It's not the AK 47 that kills, but, the polluted mind

Foster Human Values lead a peaceful life: Observed speakers at a Seminar on Degradation of Human Values-Is there a future?

Hyderabad, January 21.....: Over the years human values have been eroding. Now reaching a point of no return, decried many speakers who are considered to be epitomes of human values while speaking at a Seminar "Degradation of Human Values. Is there a future? here at Vivekananda Auditorium in Gandhi Medical College on Sunday. The meeting lasted till late night was addressed to the jam packed audience by the former Chief Justice of India, Justice M.N. Venkatachalaiah who was the Chief Guest. Many distinguished personalities who will speak on the subject include Dr. T.N. Chaturvedi, Former Governor of Karnataka; Justice J. Chelameswar, Chief Justice, Guwahati High Court; Dr. V.R. Panchmukhi, Former Chairman, Indian Council for Cultural and Social Relations and Chancellor of Tirupati Sanskrit University; Dr. H. Satpathy, VC of Tirupati Sanskrit University and Dr. Ashoke Kumar Chatterjee, founder of Founder of YSSM and World Kriya Yoga Master

Speaking on th subject Justice M.N. Venkatachalaiah said Love, Truth, Integrity are three essential qualities to have bearing on good human values. But, offlate the same are gradually eroding from the human beings. This is resulting in hatred. People must look at spirituality to address this issue as it deals with inner man which is essential quality in everybody to deal with external world he said. Science and Technology must be used to promote human welfare, but, unfortunately it is being used for the destruction of the mankind, which is not good for the world. he lamented.

Dr. T.N. Chaturvedi, Former Governor of Karnataka advocated to do on to others what you want others to do to you. And observed that every profession must have ethics to be followed. Spirituality can help in creating that climate in man in society. While we in India are progressing at much faster pace and at the same pace we are loosing our values. The time has come to address this issue seriously he stated

Speaking on the occasion Justice J. Chelameswar, Chief Justice of Guwahati High Court said corruption is the main cause of concern for eroding human values. We only talk about corruption in others. We don't deal about our own corruption. We have become so immune today to these social evils that we don't even disapprove it. Which is very unfortunate. But, few instances here and there still give me a feeling that values are still intact in some people and narrated an example how people in Mumbai helped each other when the city was inundated with torrential rains of 100cms. Around the same time when there was a tycoon in USA, people there involved in arson and looting. This gives me a ray of hope that our values are not sunk so badly as we are made to believe today.

Dr. V.R. Panchamukhi, Former Chairman ICSSR listed out the cherished values which according to him are said to have been degraded over a period of time. These include 01. Value for heritage(we are no longer proud of ancient heritage), 2. Value of Contentment(human beings are not content with what they have and are very unhappy about what they don't have), 3. Value of Cooperation is no longer seen. It is always competing with each other. As a result one has to struggle for his or her existence. 4. Value of Caring and Compassion is no longer seen otherwise there wouldn't have been Homes for the Aged, 5. No body is duty bound. We want to achieve everything without working for it. We want promotion without performance, students want ranks without study, 6.Success is seen in managing others and not their own self. As a result tend to sow a seed for corruption, 7. No Trust and Faith in anybody, 8. Collapse of good Leadership like Mahatma Gandhi. And stated that values did degrade in ancient times. But, there were always useful scriptures, efficient gurus and rishis to guide and offer direction. Now spirituality is only the ray of hope for restoring lost human values. These can give good reference points, fine examples for you to emulate.

Dr. H. Satpathy, Vice Chancellor of Tirupati Sanskrit University raised many pertinent points related to theme. Values must remain firm Truth is always truth. We can't change Truth from time to time and society to society. The main reason for eroding values from the mankind is change in attitude, polluted mind. In olden days Rishis paid for purification of mind. We hardly care to think about it now. Our minds today are more preoccupied about the thought of luxirious living. Polluted mind is the most dangerous. It's not the AK 47 gun that kills anybody, but, the polluted mind with greed and self centered thoughts. Another main reason he saw for eroding human values was intrusive growth i.e dis-harmonious growth of body, mind and soul. And he went on add uncontrollable life-styles, imbalance food habits, acute tensions where non issues are made issues and hatred is being nurtured are some of the reasons he sited for the cause of degradation of human values.

Seeing god in all and all in god is the only way to restore the values that diminished. Science and Spirituality go hand in hand. Because, Science without Spirituality is like a flower without fragrance. So Science and Spirituality both are required.

Adding further he stated that greed of mind kind is the root cause of all problems. Earth has sufficient for the need of mankind and not for the greed, quoting Mahatma Gandhi he said Corruption is a result of luxurious living which again is the outcome of influence of western culture. If this is how the state of affairs are, Is there a future? He said answer lies in that question itself. If you jumble up "Is there a future?" you will find "There is a future". There is a Future because our country is endowd with rich culture, tradition, ancient wisdom, dharma, sanskriti, siksha and darshan.

As a solution to this acute problem which is deep rooted in society he suggested to lay a strong foundation for education system to cultivate good human values including a subject or a paper on Human Values in school level, he mooted.

Dr. Ashoke Kumar Chatterjee who has the distinction of being the only Hindu religious representative to have been invited by UNO, UNESCO, UNCHR and Dalai Lama to address World Religious Congress in France in 1997 said as we water the tree or plan at roots and not to the trunk or leaves, so the we need to address the issue at grass root level to restore human values in the society. "Incorporation of human values into all aspects of life will ultimately lead to a more peaceful, just and sustainable world", Dr. Chatterjee declared.

Over 1000 people were present in the auditorium to listen to the speakers with utmost attention.

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