Mindset—The Epicenter: Who Am I?

By Rudra Kumar Kaushik

Mindsetthe Epicenter is a one volume work, which probes as to why two persons having the same mind (physical composition of brain) made of the same electrons, protons, and neutrons generally behave differently with their fellow beings in their day-to-day lives, even in the similar circumstances.

The author wants to solve this age-old dilemma. Sri Ram and Rawana, Balmiki and Ratnakar, Sri, Krishna and Duryodhana, Buddha, Vivekanand, and Osama Bin Laden had been gifted the same mind made of the same atoms by the nature. Then how did they possess virtuous and vicious mind-sets respectively? Who is and what is actually responsible for this variance in human behavior and human varieties in this world? Has the so-called divine intelligence really been playing the role of a puppeteer? Would we justify to those epoch-making human giants if we dub them puppets? Tsunami waves of troubles in mans life have been flowing quite high in the whole human ocean. The author wants to solve this age-old puzzle. Then who is actually the troublemaker as well as the troubleshooter in human lives?

Naturally, the author holds that our minds are in an unprecedented grip of fear, tension, uncertainty, and suspicion due to some troubles. Hence, he is of this opinion that people in general are losing charm in their lives.

Thats why the author feels that it seems as if we are on an undeclared war with one another for long in Hobbesian language.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing India
• Release date: Oct 12, 2017
• ISBN: 9781482889536

Rudra Kumar Kaushik

Mr. Rudra Kumar Kaushik is an author and ‘MINDSET – THE EPICENTER’ is his second book. He was born in Muzaffarnagar (U.P.) in 1938. He finished his M.A. in Political Science from Delhi University in 1960. He taught Political Science in various Delhi government schools and institutions for over three decades. At present he resides in flat no. 1104, A-wing, Bhagnari C.H.S., Chunabhatti (w), Sion (W), Mumbai- 400022. He has a small family, with a wife and two daughters. His elder daughter is Dr. Anshu Kulkarni, a practicing Psychiatrist in Mumbai. The younger one has been a Corporate Executive and is currently doing her M.A. in Philosophy from Mumbai University. His first book ‘ARCHITECT OF HUMAN DESTINY’, was published by Kalpaz Publications in 2003, Delhi – 110052. It is concerned with philosophy and religion. His second book ‘MINDSET – THE EPICENTER’ has been woven into its seventeen chapters.

Book preview

MINDSET

the epicenter

WHO AM I?

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RUDRA KUMAR KAUSHIK

EDITED BY MS. ASHWINI RAJPOOT

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Copyright © 2017 by Rudra Kumar Kaushik.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-4828-8954-3

      eBook         978-1-4828-8953-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for the

www.partridgepublishing.com/india

Contents

Preface

Introduction

1 Causes Of Misery And Their Cure

2 How To Save The Sinking Ship?

3 Misery And Happiness Is Our Own Harvest

4 A Good Or Bad Mindset?

5 Real Womb Of Revolution

6 Marx’s Himalyan Blunder

7 Illusions Of Mr. Emile Burns

8 Mr. Burns’ Realisation Of Truth

9 Acceptance Of Reality By Lenin

10 Recognition Of Facts By Khrushchev

11 Acceptance Of Reality Both In The East & The West

12 Marx Put The Cart Before The Horse

13 The Role Hegelian ‘Idea’ Plays In Changing The World

14 The ‘Apparent I’ And The ‘Real I’

15 Myths Regarding Our Emotions, Instincts, ‘Lobh’ & ‘Desire’

16 Some Of Our Illusions And Delusions Regarding God

17 Conclusion

Dedicated

To all the

Revered human beings of godly mindsets

Preface

M y first book- ‘ARCHITECT OF HUMAN DESTINY’, was published by KALPAZ PUBLICATIONS, DELHI in 2003.

In the book I had observed that ‘man is an architect of his own destiny’, regardless of whether it is virtuous or vicious. That’s why; we witness a godly human giant like Shri Ram on one shore and a wicked man like Raavan on the other shore, standing in the long corridor of human history, despite having the same mind, made of the same neutrons, protons and electrons etc.

This man makes or unmakes his world and this is confirmed by the following examples:

While both Ratnakar’s and Balmiki’s mind and personality remained the same, both of them made their respective mindsets quite opposite to each other in character.

While terrorists were mercilessly killing innocent students, professors and others, the people who were helping the injured at the cost of their own precious lives also had the same mind, made of the same atoms, but both of them had moulded their respective mindsets quite differently in character at the same moment during that unfortunate terrorist attack on 20th Jan, 2016 in Bacha Khan University at Charsadda district in Pakistan.

The question is: what are the important messages these two examples give us?

The message to be remembered by all of us is that even though our mind is the most important computer, placed by nature in our heads, our mindset is the most important reservoir of our happiness and misery.

The more important message to be remembered by all of us is that man cannot move or run left or right without his mind. It is his mindset that moves his mind towards heaven or hell on earth.

The most important point, which can be gleaned from these episodes is that our body or our body organs and our mind work under the command of our mindset, leaving apart the routine work that our mind does on its own. Of course, our mindset maybe either virtuous or vicious.

We do not find the so called hypothetical divine soul revolting against the terrorist’s actions. On this evidence we conclude that the inner voice we listen to in our life time and again, actually comes out of our ‘REAL I’.

The age old pertinent question for which philosophers of the world from Socrates onwards have been in dilemma for ages is to decide who this man is and how does he make his world either virtuous or vicious with his mindset. These concerns could not be discussed in my first book.

Apart from this Socrates’ reply to some ‘Brahmins’ in ATHENS that to know man is the greatest knowledge in the world was knocking my mind again and again for the right answer, as to who is this man of the greatest ‘gurus’ of the world?

It was just to fill in that void and to solve this age old mystery forever that I have attempted to write another book- ‘MINDSET – THE EPICENTER’. I am of the opinion that this book clearly explains all our doubts in detail without the least prejudices as to who this man of Socrates is and how he/she makes a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven on earth.

It is my firm conviction that the day this man realizes this truth that he/she either individually or collectively really makes this world either like a rotten egg or like a heaven on earth with his/her mindset and none else, he/she will stop looking towards the sky over his/her head for both his/her ‘SUKH’(happiness) and ‘DUKH’(miseries) and consequently on the same day this world of ours will also stop growing like a rickety baby.

Through this preface I want to make it clear that the godly mindsets of my revered parents, brothers and sisters had been the greatest source of my inspiration in writing this book. In addition to it, I want to pay my heartfelt gratitude to Mrs. Prakash, my wife, Dr. Anshu and Mrs. Arunima my sweet daughters, Mr. Yogesh, Mr. Bhavya, Mr. Nitin and all the others for the valuable help they had rendered to me in completing the manuscript of this book. I am especially thankful to the editor of the book Ms. Ashwini Rajpoot for her sincere commitment to the integrity of the book through the entire editing process.

I can’t forget the very famous remark of Rousseau, who rightly said: ‘man was born free, but he is in chains’! Because we have kept our minds, the most valuable instrument of thought and knowledge, gifted to all of us by nature, chained thoughtlessly unfortunately for centuries with mere heresy, blind faith, illusion, whims, superstitions, obsessions, prejudices, speculations, false assumptions and the like. After witnessing such pitiable conditions I am bound to think, as if we have kept our minds switched off for long! As a result, we have bitterly failed to think, feel and do in proper perspective in life and to realize the reality or truth.

Further, through this preface I want to remind my sweet patrons that I have written this book with the spirit of a seeker of truth. It was not to get any fame for myself or to defame others. I really know that I know nothing. Hence, I haven’t claimed to know the whole truth anywhere in this book, because it is primarily based on the personal experiences of my life.

In fact my book is neither concerned with any particular religion, nor with any particular philosophy or ‘ISM’, but the axle round which it revolves from the beginning to the end is our own mindset, which we have converted into a volcano today that emits lava.

Now further it deals with how we can convert this volcano into a mine of peace, simply by converting our vicious ‘REAL I’ and vicious mindsets into virtuous ones.

Hence, my earnest appeal to all of them is to go through this book very patiently with their fresh minds not loaded with such false notions and without ‘my cup is full’ syndrome, just to see the truth themselves.

In fact, I have written this book, as if I am only a non-violent rebel, who has raised his banner of revolt against some of the so called ‘branded views’, prevalent for long in this world, which have bitterly failed to change the mindset of this man and his world. Instead, they have made this man like a big stone unwilling to move at all to breathe in fresh air or simply a cog in the machine, making him ready to perform some meaningless rituals and dogmas in life, besides his routine works, with the false hope in his/her mind that they are bound to grant him/her ‘MOKSHA’ (salvation) in life and hence, they are to make his/her life happier and peaceful someday.

So, the earlier we realize what an age old illusion we have been living in for ages, the better. In fact we have made our world a very big stagnant pool, which has been breeding human wolves, cobras, bagulas(crane) and the like. How long will this man remain the passive-spectator of this melo-drama, staged by him/her like an ostrich?

Let us realize that great human giants like Shri Ram, Shri Krishna, Buddha, Mahavir, Jesus, Muhammed, ‘gurus’ and the like were essentially the main products of their own godly mindset, moulded by themselves or their godly ‘REAL I’ only. Certainly, they too like us were men from this world and they did not descend on earth from the sky.

Of course, I know that perfection in this world is only utopian.

Through this preface again, I want to make it amply clear to all that I have tried my level best not to hurt anybody’s feeling in this book. If still anyone feels hurt anywhere, I want to apologise to him/her very seriously.

Of course, I know that I can’t please all the people in this world.

I have been a great admirer of Voltaire, a great philosopher, who rightly viewed that ‘though I do not like your views, still I will defend you to express your views freely’; so that the truth may evolve by itself. Hope if we all follow this sane advice, then there will be no more violence in this world.

If people really find my humble views in this book quite meaningful, constructive, creative and pregnant with a new human revolution in this world, they will definitely give me a new breathing undoubtedly to think, feel and do only good for good.

In addition to this all, I want to say that if this book really succeeds in awakening us to this truth that our world, what it is, is nothing, but our own baby, regardless of whether it is beautiful or ugly and thus we are its true ‘janak’(parents), which is actually conceived in our own respective virtuous or vicious mindsets, moulded by our virtuous or vicious ‘REAL I’ only (this ‘REAL I’ has been discussed in this book in details); again, if it succeeds in helping us realize that we are neither our bodies, nor minds, or this hypothetical divine ‘Atman’(soul), but we are all our own respective ‘REAL I’ only, then I shall feel that the hitherto innings of my life have been meaningful.

I know that only fools can dub us as arrogant even when we are determined to change our mindsets ourselves.

In a nutshell, after going through this humble book of mine, I hope my sweet patrons will realize that this book has been a dire need of this world for long. So, let us now get ready to go through this book just to see the miracles of our own mindsets and our own ‘REAL I’.

Keeping this hope in my mind I have really penned this book with all my humbleness, sincerity and frankness; so that all of us may become true ‘Karamyogi’ in time before it is too late, instead of following the present dangerous paths of ‘passive – karamyoga’ along with ‘Palayanwad’(escapism) in life.

In fact, our world does not need human parrots or human sheep at all, but a ‘man of truly godly mindset like Buddha, though he was godless’ in the words of H.G Wells, as our mindset has always been the epicenter of all the desirable or undesirable changes, a true fountainhead of virtues or vices, happiness or miseries in our lives.

Thanks

Rudra Kumar Kaushik

Address: A – 1104 Bhagnary CHS

Chunabhatti (West) Sion

Mumbai -400022

Dated: 08 / 07 / 2016

Introduction

N owadays, all of us feel like the tsunami waves of manmade trouble, vexation & suffering has been flowing quite high in the ocean of humanity. These high tides almost everywhere, have become a matter of great concern, at least for the right thinking people. They quite naturally discern that their lives, instead of being a source of enjoyment & happiness, have become burdensome and charmless. Consequently, their minds are suffocated to see the world-scenario, for what it is.

The glaring fact that faces the world is that there is not a single moment in our lives when the news of an innocent’s murder, rape or exploitation by one or the other man under HIS nose is not poured into our ears. The question that plagues our mind after hearing such degraded news is invariably that, where are most of us headed? Does our direction really not need an urgent change, and that too by our own selves? If yes, then what is the real epicenter either of our virtues or vices in our lives? Again, what is the real epicenter of all the desirable or undesirable changes, which take place in our lives from time to time? Also, what is the true spring board of happiness or ‘dukhas’ (sufferings)? What is it that we need to change the world – scenario? The sooner we know these answers, the better.

Of course, I don’t believe in painting an unnecessarily gloomy picture of our world. I am not a prophet of doom and I believe that if there are vicious people sailing the boat of life, there are also virtuous people who are doing the same. They may, unfortunately, be in a minority but their direction and destination both are quite different.

In the flow of this argument let’s not forget the truth that all of them are made of the same bodies and minds, the same fundamental particles known as neutrons, protons, electrons etc. and gifted to humanity by the same mother nature. It needs to be established that despite this fact, we find both types of people possessing different mindsets and I wonder why that is. As per my knowledge they have different mindsets because the truth of all truths is that both of them have assembled the different invisible playback determining factors of their behaviour in their respective minds, which I have named in short as their ‘REAL I’, what they really are. And we are its true programmers.

To elaborate upon my point, I hold that both direction and destination of these sailors are different from each other because while the virtuous people have assembled the good, virtuous or godly playback invisible determining factors of their behavior, the vicious, vulgar or shoddy and selfish people have assembled their vulgar and selfish playback in their respective minds consciously or unconsciously.

Is it not due to this principle reason that we see both Ram and Ravana, Krishna and Duryodhana, Gandhi and Hitler, Buddha and men like Osama bin Laden play their respective virtuous or vicious roles in the long corridor of human history? Does it not prove by itself that all of us have been the projectors of the film of our lives, regardless of whether the film is good or bad? Does it not prove further that our life, whatever it is, is only a programming of all that we do in our lives?

We need to acknowledge that virtue or vice is originally conceived in our respective mindsets by our own selves. We materialize them in practice through our corresponding minds and the pertinent question that arises is: Who are their natural parents and where do they live?

Human mind is ‘conscious matter’; it finishes our daily calls of nature on its own and controls the natural systems of our body even when we are fast asleep. Human mind, gifted to all of us by nature is an assembly of the same neutrons, protons, electrons etc. and thereby we can establish that nature has given us the same mind. It means that even though our mind is the same, we possess different mindsets. The question is: how does this happen in our lives?

It is important to understand what I mean by this ‘REAL I’. Our respective minds, besides being a natural assembly of neutron, proton, electrons etc., are also an assembly of respective man made consciousness, awareness, values of life and will-power along with ‘sankalp’ (determination, what one wants to do with one’s life), the power of ‘Vivek’, ‘Buddhi’ and the mind’s ability to discriminate. All these invisible playback determining factors of individual behavior function in each mind and determine the consequent good or bad behavior. They further mould the individual’s virtuous or vicious mindset, which acts as the epicenter of the individual’s life and actions.

For a more comprehensive understanding, I call the summation of all these factors as the individual’s ‘Real I.’

I have labeled them as ‘Real I’, because specifically these factors and nothing else, works invisibly in the individual’s mind and determines their journey to the planet of heaven or hell on earth. The individual’s mindset, moulded by his/her playback determining factors of behavior regulates the respective mind to act accordingly. So, these invisible determining factors of behavior are the actual parents of a person’s virtues or vices in life. The mind is like a workshop and these factors mould everyone’s mindset for virtuosity or viciousness.

All of us assemble these determining factors of behavior in our mind quite naturally from our childhood to our death. The fact is, no hypothetical divine intelligence is involved in them and all of us assemble them either consciously or unconsciously. These invisible determining factors of behavior which may either be virtuous or vicious in character are dynamic by nature. They are changed by the individual from time to time according to the changes that take place in his/her sense of judgment of right and wrong.

While everyone’s ‘Apparent I’, which consists of flesh, bones, blood etc. is gifted to all by nature, the ‘Real I’ is assembled by all of us in our own mind and consists of our invisible playback determining factors of behavior. They are primarily responsible for the distinct varieties of people in the world, regardless of whether they are godly or wicked by nature. These factors chosen by all of us decide our destiny and inscribe our lines of fate. It is also crucial to recognize that these factors which I address as everyone’s ‘Real I’ die their natural death with the death of everyone’s ‘Apparent I’. Therefore, I believe that like our ‘Apparent I’, our ‘Real I’ is not eternal. They live together. They die together. They swim and sink together.

The constitutive parts of ‘Apparent I’ are visible to us and hence, I have named them ‘Apparent I’. But the constituent parts of ‘Real I’ work invisibly and decisively within the individual’s mind and thus, have been labeled as ‘Real I’.

When we realize that our life is governed by these invisible determining factors of everyone’s mind, it becomes easier to recognize the parentage of this centuries old orphan baby world of ours, regardless of whether the baby is beautiful or ugly. As long as we wear the mask of false religiosity and age old hypocrisy, our baby world will continue to grow like a rickety and moldy child.

I believe that the main cause of the chronic sickness of this baby of ours is that we have taken for granted that it is God’s child and He, being the most competent physician is only one who can cure it! This is all because of our centuries old ignorance and escapist mindset.

Of course, we must accept that the world is only a necessary means to an end and not an end in itself, and the end is happiness and peace. What we should do is live in this world to make it a better place to live with every passing day and sincerely follow the principle of ‘live & let live’. We need to ensure that we do not let the world live by itself like our immediate – boss in our minds and mindsets, otherwise we are bound to become its permanent slaves or bonded laborers.

Today most of us are suffering from a chronic ailment, known as ‘mental- inertia’. Undoubtedly, we go to work, fulfill the calls of nature, feed ourselves and take rest like all other animals, but do we really do any solid work to build or rebuild our ‘Real I’? What are we and which is the greatest need of our lives? Why? Is it not so because our greatest illusion has been that whatever this world - scenario is, it is God’s creation? The oasis of illusion that we have been living in for centuries is our blind faith and false assumption that we go to work, but it is He, who does everything in our lives, and whatever He does, does good and we must accept it happily! What we continue to believe is that we can do nothing, except to prostrate before Him to please Him so that He may descend on earth at the earliest to set and turn every un-right and unjust thing right and just!

Instead of making us less ego-centric and arrogant, the age old doctrine in question has made us perfect ‘playanwadi’ (escapists), fatalist, cowards and shirkers. Instead of prioritizing our ‘Real I’, we go on performing meaningless ritual to please God, who is unknown to everybody. Do we ever realize that God Himself, if at all He exists somewhere is bound to be stunned to see the world and chastise himself for creating such a bogus world. So, the earlier we come out of this cocoon of our ‘make believe world’, the better. Of course, scientifically speaking, there is no creation, but evolution.

That’s why, I humbly believe that neither God nor a ‘guru’ can be our crutch on the path of goodness or our bridge to the shore of human excellence, it is only one’s own good and godly ‘Real I’ that sees one through. Hence, the earlier we stop relying on them as our crutch or bridge, the better. They are merely our Light Houses in the midst of the human ocean and light Houses can’t sail the ships themselves, they only guide the ships. Of course, any denial of a hypothetical God by me does not mean that we are free to steer the vehicles of our lives whimsically or weave the web of our lives as we like with our knit - pins. There is no question of absolute freedom in a country where there is a Rule Of Law.

So there is no alternative, except to do good and be good for happiness and peace in the world. It too has been a mere illusion that our sufferings have been the result of God’s wishes or our Karma. Why do we want to reveal our past, when we do not know even the A.B.C. of it? The truth is that happiness or suffering in our life is purely the off-spring of our present mindsets, regardless of whether it is individual or collective. I am specifically referring to man made suffering and not suffering caused by natural calamities or coincidences.

The devotees may deny it, but the truth is both good and evil have been eternally camping in our world. Don’t we kill hundreds of microbes, even as we even breathe? So, for the survival of the world neither good nor evil can be extinct. We have no alternative except to follow the path of lesser and lesser evil as far as possible for our own survival.

In their blind bhakti for God, the devotees may believe that there is nothing evil in God’s creation. May I have the privilege to ask such devotees that if everything He creates is good, then why does He descend on earth? And if He has been its sole creator, then why does he create evil things and evil people in His kingdom? Can we then claim that He is solely responsible for the current world-scenario? Is it not all humbug? I do not know how they live in this state of mental – chaos. These devotees may fool ‘all the people some of the time, some of the people all the time, but they cannot fool all the people all the time’.

So, the earlier we realize that it is not the century of God but the century of men, the better. Of course, men who are do-gooders must be men of godly mindsets.

Instead of performing meaningless rituals, like we have been doing for centuries, let’s work out our salvation (mukti) by making our mindsets virtuous for happiness and peace in life.

Godly mindset is the greatest need of our lives as well as the world. Everyone needs ‘Roti’(bread), but if we fail to mould our mindsets then only the most powerful will be able to satisfy their appetite and the others will remain hungry.

‘Agar hum apni soch (mindset) badlenge, to hum apna jeevan badlenge, aur phir hum apni duniya bhi badlenge’.

The question is very timely and pertinent: who is this ‘hum’? The truth is that ‘hum’ is neither our body nor our mind, it is our ‘Real I’ which is the sum total of an individual’s consciousness, life values, will-power, ‘sankalps’ (the determination to do something) and everyone’s power of ‘vivek’, ‘buddhi’, and the mind’s ability to discriminate. These are assembled by everyone in their mind and act as invisible determining factors of everyone’s behavior. Those who realize this truth will themselves refute the existence of ‘Atman’ (soul) in the body, as it is only an age old myth created by devotees and priests.

To change our life and our world we need not go anywhere but do whatever we do with a godly mindset, notwithstanding whether one is holding the highest post in the country or one is a small cobbler repairing shoes. As humans all of us are supposed ‘to do unto others, as we would like others do unto us’. This is the true meaning of a good human mindset.

Any contrary act is an example of an evil mindset. In this world of bhakti the devotees, instead of talking about changing this human mindset for the good of all, make false glorification of God as the end of life. They do not talk of raising the human infrastructure of ‘Real I’ to the level of human excellence.

A contemporary example is Swami Kriyananda, a great devotee who talks to us only from his world of fantasies. I believe most devotees (if not all) suffer from the age old ‘weak and low’ psychosis. I believe that we need to do good to be good and when I do good, I must think that I am doing it to make myself more peaceful and happier. When I perform an evil, I close all the gates and windows for happiness and peace to enter my life. The question of ego or arrogance does not arise.

Swami Kriyananda takes a flight of fancy in the following statement, A good singer- saint will never think that I have sung well, he would instead think, God sang through me, in an Enlightened View Of Life in the Speaking Tree of The Times Of India, dated 25 April 2013. I do not know for my sweet patrons whether this is an enlightened view of life or simply a view which attempts to glorify his God who is unknown and pushes us further in the marsh of ‘playanvad’ (escapism).

Our ‘dukhas’ (sufferings) will cease to exist neither if we simply go to the banks of the sacred Ganges and request Her to work out our salvation nor if we prostrate before our gods and goddesses in their respective earthly abodes. Transformation will happen only by changing our vicious consciousness, values of life, will-power, ‘sankalps’, power of ‘vivek’, ‘buddhi’ and ability of our mind to discriminate, which is our ‘Real I’. We need to get rid of this age old escapism as soon as possible.

If take it for granted that every person is divine and that God is in everybody, everything and everywhere directing all our activities like an emperor, then by which gate and window does evil enter our world and our mindsets? Where have these bloody and dark pages of human history come from? The question is: why walk with these divine, meaningless crutches and fantasize while moving in false divine elevators? Have they made us better human beings? I believe we can be better human beings only when we become men of godly mindsets by changing our bad ‘Real I’.

SWAMI KRIYANANDA fantasizes further, when he adds: While pondering the vast drama that is life, I see God directing the whole show…! May I humbly ask Swamiji that when a person like Osama Bin Laden tries to kill an innocent with his pistol, should he also assume that God has launched the pistol from his hands? What is the use of this mania of God that we have been suffering from? Has it not left us in a world of doldrums? Does it not offer a divine escape from taking responsibility for one’s actions?

Ask a parent of countless five year old daughters who were raped by human – wolves, whether God or human - wolves were directing these unfortunate and dreadful shows? Let Swamiji understand: ‘A wearer knows, where his shoe pinches’. Most devotees do nothing, except drag God in and out of human affairs according to their convenience. They lack reasoning, as most of them live in the cocoon of their world of blind bhakti.

These devotees believe on one hand that the individual’s ‘atman’, ‘jeevatman’ or soul and God are identical to each other and on the other they strangely uphold that ‘atman’ determines behaviour, regardless of whether one behaves like a wolf, Buddha or Vivekanand. What a contradictory and paradoxical approach!

I humbly believe that the moment they demolish the thick walls of blind faith and fanaticism erected in their minds, they are bound to realize that there is no such ghost like ‘atman’ residing in any of us. Our lives are instead governed by our consciousness, values of life, will-power, ‘sankalp’ and power of ‘vivek’, ‘buddhi’ and ability of the mind to discriminate, shortly everyone’s ‘Real I’. They are assembled by each one of us in our minds and they mould our mindset towards virtuosity or viciousness. In fact, these invisible determining factors of everyone’s behaviour are responsible for our virtuous or vicious behaviour and they need to be changed by each one of us so that we can change ourselves then our world.

So, the concept of ‘atman’ is merely an age old myth, created by the devotees.

Just as we believe in the ghost of ‘atman’ out of sheer ignorance, blind faith, fanaticism and superstition, we also believe in the ghost of God. We did not know in our primitive state of life about the