On Thursday Dr. Chiranjiv Singh of the Anand Foundation gave a presentation to introduce us to the history and culture of India. In his talk, he explained how karma was a binding agent which keeps this country of 3000 languages and dialects together. He told this tale of the scorpion and the man.
One morning, after he had finished his meditation, the old man opened his eyes and saw a scorpion floating helplessly in the water. As the scorpion was washed closer to the tree, the old man quickly stretched himself out on one of the long roots that branched out into the river and reached out to rescue the drowning creature. As soon as he touched it, the scorpion stung him. Instinctively the man withdrew his hand. A minute later, after he had regained his balance, he stretched himself out again on the roots to save the scorpion. This time the scorpion stung him so badly with its poisonous tail that his hand became swollen and bloody and his face contorted with pain.
At that moment, a passerby saw the old man stretched out on the roots struggling with the scorpion and shouted: "Hey, stupid old man, what's wrong with you? Only a fool would risk his life for the sake of an ugly, evil creature. Don't you know you could kill yourself trying to save that ungrateful scorpion?"
The old man turned his head. Looking into the stranger's eyes he said calmly, "My friend, just because it is the scorpion's nature to sting, that does not change my nature to save."
Dr. Singh summed it up by saying that to save was the man’s karma, and to sting was the scorpion’s karma. Karma is your situation, and you move and act according to your karma. In family’s it is the parent’s karma to look after the children when they are young, and children’s karma to take care of their parents when they are old. Karma also affects your next life. So many people here who live in poverty take comfort in the fact that they will be more comfortable in their next life.
Unlike western tradition, in India emphasis is not on the individual. There is a duality of the body and mind, and people are not seen as separate from God. This is reflected in social systems which are comprised of families and communities.
Because of technology and education, today in India people are trying to synthesize Western views with Indian values. Currently the outcome is not known. I believe we should look at synthesizing our values with theirs. I like the idea of depending on family and communities, and this this is a weakness in our system. When you look at the current state of our systems designed to help those in need here in our country, you see many gaps caused by a lack of funds and bureaucracy. Maybe it is time for East to truly meet West on a philosophical level.
One morning, after he had finished his meditation, the old man opened his eyes and saw a scorpion floating helplessly in the water. As the scorpion was washed closer to the tree, the old man quickly stretched himself out on one of the long roots that branched out into the river and reached out to rescue the drowning creature. As soon as he touched it, the scorpion stung him. Instinctively the man withdrew his hand. A minute later, after he had regained his balance, he stretched himself out again on the roots to save the scorpion. This time the scorpion stung him so badly with its poisonous tail that his hand became swollen and bloody and his face contorted with pain.
At that moment, a passerby saw the old man stretched out on the roots struggling with the scorpion and shouted: "Hey, stupid old man, what's wrong with you? Only a fool would risk his life for the sake of an ugly, evil creature. Don't you know you could kill yourself trying to save that ungrateful scorpion?"
The old man turned his head. Looking into the stranger's eyes he said calmly, "My friend, just because it is the scorpion's nature to sting, that does not change my nature to save."
Dr. Singh summed it up by saying that to save was the man’s karma, and to sting was the scorpion’s karma. Karma is your situation, and you move and act according to your karma. In family’s it is the parent’s karma to look after the children when they are young, and children’s karma to take care of their parents when they are old. Karma also affects your next life. So many people here who live in poverty take comfort in the fact that they will be more comfortable in their next life.
Unlike western tradition, in India emphasis is not on the individual. There is a duality of the body and mind, and people are not seen as separate from God. This is reflected in social systems which are comprised of families and communities.
Because of technology and education, today in India people are trying to synthesize Western views with Indian values. Currently the outcome is not known. I believe we should look at synthesizing our values with theirs. I like the idea of depending on family and communities, and this this is a weakness in our system. When you look at the current state of our systems designed to help those in need here in our country, you see many gaps caused by a lack of funds and bureaucracy. Maybe it is time for East to truly meet West on a philosophical level.