In the wake of the events that streamed live across our nation in the past week, much light has been thrown on the direction we must turn to solving many of our problems. The display of vulgarity and carnal debasement of the human spirit photographed essentially, the increasingly alarming state of our moral and spiritual indigence.
Only recently most revealing statistics were released on the high percent of teenage pregnancies with which we as a nation are straddled. Also, we have read of a young girl arrested for nudity and lewd behavior in public. We have seen the depravity everywhere. The soul of our nation is sick.
Continence is sadly lacking all around us. Promiscuity is infiltrating every sector of our society, spreading its ugly tentacles from the pre-school, to our living rooms, to the highest echelons of intellectual and even spiritual uplift. Television advertisements provide barely any instructional material for the young learner. What they do serve, however, is a snapshot of the sick society in which we reside. Lascivious behavior is destroying the little left of the moral fibre of our society. Look around. If a man just looks at a woman it is with some dishonorable intention. AIDS is decimating our world. Dare I say, even among those who are responsible for the delivery of the spiritual curriculum, as it were, some are themselves indulging in the profane. Even our young children are influenced by the base actions of their parents and others who are charged with the responsibility of their all-round evolution. With so much social media and other exposure of the digital world , how can parents debar the little curious minds from particular activities and shows, classifying them as adult entertainment?
Now that sobriety has returned to our land, hopefully, reality would set in and our eyes would be open to the cause of the breakdown in many of our institutions today. Hopefully we would be able to point to the source of indiscipline and resultant criminal behavior. Hopefully, we may be able to pull away our nation from the hands of the irreverent and turn it over to wholesome normalcy once again.
In so doing many questions may be asked. Is there a deficiency somewhere? Is there some lack in an individual’s life that will direct him towards engagement in debauchery? No way can we as a people elevate spiritually without self-restraint and discipline. No amount of seemingly religious actions at our place of worship can transform us if, after leaving its hallowed halls, we seek satisfaction in elements of depravity. Scriptures of all religious persuasions inform that man’s spirituality will be unfolded only when sexual energies are controlled. The practice of continence, one of the many forms of self-restraint is key to healing and re-building our lives and society. It is the point at which we need to start in attending to the many ills that are hurting our nation.
What better time than now is it to drop a hint to the women folk of this nation of ours. As we observe International Women’s Day, it may be instructive to reflect on the critical role you play in the development of the lives of our children. You are the game-changers of the home, the school, the place of worship, the workplace, everywhere. The power you wield is tremendous. The influence you have over every unit of society is thunderous. It is said that whosoever rocks the cradle rules the world. Another scriptural quote states that where the women of a society are corrupt, that country is doomed. You, our mothers, sisters and daughters have great power to bring the change that is needed in our nation at this time. Maybe now is the best time to reflect on the recent past, on the statistics coming out of our institutions and consider the policies you can and must implement in creating a disciplined society. Take charge. If not, we will continue to struggle with various plans to bring national redress.
Paramacharya Pt. Hardeo Persad
Spiritual Head
SWAHA
