Dr.

Swamys Agenda for Indias youth

Unshackling ourselves by nding our roots

Originally published at: http://organiser.org/Encyc/2013/4/6/427338.aspx

Our shackles

1 An identity that doesnt stick

...feel the diversity more, unity less
Language Varna indian Region Jati

H O

AM

I?

2 Passivity in the face of evil

Virtues of courage, sacrice and tenacity at an all-time low due to continuous spiritual depletion over a millennium of foreign rule

Courage, Sacrifice, Tenacity

Time

Unbridled materialism
Un rig pu ht rsu eou its s
us o te its h g Ri ursu p

Descend into a morally corrupt society

Reap the demographic dividend

English as lingua franca

English as language of commerce, government, judiciary, business, politics, and public affairs

English as the national idiom of communication

cultural bias
ENGLISH (and by extension Western culture) > Indian languages (and by extension Indian culture)

Our roots

Hindutva: less religion...

...more wisdom.
the virtue that we need most of all is the virtue of practical wisdom. Practical wisdom is the moral will to do the right thing and the moral skill to do the right thing. - Aristotle

Why is wisdom important?

What we need, in order to live well, is a proper appreciation of the way in which such goods as friendship, pleasure, virtue, honor and wealth fit together as a whole. In order to apply that general understanding to particular cases, we must acquire, through proper upbringing and habits, the ability to see, on each occasion, which course of action is best supported by reasons. Therefore practical wisdom cannot be acquired solely by learning general rules. We must also acquire, through practice, those deliberative, emotional, and social skills that enable us to put our general understanding of well-being into practice in ways that are suitable to each occasion. - Barry schwartz

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Wisdom is hard-earned
100s of rishis over 1000s of years...
) s d a h s i an n a ( s a d e V p U d

Based on a series of inquiries into the nature of the universe, life, humans etc.

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Wisdom for the masses

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Wisdom in action...
aka CIVILIZATION

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Flourishing civilizations...
...built on the foundations of practical wisdom

WISDOM

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Reality of civilizations

WISDOM
Reinventions are a practical necessity, as external conditions change

WISDOM
The endurance of a civilization is reective of the quality of the underlying wisdom

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Reinventions of Hindu civilization

6th century BCE

(~5000 years since founding)

8th century CE
(~1500 years later)

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Hindu civilization today...

Ravaged by a millennium of foreign invasions, BADLY in need of reinvention

WISDOM

Foundations are intact, serving the spiritual needs of ~3bn people!

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Adopt Western Civilization?

Vs.
5000+ years of proven wisdom encoded in our genes and ingrained in our culture... Still evolving civilization, based on foundational elements alien to us

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Unshackling ourselves

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1 Re-establish Indian Identity

Based on timeless ideals of the Hindu philosophical tradition
Language Varna Region Jati

ekam Sat, Janani Janmabhmisca Svargdapi garyasi

Indian

ahimsa paramo dharmah, satyameva jayate

swadharme nidhano sreyah, dharmo rakshati rakshitah matru devo bhavah, pitru devo bhavah yatra naaryastu puujyante ramante tatra devataaH acarya devo bhavah, athithi devo bhavah

H O

AM

I?

By denition, allows for true secularism

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Spiritual Awakening

Renewal of essential virtues: Courage, sacrice and tenacity,

induced by a sense of one-ness, inspired by our glorious heritage

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3 Reap the Demographic Dividend

Get these right
Quality education Basic infrastructure Lower corruption levels
Inux of iIlegal Bangladeshi immigrants + growing muslim population = retrograde practices retarding economic growth

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Re-establish Sanskrit as link language

Sanskrit is more perfect than Greek, more copious than Latin, and more exquisitely rened than either
- William Jones

1. Historically, the link language of the greater Indian sub-continent. 2. Native to India and the common thread across our entire civilizational trajectory. 3. Repository of the best, highest, and noblest aspirations of Indian culture. 4. Non-regional. No province or state or people can claim it as its own. 5. Mother of most Indian tongues. Even the most ancient, such as Tamil, have ~40% of words in common.
http://ifih.org/TheCaseforSanskritasIndiasNationalLanguage.htm

Sanskritised Hindi Laying stress on the unity of India through Sanskrit, even if it were through the intermediacy of Hindi.

Fitting representative for all the modern languages of

India

Most suitable national speech for a resurgent India. Can be easily understood in all non-Hindi-speaking
areas.

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