Gandhi

Assassins

The ex-prime minister of India ... Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984 ... by her Sikh bodyguards in apparent retaliation for the military action on the Golden Temple in Amritsar ... considered the holiest shrine of the Sikhs. It was a revenge killing ... for what was considered a desecration of the divinity experience of the Sikhs. It shocked the world ... especially so because ... she had continued to trust her security ... in the hands of Sikh soldiers in the Indian army.

Its testament to the way we separate ... the right and true of something ... from the vicarious storms of the passions.  However the passions in the experience of faith ... are sometimes suddenly blind ... to duty and to the trust bestowed on it. Its an illustration of how we stray ... from the reliance on reason ... and succumb to the fury of the passions ... that cast everything aside ... to persuade the mind on the efficacy of its actions. Vengeance … supported by a mind that is intelligent … is the worst kind of rot.

In Italy … Sicily … and then the US … there appears to be a tradition of willfulness … that is supported by … an attitude of taking back … what they all took from you. Its undertaken with a certain flourish … a lifestyle … that is showcased as clever … wiseguys is what its called … and in the grand American style … of mixing jelly with peanut butter … its presented as savvy and cool. Its what rules the subterranean regions of our societies … and it takes place everywhere.

Alexander Dumas chronicled the episode in the life of a young and impressionable man … who lived his life with a simple trust of the next man … and was taken for a ride. Dumb! … is what we call it these days. It was the story of the Count of Monte Cristo. Incarcerated for a crime … that he was framed for … he escapes from confinement … by pretending to be dead. Thereafter he organizes his life … to coincide with his plans for vengeance … ensuring that his victim was still smiling … when he bought the cosh on the head.

No doubt an incredible display of intelligence … coupled with a deep seated passion appeals to people. But if that's all there is to it … we may want to substitute for the vengeance … with a settlement … and to transcend it … to the place of creation … where we encounter the reason for such incidences in our lives. Its not a higher truth … certainly not so high that we can't get to it. Its a little more to learn in the way we are organized as social units … and the sharing we undertake … in respect to each others needs.

In the screen presentation of … Dr. Strangelove … the man seeks to destroy the entire world with himself in it. Not worth living anymore … is what that says. But the anatomy of such regrets and its rage for vengeance has a source in our being … and can in time be understood. The God Osiris in Egypt … was transformed into divinity … with the sagacious help of his sister/wife Isis. In emerging into a new light of hope and life … he was however encumbered by his relations and friends he knew before … who were constantly reminding him of his natural born naivety.

No doubt such a man ought to go off into the wilderness for some years … to break down his ties completely … before returning and re-adapting to society. At the risk of boredom … our traditions bring this issue to our attention … in countless ways. Jesus … Rama … Merlin … Siva … and the rest … set admirable accounts of the experience. In the legend of Ulysses … he returns in disguise … and waits … and watches … as the many suitors in his past experience … attempt to seduce the virtuous Penelope … his heart's companion in life.

In recent times … the philosopher Hegel … divorced his first wife … and re-married a colleague at the university … who seemed so entirely suited to his new outlook and purpose. Everybody it seemed said they were a match for each other. But the day street riots broke out in Bremen … it caught Hegel completely off-guard … and cast a doubt on his fair world … causing him to fall ill and bed-ridden for years … before he managed to recover.

A new life's impulse … is not unlike the light of the impulses in our youth … that we thought received poor treatment in the world. But in our recovery … we return to the world we know … sometimes with a new impetus … only to find that we have not separated completely from our fears of before. What may be called for … is a certain organization of our lives … to preserve the individual nature … while allowing for some … contact and relation to the world around us. The scope of such experiences are huge … and its simply good sense to pace our return back to society carefully.

A born again experience … or new life impulse … that accompanies our experience of recovery … relates to an overview of the world. This quite often … refers to its many mysteries and wonders. Its a new relation … and affection for the world … made coherent by our conscious sense of relation to its ways. And as we pour over a little closely … the reports of the daily news … we obtain a new perspective on events. However to take on a mantle of leadership … that introduces a … broad and sweeping change of events … draws on peculiar risks at the personal level.

The Archduke Ferdinand … JFK … John Lennon … Martin Luther King … and Gandhi … to name a few … paid the ultimate price for their over-sight in their time. Our insights may actually … inform us of the circumstances and identity of the lone victim … turned assassin. It ought to make a difference in our reckoning. If we are applying ourselves to the business of social upbringing

and understanding … we ought to know what we are doing.

Reviews

[A. Amos]

Lot of work going on in this piece and enjoyed the end with great message, great write my friend

[New Theory]

An impressive read, good job, well written :)