A Trek into Thought Management

I Will Think

The lion has commonly been referred to as the … King of the jungle. As an appellation … in relation to our common views of life in the world … the view does not receive a great deal of objection from anyone. We figure … ' If that's what someone said … then it appears fairly accurate.' The point of discernment is not contested … and that defines the way we engage our social relations in general. We don't seek to split hairs.

 

We find in such situations … that if we pulled on a thread in the fabric … the entire cloth of security … is going to be totally unraveled. But in the times … when we are pressed to pursue an inquiry to its sensible end … we ought to have a way in which we can undertake the inquiry … without too much fuss.  The critical factor to such an inquiry … would necessarily involve … a common consent with regards to the issue … and not a confrontation … that takes place among disagreeing parties … in an exchange of fault finding.

 

A man and wife can choose to disagree … and where the issue of confrontation … is unbearably burdensome … they can choose to separate. And thereafter … in a denial of physical proximity of relations … they may come to a free review and understanding of the issue better. And it works better with the passions … the way it allows the mind the inquiry into its nature. But to have injured each other ….  in the confrontation … creates a longer term need to first heal the divide … and then to deal with the issue.

 

The nation of Indonesia … despite being the largest Muslim nation in the world … practices a cultural condition … that combines elements of the ancient Hindu practices … with the present subscription to Islam. Its referred to as Pancasila … the official cultural theme of Indonesia. The Islamic practice in Malaysia … avoids any mix with past practices … especially with regards to Hinduism. The difference came to the fore in 1963 … when the two nations split in an personal affront … and created a cold war condition … the media referred to as  … the confrontation. It stopped after some border skirmishes … in 1966.

 

Today … as a Hindu in Malaysia … I get along better with Malaysians professing the Islamic faith … then I do with Indonesian foreign workers in the country … whose manner of speech … is a rich contortion of many things … without a clear expression of one belief.  I found that it makes for a quick friendship with Indonesians … but also a quick break … simply on account of moods … the wrong body language … or looking the wrong way. It does not allow itself for a stable social relations.

 

A review of a break in relations … therefore brings itself to a studied exercise … regarding the issues. It avoids the mindless confrontation … that takes place … which aggravates the situation further … and leads to unpredictable events. A break … when it takes place … may be planned and executed according to specific needs for a solution. Its not a natural occurrence that's bound to lead to tragedy … not when dealing with a man … in a civil frame of practice. We rely on such an honor system … to allow man his self regulation in a free society.

 

However much of our social organization … continues to ignore past conditions … because we have not taken the trouble to examine the issues. On occasion the complaints by minority groups in the US … about police actions exceeding their bounds … comes under a similar frame of reference. Police manuals and tactics … require that a suspected felon … held at gun point … be instructed to lie down on the ground. That holds implications … for people with strong personal beliefs of their past. To bow … kneel … or prostate … in front of someone … whom they disagree with on ideological grounds … is an infringement of their civil rights as individuals.

 

The revelations we encounter in our daily lives … with regards to social relations … points back at us … in respect of what we condone as institutionalized practice. An examination of these issues … does not have to unravel the entire cloth … but may be taken as a natural step up … in the greater informed manner of the way we undertake social management. It points to the need for greater precision … without that appearing like goobledegook.

 

In Indic cultural practices … society members are inculcated in the attitude of examining an issue first … without giving voice to its sensitive contents … with regards to issues … we encounter on a daily basis. Such a practice … introduces an attitude of introspection to issues … and cultivates a personality who is necessarily thoughtful. Where the passions rule … unimpeded by any suggestion of review and thinking … it creates a heaven of euphoria … in a man … who can only see reason as … a troublemaker.

 

Indic stories … reported on the meeting between Siva the man of passion … and Shankaracarya the man of reason … as a violent confrontation Shankaracarya had with some native types … at the beginning of Indic thought in the 8thC bce. Fortunately for everyone concerned … the confrontation brought to Indic practice … the great treatises on passion … and the reasoned thesis on mind and logic. It forms the basis … for Indic social organization today. The American relations with the Native Americans … projects itself as the modern day encounter between mind and passions. In managing the barriers ... it holds great promise for the American involvement in  a new message of union … in the world.