The Consciousness of India
What exactly is the consciousness of India? This consciousness stems from our culture, known as Sanatana Dharma or the Ancient Way of Righteousness. The most significant aspect of this culture is the deeply rooted belief in a Supreme Being that permeates everything. Every creature and aspect of creation is nothing but an expression of that Supreme energy, manifesting in various forms. Nature, God, and humans are all interconnected and exist in a state of ecstatic union, forming the foundation of human life and all life in general. Consequently, there was no inherent conflict between science and religion in India, as there was in the West. Indian sages, or rishis, were highly advanced spiritual scientists who recognized this interconnectedness of God, Nature, and humans.
In the West, however, the church held sway over people's minds, stifling scientific progress whenever it challenged church doctrine. Consequently, scientific advancement in the West was slow. Europe endured a prolonged period of darkness when all forms of creative thought were suppressed.
It was only in the 19th and 20th centuries that the West "discovered" many things, but this had little impact on the core Indian psyche. We continued to live and breathe the air of our ancient traditions, where the concept of "time" extended far beyond the mere 2000 years calculated by the West. Our worldview encompassed eternity and infinite space, rendering the rush and hurry of the West meaningless to us. The essence of Hindu culture cannot be understood solely by studying its physical attributes; it can only be comprehended by delving deep into its psyche.
Of course, Westerners made significant efforts to penetrate our psyche and convince us that their civilization was superior to ours. They did manage to convince some individuals on the surface that they had shed the constraints of Hindu consciousness and fully assimilated into Western modernity. The English-speaking, Western-emulating elite of India deceived themselves into believing that they had abandoned their Indian heritage and completely embraced the Western psyche. However, upon scratching the surface, one would find that, at some level, they still hold onto their Indian consciousness or chitta. They may have adopted external forms of dress, habits, and even absorbed some attitudes and attributes, but fundamentally their consciousness remains Indian. It is probable that only around fifty thousand Indians have completely abandoned their Indianness, but this is insignificant in a country with a population of over a billion. Many of these individuals have left the nation, never to return except for largely touristic reasons. Even then, they only perceive the country they were born in as dirty, crowded, and corrupt. Their departure is not a great loss to the country.
The heart of India is rooted in the Vedas, the Puranas, and the ages of Rama, Sita, Krishna, and the Pandavas. These spiritual giants and their ideas have left an indelible imprint on the Indian psyche, which neither time nor foreign conquests have been able to erase completely. Even today, television shows on the Mahabharata and the Ramayana garner more viewers than other serials. This is because the Indian psyche has been soaked in the ideas that stem from ancient traditions, some of which date back to the time of the Vedas. Thus, we can confidently state that the majority of the Indian population still lives in the Puranic age, a time when gods walked the earth and celestial beings freely interacted with humans.
The 21st century represents an epoch of Europe and America that has very little to do with India. Many of the discoveries made in Europe in the 20th and 21st centuries were already known to Indians long before. As early as the 17th and 18th centuries, we were practicing advanced agricultural techniques, producing excellent steel, and creating rust-proof iron, the secrets of which are still to be discovered by modern science. Indian medicine had already developed methods for smallpox inoculation, plastic surgery, and the establishment of hospitals with both in-patient and out-patient departments. Surgical instruments were highly sophisticated. India possessed a highly evolved system of village, state, and political organization. Indian sculpture, music, dance, and painting were all highly refined. India had unique architectural knowledge that took into account the land's topography and the appropriate use of materials according to Vaastu (the Vedic method of design and construction). Additionally, construction practices revered the earth and involved careful consideration, even down to the type of stone to be used for specific buildings such as homes, public meeting places, rest houses, and, of course, temples.
Temple architecture in India was highly scientific. Temples were strategically placed at specific points where the earth's meridians intersected, allowing the idol placed at the precise center to emit the highest vibrations that would benefit all visitors to the temple.
Due to the inherent veneration of nature and all its elements in the Indian consciousness, India has consistently been at the forefront of humane thinking. It was the only country where more than half the population abstained from meat-eating based on non-violent and spiritual principles, rather than for health reasons as seen in the current Western trend. India, fundamentally, was a non-violent nation that never invaded other countries and provided refuge to those persecuted by other nations. All we asked was to be left alone to pursue our own research and way of life. Unfortunately, this was not the case.
The waves of invasions that occurred from the 16th century onwards stifled the nation's creative instincts. India became a country at war, facing a continuous series of foreign invasions. This environment was detrimental to the development of creative thought. However, the cultural roots of this land are so deep that foreign influences could only scratch the surface and never eradicate the Hindu consciousness that has always persisted in India.
Regrettably, one area where foreign thought has made a significant impact is education. Education plays a crucial role in shaping a country, yet it has been largely entrusted to a few individuals deeply rooted in Western culture and heavily influenced by Western educational methods. They have discarded the ancient educational practices that existed in India since time immemorial. Ancient Indian education aimed to cultivate a society of fulfilled and content individuals, not merely wealthy ones. The emphasis placed by our ancestors on good conduct (sheela) and intellectual development (prajna) was paramount in education. This, in turn, would lead to the attainment of the ultimate goal of human life: the union of the individual with the Supreme, the union of the atman with the Brahman. Judging by this standard, it is evident that very few individuals in modern society can truly be called educated.
Hari Aum Tat Sat!