Student: My friends from US and UK laugh and ask, "What authority do you (Indians) have; to preach NAMASMARAN; when majority of you; are drowned in abysmal poverty, ignorance, irresponsibility, corruption and so many such evils?" We are treated as hypocrites. Are we hypocrites?

Teacher: Their argument is broadly; not absolutely; correct! Admit to them that; "Like the rest of the world (plagued by sectarian, individualistic, petty, exploitative and such many sick trends); we (Indians) are also ailing, though with somewhat different infections, signs and symptoms. As a result; most of the people of the world including Indians; are either opposed to NAMASMARAN and thereby pamper their petty ego; or practice it in pursuit of personal gains veiled in semantics of liberation, salvation MOKSHA etc! Most of us therefore fail to appreciate the pivotal role of NAMASMARAN and thus manifest its impact in individual and global blossoming! But today; it is high time that we heal ourselves with this panacea – NAMASMARAN; for individual and universal welfare! With regard to being hypocrites, we should find out the root of this phenomenon of hypocrisy!
But most of us; whether Indians or foreigners; are hypocrites. This is a stage during our overall development.

Student: What you say; appears to be true!

Teacher: Actually we all are hypocrites; because we do not understand ourselves, we do not understand others, we do not understand whether others understand themselves and whether others understand us or not! In fact we do not understand whether we understand any of this; or not!
Let us understand that actually; it is impossible to “know” ourselves and others’ selves; as the “selves” are beyond “understanding”. They are beyond intellectual comprehension. They are not a tangible and a concrete entity. Further; we ourselves, their selves, our perceptions and their perceptions; all are changing. They are not static or constant!
Thus our hypocrisy is due to our ignorance; and in fact about our ignorance of our ignorance!
When we are trapped in the dilemma of what we expect from ourselves; and what we actually feel and do; we get stressed. We try to overcome such stress by “assuming to be”; “what we think we should be”; rather than accepting what we are (which is very difficult); or “actually being what we think we should be” (which is even more difficult)! This is hypocrisy!
Similarly when we get “sheared” between; what we want others to think or believe us to be; and what we believe; the others think us to be! We get stressed by this pull! We try to manage such stress by hiding things, which we think people would not approve; and show, exhibit and advertise things, which we think people would approve, appreciate and admire! This is also hypocrisy!
Often we condemn others for being hypocrites. But this is merely an outburst of our internal disturbance; a kind of emotional incontinence. This is caused by erroneous perception resulting from; our subjectivity and prejudices, through which the information we get; is filtered. This leads to our inference and deductions! We allege the others to be hypocrites; because of this reason. In short; such judgment is due to our own prejudices or actually hypocrisy!
But as and when we are trapped in hypocrisy (i.e. not being ourselves); we are not at ease. We are uncomfortable! This is a subtle aspect of stress!
Student: In what way; do you think NAMASMARAN can work here?
Teacher: If we practice NAMASMARAN, then over a period of time; we begin to become aware of our ignorance on one hand; and aware of our link with the infinite reality; the Self; on the other. We begin to realize that all our instincts, feelings and thoughts i.e. our knowledge; how much ever perfect it may appear; is at best a relative truth; miles away from factual reality and even further away from the absolute truth!
Through NAMASMARAN, we begin to concede to ourselves; that we behave and communicate only on superficial levels of consciousness. We become aware of the fact; that we are unaware of our deeper subconscious and unconscious; metabolic, endocrine, reproductive, autonomic, limbic and central nervous system activities; and our “true self”, which is even further deep within!
Through NAMASMARAN we begin to experience; that being cut off from the ambrosia in the depth of our heart; we live in the superficial mediocrity and indulge in baseless blame games; based on superficial impressions about ourselves and others! This is how we begin to get freed from our own superficiality and mediocrity; and get passionately driven towards our own interior!
Gradually we begin to live with greater fidelity to our innate core, the true self i.e. our Guru; and understand the essence of the aphorism; “NAMA is the only truth”!
This is the first step towards freedom from hypocrisy!