Emotions are one of our avenues to self-understanding!

Recently, I came across a person who passed the statement as quoted;

A person, who understands the whole society as his family and accepts everybody with one eye, ‘has higher sense of emotion’.

The above little statement raises so many questions, psychological questions, philosophical questions, and existential questions even. First and foremost, I would like to ask such person that ‘Do you really understand yourself‘?

A person, who claims to understand a society, may not be a person who really understands the society. In order to understand the society, first it is necessary to understand an individual who is the basic unit, from which the society is built. A person, who doesn’t understand an individual, is it right for him/her to claim that he/she can understand the entire society?

John D. (Jack) Mayer says, “Emotions operate on many levels.  They have a physical aspect as well as a psychological aspect.  Emotions bridge thought, feeling, and action – they operate in every part of a person, they affect many aspects of a person, and the person affects many aspects of the emotions.” I do believe that emotions do not define us, they are a form of inner communication that help us to understand ourselves. “Emotions control our thinking, behavior and actions”!

However, it has left me thinking that a person who doesn’t understand an individual’s emotions, how can be expected from him/her to unravel the entire wave of the society’s sentiments, if he/she is not able to hold on to ‘a single thread of emotion‘! It is ‘the emotion’ that play a vital role in our lives, and even more so in self improvement, and with emotion, our true power of intention will shine all the way through. Most important, “Emotions are one of our avenues to self-understanding!“

I have experienced that mostly such people who claim such thing, on the contrary, have an absolute absence or an unacceptable low degree of emotional quotient!  Some of them also go to the extent of claiming that they are people who perceive the whole society as their family and accept everybody with one eye. I believe, they need to open second eye as well and see themselves more clearly.

Likewise, there are a bunch of intellectuals, so called progressive thinkers who claim to be a Gandhian or yet Gandhi him/herself of the modern era – just by wearing khadi or holding on to a notion that they are Ghandiji re-incarnated. Eh, just can’t see the Gandhi yet! Gandhi perceived wearing white khadi cloths as a sign of peace, love, self esteem and over all, a sense of respect. But does that mean anybody donning a khadi kurta could represent Gandhian ideology?

Furthermore, unfortunately, there is duality in what they think and what they do – rather a mismatch in what they perceive and what they act. Their often repeated mantra is “vashudhaiv kutumbakam” (The whole world is a family), which in actuality becomes nothing but a laughable joke of the life for them.  They ‘do not practice what they preach’. They talk about peace while pointing the gun at others. Such people are dangerous- quite normal from outside, but confused from within. And, these complicated double-faced people may “rub you the wrong way“. I call them “hypocrites”! And moreover, a person cannot escape the label of “hypocrite” by saying he or she is only offering a suggestion to other people. And above all, such hypocrites are not fit to call themselves civilized; they may be from any parts of India or world, I don’t care. Nevertheless, their confined thinking & filthy mind reminds me Agyeyji’s poem which I read in school text book (cbse). I am quoting below as it might fit well here.

साँप !
तुम सभ्य तो हुए नहीं
नगर में बसना
भी तुम्हें नहीं आया।

एक बात पूछूँ–(उत्तर दोगे?)
तब कैसे सीखा डँसना–
विष कहाँ पाया?
~अज्ञेय

Now, the question is – Are they really able to understand the whole society- its composition, intricacies, human bonds??

Absolutely not! One needs to open both the eyes to understand whole society.  I know, nothing can prevent anyone from claiming what he or she is claiming. It’s a free world and anybody can interpret anything they like. Yet, it’s far from easy to understand such people who live their whole lives in a largely illusory world of unquestioned assumptions. I must emphasize that claims are useless until shaped by ‘good intentions’ and followed by equally ‘good actions’!

Excuse me! I repeat, please don’t ever try to impose your fundamental thoughts, rigid expectations and beliefs on others!