Democracy is about
consultation and this cannot happen effectively in the context of negative
emotions and ambiguity of agreements that will militate against good decisions becoming
mainstream and sustainable. When the very people who agree to a policy today
bunks it the next day, it bodes dark to the progress of this consultative
process. And needless to say, the public merely becomes onlookers or mere
spectators in a battle that is fought on the political stage. Hypocrisy kills
the confidence in those that lead us or even estranges friends and partners
that make for the effervescent confluence of our social relationships.
Getting away from hypocrisy
requires an internal reflection. A reflective eye into our inner selves will
show us from where these dark thoughts arise. And what are the causes behind
the causes. Inevitably we will be confronted with the realization that all our
hypocrisy is due to the jealousy we harbor within us; and surely there will be
reasons why that jealousy resides in us as it does – that too can be clarified
with further reflection. And reflection requires dedicated time away from the
traffic and noise of the mind we are so used to sustaining in this modern world
of electronic gadgetry and instant connectivity (with our friends but not with our
soul). We seek to hide the whisperings of the ego to be in the limelight by the
outward manifestation of doing what it tells us to do – not what our true self
would like us to do. So in effect we are just responding to the callings of our
ego which is not our true self. Always having to please the onlooker rather
than our inner selves, we live our lives in a charade of sorts. This has to be
so because the ego doesn't want to annihilate itself by society rallying
against it. So it is better to seem to be conformist even though what flows in
our true mind is just the opposite. This negativity thus makes us quickly agree
– especially when authoritative and powerful sources coax our indulgence, in
time of action however, do nothing to help, or do the opposite.
We read in our holy Book,
the ignominy of hypocrisy and yet we fall prey to its callings orchestrated by
the ego. Prayer and social service can help us reverse such devious callings.
If done consistently, it can become a habit over time, and surely our ego's
voice will be thus incrementally muffled and the voice of our true self will
ultimately emerge to shine through our ethereal self. Parents, we can all
attempt to build a new society by encouraging our children towards truthfulness
and non-hypocritical behavior by example --- by us being so ourselves; “being
the change we hope to see”.
2 comments:
This is a very interesting article. Actually there is a lot of misconception about the word democracy. Among the so called “democrats” who want to push it down your throat. I am friends with one of the most senior persons in the MDP and I asked him what he meant by democracy… His answer surprised me. He said democracy means freedom.
Then it occurred to me that the senior most politicians are unaware of what democracy means. People think using words. When a politician’s word has a meaning that is not in harmony with what is understood generally by the people, a lot of problems are likely to take place; their actions and motivations seem bizarre.
I have always argued that what Maldives need is more democracy… democracy to the extent that Parliament is not necessary as was the case in Greek demokratia.
The Parliamentary powers must be returned to the people.
that would be the day when we can function without a parliament. Perhaps it has its place in the balance of the extremes of anarchy on the one hand and authoritarianism on the other. But of course we the people must elect the right people to be our representatives. And for that we all need to be aware of what democracy means. Thanks for your support. Let a dialogue begin on this!
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