NAMA, NAMASMARAN AND TOTAL STRESS MANAGEMENT (PART 6): DR. SHRINIWAS JANARDAN KASHALIKAR

Student: How would you categorize your writing?
Teacher: I cannot categorize it. It did not belong to any specific category. But being eclectic it had elements from all. I thought it represented the aspirations of all the philosophies and traditions I came across. But all that writing was still a groping in the dark! The views were honest but not fully inclusive. Still they were piecemeal solutions. Probably; they were aimed at being holistic i.e. universal; but still were not holistic and hence could not heal the root causes. Naturally; there was no fulfillment inside and there was no tangible result outside!
Student: But while doing all this; weren’t there any hindrances, disputes, conflicts? Didn’t your career and your personal ambitions come in the way? What about the response of the family members?
Teacher: There were hindrances. But even though we were not fully aware; everybody around had similar aspirations in as much as limitations. Hence even though there were disputes, conflicts and also difficulties; in family and personal life, they were not inimical and vicious. They were not ill intended. They were not petty. They never revolved around money and property. Probably because of this reason there was no; out and out malice. The deeper warm bonds were not severed. Therefore the tensions in different relationships; triggered a further and more intense search for a holistic solution; and the difficulties in this search triggered even keener study and exploration, which concurred with and in fact complemented and boosted my professional competence; as a teacher.
Student: But how could one bring about socio-political changes, in absence of active participation in politics or social movements? Moreover how could one get a promotion in job; in absence of any value for your work? How could one improve one’s financial status, without following the demands of the job and market? In such a situation; you must have been deeply unsatisfied, suffered and gone through a lot of turmoil!
Teacher: That is true. I was in turmoil. Neither personal success, nor the social goals; were being realized. It created self doubts, self abnegation, and self pity and so on. I had nothing to hold on to!
But in spite of all this; there was much more than a silver lining! I always had enormous and intense; though far from complete; fulfillment in terms of being in tune with the inner voice of my conscience! This inner prompting; even as it was quite indistinct; it gave me assurance that I was on right track! Hence in spite of turmoil; I was not fully convinced by; and involved in; any of the sociopolitical movements going on; and I was not totally enamored and trapped in the pursuits for individualistic success.