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Thursday, July 14, 2011

Death Becomes Mere Statistics!

A country of billion plus people goes gaga with fervor when a cricketer reaches a milestone or their favorite actor does something but are muted spectators when common folks, one among them dies day after day due to act of terrorism. Death becomes mere statistics! 

INDIA last night condemned the three terror blasts that ripped through heavily populated Mumbai suburbs .

My deepest sympathies are with the innocent victims and their families.
How does one deal with serious tragedies such as the loss of a loved one? What about tragedies like natural disasters, famines and terrorist attacks?  Is it only human to feel down and depressed after such events, or is it possible to remain conscious and positive throughout?  Is there a deeper meaning behind these seemingly random and tragic experiences?

My views on this subject stray a lot from the social norm, my intention is to help people think about such things more consciously. Social conditioning teaches us to interpret events like the death of a loved one, as tragic. To experience emotional pain when such things occur is considered perfectly normal behavior. Usually the process we follow sequences denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally maybe acceptance. Some people never complete the “getting over it” part.The tragic loss becomes a death sentence.

When we become attached to circumstances and then experience an outcome that runs afoul of our expectations, emotional pain is the natural result.  And the greater the attachment, the greater the pain…..But is it worth all of it…how long how often?The root of attachment is fear.Without fear there’s no attachment to circumstances… no emotional resistance to outcomes. On average over 150,000 people die on this planet every single day.That’s more than a million a week.  Given those figures why should the deaths of people we know be any more tragic than the deaths of people we don’t? 

Babu Rangraj, who helped to carry six bodies to the morgue wrapped up in tarpaulin from the opulent Opera House area in downtown Mumbai, said such attacks had become commonplace in the city."We have got used to them. Dealing with their aftermath is like following a drill," he said. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/8638138/Indian-security-forces-under-fire-as-Mumbai-wakes-to-the-aftermath

Our social conditioning frames our lives within a context whereby certain events are labeled as tragic. The Mumbai blasts where places are repeatedly attacked by terrorists. India is supposedly spending billions of Rupees on Intelligence. (Hope Rajas, Marans, Kalmadis, Karunanidhis et al have not pocketed these funds). Those responsible had "worked in a very clandestine manner -- maybe a very small group that has not communicated with each other", Mr Chidambaram said, adding: "All groups hostile to India are on the radar." http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/mumbai-blasts-leave-18-dead/story-e6frg6so-1226094941439

We will not improve the circumstances of this physical world by labeling them as tragic.  That robs us of all our power to think and to act consciously.  Such attachment defines us as victims instead of as the creators we truly are.  Victims cannot save our environment.  Victims cannot end our wars.  Victims cannot transform our corporations.  Only creators have the power to make these changes.

Just as it takes time to clear the rubble and repair the damage, it takes time to recover your emotional equilibrium and rebuild your life.

What is your choice Mumbaikars? 

Do you prefer to be a conscious creator of your life, or the unconscious victim to it?  You have the free will to do whatever you wish.  But even if you choose to deny yourself the full exercise of your true power, you can never deny yourself the existence of it.  It is always there, locked away in a safe place, and the state of joy is the key that opens the door.

So given the choice between being empowered and disempowered, I choose to take the more empowering path.  Perhaps, I’m just a misguided left-hander in a right-handed world!

3 comments:

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  2. It's a blog to ponder over with, Ushy.

    Death can be approached in so many different ways, yet when it occurs in an inadvertent incident like the Mumbai blast, it becomes despicable. It becomes a life wasted away at the callousness of so many tiers of responsibilities.

    Unfortunately or fortunately, constitution does not permit us to wear that cloak of self policing. Those who attempted to bring about a change in the constitution by way of a Lok Pal Bill got severely caned or implicated in larceny.That sickular vote bank politics digs deeply into the inaction by relevant establishments to curtail similar incidences is needless to say. And it will continue to so too with the kind of crisis management we possess, that is if we do at all.

    Good one from a 'miss' guided left-hander in a right-handed world!

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