Independence Day Meditation – A Patriotism beyond Patriotism

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a patriotism beyond patriotism on the occasion of the independence day of india throughout the country the national flags are hoisted and songs which immortalize the struggle of independence that many freedom fighters went through those are sung and people remember and cherish and celebrate the freedom of india that india got from british rule and all such celebration is a very significant it commemorates a significant event from the social, cultural political perspective in india’s ongoing growth story now while such celebration is natural for any country at the same time there is something about india which marks it distinctive every country will have its national identity and its day of independence associated with or some other significant day in its history most countries have this and they celebrate that and it is a part of the larger national identity of the citizens that prompts them to celebrate this now if we look at india what exactly is india is it the geographical spread from the from the himalayas to the setu van is it from the east in bengal or where ever to gujarat in the west is it just the geographical spread of the land india is often the land of bewildering diversity and going from one part of the country to another part is often like going from one country the culture is different the dress is different, the language is different the modes of conduct are different, what is it that unifies people across this great land now yes there are many things that are diverse but there is one thing that unifies is an underlying sense of a higher principle a higher purpose to life and that there is a higher order which we need to harmonize with and that comes from a spiritual sense that people have it may not be consciously there in the forefront of the consciousness and it may sometimes be so deep down as to not even be noticeable but there is a deep rooted cultural, pious, spiritual inclination that is there and this spiritual inclination stems from the hallowed tradition of spiritual wisdom that has been widespread in India India is the country that gave the world millennia ago the insight Vasudeva Kutumbakam Vasudeva Kutumbakam that Kutumb family that the whole earth and all the people in the earth are one family while people in the world in different parts have been caught in their own struggles of fragmentation and solid establishment where in religions some religions God is deemed to have some chosen people and others not chosen where there has been dissonance between the chosen people and the non chosen people or between the selected few and the not selected with the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishadic body of wisdom they offer the insight that we all belong to one family this is a universalist message and this message is actually in the India’s spiritual wisdom India’s spiritual culture this is what has attracted people from all over the world to India to understand the deepest questions of life, who am I what is the purpose of my life, what is the point of the existence of everything such questions are answered in the wisdom that is found in the literature in the wisdom traditions in the books that have been written, revealed, composed in India and when we look at this profound spiritual contribution of India and how its spiritual essence its soul so to speak attracts the spiritual inclinations of people from various parts of the world even today if we can internalize the spirit by studying the spiritual literature and understanding the wisdom and then according to our capacity trying to make that wisdom available for others then we will be practicing a patriotism that goes beyond patriotism the patriotism, love for one’s country is in many ways a noble, laudable quality, at the same time what is called patriotism in one country by the proponents of that country can very well be called by its opponents as nationalism you people are fundamentalist nationalists and you want to just expand your country’s boundaries and enroach and consume other countries so that the kind of patriotism which divides one country which pits one country against another country that is the patriotism that will create fragmentation but the spiritual patriotism so to speak, that means the love for country not just because it is my country not just because it is the country I was born in but because the love for the country because it is born in because it is the place where such profound spiritual wisdom was revealed, the spiritual wisdom that can dissolve the boundaries that create separation and hatred between countries and keep them fighting for millennia the wisdom that can unify the human heart in a circle of love that centers in the divine heart and encircles all of humanity indeed all living beings in a sense of cosmic familial bond that Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam when we appreciate India’s spiritual legacy and share that spiritual legacy with others then we practice a patriotism that extends beyond patriotism a patriotism that does not create sectarian division but a patriotism that brings about holistic unification by offering spiritual enrichment for all of humanity and such is the patriotism that we can practice by studying, internalizing and sharing the spiritual wisdom of this great land this is a message that if we understand and apply this India’s message India got independence the purpose of independence is not just not to be free from political rule yes that is a political rule by someone else that is one level of competence that is one level of independence but independence ultimately means independence from bigotry, independence from prejudice, independence from illusion, independence from selfishness and that independence comes from the spiritual wisdom that the Bhagavad Gita and Indian wisdom literature offer so studying and sharing this wisdom is the will be the taking will be taking the attainment of India’s independence towards its perfection