Needed : Spiritual Revolution
- Sangai Express Editorial :: December 15, 2008 -

A revolution, a forcefully meaningful change, either by use of violent means or through the battle of the ballot is synonymous with the great human civilisation.

Just to cite some examples, the French Revolution, the American War of Independence, the Bolshevik Revolution, the Opium War etc are today considered as landmark revolutionary movements which changed the face of the earth as well as the system of Government or governance.

More recently we have had the Civil Rights Movement in the USA, spearheaded by the late Martin Luther King Jr, which essentially paved the way for Barack Obama to the White House.

In short, revolutions are all about meaningful changes which have a strong social, political and economic message.

In Manipur too, a revolution is continuing, waged by some groups truly committed to their cause, never mind whether one agrees with them or not, and sundry others who have managed or dared to pile on the nobleness of revolution to carry forward their own personal agenda, either for money or for political clout.

In such a situation, the question therefore arises, where do the common people, the Tomba, Hongba and Chaoba stand ?

In such a milieu where revolutionaries are made to stand shoulder to shoulder with pseudo revolutionaries who are nothing more than a bunch of goons out to loot the public and paralyse society where do everyone stand ?

The symptoms of this situation can be easily gauged from youth unrest, political oppor-tunism, the mad rush for material gains, the corruption in Government Departments, that have become synonymous with the great Manipuri society.

There cannot be any easy panacea for the myriads of ills that afflict our society today. Apart from what we have just mentioned, Manipur today has to deal with cases of drug abuse, alcoholism, domestic violence, violence against women, rapes etc.

There can be many prescriptions for the ills afflicting our society today and one of them is definitely Spiritual Revolution. The question that beggars an answer is then how do we attain Spiritual Revolution ?

The answer may seem simple to some while to others it may seem difficult. Religion is one outlet through which many people have been able to come spiritually alive, whether it is Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism or following the faith laid down by Allah, Mahavir or Guru Nanak.

However the catch here is that religion is not all encompassing in the sense that what one religion teaches to achieve spiritual greatness may not agree with one's own faith and belief.

In the backdrop of such a reality, the answer then lies in some scientific works which are not associated with any religious affiliations and this is where certain practices become relevant such as Yoga or the Art of Living.

Fortunately for the people of Manipur, the Vihangam Yoga Sansthan (North East Chapter), has already held two workshops and plans to do more.

The prescription for Manipur right now is definitely understanding the Complete Science of Spirituality to work towards a Spiritual Revolution.

Any takers ?