Simple living, high thinking

Rapine, avarice, expense, This is idolatry; and these we adore; Plain living and high thinking are no more. Life devoid of enough sleep, laughter, happiness and extreme satisfaction is something which each one of us is leading. In today’s world finding time for yourself is a thing of the past. People are having luxuries unlimited that come in latest modern gadgets like cell phones, laptops, plasma TVs, comfortable household gadgets, modern luxuries apartments, club memberships etc. Anything new in the market is bound to be with the consumer. Inspired of all these facilities, the common man has no time to devour these luxuries which he spends with his hard earned money. The trauma does not end here. He also takes perks like hospital expenditure with the fat income he earns. The amount of miseries he faces stand nowhere in front of the salary he acquires. And he is lacking simple living and high thinking. Human mind thinks intermittently and it cannot be idle. Thoughts flow in it incessantly. Thinking is a process. Both good thoughts or positive thoughts and bad thoughts or negative thoughts come to our mind. Allow noble thoughts or good thoughts occupy our mind, which give scope for high thinking.The names of Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda, Mother Teresa, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Madame Currie, Carlos Marx, Lenin and Mao Tse Tung and numerous others flash in our mind as soon as we think of this ideal simple living and high thinking. Social workers are the other people who come under the garb of simple living and high thinking. Here also most of them lead artificial life. Though they are supposed to think and work for the welfare of society without any remuneration selflessly, a few among them follow the suit Majority of politicians wear simple attire just to give an impression to the general public that they are leading a simple life. They mingle with poor people too until they grow up in stature. Politicians deliver speeches in which they always mention about development of country, eradication of poverty, welfare schemes etc. They pose themselves as persons who work day and night for the uplift of downtrodden. Once Mahatma Gandhi visited his Kausani ashram where he wrote the Anashakta Yoga. I realised he had been moved by the mighty Himalayas and had become an inspiration for us, in his courage, his steadfast love for entire humanity and his apparent obtuseness which sometimes exasperated both Nehru and Patel. But greatness and courage consists in admitting one’s mistakes and he had said, ‘I would not have freedom which does not permit me to make mistakes’. He knew that the rich should live a little less luxuriously so that the poor can just live. He emphasised that the world had enough for everybody’s need but not for everybody’s greed.When we see escalating violence all around, true non-violence as Gandhiji understood it and advocated is more than ever a crying need. Human beings are superior because we can think far better than other beings. We should make use of this faculty to probe further into the real purpose of our existence and what we need to do to reach our goals. In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don’t try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present