Variations of human nature
Tuesday November 23 2004 08:18 IST
By Karmayogi
Westerners refer to us
as mild Hindus. Others call us docile Indians. The Americans advertise for
gate-crashing young men. About three or four generations ago, people valued
walking slowly, speaking in a very low voice, answering questions, not asking
questions.
Young men would be pulled up if they hurried. One was taught not to speak
unless spoken to. Calm, quiet, silent, steady movements were appreciated and
were taught. The Hindu is mild because he espouses ahimsa, non-injury. The
Indian or the Hindu is not for adventure on the seas or foreign territory.
His adventure is inside, in the domain of Spirit, where he scales new heights. The
Spirit abides where the mountains abound or the wide seas expand endlessly. The
Mother loved the mountains, the Master loved the seas. India became spiritual
because both surround her sacred soil.
The Germans are perfectionists. Articles made in Germany will be of high
workmanship and flawless. They subject themselves to the utmost discipline in
work and organise it at its best. It is a nation that produced most of the
European philosophers and the best of musicians.
Beethoven was from Germany. The Scandinavian nations are known as
Nordics. Their expertise is in the strength of will and orderliness. Wherever
you find ORDER, behind that will be the hand of the Nordics. Europe has nothing to do
with mysticism. Asia is mystic.
The Russians are mystic. It is a rare asset for a European nation. Mysticism is
a way of life that produces results without knowing how. When the inner soul is
developed enough to produce the intended result and the mind not developed
enough to know the process, it is seen as mysticism.
The intellectual French have ingenuity. To them, the individual matters, the
principle is of significance. A Britisher seeing a French mother asking her
three year old boy to be reasonable, remarked that in her place an English
mother would ask the child to be a good boy. Reason is essential for the
French. They love work and are proud of doing the work for the joy of work, as
they find fulfilment in work.
The Englishman is a gentleman. He will go to any length to put up a very good
behaviour of a gentleman because he lives for that ideal. The American is
dynamic. The Latins, people of the Mediterranean, are realists. It is
they who invaded the whole of South America and even now rule
there.
The mildness of the Hindu, the mysticism of the Russian, the discipline of the
German, the ingenuity of the French, the realism of the Latin, the tenacity of
the British and the dynamism of the American are spiritual traits. A nation
will become pre-eminent and fulfil its destiny if she lives by what is
spiritual in her and endeavours to bring it out in life.