The Rise of Conscience

Religion is not about God, it is about the individual. It is not the surrender of the self to a higher power but the aspiration of the self to rise so high as to be worthy of that power. To be religious is misinterpreted as adhering strictly to doctrinaire prescriptions of scriptures or following rituals. This is a disservice to the meaning of the term and the source of all corruptions that lead man to proclaim his religion as superior to all others. This undermines the basis of religion, that is, to enlighten our minds and unlock the beauty of the soul: To strengthen the core of what makes us human.

The disenchantment with religion when manifested as rabid communalism and degrading socio-economic practices, led many to renounce it or to reform it. Some did so by substituting it with terms like spiritualism seen as less restrictive and more appreciative of the tenets of tolerance and universal humanism. Man lives in a material word. But is the spiritual and material incompatible? The quest for many who want a qualitatively better life is to find that perfect blend of the material and the spiritual.

But the concept of perfection is itself flawed. Man has his foibles but he also has the virtue to deal with and correct his mistakes. Religion is not about being perfect. It is man’s inner strength to reject a thought and action that he knows is wrong despite the promise of material rewards and be true to himself. The guidance does not come from outside but from within. This is our conscience.

The Struggle of the Self

Trade has no religion. But in our unceasing efforts to set new career goals and in trying to meet these, we get co-opted into the rat race, with and without our consent. The current financial crisis shocked people out of their complacence because it hit them hard economically. Talks of corporate ethics that were usually limited to a few seminars and living room conversation now took centre-stage. Man’s relentless drive for profit had sunk him. But observances on moderation, austerity and ethics had been imposed by fate or government, rather than being an acceptance that had come from within. There had been no moral auditing.

Otherwise, we would have asked the really tough questions. What growth are we talking about when we are among the critically malnourished countries with 230 million of our people going hungry everyday? What future are we looking towards when more than 43 % of our children under 5 are malnourished? What development are we so proud of that allows more than 42 % of our population to fall below the international poverty line of USD 1.25 earning per day? We are racked by conflicts based on caste, religion and class. Have we ever paused to seriously understand and address the causes of these conflicts that can one day destroy us?

We have become so used to our routine life and so focussed on our own problems that we fail to grasp the fact that we live in a country whose problems are our problems. We have become so inured to human suffering that when the downtrodden take to arms we are jerked awake and forced to acknowledge that there is something wrong with the system. Corruption is a slow poison that has infected our body politic. The laziest response to this would be to simply criticise the government and do nothing. The unconscionable would be to criticise the country and dismiss it as beyond help. We are responsible for our country.

A good economy can free the country from inequality and poverty. But profit without principle will corrupt the economy and turn it into a shackle that keeps the masses in subjugation while allowing a few to exploit them and flourish. The cohesiveness and stability of the society is threatened by the stark contrast in the lives of the rich and the poor. We remain wilfully ignorant, content in our self-obsessed stupor. Do we want violence to be the force that shakes us awake or do we want spiritualism to be the one to arouse our individual and collective conscience? The choice is ours.

Choosing Conscience

There are many things we do not like to acknowledge but we have to. This is what spiritualism or religion is all about. Facing your demons and triumphing over them. This applies as much to one’s private life as to the bigger issues facing the country. Why do we have Naxal violence? Why do so many of the poor reject certain land acquisition projects if it brings them development? It is sheer arrogance on our part when we blithely suggest that they do not know anything about what is good for them and are easily swayed by political parties. The peasants and labourers know more about the land they have worked in than we do. They may be illiterate but are not ignorant. Things in life are not easy and if you want them, you have to work hard and long to get them. That is what religion teaches us.

So businesses cannot expect to ride on the coattails of a government or rely on them to get a land deal. They have to make the effort to reach out to the people and explain to them how they can work together to usher in development. If the people are unconvinced then that does not speak well either for the proposed project or of the business group’s ability to get its message across. Don’t force anyone or you will be met by the force of their resistance.

We cannot do harm to others and then seek salvation by making donations to religious institutions or trying to buy forgiveness. Religion is incorruptible. It cannot be bought.

In the government, there are many corrupt politicians and officials who make it difficult for business to stick to a principled stand. But the resistance of the peasants can be emulated by the business. Their strength lies in their collective action. There are so many important chambers of commerce. Can’t one of them take the initiative of refusing to pander to corrupt government parties? If they cannot, then it reflects poorly on the strength and character of those so-called captains of industry propelling our economic growth. God knows where we are headed then!

But if we choose conscience, it is in our hands to change the path and take the country to a place that we are happy and proud to be in.

Thomas Hobbes called man “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short”. But even in his pessimism, he still thought them capable enough to choose to relinquish their individual powers and give it to a higher authority so that their survival is assured. We need to take a stand for our own survival-moral and physical.

We talk of India on its way to becoming a super power. This talk about power makes no sense. Nations were blinders when it comes to winning the race for power defined as selfish national interest and sacrifice their souls in the process. Let us instead talk about India being a country that is less poor, less unequal and less corrupt. This is a goal worth achieving.

We are a multi-religious society and that is our strength. All religions provide us with character enhancing traits. We will benefit from integrating these into a common belief system that makes us more humane, more accepting of difference and more sensitive to the plight of others not as fortunate as us.

We are not solitary, but God or whatever one might call that compassionate force, dwells in us. We are not poor but enriched by our communion with God. We are not nasty, brutish or short because we are human beings and to be human is to reject all those feelings that make one a beast.

The rise of the conscience does not need a specific time. It is within our capacity to allow this to happen. Religion, spiritualism, morality, faith, truth, belief-are just words. We give them power. In return, these empower us.

(Article published in Business Economics' January 1, 2010 Special Issue on "World Confluence of Humanity, Power and Spirituality")