to be ‘I am like this because of this’ … ‘I am otherwise because of this’ … ‘I am bad because of this’ … ‘I am good because of this’ … ‘I might be because of this’ … ‘I might be here because of this’ … ‘I might be like this because of this’ … ‘I might be otherwise because of this’ … ‘May I be because of this’ … ‘May I be here because of this’ … ‘May I be like this because of this’ … ‘May I be otherwise because of this’ … ‘I will be because of this’ … ‘I will be here because of this’ … ‘I will be like this because of this’ … ‘I will be otherwise because of this.’
“And how does a True Follower of the Path shown by The Awakened One burn? There is the case where a monk’s conceit of ‘I am’ is not abandoned, its root destroyed, like an uprooted palm tree, deprived of the conditions of existence, not destined for future arising. This is how a True Follower of the Path shown by The Awakened One burns.
“And how does a True Follower of the Path shown by The Awakened One not burn? There is the case where a monk’s conceit of ‘I am’ is abandoned, its root destroyed, like an uprooted palm tree, deprived of the conditions of existence, not destined for future arising. This is how a True Follower of the Path shown by The Awakened One doesn’t burn.”
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“…the eight when taken as individual types”
“Just as the ocean is the abode of such mighty beings as whales, whale-eaters, and whale-eater-eaters; asuras, nagas, and gandhabbas, and there are in the ocean beings one hundred leagues long, two hundred… three hundred… four hundred… five hundred leagues long; in the same way, this Doctrine and Discipline is the abode of such mighty beings as stream-winners and those practicing to realize the fruit of stream-entry; once-returners and those practicing to realize the fruit of once-returning; non-returners and those practicing to realize the fruit of non-returning; arahants and those practicing for arahantship… This is the eighth amazing and astounding fact about this Doctrine and Discipline.”
08/24/07
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‘Delhi chalo’ is BSP’s new slogan - Economic Times - 08-22-2007, 08:20 PM
‘Delhi chalo’ is BSP’s new sloganEconomic Times - 46 minutes ago
LUCKNOW: Chief Minister Mayawati, on completion of 100 days in office, hinted that capturing power in New Delhi is the next big target of the Bahujan Samaj Party.
100 days in office, Maya eyes Delhi Hindustan Times
100 days in UP, Maya now eyeing Delhi Times of India
all 3 news articles
Online edition of India’s National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 24, 2007
Mayawati puts on hold corporate-run retail business
Special Correspondent
LUCKNOW: Chief Minister Mayawati on Thursday rolled back the Agriculture Infrastructure and Investment Policy, which lays emphasis on contract farming, in the “interest of the farmers.” Simultaneously, the Bahujan Samaj Party Government clamped down on corporate-run retail business and ordered the closure of Reliance Fresh stores in Lucknow and Varanasi.
A high-powered committee headed by Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh was constituted by the Chief Minister for reviewing the different aspects, including the law and order issue, before granting permission for retail stores in the State. The panel will submit its report within a month. Till then, the other retail stores in the pipeline have been put on hold.
Ms. Mayawati clarified that the Government decision reached at the Cabinet meeting here on Thursday did not pertain to Reliance Fresh alone, it covered the retail stores of other business houses as well.
However, the retail stores in malls will not be affected by the Cabinet decision.
Around 14 Reliance Fresh stores selling fresh vegetables, fruits and commodities of daily use were inaugurated in Lucknow on Wednesday. But their opening sparked off violent protests in the State capital and in Varanasi, where the protesters damaged the store. The president of UP Udyog Vyapar Mandal (Traders’ Association) and Samajwadi Party MP, Banwari Lal Kanchhal, was among those arrested by the police in Lucknow on Wednesday.
The Chief Minister said the decision to close down the Reliance Fresh stores in Lucknow and Varanasi was taken after reviewing Wednesday’s incidents of violence.
No change in U.P. Ceiling Act
Lucknow : August 24, 2007 The U.P. Government has denied any change in maximum land limit for any family under U.P. Ceiling Act 1960. The Principal Secretary for Revenue, Mr. S.R. Lakha, while giving this information here today, said that there was no proposal for consideration at government level for decreasing the maximum land limit under U.P. Ceiling Act 1960. He said that government came to know about the rumours being spread among people in different parts of the State that proceeding was going on for decreasing the maximum land limit for any family by amendment of U.P. Ceiling Act 1960, which was totally baseless and false. Mr. Lakha said that directives had been issued to all commissioners and district magistrates in this regard. They have been directed for making aware to their sub-ordinates ADMs, SDMs, tehsildars, nayab tehsildars, revenue inspectors and lekhpals, so that there should not be any confusion in this connection and rumours could be put off.
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Craving
The Awakened One
enumerates the many kinds of tangled thoughts experienced by a mind not yet free of craving. Sound familiar?
” True Followers of the Path shaown by The Awakened One, I will teach you craving: the ensnarer that has flowed along, spread out, and caught hold, with which this world is smothered & enveloped like a tangled skein, a knotted ball of string, like matted rushes and reeds, and does not go beyond transmigration, beyond the planes of deprivation, woe, & bad destinations. Listen well, and I will speak.”
“Yes, lord,” the True Followers of the Path shaown by The Awakened One responded.
The Blessed One said: “And which craving is the ensnarer that has flowed along, spread out, and caught hold, with which this world is smothered & enveloped like a tangled skein, a knotted ball of string, like matted rushes and reeds, and does not go beyond transmigration, beyond the planes of deprivation, woe, & bad destinations? These 18 craving-verbalizations dependent on what is internal and 18 craving-verbalizations dependent on what is external.
“And which are the 18 craving-verbalizations dependent on what is internal? There being ‘I am,’ there comes to be ‘I am here,’ there comes to be ‘I am like this’ … ‘I am otherwise’ … ‘I am bad’ … ‘I am good’ … ‘I might be’ … ‘I might be here’ … ‘I might be like this’ … ‘I might be otherwise’ … ‘May I be’ … ‘May I be here’ … ‘May I be like this’ … ‘May I be otherwise’ … ‘I will be’ … ‘I will be here’ … ‘I will be like this’ … ‘I will be otherwise.’ These are the 18 craving-verbalizations dependent on what is internal.
“And which are the 18 craving-verbalizations dependent on what is external? There being ‘I am because of this (or: by means of this),’ there comes to be ‘I am here because of this,’ there comes to be ‘I am like this because of this’ … ‘I am otherwise because of this’ … ‘I am bad because of this’ … ‘I am good because of this’ … ‘I might be because of this’ … ‘I might be here because of this’ … ‘I might be like this because of this’ … ‘I might be otherwise because of this’ … ‘May I be because of this’ … ‘May I be here because of this’ … ‘May I be like this because of this’ … ‘May I be otherwise because of this’ … ‘I will be because of this’ … ‘I will be here because of this’ … ‘I will be like this because of this’ … ‘I will be otherwise because of this.’ These are the 18 craving-verbalizations dependent on what is external.
“Thus there are 18 craving-verbalizations dependent on what is internal and 18 craving-verbalizations dependent on what is external. These are called the 36 craving-verbalizations. Thus, with 36 craving-verbalizations of this sort in the past, 36 in the future, and 36 in the present, there are 108 craving-verbalizations.
“This, monks is craving the ensnarer that has flowed along, spread out, and caught hold, with which this world is smothered & enveloped like a tangled skein, a knotted ball of string, like matted rushes and reeds, and does not go beyond transmigration, beyond the planes of deprivation, woe, & bad destinations.”
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Spiritual Community of the True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One
“Four types of noble disciples…”
“In this community of True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One or there are True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One who are arahants, whose mental effluents are ended, who have reached fulfillment, done the task, laid down the burden, attained the true goal, totally destroyed the fetter of becoming, and who are released through right gnosis: such are the True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One in this community of True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One.
“In this community of True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One there are True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One who, with the total ending of the first set of five fetters, are due to be reborn [in the Pure Abodes], there to be totally unbound, never again to return from that world: such are the monks in this community of True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One.
“In this community of True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One there are True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One who, with the total ending of [the first] three fetters, and with the attenuation of passion, aversion, & delusion, are once-returners, who — on returning only one more time to this world — will make an ending to stress: such are the True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One in this community of True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One.
“In this community of True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One there are True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One who, with the total ending of [the first] three fetters, are stream-winners, steadfast, never again destined for states of woe, headed for self-awakening: such are the True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One in this community of True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One.”
08/23/07
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Online edition of India’s National Newspaper
Thursday, Aug 23, 2007
BSP completes 100 days in office
Atiq Khan
LUCKNOW: Riding on the crest wave of the Dalit-Brahmin social engineering formula and having completed 100 days in office on Wednesday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati made it clear that the Bahujan Samaj Party’s next stop was Delhi.
Aware of the popular political perception that the road to Delhi passes through Uttar Pradesh, Ms. Mayawati outlined her party’s agenda for the future. Addressing the function to mark the completion of 100 days in office at the Ganna Kisan Sansthan auditorium here, Ms. Mayawati said memorials to Bhimrao Ambedkar, who instilled a feeling of self-respect and pride in the Dalits, and BSP’s founder, Kanshi Ram, would be built in New Delhi when the BSP captures power at the Centre.
Ms. Mayawati condemned the attempts of the Opposition parties to deride her Government for creating “symbols ” in the form of the Ambedkar Memorial and the proposed Kanshi Ram memorial. She denied that there was a move to build memorials in the name of Dr. Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram in all the 70 districts of the State. The Chief Minister said while the Ambedkar Memorial — completed during her second and third stint as Chief Minister — in Lucknow was being given a facelift, another in the name of the BSP’s founder would be built soon in the State capital.
Stating that its neglect and vandalism during the previous regime necessitated the renovation of the memorial, Ms. Mayawati said she wanted to create a permanent structure which would exist for “thousand years” and whose “walls were not shaken” by the passage of time.
The Chief Minister painted a rosy picture of the achievements of her 100-day old Government ( she was sworn in Chief Minister for the fourth time on May 13) with emphasis on the rule of law and a society free from injustice and crime. She said the BSP Government took 100 decisions in 100 days whose collective goal was to take forward the party’s motto of “sarv jan hitaya, sarv jan sukhaya.”
Elimination of the dreaded brigand, Dadua, on July 22, 2007 was billed as the biggest achievement of the 100-day-old Government with the Chief Minister describing the encounter as “a historic success.” On the law and order and crime front, of the 1452 mafias identified by the police, action had been taken against 948 mafia elements in the last 100 days, the Chief Minister claimed. For removing the backwardness in Purvanchal and Bundelkhand regions of the State, Ms. Mayawati reiterated her demand for the Rs. 80,000-crore “Special Area Incentive Package” from the Centre.
State Government withdraws new agriculture policy
Lucknow : August 23, 2007 The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, while giving the information regarding the important decisions taken by the Cabinet on Thursday, said that the new agriculture policy passed by the Cabinet on August 03, 2007 had been withdrawn in view of farmers’ opposition. She said this policy was announced keeping in view of benefiting farmers and the development of agriculture sector. Addressing the press persons at Media Centre after the Cabinet meeting, the Chief Minister said that new agriculture policy was explained earlier in detail with a view to remove confusion among farmers regarding it. After giving a serious thought over this issue the Intelligence Department was asked to gather reports from all the 70 districts. According to the report, it was found that about 60 per cent farmers were against this policy. Therefore, the Cabinet had decided to withdraw this agriculture policy. The State Government never wanted to take any decision against farmers’ wish, she pointed out. The Chief Minister said that some opposition parties were spreading rumours that maximum land limit was going to be decreased by amendment in Ceiling Act. Several Cabinet members had also made her aware that after the formation of the government opposition was spreading rumours regarding the amendment in Ceiling Act. Denying vehemently, she said that no proposal of decreasing the maximum land limit had come to the government, neither had it been discussed nor any decision been taken in this connection. She termed it as totally false and baseless. Giving information regarding another decision, Km. Mayawati said that law and order problem was created due to the opposition of people on the opening of Reliance Fresh Stores in Lucknow and Varanasi on August 22, 2007. Keeping this in view, the setting up of Retail Stores, besides law and order, hygiene and health aspects needed to be reviewed. A committee had been constituted under the chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary, Mr. Shashank Shekhar Singh in this regard. The Principal Secretaries of Agriculture, Home, Housing and Urban Development, Medical and Health were included in this committee, she said adding that committee would give its report in a month after discussing all the aspects in detail. This committee will also review the opening of new stores in this connection. Due to the law and order problem, the district administration of Lucknow and Varanasi had decided to close all the Reliance Fresh Stores. The Principal Secretary to C.M. Mr. Shailesh Krishna, while giving details in this connection, said that concerning district magistrate could take the decision of closure in view of law and order problem. The law and order became worse, therefore district administration had taken the decision of closure and police force was employed on concerning stores to improve law and order. This decision of closure was temporary, he said adding that further decision would be taken after a high-level review on all the aspects. Mr. Krishna said that proceedings were going on for opening of stores like Reliance Fresh and Spencer in some other districts. Government was considering for making a policy in this regard after reviewing all aspects. Giving information regarding another decision, he said that the duration of district cooperative committees’ members had been decreased to two years from five years. This decision had been taken in view of insensitivity of members and complaints of poor arrangements in committees. The process of election could take time, therefore the procedure of appointing administrator had been restored. On this occasion, Cabinet Minister Mr. Satish Chandra Mishra, Cabinet Secretary Mr. Shashank Shekhar Singh and Chief Secretary Mr. P.K. Mishra were also present. ————-
C.M. honours S.T.F. team members
Lucknow : August 22, 2007 On the occasion of completing 100-days of her Government, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Km. Mayawati announced in a programme organised for the celebration that a grand memorial of Manyawar Kanshi Ram would be built in his honour, besides the museum and a rest house in Lucknow. Denying the baseless allegation by opposition parties that Ambedkar Memorial would be built in every district of the State, she said that necessary arrangements were being made for a long-lasting Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar Memorial. She said that earlier Governments overlooked Dr. Ambedkar Memorial due to which it needed major repairing and improvement works. Acknowledging the paucity of space for seating arrangements in local Ganna Sansthan Auditorium, she announced that another auditorium having six times more capacity would be constructed very soon in Lucknow. The Chief Minister said that police officers and employees were being honoured for their valour and exemplary services. Likewise, the I.A.S. and P.C.S. officers would also be honoured for their good works regarding development. This honour would be given on the basis of three months progress of development works for which surprise visit would be made. The good officers would be encouraged and stern action would be taken against those officers, who were failed in achieving desired results. She said that I.A.S. and P.C.S. officers had an important role in providing thrust to the development and the Government would give full protection to the good officers. She appreciated the efforts of her Principal Secretaries Mr. Shailesh Krishna and Kuwar Fateh Bahadur for organising such a grand programme in a very short span of time on the completion of 100-days of Government. On this occasion, the Chief Minister honoured the S.T.F. and police personnel for their successful operation of killing the dreaded dacoit Dadua. She awarded the letter of appreciation, revolver and Rs. three lakh each to the Additional Police D.G. Mr. Shailjakant Mishra, Police D.I.G. S.T.F. Mr. Arvind Kumar Jain and S.S.P. S.T.F. Mr. Amitabh Yash for their superb guidance and contribution in conducting operation Dadua. She announced Rs. three lakh each to the police officers later on. She said that law and order situation was an important factor for development works. The Chief Minster awarded a plot in Lucknow, letter of appreciation and Rs. three lakh each to A.S.P. S.T.F. Mr. Anant Dev, Police Inspector S.T.F. Mr. Hrishikesh Yadav and Inspector S.T.F. Mr. Anil Kumar Singh. Besides, Sub-Inspector S.T.F. Mr. A.P. Mull, Head Constable S.T.F. Mr. P.K. Singh, Head Constable S.T.F. Mr. Ratan Lal Kanaujia, Head Constable S.T.F. Mr. J.P. Sharma, Constable S.T.F. Civil Police Mr. Rizwan Ahmad, S.T.F. Mr. Manoj Chaturvedi, Head Constable P.A.C. Mr. Kailash Yadav S.T.F. and Commando Mr. Ram Nath Rana, Commando Mr. Harish Chandra Yadav, Commando Mr. Virendra Singh, Commando Mr. Krishna Mohan Singh, Commando Mr. Shashi Bhushan, Commando Mr. Anil Kumar, Commando Mr. Ram Prakash, Commando Mr. Sheshnath Yadav, Constable Drivers S.T.F. Dr. Brajesh Kumar, Mr. Shiv Kumar and Mr. Dhirendra Singh got out of turn promotion, letter of appreciation and Rs. three lakh each. On this occasion, D.G.P. Mr. Vikram Singh, while expressing his gratitude towards the Chief Minister said that the entire police administration got encouragement and felt honoured today. He assured the Chief Minister that police force would do its best efforts for fulfilling her dreams. He also presented a memento of Japanese sword ‘Samurai’ to the Chief Minister. **************
SC/ST and weaker sections will be given top priority in development : Chief Minister
Lucknow : August 22, 2007 Elaborating upon the policies, commitments and priorities of the State Government, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Km. Mayawati said that it had been successful at all the fronts during the past 100 days. She said that the true development would take place when its impact could be felt by the downtrodden. All the works undertaken would be verified to ascertain the degree of development, she pointed out. She said that the efforts of the government would not be confined to papers only, instead they would be translated into reality. The Chief Minister was addressing a function organised at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Ganna Sansthan to mark the achievements of the government on the completion of 100 days. She said that after taking over the reins of the government, she had directed all the officers to stick to the policy of ‘Sarvajan Hitai, Sarvajan Sukhai’. Km. Mayawati said that after taking the oath, she initiated efforts to solve the long pending dispute between U.P. and Delhi over the plying of buses. This step benefited a large number of students, service class people, poor and labourers. The jungle raj prevalent in the State was ended and rule of law by law was established by creating an atmosphere free of injustice, crime and fear. The government set up ‘Civil Services Board’ to eradicate ‘transfer industry’, so that the senior officers could work impartially and fearlessly. ‘Day officers’ have been appointed in the police stations, who would listen to the complaints of the people and ensure that the cases were registered. The DMs and other officers have been directed to remain present at their offices between 10 a.m. and 12 noon to listen to the grievances of the people. The tehsil diwas are being organised on every Tuesday to solve the problems of the people. Besides, a three tier review system had also been introduced to ensure effective redress of the grievances of the people. Almost 7000 people got their FIRs registered during the past two months, whose FIRs were not filed during the past three years. Orders have been issued to initiate legal action against those who had filed fake FIRs. The C.M. said that the State Government had formed special investigation team (SIT) to effectively control the activities of white collared criminals and also to check economic offences and frauds. The basic problems of the naxalism affected areas would be taken into account, while initiating action. She said that with a view to controlling the criminal activities of the mafias, who were operating from jails, the Jail Department has been put under the administrative control of the Home Department. The notorious brigand Dadua, who was a synonym of terror, has been gunned down and the team who helped to eliminate him had been honoured today. An amount of Rs. Five lakh was being provided to the family members of the six martyred jawans, who laid down their lives during an exchange of fire with Thokia gang. She also paid homage to the martyred jawans. Km. Mayawati said that a growth rate of 10 per cent was being targeted for the 11th Five Year Plan. She directed the officers to go to the field to verify the data. She said that the government was serious towards the social security, therefore the amount of Rs. 150 being paid under the old age and kisan pension scheme had been doubled to Rs. 300. All the lease holders were being provided the possession of the land on priority basis. Effective action was being taken to dispossess illegal land grabbers. Eligible villagers were being handed over the possession of Gram Sabha land, ponds etc. The SC/ST were being given priority in it. She said that the unauthorised possession on the Gram Sabha land by the members of the SC/ST and farm labourers was being regularised. This would benefit those farm labourers of the SC/ST category, whose land did not exceed 3.125 acres including the unauthorised possession. The C.M. said that the State Government had decided to set up Regional Rural Employment Generation Centres instead of providing unemployment allowance to the youths. The road side vendors were being provided licences to save them from exploitation. An arrangement of Rs. 395 crore had been made in the budget for the schemes of Bundelkhand and Poorvanchal. Km. Mayawati said that there was a gap of 2000 MW in the demand and supply of power in the State. There was no increase in the generation capacity, which needed to be improved, she pointed out. The Chief Minister said that the incomplete works of selected villages left by earlier Government under Dr. Ambedkar Gram Vikas Yojna were being completed. An amount of Rs. 200 crore was arranged under Scheduled Caste Housing Scheme and Rs. 160 crore for providing Indira Awas to 2.5 lakh poor families living below the poverty line belonging to all sections of society. ‘Manyawar Kanshi Ram Ji Shahri Samagra Vikas Yojna’ was being started for which Rs. 200 crore has been arranged. Decision had been taken for the recruitment of 88,000 primary teachers. Agriculture Development and Investment Policy was implemented for the welfare of farmers. Fair Price System was being improved and reservation system had been implemented for the allotment of fair price shops. A G.O. had been issued for filling the vacant seats backlog in Government Departments for reserved categories. Decision had been taken for providing reservation in private sector on voluntary basis, she said. On this occasion, the Cabinet Secretary Mr. Shashank Shekhar Singh said that the development of Uttar Pradesh was a big challenge after Independence where the economic backwardness and social imbalances were on the top. A need for dynamic leadership was being felt for providing stability to the Government and thrust to the development. It had become possible for the first time in the political history of the State in the leadership of the Hon’ble chief Minister and the State Government was moving ahead in the direction of ‘Sarvajan Hitai, Sarvajan Sukhai’. **********
C.M. stresses for responsive and sensitive administrative system
Lucknow : August 21, 2007 The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Km. Mayawati has directed to senior administrative and police officers for taking effective steps to solve common man’s daily problems on priority basis. She said that our government intention was to bring prosperity to the State by benefiting all sections of the society through development. Underlining the need for sensitive and responsive administrative system, she said that each section of the society should get the opportunity for development, especially the weaker sections, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward class. She pointed out that the talks for making the State as Uttam Pradesh were in the newspapers only so far, should indeed take practical shape. She said that district magistrates would be held directly responsible for any laxity found in solving the people’s problems. If any slackness or negligence was found on surprise visit made by her then concerning officers would face stern action, besides their transfers, she warned. The Chief Minister was reviewing the progress of development works here today at Tilak Hall with all the commissioners, district magistrates, DIGs and other senior administrative officers of the State. She said that the development works should actually took place in reality, not only on the papers and if any false report was found in this regard then concerning officers would not be spared. She said that good officers would be encouraged. The progress report regarding the development works would be held at government level every month and she herself would study those reports and make surprise visit. If any difference between the report sent to the government and her surprise visit was found then concerning officers would face stern action and officer-in-charge secretary of the government would also be held responsible. She stressed that arrears of cane farmers should be paid and district magistrates besides the commissioners should cooperate in this regard. The district magistrates should take interest in solving the people’s problems and sit at their offices on working days between 10 a.m. to 12 noon, so that people should not come to Lucknow for their petty problems and grievances. The development works should be completed within stipulated time period without compromising on quality. She warned the officers that the review meeting to be held next month would verify and the progress of development works strictly. Km. Mayawati reiterated her government priorities and said that the poor law and order situation had a direct affect on the development works. The police administration should cooperate in maintaining the law and order, so that the development works could not be affected. She appreciated the efforts of officers for improving the law and order situation during the last three months. The Chief Minister directed for completing the development works of Ambedkar villages selected during her last three regimes. She said the policy of ‘’Sarvajan Hitai, Sarvajan Sukhai'’ should be implemented with full honesty and transparency. Regretting the slow progress of development even after the 60 years of independence in the villages, she said much remains to be done. Our government had emphasised for development in villages, but the incomplete works in Ambedkar villages were not completed, besides its maintenance and repairing, when our government was out of power. Km. Mayawati said that new Ambedkar villages would not be selected this year but our emphasis would be on completing the works on priority basis of selected Ambedkar villages earlier. She said that under Dr. Ambedkar Gram Sabha Vikas Yojana, five Gram Sabhas would be selected in each Assembly Constituency and the criteria for selecting the Gram Sabhas would be sent to the district magistrates very soon. She directed for launching special campaign for giving possession to weaker sections to which the land had been allotted during her last three regimes. Stern action should be taken against those elements who had taken the land forcibly belonging to land Patta holders. The priority should be given to scheduled caste in land allotment, she said adding that the possession of land by scheduled caste people till May 13, 2007 should be regularised. The Chief Minister said that development of cities was also necessary, besides the villages for the development of the State. She directed that effective steps should be taken for preventing power theft. It took place only with the cooperation of officers. The district magistrates and commissioners should identify these officers of the department and take strong action, she warned. Km. Mayawati directed for immediately repairing the loose wires of electricity due to which many incidents took place. Medicines and doctors should remain available in hospitals and primary health centres. The district magistrates should make surprise visits in primary schools and hospitals for checking the attendance of teachers and doctors. She appealed to the officers for providing better results. The Chief Minister, while appreciating the campaign launched in capital Lucknow against the adulteration in food items and fake medicines, said that similar campaigns should be launched in districts. She said that availability of fertilizers and seeds should be ensured, besides the preparation for Rabi crops. She also directed for repairing of tube-wells, water for canals, creation of employment opportunities and scholarships distribution for children belonging to all sections during the second fortnight of September by launching special campaign. She also directed for speeding up the relief works in flood affected areas and stressed that there should not be any unnecessary harassment to poor people for revenue realisation. She said that fair price system should be improved. She warned that the directives issued in this review meeting should be implemented strictly, otherwise stern action would be taken against the concerning officers The Cabinet Secretary Mr. Shashank Shekhar Singh, Chief Secretary Mr. P.K. Mishra, APC Mr. Anees Ansari, IDC Mr. Atul Gupta, Principal Secretaries to C.M. Mr. V.K. Sharma, Mr. Shailesh Krishna and Mr. Kunwar Fateh Bahadur and DGP Mr. Vikram Singh also reviewed the development works and law and order situation during the meeting.
C.M. reviews law and order situation of U.P.
Lucknow : August 17, 2007 The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Km. Mayawati, while reviewing the law and order of the State at the Tilka Hall (Vidhan Sabha) here today, said that the F.I.R.s would be lodged at the S.P. offices if the police station fails to register it. She said that after reviewing the situation stern action would be initiated against the concerning S.H.O. for not registering the F.I.R. This order would come into force from today, she pointed out. She directed the senior officers to fill the vacancies of S.I.s by launching a special recruitment drive. Warning the officers to control the killings, she said that the culprits should be arrested immediately. Ordering cancellation of large number of arms licences issued by the previous government after reviewing them, she said that they also played a role in damaging the law and order of the State. She directed the officers to respect the peoples’ representatives and take immediate action on their complaints and suggestions. Surprise inspections would be conducted by her to know the ground reality of the law and order, she warned. This was the first law and order review meeting held by the C.M. after taking over the reins of the State. Elaborating upon her priorities, the C.M. said that an atmosphere sans injustice, crime and fear, which is conducive for development, should be created by streamlining the law and order of the State. She said that it was the top priority of the Government to establish rule of law by the law in the State. The police administration has succeeded in keeping up the promise made by the State Government to the people up to some extent. Notable decline was registered in the crime graph of the State because of the courage shown by the police officers. She appreciated their efforts and asked them to keep it up. Km. Mayawati said that several directives and G.O.s had been issued from time to time to improve the law and order of the State. These should be strictly followed, she pointed out adding that the law and order would be reviewed every month. The police officers should remain present at their respective offices between 10 a.m. and 12 noon to listen to the complaints of the people. Surprise inspections would be conducted to take stock of the situation, she warned. If, any officer was found absent from his office during the office timings then stringent action would be initiated against them. The officers should compulsorily be present at the thana diwas, she said. Quick action should be taken on the complaints, she added. If the number of F.I.R.s increases then there was no need to worry, the C.M. stated. Giving the S.P.s the confidence that they would not be transferred on anyone’s advice, she asked them to perform their duties without fear and with total honesty. Those who do good work would be given good posting, she said adding that those showing laxity and indifference in their approach would be transferred and action would also be initiated against them. The Chief Minister said that those, who had been harassed during the previous regime, can lodge their F.I.R.s by August 22 only. She said that if someone lodged a fake F.I.R. then action would be initiated against the guilty and if the F.I.R. was correct then action would be initiated against the erring police officers. She said that registration of fake F.I.R.s tarnished the image of the State Government. Km. Mayawati said that law and order situation of the State had become from bad to worse during last few years and police officers had to work hard to improve it. She hoped that police officers would do their best efforts for making the State crime free. We had promised to establish the rule of law in the State before coming into the power. We had assured the people that whoever was the criminal would be dealt with sternly, she said adding that we had moved in this direction with full honesty and transparency. Strong action was being taken against the criminals rising above from caste and religion. Our police had killed the dreaded dacoit Dadua, who had become the symbol of terror in the two States. Those police personnel would be honoured on August 22, 2007 on the occasion of government’s completion of 100 days. She said that people should become aware regarding the steps taken by the government for improving the law and order situation during the last three months. Km. Mayawati directed for preventing the incidents of murders and said that most of these murders took place due to the personal enmity. SHOs should ensure necessary action immediately in these cases in their respective areas. She said that notorious and professional criminals should be immediately arrested, if they were found engaged in these incidents. Immediate action should be taken in the incidents of violence and cruelty against women. There should be no harassment on any section of society, especially on SC and ST because if the incidents of cruelty, harassment or exploitation occur on them then the image of the government got affected. She warned the police officers that the SC and ST Act should not be misused. The Chief Minister said that the Government has implemented the reservation system in all police stations and the postings of scheduled caste SHOs should not be a mere formality, but their postings should be in the big police stations of city and rural areas. She said that naxal activities in Mirzapur, Chandauli and Sonebhadra districts should be prevented by knowing its root causes. Earlier, reviewing the law and order situation, Cabinet Secretary Mr. Shashank Shekhar Singh, Chief Secretary Mr. P.K. Mishra, Principal Secretary Home Mr. J.N. Chamber and DGP Mr. Vikram Singh directed the police officers for improving it more. They also spoke about the priorities and expectations of the Chief Minister. The Cabinet Secretary said that unless there was any serious complaint SP would not be transferred. The police officers should discharge their duties with enthusiasm without any fear and give better results. The evaluation of officers would be done on the basis of action taken by them in the registered crimes not on the basis of data. The police officers giving better results would be encouraged, he added. The Principal Secretaries to C.M. Mr. V.K. Sharma, Shailesh Krishna, Kunwar Fateh Bahadur, Secretary Mr. Vijay Singh, Secretary Home Mr. Vijay Gupta and Mrs. Renuka Kumar, SSPs and senior officials of police department were present on the occasion. *******
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The Awakened One
Kindly visit :
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIOs58Em5sk&mode=related&search=
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True Teachings of The Awakened One
Courses of Action
How can you recognize a good and wise person? The Awakened One
explains what qualities to look for and how to spot them.
“True Followers of The Awakened One, there are these four courses of action. Which four? There is the course of action that is unpleasant to do and that, when done, leads to what is unprofitable. There is the course of action that is unpleasant to do but that, when done, leads to what is profitable. There is the course of action that is pleasant to do but that, when done, leads to what is unprofitable. There is the course of action that is pleasant to do and that, when done, leads to what is profitable.
“Now as for the course of action that is unpleasant to do and that, when done, leads to what is unprofitable, one considers it as not worth doing for both reasons: because the course of action is unpleasant to do, one considers it as not worth doing; and because the course of action, when done, leads to what is unprofitable, one considers it as not worth doing. Thus one considers it as not worth doing for both reasons.
“As for the course of action that is unpleasant to do but that, when done, leads to what is profitable, it is in light of this course of action that one may be known — in terms of manly stamina, manly persistence, manly effort — as a fool or a wise person. For a fool doesn’t reflect, ‘Even though this course of action is unpleasant to do, still when it is done it leads to what is profitable.’ So he doesn’t do it, and thus the non-doing of that course of action leads to what is unprofitable for him. But a wise person reflects, ‘Even though this course of action is unpleasant to do, still when it is done it leads to what is profitable.’ So he does it, and thus the doing of that course of action leads to what is profitable for him.
“As for the course of action that is pleasant to do but that, when done, leads to what is unprofitable, it is in light of this course of action that one may be known — in terms of manly stamina, manly persistence, manly effort — as a fool or a wise person. For a fool doesn’t reflect, ‘Even though this course of action is pleasant to do, still when it is done it leads to what is unprofitable.’ So he does it, and thus the doing of that course of action leads to what is unprofitable for him. But a wise person reflects, ‘Even though this course of action is pleasant to do, still when it is done it leads to what is unprofitable.’ So he doesn’t do it, and thus the non-doing of that course of action leads to what is profitable for him.
“As for the course of action that is pleasant to do and that, when done, leads to what is profitable, one considers it as worth doing for both reasons: because the course of action is pleasant to do, one considers it as worth doing; and because the course of action, when done, leads to what is profitable, one considers it as worth doing. Thus one considers it as worth doing for both reasons.
“These are the four courses of action.”
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Spiritual Community of the True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One
Spiritual Community
In the suttas Spiritual Community is usually used in one of two ways: it refers either to the community of ordained True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One or to the community of “noble ones”— persons who have attained at least stream-entry, the first stage of Awakening.
The definition Noble Ones
“The Spiritual Community of the Blessed One’s disciples who have practiced well… who have practiced straight-forwardly… who have practiced methodically… who have practiced masterfully — in other words, the four types [of noble disciples] when taken as pairs, the eight when taken as individual types — they are the Spiritual Communityof the Blessed One’s disciples: worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of respect, the incomparable field of merit for the world.”
Kindly visit:
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqHdQyfw-uA&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajt7YdcrTkE&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsFlrdXVFgo&mode=related&search=
http://www.samye.org/refuge.htm
http://torontomeditationguide.org/spring-rain-sangha/
08/20/07
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The Awakened One
Kindly Visit:
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http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/asia/booklists/indian_art/index.html
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What is the sound of one hand clapping? If a tree falls in the forest, but no one is around, does it make a sound? And why are Lovers of Noble Truth so obsessed with the sound of stuff?…
Deep questions like these could be a part of your life, too as you join an estimated 500 million other Buddhists around the world in the quest for spiritual awakenment. Neophytes on the road to wisdom and weary old travelers alike will benefit from a review of the basics, so assume the lotus position, and read on, grasshopper.
One of the nice things about The Lovers of Noble Truth is that it generally doesn’t take itself too seriously. The Lovers of Noble Truth are a light-hearted, peace-loving group who haven’t gone around burning astronomers, drowning weird old women, or drinking Kool-Aid (at least, not in the last 2000 years). Our point: understand that our use of humor in this SYW is not intended to insult anyone. If you are insulted, chug yourself a glass of Kool-Aid and get over it.
The story of the Awakened One
The Awakened One was a man, and not a god. He was born as Siddharta Gautama, the prince of small kingdom in northern India. Until he was 29 years old, he lived the life of King’s son - that is to say, he partied a lot, ate a lot, probably had sex a lot, and he remained protected from the seedier side of life outside the palace walls.
The story goes that one day the pampered prince accidentally saw a old sick man in the street, and Siddharta was overcome with horror at this unaccustomed sight of ugliness, disease, and decay. How could people ever be happy knowing that all life must end in death and decay? Siddharta remained in this deep funk until he one day encountered an ascetic holy man. In the midst of all the working-class depression, this man somehow managed to maintain a serene attitude. The prince became a follower of this holy man, and thus embarked on his spiritual career.
In Siddharta’s day, being a alms seeker was an acceptable lifestyle; people respected these mendicants for giving up earthly ambitions and devoting themselves to a virtuous poverty. They received shelter and handouts of food from pious folk everywhere. There was a lot of disagreement, however, as to what exactly it means to be holy and virtuous. Ask a dozen different gurus and you’d get a dozen different answers. Which was the right way? Siddharta, having become a poor monk, joined the school of ascetics, who believed that mortification of the body leads to the purification of the mind and spirit. Starving yourself, sitting upright for days without sleep, poking needles through your body - this was all pudding and lollipops to the ascetics. Siddharta pursued this path to paradise with varying degrees of success until the age of 35. But finally, having reduced himself to a mere skeleton, he realized that this self-denial wasn’t anymore satisfying than his original lifestyle of ignorant hedonism had been.
Siddharta abandoned his vows of asceticism, much to the disgust of his fellow practitioners, and he strengthened his body and sat down under a fig tree to meditate. And that’s when it happened: Siddharta Gautama realized the Middle Way between hedonism and asceticism, and became enlightened. He was now the Buddha.
The Buddha made no fuss about this experience, but his former holy man pals, who were still annoyed with him for abandoning his ascetic vows, noticed that he seemed to be peculiarly serene and that his eyes seemed to shine with the light of understanding. So they gathered one day and asked the Buddha what was going on. That was when the Buddha gave his first talk as the Awakened One, the lecture which explained the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism. These noble truths are the core of the Practioners of The Noble Truth belief system; the only way to reach enlightenment (which is good) is to accept these Noble Truths.
The First Noble Truth
The Second Noble Truth
The Third Noble Truth
The Fourth Noble Truth
The First Noble Truth
Life can suck. There’s disease, injury, high rent, final exams, warm beer, natural disasters, and death. There’s lots of good stuff about life too, so much time is spent attempting to protect ourselves from the bad, that we completely ignore the good. Even when you’re happy, it’s difficult to free yourself from the memory and anticipation of stressful things. People end up living always for tomorrow, whether that means the anticipation of a promotion, retirement, a better job, or the Second Coming. Life is characterized by suffering, pain, and dissatisfaction.
The Second Noble Truth
The origin of suffering is the craving for pleasure, existence, and non-existence. You get it in your head that you want things, and your mind then becomes an instrument for chasing those things. The actual objects you desire are irrelevant; wanting things - anything - severely circumscribes a person’s capacity to be joyful and serene. The body needs sustenance, but it’s the self that craves pleasure, existence and non-existence, and it’s the self that must be seen as insubstantial.
The Third Noble Truth
Some people say that all this talk of suffering makes Buddhism a pessimistic religion. And perhaps so it would be, if it weren’t for the Third Noble Truth, the truth of the cessation of suffering; that there is a way to rid yourself of this suffering. Good news, eh?
The Fourth Noble Truth
You wanted a way out of the madness and stress? To rid yourself of suffering, you must follow the Eightfold Path. As you’ve probably guessed, it consists of eight parts. Get to know them, but don’t expect to fully understand them right away. A fair amount gets lost in the translation when you’re dealing with concepts. Read on to familiarize yourself with the path.
The Eightfold Path
The whole reason for becoming Buddhist is to achieve happiness and become “awakened.” In order to do this, you must follow the Eightfold Path. Once you have accomplished all eight steps, you are officially enlightened:
- Right Knowledge: Strive to comprehend the first three Noble Truths. This might seem a bit circular, but language is a tricky thing, and the Great Seer wanted to make sure you had all your bases covered. The Noble Truths perhaps aren’t as straightforward as they may seem at first. So you must strive to fully comprehend them.
- Right Thinking: Consciously dedicate yourself to a life in harmony with the Noble Truths elucidated by the Awakened One.
- Right Speech: No gossiping, lying, backbiting, and harsh language. If you don’t have anything valuable to say, keep your big yapper shut. Always good advice.
- Right Conduct: For lay Buddhists (meaning Buddhists who aren’t monks), Right Conduct means following the Five Precepts (see below). If you’re a monk, there are some more rules for conduct, but don’t worry about them until you’re ready to become a True Follower of the Path shown by The Awakened One.
- Right Livelihood: Go peacefully into the world and do no harm. So choose a profession that’s harmless to living things, and refrain from killing people.
- Right Effort: Conquer the flow of negative thoughts, replacing them with good thoughts.
- Right Mindfulness: Achieve an intense awareness of your body, emotions, and mental states. Quiet the noises in your head and dwell in the present.
- Right Concentration: Learn about (and practice) various kinds of meditation, an important booster rocket on the launch pad to awakenment.
The Five Precepts
The Five Precepts are the basic rules of conduct for lay Buddhists-as opposed to monks and nuns, who have 227 and 311 rules to follow respectively. The Five Precepts aren’t commandments given to you by an angry God who threatens you if you disobey; rather, they are guidelines meant to improve your karma and help you along the Eightfold Path to enlightenment. These few rules keep you out of the worst kinds of trouble, ultimately making you happier:
- Don’t kill - man or beast
- Don’t steal
- Don’t lie
- Don’t cheat on your loved one
- Don’t take drugs or drink booze
Sounds pretty straightforward, doesn’t it?
4. TAKE REFUGE IN THE AWAKENED ONE, THE TRUE TEACHINGS OF THE AWAKENED ONE, AND THE COMMUNITY OF TRUE FOLLOWERS OF THE PATH SHOWN BY THE AWAKENED ONE
Now we get to the nitty-gritty. Practice of Noble Truth is basically made of three things:
- The awakened One.
- The Teaching including the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, and a large canon of sacred texts.
- The Community:of Practicing True Followers of the Pathshown by The Awakened One and awakened beings.
You become a Practisioner of The Noble Truth partly by taking “refuge” in the Awakened One, the Teachings of The Awakened One, and the The Community:of Practicing True Followers of the Pathshown by The Awakened One and awakened beings.
. This is a fancy way of saying that you agree to learn from the Awakened One’s example, from the sacred texts, and participate in some way in the organization of The Community:of Practicing True Followers of the Pathshown by The Awakened One and awakened beings and lay persons.
How do you become officially a Practioner of Noble Truths? Well, unlike some religions, membership can be a little vague. If you say, “I’m a Practioner of Noble Truths”, you’re not likely to be questioned by anyone, because there aren’t any universal badges of membership. A Catholic gets baptized, a Jewish man get circumcised, but a lay Practioner of Noble Truths(non-True Follower of the Path shown by The Awakened One) isn’t necessarily required to go through any special ritual.
It is a good idea to contact a Practioner of Noble Truths priest. Look for temples and associations in the Yellow Pages, or go to the Global Resources Guide at the Journal of Practioner of Noble Truths Ethics. The priest (which can be a man or a woman) will guide you through initiation into his/her branch of Buddhism, and perhaps set up some kind of commitment ritual, but it isn’t absolutely necessary.
If you don’t want to get in touch with a priest (or you can’t) but would still like to do something to mark the occasion of your setting out on a new path, you can perform a do-it-yourself initiation online. Otherwise, just try to follow the Five Precepts, learn about the Four Noble Truths, and congratulations: you’re a lay Buddhist.
Sometimes Practice of Noble Truth, especially as it’s been adopted in the West, can appear so liberal and watered down that it’s difficult to distinguish between an actual Practice of Noble Truths and a plain old “open-minded seeker of wisdom.” There’s no sacred law telling you, for example, that you ought to attend service at the temple every Wednesday and donate 10% of your income to the Dalai Lama. Lay Practioner of Noble Truths is about as flexible as religion can get.
Nonetheless, one of your refuges as a Practioner of Noble Truths is the community of True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One, so why not make use of it? These intrepid souls have given up all worldly possessions, shaved their heads, and left their families. They spend each and every day trying to become wiser, better people (with varying degrees of success), and some of them are available to you at certain times for guidance and counseling. Your spiritual journey might benefit from their wisdom, as well as from the companionship of fellow Practioner of Noble Truths .
What role will Practice of Noble Truths play in your everyday life?
The tricky thing about the Middle Way is the Emptiness of it. Here’s what the Awakened One said about Nibbana (that is, the paradisical state of awakenment towards which all Practioners of Noble Truths are journeying):
‘True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One, there is that sphere in which there is neither earth nor water, fire nor air: it is not the infinity of space, nor the infinity of perception; it is not nothingness, nor is it neither idea nor non-idea; it is neither this world nor the next, nor is it both; it is neither the sun nor the moon.’
‘True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One, I declare that it neither comes nor goes, it neither abides nor passes away; it is not caused, established, begun, supported: it is the end of suffering.’
‘What I call the selfless is hard to see, for it is not easy to see the truth. But he who knows it penetrates his craving; and for him who sees it, there is nothing there.’
Practice of Noble Truths can be frustrating for someone seeking spiritual guidance precisely because the Awakened One perceived the highest wisdom as a kind of absence. Every time you find a star in the Practice of Noble Truths firmament to guide yourself by, it fades into darkness. That’s sort of the point. The truth of the Middle Way is supposed to be beyond the reach of those who are chasing it. Mellow out. Enjoy life. Rejoice in the absence of a great burden of rules and doctrines.
As a Practioners of Noble Truths , you don’t have to make a big deal of being a Practioner of Noble Truths . Feel free to keep a low profile in the broader community if it’s easier for you. Keeping a little bronze Awakened One’s statue on your desk at work isn’t going to win you any special points. Were he alive today, the Awakened One wouldn’t care whether you denied his Practice of Noble Truths to the world, or had an image of him tattooed on your forehead. As a Practioner of Noble Truths , you can even participate in other religions. Allow us to illustrate with a story (Practice of Noble Truths is big on stories):
A Practioner of Noble Truths master was once asked by a student, “Have you ever read the Bible?
“No,” said the master. “Why don’t you read it to me?”
“‘Do not worry about tomorrow,’” read the student, “‘for tomorrow shall worry about itself.’”
“That man was awakened who said that,” commented the master.
The student read further: “‘Ask and it shall be given you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asks receives, and he that seeks finds, and to him that knocks, it shall be opened.’”
“That’s great stuff!” exclaimed the master. “The writer of those words is very close to Buddhahood.”
Discovering Practice of Noble Truths isn’t the beginning of your search for wisdom, and taking refuge in the Awakened One won’t be the end. Follow the guidance of your priest (if you have one), keep on reading, and build a spiritual routine that feels right for you. This might include going to the local temple, performing acts of charity, going on retreat, meditation, contemplating the sacred texts, and perhaps even becoming a novice monk. Go in peace, and above all, keep your sense of humor, cause you’re gonna need it. Some Buddhism humor to leave with:
What did the Practioners of Noble Truths True Follower of the path shown by The Awakened One say to the hotdog vendor? “Make me one with everything.”
When the True Follower of the path shown by The Awakened One asked for his change, the vendor replied, “Change comes from within.”
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C.M. reviews law and order situation of U.P.
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Lucknow : August 17, 2007 The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Km. Mayawati, while reviewing the law and order of the State at the Tilka Hall (Vidhan Sabha) here today, said that the F.I.R.s would be lodged at the S.P. offices if the police station fails to register it. She said that after reviewing the situation stern action would be initiated against the concerning S.H.O. for not registering the F.I.R. This order would come into force from today, she pointed out. She directed the senior officers to fill the vacancies of S.I.s by launching a special recruitment drive. Warning the officers to control the killings, she said that the culprits should be arrested immediately. Ordering cancellation of large number of arms licences issued by the previous government after reviewing them, she said that they also played a role in damaging the law and order of the State. She directed the officers to respect the peoples’ representatives and take immediate action on their complaints and suggestions. Surprise inspections would be conducted by her to know the ground reality of the law and order, she warned. This was the first law and order review meeting held by the C.M. after taking over the reins of the State. Elaborating upon her priorities, the C.M. said that an atmosphere sans injustice, crime and fear, which is conducive for development, should be created by streamlining the law and order of the State. She said that it was the top priority of the Government to establish rule of law by the law in the State. The police administration has succeeded in keeping up the promise made by the State Government to the people up to some extent. Notable decline was registered in the crime graph of the State because of the courage shown by the police officers. She appreciated their efforts and asked them to keep it up. Km. Mayawati said that several directives and G.O.s had been issued from time to time to improve the law and order of the State. These should be strictly followed, she pointed out adding that the law and order would be reviewed every month. The police officers should remain present at their respective offices between 10 a.m. and 12 noon to listen to the complaints of the people. Surprise inspections would be conducted to take stock of the situation, she warned. If, any officer was found absent from his office during the office timings then stringent action would be initiated against them. The officers should compulsorily be present at the < ?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />thana diwas, she said. Quick action should be taken on the complaints, she added. If the number of F.I.R.s increases then there was no need to worry, the C.M. stated. Giving the S.P.s the confidence that they would not be transferred on anyone’s advice, she asked them to perform their duties without fear and with total honesty. Those who do good work would be given good posting, she said adding that those showing laxity and indifference in their approach would be transferred and action would also be initiated against them. The Chief Minister said that those, who had been harassed during the previous regime, can lodge their F.I.R.s by August 22 only. She said that if someone lodged a fake F.I.R. then action would be initiated against the guilty and if the F.I.R. was correct then action would be initiated against the erring police officers. She said that registration of fake F.I.R.s tarnished the image of the State Government. Km. Mayawati said that law and order situation of the State had become from bad to worse during last few years and police officers had to work hard to improve it. She hoped that police officers would do their best efforts for making the State crime free. We had promised to establish the rule of law in the State before coming into the power. We had assured the people that whoever was the criminal would be dealt with sternly, she said adding that we had moved in this direction with full honesty and transparency. Strong action was being taken against the criminals rising above from caste and religion. Our police had killed the dreaded dacoit Dadua, who had become the symbol of terror in the two States. Those police personnel would be honoured on August 22, 2007 on the occasion of government’s completion of 100 days. She said that people should become aware regarding the steps taken by the government for improving the law and order situation during the last three months. Km. Mayawati directed for preventing the incidents of murders and said that most of these murders took place due to the personal enmity. SHOs should ensure necessary action immediately in these cases in their respective areas. She said that notorious and professional criminals should be immediately arrested, if they were found engaged in these incidents. Immediate action should be taken in the incidents of violence and cruelty against women. There should be no harassment on any section of society, especially on SC and ST because if the incidents of cruelty, harassment or exploitation occur on them then the image of the government got affected. She warned the police officers that the SC and ST Act should not be misused. The Chief Minister said that the Government has implemented the reservation system in all police stations and the postings of scheduled caste SHOs should not be a mere formality, but their postings should be in the big police stations of city and rural areas. She said that naxal activities in Mirzapur, Chandauli and Sonebhadra districts should be prevented by knowing its root causes. Earlier, reviewing the law and order situation, Cabinet Secretary Mr. Shashank Shekhar Singh, Chief Secretary Mr. P.K. Mishra, Principal Secretary Home Mr. J.N. Chamber and DGP Mr. Vikram Singh directed the police officers for improving it more. They also spoke about the priorities and expectations of the Chief Minister. The Cabinet Secretary said that unless there was any serious complaint SP would not be transferred. The police officers should discharge their duties with enthusiasm without any fear and give better results. The evaluation of officers would be done on the basis of action taken by them in the registered crimes not on the basis of data. The police officers giving better results would be encouraged, he added. The Principal Secretaries to C.M. Mr. V.K. Sharma, Shailesh Krishna, Kunwar Fateh Bahadur, Secretary Mr. Vijay Singh, Secretary Home Mr. Vijay Gupta and Mrs. Renuka Kumar, SSPs and senior officials of police department were present on the occasion. *******
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C.M. greets people on the eve of Independence Day
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Lucknow : August 14, 2007 The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Km. Mayawati has greeted the people of the State on the 60th anniversary of the Independence Day. In a greetings message, she said that on the Independence Day we should pledge to translate the dreams of our martyrs into reality. We should pay homage to all the known and unknown martyrs who laid down their lives to achieve Independence, she pointed out. Besides, this day also reminded us about the ideals of our great men and the struggle they waged to achieve our freedom, the C.M. added. Mayawati said that there was a need of making concerted efforts for the uplift of deprived section of the society as people of this segment had been exploited for ages and they were still being exploited even after the 60 years of our Independence. We should make efforts to establish a society based on equality, which could bring about social change and give a new direction to the society. Our belief in ’sarvjan hitaya, sarvjan sukhaya’ had given a new dimension to the entire political atmosphere. To achieve it everyone’s cooperation was required, the C.M. emphasised. ******
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Chairman status accorded to Dayaram Pal, Vinay Shakya and Mathura Prasad Pal
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Lucknow : August 13, 2007 The Uttar Pradesh Government has nominated Mr. Dayaram Pal as the Chairman of Management Committee of Remote Sensing Centre, Lucknow. Likewise, Mr. Vinay Shakya, Vidhuna (district Auraiyya) has been nominated the Chairman of Lal Bahadur Shastri Ganna Sansthan, Lucknow. Mr. Mathura Prasad Pal, resident of Geeta Nagar, Kanpur has been nominated as the Chairman of U.P. Irrigation Development and Flood Control Commission. All the three chairmen have been given the status of Minister of State. ******
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–BABU KANSHI RAM JI–
INSTEAD OF BEING RULED LET US BE RULERS
Kanshi Ram Tells Original Inhabitants of The Great Prabuddha Bharath
SPECIAL SPEACH DELIVERD BY MR. KANSHI RAM Ji
AT 1ST WORLD ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF THE GREAT PRABUDDHA BHARATH CONFERENCE IN MALAYSIA ON 10TH & 11TH OCTOBER,1998
ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF THE GREAT PRABUDDHA BHARATH should become rulers instead of being ruled. We must not be always at the receiving end, instead become the givers, ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF THE GREAT PRABUDDHA BHARATH Leader Mr. Kanshi Ram told the world ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF THE GREAT PRABUDDHA BHARATH It’s long we have been ruled. It is long we have been taking. Now it is time we change the destiny to rule and give, he said. Mr. Kanshi Ram who is the Founder Prisident of Bahujan Samaj Party delivered a key-note address at the opening of the 1st World ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF THE GREAT PRABUDDHA BHARATH Convention ‘A new vision towards a casteless society’ at the Kuala Lampur Mines Resort City.
The two day convention held on 10th and 11th October 1998 was well attended by more than 700 delegates throughout the world including famous politicians noted leaders from dalit movement, champions of down-trodden, social reformers, renowned economists, famous educationists and great scholars.
The Malaysian Manister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Sabbaruddin Chik officialy opened the conference which saw the opening very colourful with Malaysian cultural and traditional dances performed by Indians, Malays and Chinese.Mr. Kanshi Ram garlanded the Portrait of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar while ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF THE GREAT PRABUDDHA BHARATH Sena President Ram Vilas Paswan garlanded the portrait of the great Periar.
Mr. Kanshi Ram in his speech continued to trace the history of caste and Braminical social order. He asserted by virtue of his vast experience that elimination of caste was impossible at this stage. He also elaborated the very purpose of creating caste.In context of caste oppression and justice Mr. Kanshi Ram refered the role of Dr. Ambedkar. He commended the merit of ‘Communial Award’ which he achieved after a long struggle.
Dr. Ambedkar could not sustain the going due to the constant pressure of the mighty upper caste Hindus, Mr. Kanshi Ram told the delegates who packed the hall.’Babasaheb Ambedkar was able to get reservation for the oppressed in legislative houses, job opportunities in government departments and also places in higher educational insitutions.
I wish to stress upon that reservation is not the soultion to oour problem. We must become rulers instead of being ruled, givers instead of being takers, Mr. Kanshi Ram told the crowd to a thunderous applause.It is my duty to prepare my people not to get reservation but to grant reservation. Who can granreservation? Only rulers can grant reservation. Hence, I will prepare my people to become rulers.If we do not become rulers, our problems will remain forever, Kanshi Ram said.
In order to become rulers we must learn how to handle caste. Dr. Ambedkar, Nehru, Gandhi and Indra Gandhi were experts in handling caste. Nehru handled caste so well that he made Dr. Ambedkar helpless and retain the Brahminical Social Order. Indra Gandhi also handled caste well to benefit the Brahminical Social Order.Dr. Ambedkar prepared the SC/ST to handle Caste. That is how we could get many benefits from the British, he added.
Mr. Kanshi Ram expressed concern for 10 crores slum dwellers who are deprived of proper drinking water and electric supply.People migrating from villages to cities are also being denied of many facilities and end up in polluting the enviornment.But those refugees who came from Pakistan after independence were duly taken care of by the then government and a special budget was allocated to meet their basic necessities, he pointed out to the delegates.
According to Mr.Kanshi Ram ,slum dewellers presently living in urban areas are the Dalit refugees who have migrated from the villages because of acrimonys & atrocities committed by upper case Hindus.They have not been able to influence the Planning Commission and the Government of India to allocate separate budget to provide them bread, clothes and shelter.
A decent life is a matter of fundamental right of every citizen in accordance with the constitutional mandate, Mr. Kanshi Ram asserted.He advocated separate settlement for dalit people as once formulated by Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar.He was very critical of the evil impact of caste-system in India.
Wherever the Indians went they never failed to carry with them this spreading disease he told the lauging and cheering crowd.The Indians are prepared to leave anythign behind. They leave behind their little property, small land and their huts.But they will never leave behind their caste. They carry with them wherever they go, he said.While urgimg the dalits to unite he also called upon the Dalit intellectuals to shed away the approach of existing analysis only.
They should instead come with forward-looking approach in education, economic and social problems.They must also come up with some sort of effective solution programme, Mr. Kanshi Ram added.Mr. Kanshi Ram impressed upon the delegates that Dalit problem can only be solved through political power to rule the country.‘We must become the rulers instead of being ruled,’he told the cheering and applauding delegates.
Courtesy: Mr.M.G.Pandithan, New Vision. (First World Dalit Conference )
First six pictures (Left side) & Last three pictures (Right side) received from Mr. C. L. Chumber
and Mr. Sonu Ambedkar (Kewal Krishan Saroya). www.ambedkartimes.com thamks to both.
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MAYAWATI AND THE SECOND SOCIO-CULTURAL
REVOLUTION IN UTTAR PARDESH
RONKI RAM (DR.)
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PANJAB UNIVERSITY CHANDIGARH (INDIA)
ronkiram@yahoo.co.in
Mayawati, the BSP supremo, sworn in as 40th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh on May 13, 2007. This is the second socio-cultural revolution in the history of Uttar Pradesh where during the medieval Bhakti movement Guru Ravi Dass, an untouchable poet-saint of very high repute, convinced the Brahmins that it was not caste but ones deeds which are important. Brahmins and Rajput Kings prostrated before him and Ranis and Maharanis of the then rulers and the rulers themselves became his followers. It seems that history was repeating itself when Brahmins and Thakurs among others were touching the feet of BSP supremo Mayawati during the swearing-in ceremony of the new cabinet at Lucknow. Once again Mayawati has proved that hollow prestige based on birth when put on trial in the democratic court of social justice failed to stand any more. But proving that is much easier said than done.
Guru Ravi Dass fought a relentless battle against his tormentors who were adopting all fair and foul tactics to prevent him from entering into the mainstream of the social space. He unleashed a frontal attack on the long tradition of social oppression and untouchability. He took the battle right into the capital of the Brahmanical Social Order (BSO) and lay bare its fraudulent social structure. He employed Bhakti (loving devotion) as a method of protest against social exclusion. In his Bhakti he laid emphasis on compassion for all and absolute faith in God. His method was very daring and noble. He choose to challenge his tormentors by adopting the iconography of their dress code as a symbol of revolt which was not only highly objectionable but was equally deadly for a Shudra of his times. He rejected all forms of religious rituals and sectarian formalities. He challenged the tyranny of Brahmins and defied them by wearing Dhoti (cloth wrapped around the waist), Janeue (sacred thread) and Tilak (sacred red mark on forehead) that were forbidden for the untouchables. Though he attired himself like an upper caste, he did not hide his caste. He continued with his hereditary occupation of making/mending shoes. While adopting the prohibited dress and symbols of the upper castes, and at the same time sticking to his hereditary occupation he, probably, tried to show how lower castes could achieve their human rights without compromising with their separate ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF THE GREAT PRABUDDHA BHARATH identity. His Bhakti method of social protest reflected the democratic and egalitarian traits of his social philosophy. When challenged in their own estate and even in their own fiefdom of Bhakti, Brahmins had no option but to participate in a debate on the shastras thrown open by the Kashi Naresh (King). As Chandrabhan Prasad argues, “Ravidas’s genius found no match. The pandits turned pale, bending before the saint in recognition of his greatness. The saint rode the royal chariot through the lanes of Kashi, the King standing by his side. That was the Dalits’ first war of independence. Kashi was secured. The cow belt Brahmins never recovered from the shock, and were forced to reconcile to the Dalits’ cerebral superiority”.
History was repeated on May 13, 2007. The place was Lucknow, the current capital of power in UP. And the star of the battle was Mayawati. To be more precise this time the battle was not around the shastras but about the numbers in the game of electoral politics. To win in such a fierce modern battle is to prove ones metal. And more so when you have been fighting while sharing the chariot with the ones who were very recently sitting in your opposite camp. Mayawati did very well. She proved her metal and turned victorious. She has reinforced the ‘cerebral superiority’ of the ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF THE GREAT PRABUDDHA BHARATH once again. It is in this context that her grand success in the recently concluded assembly election in Uttar Pradesh can be considered as the second socio-cultural revolution in the heartland of the varnashram order. Mayawati has provided a single-party government after more than 16 years breaking the whirlpool of coalition politics in UP. In fact, Mayawati put an end to coalition politics and ushered into an era of “ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF THE GREAT PRABUDDHA BHARATH -Brahmin-Muslim-Thakur-Vaishya-Bhumihar-OBCs” sarvjan combined rule. This new form of “combined rule of sarvjan” under the leadership of the ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF THE GREAT PRABUDDHA BHARATH is certainly an advancement not only over the tight rope walk of the coalition system that India has been experiencing for the last many years, but also a new beginning of the coming of the marginalized into the center stage of power politics.
Mayawati’s ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF THE GREAT PRABUDDHA BHARATH -Brahmin thesis and her emphasis on “sarv samaj” coupled with the social engineering formula would facilitate in laying down parameters for the mitigation of the gap between what Baba Sahib Dr. Ambedkar said “political equality and social and economic inequality” in India. In other words, this new system of ‘sarvjan combined rule’ would certainly help in deepening of the roots of democracy in India and inculcating positive feelings among the downtrodden that they too matter in this land where they were for centuries kept socially excluded, politically marginalized and economically deprived. Now they feel encouraged to come forward not to plead or ask for favors because they were neglected but because they are able to provide leadership to safely steer the ship to its destination. It was vividly clear from the oath taking ceremony dais where Smt. Mayawati was occupying the front seat followed by Pandit S.C. Mishra, general secretary of BSP. Is it not really a revolution in Brahmin dominated social set-up in India where they have agreed to not only sit behind Dalits but also to touch their feet? Imagine this even a few years before! Mayawati is absolutely right when she said that behind her great victory lays the philosophy of Phule, Naryana Guru, Periyar, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, and Babu Kanshi Ram. In fact, it is she who tried to put this philosophy into action and translated it into reality.
Whether the Savarnas were falling at the feet of Mayawati out of gratitude or of political expediency is not the point. The real point is that by putting the Brahmins and Thakurs in line and commanding respect, Mayawati has been able to evaporate the Laxman Rekha of Varnashramdharma. She has set the ball of self-respect and dignity of the so-called Avarnas rolling. She has brought the Savarnas and Avarnas on a single platform, of course, led by her. What is even more important is that she achieved all this through democratic way without firing a single shot. And people of all sorts (read castes) stood by her in her battle against social repression and jungle rule. In fact, this is not in any case less than a social revolution. This revolution needs to be replicated in other parts of the country too, if India really wants to shine as a world power in near future. If India wants to march ahead, social exclusion has to be ended first. Untouchability is not a problem of the Shudras only; it is a number one problem of the entire Indian society. It needs to be tackle immediately. Baba Sahib Dr. B.R. Ambedkar sounded a grave warning on November 25, 1949 in the Constituent Assembly on the completion of the Draft Constitution: “On the 26th January 1950, we are going to enter into a life of contradictions. In politics we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality… We must remove this contradiction at the earliest possible moment or else those who suffer inequality will blow up the structure of political democracy which this Assembly has so labouriously built up”. Mayawati has fired the first shot. The struggle has to continue.
Posted on May 15th, 2007
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BSP Supremo Mayawati sworn in as 40th Chief Minister
of the state Uttar Pardesh
MEMSAHIB MAYAWATI
CHIEF MINISTER OF UTTAR PARDESH
On May 13, 2007 BSP supremo Mayawati sworn in as 40th Chief Minister of the State (UP) that is going to play a decisive role in the forth coming presidential election. She has privided a single-party government after more than 16 years breaking the whirlpool of coalition politics in UP. In fact, Mayawati put an end to coalition politics and ushered into an era of “Dalit-Brahmin-Muslim-Thakur-Vaishya-Bhumihar-OBCs” sarvjan combined rule. This new form of “combined rule of sarvjan” under the leadership of the Dalits is cetrtainly an advancement not only over the tight rope walk of the coalition system India has been experencing for the last many years, but also a new begining of the coming of the marginalized into the centre stage of power politics. Mayawati’s Dalit-Brahmin thesis and her emphasis on “sarv samaj” combined with the social engineering formula would facilate in layingdown parameters for the mitigation of gap between what Baba Sahib Dr. Ambedkar said “political equality and social and economic inequality” in India. In other words, this new system of combined rule would certainly help in deepening of the roots of democracy in India and inculcatinig positive feelings among the downtrodden that they too matter in this land where they were for centuries kept socially excluded, politically marginalized and economically deprived. Now they feel incouraged to come forward not to plead or ask for favours because they were neglected but because they are able to provide leadership to safely steer the ship to its destination. It was vivdly clear from the oath taking ceremony dias where Smt. Mayawati was occupaying the front seat followed by Pandit S.C.Mishra, general secretary of BSP. Is it not really a revolution in Brahmin dominated social set-up in India where they have agreed to not only sit behind Dalits but also to touch their feet! Imagine this even a few years before! Here Mayawati is absolutely right when she said that behind all this the philosophy of Phule, Naryana Guru, Periyar, Dr. Ambedkar, and Babu Kanshi Ram has been playing the determinant role. And it is she who has put it into action and translated it into reality.
In her 49-member Ministry 19 Ministers are of cabinet rank, 21 ministers of state (independent charge)and 9 ministers of state. The caste composition of her cabinet is: three Brahmins, one Muslim, one Thakur, one Bhumihar, one Vaishya, four Scheduled Casdtes and eighy OBCs.Cabinet ministers are: Naseeruddin Siddiqui, Ramveer Upadhyaya, Inderajit Saroj, Lalji Verma, Thakur Jaiveer Singh, Sukhdev Rajbhar, Swami Prasad Maurya, Ved Ram Bhati, Laxmi Narain, Rakesh Dhar Tripathi, Babu Singh Kushwaha, Jai Narain Rai, Phagu Chauhan, Nakul Dubey, Daddoo Prasad, Narain Singh, Sudhir Goel, Ram Prasad Chaudhary and Dharam Singh Saini.
We all wish her success in her endeavours,
Ronki Ram (Dr.)
Panjab University, Chandigarh (India), Cell:+91 987 286 1290
Poted on May 13, 2007
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RESURGENCE OF ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF PRABUDDHA BHARATH:
DELHI IS NOT FAR
Dear All,
Jai Bheem!
Congratulations
The victory of the BSP in UP has shown the way to power to those who were being denied for centuries. Power game has its own grammer. It seems the followers of Babu Kanshi Ram are now not too late to master it. BSP supremo, Mayawati has proved it. She has meticulously worked out the dynamics of number game. She has not only convinced her own people that united they win and divided they loose, but has also established her credentials among the dwijas who uptill very recently were opposed tooth and nail to the coming of Dalits in to the public sphere. What is even more important is that the people of UP are convinced that if any political party can provide them relief from the mounting atrocities of the erswhile establishment it is the BSP under the strong leadership of the Madam Mayawati. They reposed confidence in her leadership and brought her into power to bring rule of law as well as justice in the beleaguered state of UP. Many are keeping the fingers crossed as to how Madam Mayawati would be able to make a balance between the Dalit emancipatory agenda of the BSP and the political expedency of her power politics. It seems, given her acumen and dexterity in politics, she would be able to tell the world that Dalits are now come of age and that Delhi is not too far from them.Once again Congrats to all of you.
Ronki Ram (Dr.),
Dept. of Political Science,Panjab University, Chandigarh, India Cell: +91 987 286 1290.
Posted on May 11th, 2007
BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY IN UP
Dear All
Jai Bheem!
This is the greatest achievement. I would like to thank everybody for this victory in UP. I absolutely agree with V T Rajshekar, well said and want to add that all dalits from all states of India should drop the divisions of dalits and come to a main dalit party (i.e. BSP) especially in Maharastra and some other states where many dalit factions and parties exist. We should unite and learn lessons from the election result from UP. Let’s forget our differences and join hand with BSP and integrate all dalits of India. Also please check out my web page (http://www.satyaguru.org) when you get a chance.
Vivek Nirala (http://www.satyaguru.org)
Posted on May 12, 2007=====================================================
ALL THE BEST Ms. MAYAWATI & HER CABINET
Dr. Berwa
Clearly new social engineering of “serve jan” , in which new dalit -Brahamn alliance,has a foothold in the political arena, eeds to be tested if this is a merely a political phenomenon. Certainy ms. mayawati’s gamble has payed her hefty divdidend.
History has told us that Brahamans are a cunning bunch, they use needle to take another needle and one that is done, they throw both nedle outside don’t bring them in the house.
I wish ms. mayawati and her Cabinet all the best and hope that law and order must be their first agenda, because public has voted on this very iissue and gave BSP a thumping mandate by giving BSP an absolute majory.
All political pundits except CBP were prooven wrong..
On dalit issue if the cabinet can focus on Eduction and economic empowerment ,that will be like a fresh breeze on a hot summer day like these days.
Well done BSP, your social engineerng was a bold one in an unchartered territory and proven wrong skeptic like me.
Finally we can now boldly say that we do have a spokesman for dalits , with a powerful voicein Ms. Mayawati.
Posted on May 12, 2007
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GREAT VICTORY OF BAHUJAN SAMAJ PARTY
Our heartiest congratulations to Madam Mayawati Ji, the President of Bahujan Samaj Party & her entire party members on their great victory in Uttar Pardesh Assembly Election 2007. This victory of BSP is a great victory of Bahujan Samaj of < ?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 />India.The credit for the success goes to Mayawati & her entire team, voters & supporters.www.ambedkartimes.com forum once again puts on record its heartiest congratulations & wishes great success to the BSP Government in its various programme in the state of Uttar Pardesh as well as in the whole country.
Re-Posted at 2035 on May 11th, 2007
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CONGRATULATIONS !!!
Many-many congratulations to Behan Mayawati and her Bahujan Samaj party for becoming victorious in the state Uttar Pradesh Assembly election 2007. We also congratulate her on becoming the 4th time Chief Minister of the State Uttar Pradesh.We wish her great success & her BSP Government in its various programmes in the state of Uttar Pardesh as well as in the whole country.
WWW.AMBEDKARTIMES.COM
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MOHAN GILLAMBEDKARITE, YUBA CITY, CALIFORNIA (USA)=====================================================
NARANDIR SINGH HIRA
SANGAMNER (MAHARASHTRA) INDIA
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NARENDER KAUR PANJABISACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA (USA)=====================================================
TARSEM JALANDHARI
JOURNALIST, JALANDHAR CITY, (PANJAB) INDIA
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K. K. CHUMBER
SUDARSHAN PARK,NEW DEHLI (INDIA)
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CHAMAN LAL MAHEY
VILL. DHANAL KHURD P.O. PHOOL PUR, DISTT. JALANDHAR (PANJAB) INDIA
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JAGDISH KUMAR (TALWAN )
PRESIDENT, SHRI GURU RAVDASS DARBAR, BERGAMO (ITALY)
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VINOD KUMAR CHUMBER
PRESIDENT, SHRI GURU RAVIDASS SABHA BAY AREA ( CALIFORNIA )
=============================================================================
DEVRAJ SINGH
PRESIDENT, SHRI GURU RAVIDASS SABHA SELMA, CALIFORNIA (USA)
=============================================================================
BANSI BANGAR
PRESIDENT, SHRI GURU RAVIDASS SABHA FRESNO (c.v) CALIFORNIA (USA)
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AJIT RAM BANGAR (Chairman),TAWINDER KAZLA (Vice Chaiman), KEWAL BOLINA (President), KARNAIL VIRK (Vice President), AMAR BAIDVAN (Gen. Secretary), HANS RAJ KAJLA (Assistant Secretary), RAKESH CHANDER (Office Secretary), DHAYAN SINGH , (Cashier), DALJIT JASSAL (Assistant Cashier)
SHRI GURU RAVIDASS SABHA SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA (USA)
=====================================================
PARMJIT BHUTTA
CHAIRMAN, SHRI GURDASS RAM BHUTTA YADGARI CHERITABLE TRUST, GARHPADHANA NAWANSHAHR, PANJAB (INDIA)
=============================================================================
HISTORIC VICTORY
Heartily Congratulations to Sister Mayawati Ji.!!!
It is unique and uncommon victory in Indian political democracy. It means “the dream of Baba Sahib Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s comes true”. If the majority of the Dalit had followed footsteps of Baba Sahib, then we would have ruled on this country. I hope you will help the down trodden people and help their change and their destiny. Once again many congratulations & BSP’s workers, voters, supporters, & also out of party, BSP’s well wishers.
Prem Lal Sondhi
President of Valmik Shaba USA, Yuba City, California (USA)
=============================================================================
CONGRATULATIONS !!!
Many Congratulations to Bahujan Samaj on the spectacular victory of Bahujan Samaj Party in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections led by Bahen Mayawati. This is the biggest victory of Ambedkar movement. Thanks to all UP people for voting to BSP. This victory will lead Bahen Mayawati’s Elephant, road to Delhi one day and fulfill the dream of Late Babu Kanshi Ram Ji.
Kamal Dev Paul
President, International Bahujan Organization (California)
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SUKHVIR HEER
Assistant Secretary, International Bahujan Organization (California)
When M.N. Roy asked Gandhi to send a message for his
weekly magazine Independent India, Gandhi responded with the advice:
“Render mute service.” Was this a signal to Roy not to write anything
critical of Gandhi or Gandhism?
In the analysis of India’s freedom struggle, and the
role of Mahatma Gandhi in that political journey, how do political
strategists and thinkers—past and present—judge the Mahatma as an
exemplar of democracy? M.N. Roy stands tall among the ideologues and
activists of the struggle as one who engaged with the questions that
Gandhi’s political actions in pursuit of his vision of independence
evoked. Roy’s own views continue to generate debate.
Some political scientists find fault with M.N. Roy’s
recorded insights and opinions on the times and the leader. Others have
defended his objectivity in suggesting that even a ‘Mahatma’ could make
mistakes—and did make mistakes. Some have questioned Roy’s own role
during those heady years. One contention is that both the views and the
record of this patriot call for clearer understanding. For this, it is
useful to revisit what M.N. Roy said, and what has been said about him.
Gandhi faced two defeats at the All India Congress
Committee in a short span of time. At the AICC’s Ahmedabad session, he
lost to the Swarajists on the issue of Council entry. The second defeat
came when a much younger man, Subhash Chandra Bose, defeated Gandhi’s
nominee for the Congress presidentship. Roy wrote of the Council issue
incident in an article— ‘Mr Gandhi’s swan song’—dealing with how Pandit
Motilal Nehru and Deshbandhu C. R. Das succeeded in setting aside
Gandhi’s call for compulsory spinning and boycott of law courts,
legislative councils, government schools, titles and mill-made cloth.
When the Swarajists opposed Gandhi’s proposals at the
Ahmedabad session, it was the first time that Gandhi’s word had been
questioned on an issue of national importance. It was in his province
and seat of authority that the gauntlet was thrown at Gandhi himself,
as he had declared that if his programme was rejected he would retire
from politics and devote himself to social reform. He said he would
submit a resolution calling for all AICC members to spin for
half-an-hour a day, and to observe the five-fold boycott—or to resign
from AICC membership. This resolution, if carried, would have
automatically excluded the Swarajists from power, and restored the
leadership of the orthodox non-cooperators. The AICC continued its
deliberations for three days. Gandhi submitted his famous self-denying
ordinance despite the heat of opposition by the Swarajists and even
some of his own followers, who had sought to reach a compromise with
the Swarajists beforehand.
It was a dramatic moment: Mahatma Gandhi, the idol of
the Indian people, defied by the opposition within Congress ranks. It
fell to Pandit Motial Nehru to state the case for the Swarajists. “We
decline to make a fetish of the spinning wheel or to subscribe to the
doctrine that only through that wheel can we obtain ‘swaraj,’ ” he
said. “Discipline is desirable, but it is not discipline for the
majority to expel the minority. We are unable to forget our manhood and
our self-respect and to say that we are willing to submit to Gandhi’s
orders. The Congress is as much ourselves’ as our opponents’, and we
will return with greater majority to sweep away those who stand for
this resolution.” With these words, Pandit Motilal and Deshbandhu left
the hall, taking with them 55 Swarajists. When the resolution was put
to the vote with 110 remaining, it was carried, against 37, and with
six abstentions.
This apparent victory of Gandhians was merely
make-believe; had the Swarajists remained in the hall, the resolution
would have been defeated by about 20 votes. However, Gandhi recognised
his defeat, and held hurried consultations with his followers, and
afterwards agreed to drop his resolution on compulsory spinning and the
boycott, making it only advisory in nature. With this, and other
concessions, the Swarajists were persuaded to rejoin the Congress. Thus
the defeat of orthodox Gandhism was complete and final. The Swarajists
had won the day, and Gandhi as the leader of the Indian National
Congress had sung his swan song.
For the Congress presidential election, Gandhi’s
nominee was Dr Pattabhi Sitaramayya. He was to lose to Subhash Chandra
Bose. Gandhi and his disciples brought a charge of indiscipline against
Bose. One fails to understand what act of indiscipline Bose had
committed, except that he contested the poll against Gandhi’s
candidate. Immediately after the election, Gandhi’s tormented soul did
make him acknowledge “Pattabhi’s defeat is my defeat.” Afterwards,
Gandhi saw to it that Bose did not function effectively as the Congress
President, and Bose was forced to resign. Gandhi himself drafted the
resolution banning Bose from holding any executive office in the
Congress for three years. He, however, claimed that he loved Subhash as
a son, but his love which was as soft as a rose could also be harder
than flint. But for the immoral political practice Gandhi and his
followers adopted in throwing out Bose from the Congress, things might
have been different, in that Gandhi might not have remained the
absolute leader for a long time.
IN his paper on ‘Marxian Theory and Indian Politics’,
Professor Sudipto Kaviraj writes that Roy’s prediction of a premature
obituary of Gandhi’s leadership of the Indian National Congress went
wrong. I have always felt it is dangerous to contradict political
scientists when they make such statements, without oneself investing in
research. This is particularly so when the view relates to Gandhi and
Roy, and appears to start with the assumption that Gandhi could never
make any mistake, and that Roy could never be correct in his criticism
of Gandhi and Gandhism. It is very difficult to dismiss Roy on rational
grounds. It would only be possible to do so through an unscientific
approach, and through practices which have sought to wipe out M.N.
Roy’s name from history.
Prof Kaviraj holds that Roy’s article on the swan song
was actually written by his wife, Evelyn Roy. This is not true. The
article is contained in the Documents of the History of the Communist
Party of India (Adhikari Volume No. 2), and it is clearly stated that
it was written by Roy himself.
While querying M.N. Roy’s comments on the Ahmedabad
incidents, Prof Kaviraj does not refer to other political events where
Roy’s predictions were correct. When Roy addressed the Radical
Democratic Party in December 1972, hardly any Indian thought Hitler’s
Axis powers would be defeated, and that the British would be left with
no option but to leave the colonies after the war. “The right to
self-determination has been promised to India, with the greater
assertion of British democracy on the situation. There is no reason to
believe that the right will be withheld by any external agency or
political formation after the post-war period.” Roy exhorted his
colleagues to prepare for the economic and political reconstruction of
independent India. He brought out two documents: ‘People’s plan for
reconstruction of independent India’, and ‘A draft Constitution for
free India’. Then he predicted that in spite of the pact between Hitler
and Soviet Russia, the latter would be drawn into the war. Most
historians across the world now accept that but for Stalin joining the
Allies, Hitler might not have been defeated.
Roy’s most important prediction was that the
parliamentary form of democracy would breed corruption. His lecture to
the University Institute in Calcutta on February 5, 1950 warned of
this. “The future of Indian democracy is not very bright, and that is
not due to the evil intentions on the part of politicians, but rather
the system of party politics. Perhaps in another 10 years, demagogy
will vitiate political practice. The scramble for power will continue,
breeding corruption and inefficiency. People engaged in politics cannot
take a long view. Laying foundations is a long process for them; they
want a short-cut. The short-cut to power is always to make greater
promises than others, to promise things without the competence or even
the intention to implement them.” This is perhaps the reason why there
was not even a polite reference to Gandhi’s political ideas of
decentralisation and village republics in the Constituent Assembly,
when the Constitution was first being framed. This was in spite of the
fact that there were a large number of Gandhian members in the
Constituent Assembly. Referring to this, Roy said the future of
democracy in our country would depend on people who were either outside
politics, or who had the courage and vision to step out of the indecent
scramble for power.
In another lecture on January 30, 1947, also at
Calcutta, Roy had said: “When political power is concentrated in the
hands of a small community, you may have a façade of parliamentary
democracy, but for all political purposes it will be a dictatorship,
even if it may be paternal and benevolent.”
To make democracy effective power must always remain
invested in the people—not periodically, but from day to day. Atomised
individuals are powerless for all practical purposes. Roy advanced the
idea of a new social order based on direct participation of the people
through people’s committees and gram sabhas. Its culture would be based
on universal dissemination of knowledge and have minimum control and
maximum scope for scientific and creative activities. Being founded on
reason and science, the new society will necessarily be planned. But it
will be planning with the freedom of the individual as its crux. The
new society will be democratic, political, economic, as well as
cultural. These ideas remind one of Gandhi’s ideas.
It is therefore important for political scientists to
do a little research to find out why even Gandhians did not make any
reference to them, and why our leaders to whom power was handed over by
the British decided to go on the beaten track of a parliamentary form
of government. Why was it that Gandhi was totally ignored by his
followers?
PROFESSOR BHIKU PARIKH has written three books on
Gandhi. The most important of these is on colonialisation and reform,
analysing Gandhi’s political discourse. In the context of Gandhi, this
should include important political events which shaped the destiny of
the country. Prof Parikh does not take these into account and analyse
them. He does not refer to the Subhash Chandra Bose incident, or to
Gandhi’s ban resolution against Bose. What would have been the position
of the Congress if Bose had been allowed to form the Working Committee
and function as the President? Prof Parikh does not refer to the
Swarajists’ defiance at the Ahmedabad AICC session. He does not analyse
a number of other incidents of national importance.
Among these is the Cripps offer during World War II.
This was acceptable to people like Aurobindo Ghosh and M.N Roy. Why did
the Congress and its supermen reject it? Perhaps Prof Parikh’s analysis
would lead one to conclude that if the Cripps offer had been accepted,
India would not have been partitioned, and the post-partition holocaust
view would have been avoided. What of negotiations with Mohammad Ali
Jinnah? What was it in Jinnah’s demands that the Congress found
difficult to accept? How would independent India have suffered if these
had been accepted? If they had been accepted, India would not have been
partitioned. I refer to these in the hope that Prof Parikh may deal
with them in a future edition of his popular book.
In one of his books, Prof Parikh expresses surprise
that although Gandhi succeeded in bringing critics like Subhash Bose
and M.N. Roy to his side, he failed to win over Dr B. R. Ambedkar. In
fact, he himself gives the reasons when calling Gandhi a hypocrite in
the context of analysing his movement for eradication of untouchability
and separate electorate. How does Prof Parikh expect a man of
Ambedkar’s stature to follow and support a hypocrite? Insofar as
Subhash Bose and Roy are concerned, Bose never became a supporter of
Gandhi.
Roy wrote an editorial in his weekly by way of paying
homage to Gandhi. In this he said that communal harmony is not possible
in the mediaeval atmosphere of religious orthodoxy and fanaticism. With
the view that nationalism is totalitarian and precludes the idea of
individual liberty, he felt it was idle to pledge loyalty to the
Mahatma’s message unless it meant realisation of its contradictions,
and positioning of the moral and humanistic core of its teachings above
the cult of nationalism and power politics. Otherwise, the Mahatma wore
the crown of martyrdom in vain. Prof Parikh does not analyse this
aspect of Gandhi’s assassination. Nor does he refer to the incident
where Gandhi asked Roy not to write anything critical of him or of
Gandhism. Possibly an analysis would indicate that Gandhi was actually
intolerant of criticism.
Prof Parikh does not analyse why Gandhi found it
difficult to democratise the Congress, or why he was opposed to younger
men coming up in the Congress hierarchy. Also missing is an examination
of how Gandhi responded to the political jockeying for power which
followed the 1937 Provincial Assembly elections. There is no evidence
that Gandhi denounced such practices in emerging in national life.
In one incident, the Opposition gave notice of a
no-confidence resolution against the Congress Government. What did the
Congress leaders do? With a view to rescuing the Congress from certain
defeat, they made the Speaker adjourn the Assembly. Dr Rajendra Prasad
was deeply disturbed and wrote to the Chairman of the Congress
Parliamentary Party, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, saying that the
Congress party should not adopt such immoral means to capture power.
Patel replied that these things happened in the parliamentary form of
government. This must have been front-page news in the national Press.
It is inconceivable that Gandhi did not know about it. But we have no
evidence that he intervened in the matter. Could it be that he would
not go against the ‘Sardar?’ I mention this only to refer to the very
difficult task arising from Gandhi’s insistence on morality in politics.
IN the context of Roy’s prophesy, Philip Spratt, a
British Communist leader sent to India by Communist International to
help the communist movement, became Roy’s colleague and friend. In his
foreword to Roy’s book New Orientation, published in 1946, he commented
that he knew of no one who had been “a more consistently correct
prophet than M.N. Roy”. He wrote:
On hardly any major issue have his analyses and predictions been
disproved by events ….
He has always written as a political strategist,
concerned to know what is happening so that he can act appropriately.
It is functional writing, consistent and responsible. That it should
prove to be so unvaryingly right must be almost unique, and is
certainly noteworthy. It is strange therefore that in a country so
given to hero-worship, Roy should not have become a popular idol.
Spratt went on to say:
Not that his merits as a political thinker are entirely
unrecognised. They are admitted even by those who disliked him—people
who would not be found dead with a copy of Independent India, yet like
to know what Roy was thinking about things. It is rather that the truth
hurts, and hurts in particular all those who control public opinion in
India.
Spratt felt that Roy wrote for a limited circle who
understood his style of thought and his background of ideas, and did
not seem concerned about communicating more widely. Spratt argued that
following the Great Depression in the West, people now knew that
poverty and inequality were no longer inevitable, and that trouble lay
ahead of they were not abolished. A remedy for the instability of
capitalism might be the freezing of economic progress; Spratt wrote
that the Nazis, if they had conquered the world, would have preserved
stability by forcibly suppressing discontent. The Gandhian school, he
said, also aimed at stability, and proposed to achieve it by
ideological means, that is, by persuading people not to desire a higher
standard of life. Spratt felt that this could not succeed, and thus in
seeking a way forward in the world revolution under way, Gandhism in
its pure form “must be ruled out as a theoretically possible solution”.
Spratt held that it was clear from “Indian conditions”
that India was part of the world and involved in this revolution. Yet
he felt Roy’s mindfulness of this annoyed “the nationalists, who at
bottom, do not think of India as part of the world, but think India is
unique, that foreign or western ideas do not apply to the country and
presumably, therefore, that it happens to be having a private
revolution of its own”. This, he felt, was the nationalists’ way of
saying that they preferred to confine the revolution to its nationalist
aspect—“whereas Roy says that it is merely a small beginning, hardly
worth calling a revolution at all”. Spratt drew attention to the fact
that Roy had been saying this for more than 20 years. He had pointed
out in 1924 that after the 1914-1918 War, the export of British capital
to India fell, and had dropped to zero by 1923. This and other facts
led Roy to infer that in due course a peaceful transfer of political
power to Indian hands would take place—not through the magic of ‘soul
force’, nor out of the democratic convictions of the British ruling
class, but by virtue of a shift of economic power. And it followed that
as regards the real problems of the revolution, that the transfer of
power would mean nothing. The old order would remain; only the
personnel at the top would change.
Spratt records that Roy came to this view after serious
thought. He discussed it with Lenin, who disagreed, finally decided it
was true and stuck to it when probably nobody else in the world
accepted it. It became an essential part of his diagnosis of India’s
condition, and helped to shape his attitude to all subsequent problems.
In particular, it determined his stance during World War II, when after
Churchill became Prime Minister and Roy saw that the consummation he
had prophesied could take place at any time if the Indian National
Congress adopted a “responsible attitude to the War”. Roy felt that the
Congress opposition to the war was not principled opposition but more
what betting men call ‘hedging’, a provision against the eventuality of
an Axis victory. Roy argued that in view of the unacceptability of
fascism, it was obligatory for a sincere opponent of fascism to support
the Allied side in the war. Roy himself did so. Spratt was to remark:
Now that everything he predicted has taken place, and
the erstwhile incorruptible revolutionaries are cooperating to the
limit, it would be only decent if those who condemned his cooperation
would admit their error. But perhaps that is too much to expect.
In urging rejection of fascism, Spratt still drew
attention to the need to discuss how the fascist argument stood in
contradiction to the three desired conditions—peace, collectivism and
material well-being—posited as a stable outcome of the world
revolution. He pointed to Roy’s assertion that in our time all
nationalism is potential fascism, and fascism’s nationalist character
contradicts the first condition. The Congress was already working for a
fully nationalist policy. “Yet in plain contradiction to all this, it
professes Gandhism, and Mahatma Gandhi is still its active leader”.
Gandhi had only belatedly “ceased explicitly to defend landlordism and
castem” Spratt said.
ROY, highly critical of Gandhism from the start, had
never altered his opinion. He had said many penetrating things about
it. But Spratt noted that Roy’s approach to Gandhism “seems that of an
outsider, an unsympathetic foreigner”. He had failed to make his
criticism intelligible to the Indian reader. “He has never tried to get
under the skin of the Mahatma or his admirers, to see where that
extraordinary power comes from,” Spratt said. Spratt himself admitted
that in his own search for elements in Gandhism which could be used for
democratic and socialistic purposes, he had made the mistake of
overlooking the gulf between the theory and practice of Gandhism. It
was extraordinary, beyond almost any other movement in this respect,
“more often than not achieving the opposite of what it professes”. But
he noted that Roy did not accept this view, considering the dilemma to
be intolerable. Between fascism and communism, the latter was clearly
the better choice, but its success was unlikely. On the basis that any
solution to the world’s problems had to be socialist or collectivist,
Spratt argued for the socialist course, but said it must get away from
the lifeless, uninspiring formalism of the social democrats, and move
in the direction of bringing the rank-and-file voter into “intimate and
permanent contact with the administration”. more or less as the
original Soviets had done in Russia. Roy’s draft Constitution for India
suggested how this could be done. Roy’s proposition rejected the
illiberal doctrines and practices which had caused the Communists to be
so strongly opposed, and called for a really liberal but dynamic
socialism which could appeal confidently all classes except the few
remaining rich.
Roy’s draft Constitution implied one addition to the three necessary factors for the desired world solution. This was freedom.
Max Eastman distinguished three impulses behind the
socialist movement: freedom, fraternity and order. Roy pointed out a
fourth: the moral motive, the demand for a better order. This was
conspicuous in all the socialist movements and their thinkers.
Returning to Gandhi and his critics, several questions
remain. Why is it that he did not like to consult people outside his
circle, and even when intellectuals including his friends advised him,
to summarily reject such advice? Gandhi was used to being attacked by
both conservatives and radicals. Both ‘sanatanists’ and Dr Ambedkar
attacked him on untouchability. His systematic campaign against it
deeply alarmed the ‘sanatanists’, who feared his powerful hold over the
Hindu masses. Initially, they tried to convince him that untouchability
was integral to the Hindu religious and social order and denounced him
for subversion. When this failed, they mounted a campaign of leaflets
and articles to impugn his integrity and cast doubts on his private
life. Black flag protests, a bomb attack and an axe attack, and slogans
challenged his all-India anti-untouchability tour in 1934. On his part,
Ambedkar accused Gandhi of propping up the Hindu social order, with
only token concessions to untouchables.
Ambedkar’s ‘What Congress and Gandhi have done to the
untouchables?’ asked: “Do the untouchables regard Mr Gandhi as being in
earnest? The answer is in the negative” He charged Gandhi with
indifference to the anti-untouchability part of the 1921 Bardoli
programme, with practicing satyagraha for everything except against the
Hindus for casteism, with doing nothing more than to indulge in giving
sermons, with telling untouchables they could find salvation in the
Hindu fold, with failing to protest when in 1921 only a paltry sum from
the Tilak Swaraj Fund was allotted to untouchables and when the
committee to plan their uplift was uncere-moniously wound up. Gandhi
won praise from Hindus for his fast against the MacDonald Award of
1931, which granted the untouchables a separate electorate. Ambedkar
declared there was nothing noble in the fast; “it was the worst form of
coercion against a helpless people, to give up the constitutional
safeguards of which they had become possessed … and to agree to live on
the mercy of Hindus.” When Gandhi signed the Poona Pact, Ambedkar held
that it did not differ from the Communal Award, and Gandhi had only
signed it when he found his opposition would not succeed. Kanshi Ram,
who pioneered the Bahujan Samaj Party, was the most recent ‘Harijan’
leader to echo Ambedkar’s views.
In studying the internal logic of Gandhi’s campaign
against untouchability, it is necessary to examine the reasons why his
conservative and radical critics reached contradictory conclusions. The
way he formulated his critique, and planned his campaign was a source
of both his success and failure. It enabled him to undermine the moral
basis of untouchability, but prevented him from dealing with its
economic and political roots.
Was Gandhi fallible? And how are Roy and others who
questioned him to be judged? On February 5, 1950, at a seminar held
during the M.N Roy Centenary Year in 1987, Roy’s war thesis was being
discussed. A senior professor of political science stood up and claimed
that Gandhi was “more correct” and Roy “less correct.” The great
Gandhian ideologue Professor Amlan Datta was presiding over the
session. Many of us present were surprised that even he did not ask the
speaker to explain what he meant.
The author is a former editor of The Radical Humanist and erstwhile President, PUCL-Delhi; he edits the PUCL Bulletin.
Source by mainstreamweekly.net
rainbOwther
Savitri Era of those who adore, Om Sri Aurobindo and The Mother.
Opinion - Leader Page Articles The caste system — India’s apartheid?
Balakrishnan Rajagopal The Hindu Saturday, Aug 18, 2007Having taken a principled stand in foreign policy against racial discrimination and apartheid, India should not hide behind a false sense of Third World sovereignty in discussing the real problems of how to effectively end caste discrimination in a complex society.
How to end caste discrimination against Dalits is a profound issue because its roots go to the structural importance of caste for the operation of Indian society and the economy itself. After decades of legislating to end caste discrimination, it is legitimate now to ask: can one end caste discrimination without ending caste itself? If so, what does that imply for policy making and law? Caste discrimination exists because people continue to believe in caste. Indian democracy is, paradoxically, a culprit. By encouraging the formation of democratic participation along the lines of identity, caste is, in fact, reinforced every time India goes to the polls.
The recent electoral gains of the Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh must be seen in the context of this double-edged nature of caste. It may be hard to imagine Indian society and state outside of the system of caste. Even Dalit Christians, Sikhs, and Muslims find that caste discrimination continues to exist after they have acquired different religious identities. Yet caste discrimination against Dalits, in all its forms, is a stain on the idea of a modern India, and needs to be eliminated effectively.
While the Indian Constitution outlawed untouchability and caste discrimination, it did not abolish caste itself. This was realised by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the father of the Indian Constitution, who called for the ‘annihilation of caste’ itself. It may be time for the government and society to reorient themselves towards this goal and begin the process of ending India’s system of apartheid.
(The writer is Ford International Associate Professor of Law and Development and Director, MIT Program on Human Rights and Justice. He is currently leading a collaborative effort between MIT and Navsarjan, a major Dalit NGO in Gujarat, on the elimination of manual scavenging.) thehindu.com
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Prayer Wheels
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08/19/07
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Sacred language
Pali
The language spoken in the north of India from and before the 7th century BC to about the 5th century AD. It is still the literary sacred language of Burma, Thailand, and Ceylon. There were two factors which made Pali one of the most important literary languages of the world: first, with the rise of the Kosalas into a kingdom, the language of its capital (Savatthi, in Nepal) become the form of speech almost universally adopted. Secondly, Gautama Buddha, being of Kosalan by birth, probably used the Pali language in giving forth his teachings, and therefore the subsequent philosophical writings of his disciples were similarly couched in this language.
Pali was one of several other languages of culture in ancient India, all which were of so-called Prakrit character, although very little is known about these other literary languages. Pali has survived to the present time because . . . it became the linguistic vehicle in which were enshrined the teachings of The Awakened One.
Pali is not a true child of Sanskrit, but is and was the literary form of one of the ancient languages of India popularly spoken over an apparently wide stretch of the Indian Peninsula, . . .” (SOPh 694-5).
In the 3rd century BC the language used throughout Northern India was practically one, and it was derived directly from the speech of the Vedic Aryans, retaining many Vedic forms lost in the later classical Sanskrit. The basis of the language used in the Buddhist canon was that used in Ujjayini, the capital of the Avanti district. The chief doctrines of Buddhism are recorded in the works known as the Suttas — there being four Nikayas consisting of 16 volumes; the fifth Nikaya being the Jatakas (birth stories).
Craving
The Awakened One enumerates the many kinds of tangled thoughts experienced by a mind not yet free of craving. Sound familiar?
“True Followers of the Path shown by The Awakened One, I will teach you craving: the ensnarer that has flowed along, spread out, and caught hold, with which this world is smothered & enveloped like a tangled skein, a knotted ball of string, like matted rushes and reeds, and does not go beyond transmigration, beyond the planes of deprivation, woe, & bad destinations. Listen well, and I will speak.”
“Yes, lord,” the monks responded.
The Blessed One said: “And which craving is the ensnarer that has flowed along, spread out, and caught hold, with which this world is smothered & enveloped like a tangled skein, a knotted ball of string, like matted rushes and reeds, and does not go beyond transmigration, beyond the planes of deprivation, woe, & bad destinations? These 18 craving-verbalizations1 dependent on what is internal and 18 craving-verbalizations dependent on what is external.
“And which are the 18 craving-verbalizations dependent on what is internal? There being ‘I am,’ there comes to be ‘I am here,’ there comes to be ‘I am like this’ … ‘I am otherwise’ … ‘I am bad’ … ‘I am good’ … ‘I might be’ … ‘I might be here’ … ‘I might be like this’ … ‘I might be otherwise’ … ‘May I be’ … ‘May I be here’ … ‘May I be like this’ … ‘May I be otherwise’ … ‘I will be’ … ‘I will be here’ … ‘I will be like this’ … ‘I will be otherwise.’ These are the 18 craving-verbalizations dependent on what is internal.
“And which are the 18 craving-verbalizations dependent on what is external? There being ‘I am because of this (or: by means of this),’ there comes to be ‘I am here because of this,’ there comes to be ‘I am like this because of this’ … ‘I am otherwise because of this’ … ‘I am bad because of this’ … ‘I am good because of this’ … ‘I might be because of this’ … ‘I might be here because of this’ … ‘I might be like this because of this’ … ‘I might be otherwise because of this’ … ‘May I be because of this’ … ‘May I be here because of this’ … ‘May I be like this because of this’ … ‘May I be otherwise because of this’ … ‘I will be because of this’ … ‘I will be here because of this’ … ‘I will be like this because of this’ … ‘I will be otherwise because of this.’ These are the 18 craving-verbalizations dependent on what is external.
“Thus there are 18 craving-verbalizations dependent on what is internal and 18 craving-verbalizations dependent on what is external. These are called the 36 craving-verbalizations. Thus, with 36 craving-verbalizations of this sort in the past, 36 in the future, and 36 in the present, there are 108 craving-verbalizations.
“This, monks is craving the ensnarer that has flowed along, spread out, and caught hold, with which this world is smothered & enveloped like a tangled skein, a knotted ball of string, like matted rushes and reeds, and does not go beyond transmigration, beyond the planes of deprivation, woe, & bad destinations.”
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