Part 3 of a live interview with Paramacharya Pt. Hardeo Persad on April 2, 2020 on 90.5 FM. Paramacharya talks about the ego, love and family.
- You’ve said that when we try to enlighten ourselves spiritually, we have to learn to let go of the ego. This virus is also showing us that we are all equal, from the man on the street to royalty, all people are affected by the virus.
- We say that death is a respecter of none. Illness is a respecter of none. Once we have a human body, we are susceptible to illness. Death is a leveller. From the poor man to the king, we all have to go to the cremation site at some point. This is why man’s attitude should change in life. It’s similar to when we’re driving and we reach a speed bump and have to slow down. It helps us to slow down and take care of ourselves.
Nature also prepares us. There are certain signs in the universe that tell us to be careful. The Bhagavat Mahaa Puraan tells us that whenever there is a total eclipse of the sun, wherever it is observed, that place could face mass destruction. That happened in the time of the Mahabharat. It has happened throughout the world. Things do not happen by chance; nature prepares us. Man is the greatest transmitting as well as receiving set, but we have become so dulled that we do not pick up the signs that nature is sending to us and we suffer the consequences. I am saying to all that spirituality is a good direction to turn to increase your energy levels, to become more perceptive. You can pre-empt negative events by being positive.
- Our country is fortunate that we haven’t experienced the high death tolls as other countries. We can comfort ourselves through prayer, but is there anything else we can do to gain comfort in this situation?
- Most of us run after the material things of the world, gaining possessions. This allows us to reshape our philosophy. Some time ago, I created a verse: “In this ocean of mundane existence, life is like a bubble. It sails along, sometimes sinks, and finds itself in trouble.” The bubble can burst at any moment. We need to treasure every moment that we have with each other. We do not know what it will bring. Tomorrow never comes and life is too short. There is too much hate and animosity. Show that love. Let us forgive each other. Do not carry around such negative baggage. When times like these occur and we cannot see each other anymore, only memories remain. Pacify situations, let love prevail. Nobody knows what will happen to us at any time. Love is what binds us together. It is our essential nature. Love has been replaced by self-centredness, love for one’s self only.
In Hinduism, we are taught dispassion and letting go of things and people. We are then better able to handle situations. We can only progress spiritually if we develop dispassion, symbolised by Lord Shiva. Shri Raam represents spiritual perfection. In the Ramayan, it is said, you can only develop devotion to Shree Raam if you develop devotion to Shivaji. This means that unless you have spiritual dispassion, you cannot attain to that state of spiritual perfection. Otherwise, we will continue to experience the dualities of this world: pain, pleasure; success, failure; union, separation, etc. It is painful from a human perspective but perhaps this is one of the lessons we have to learn as humans.
- One of the lessons that can be learned is, we are being forced to stay at home so we have more time to spend with our family and reconnect with them. So many parents don’t get the opportunity to spend quality time with their children because they are working, there is traffic on the way home and errands to run. Now is the time to talk to their children, read with them, play games with them. People now have the time to keep in touch with family and friends. This is one positive outcome of the corona virus.
- Family is the basic unit in society. When family degenerates, society disintegrates. We need to use this period of time to strengthen the family unit. Every cloud has a silver lining; the virus is directing us back to family life so that block by block, we can build back the society. If we see these situations with the right perspective, we will emerge from them much better people.
- Hopefully that depends on how we are using the time, not just letting them play on electronic devices. We should use the time wisely to reconnect with our children at a deeper level and take advantage of the chance we have been given.
- If people don’t use the opportunity to learn the lessons that nature is trying to teach us, we will be subjected to such events again.
- In your opinion, how long do you think this virus will go on?
- I think we have quite a few more months. The spin-off from the virus might take years to get over. The human being is very resilient and we are a resilient people. There is nothing we can do about the past and the future is determined by the present. The present is what counts. When this situation is over, we must look at the present and make the best use of our circumstances and go forward in life. If we live in the past, we die in the past. Let’s live in the present, be proactive and positive. Each if us is unique and special. The human being is the highest form of creation. We must realise the dormant powers that lie within us. If we do so, there is nothing that man cannot achieve. We must believe in ourselves.
- There are several articles that say the environment is benefiting from this situation. All the emissions have reduced considerably with less industrial work and not as many vehicles on the road. In some parts of the world, the environment is benefiting.
- From a scriptural perspective, we say this is Kali Yuga, and some people predict the world is coming to an end. However, Kali Yuga started about 5,000 years ago and lasts for 432,000 years. So we have only just started this age; total destruction is not yet here. We are going to get over this. Man will continue on the spiritual journey.
