By Subhasis Chattopadhyay –
Indian spirituality has only one focus: we are an inward turned people. Indian Hinduism and Indian forms of Roman Catholicism both accept ascetical practises as integral to spiritual progress. And this Lent in India let us reflect on what we married men and women of all faiths can practice to progress in our spiritual lives. For unless we save our own souls first, it is of no use that others are saved. आत्मनो मोक्षार्थं जगद्हिताय च: after caring for oneself then [alone] should we care for the entire world. This Rig Vedic maxim would later be echoed by St. Ignatius of Loyola and so many others within the Roman Catholic Church. Lent 2020 is a good time to introspect and take concrete steps to change our lives.
- The internet is a good thing. The smartphone is a good thing by itself. But we need to detox ourselves from social media: Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and Twitter. These media platforms are designed to be addictive and thus should be eschewed. Our lives should be hidden, contemplative lives; not for public consumption. Therefore let us get off the grid. Then we are truly alone and, thus, will be able to find ourselves.
-
WhatsApp is very useful but again it has been programmed to make us feel the need to constantly check for messages; put up status updates and talk more than is actually needed. One feels that the world is one’s confessional. Thus, at least for this Lent, try uninstalling all messaging apps.
If we can lead life this Lent without any social media and without any messaging apps; we will perforce become better people. In real life, it is hard to sustain more than a few true friends. How is it possible to have hundreds of friends online? It is impossible and not very useful. Social media is like drinking; one can well be a teetotaller, but one wants to justify drinking for various non-existent health benefits.
Till date, all empirical studies within the behavioural sciences have proven spurts in anxiety-driven actions from the use of social media. Yet we carry on using them in the names of some or the other benefit.
Saints Romuald and Bruno, and later Saints Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross could not all be wrong. There is more value in being silent in a world gone mad with noise. Long, long ago Hindu sages declared that silence is the best asceticism possible: मौनं सर्वार्थ साधनम्। Not for nothing are we warned against incessant talking: the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.
Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. (James 3, 5-8)
Now we are incessantly talking in our heads and allowing that incessant chuckle of nameless artificial algorithms reach us through social media. Let us, at least, this Lent, get off the grid.
Subhasis Chattopadhyay is an Assistant Professor in English in the PG and UG Department of English, Narasinha Dutt College, Howrah, affiliated to the University of Calcutta. He has been a book reviewer for Prabuddha Bharata for over a decade now. He is currently preparing to carry on his Biblical annotation project for this website. He is a committed Hindu.