march :oo8 i i v v v o s i 1 i v v Io

12th
A N N I V E R S A R Y S P E C I A L
j ourney
O
nce one is on the
path, nothing
can remain as it was
before. If there is
some transformation,
and it is genuine,
from deep within, it
will affect every
aspect of ones being.
For me, one of the
ways this has manifested is through
awareness of the interconnectedness
of life and its innate sacredness. This
has led to an attempt to live con-
sciously, gently, kindly.
I try and be attuned to how my
actions impact the earth, the physical
and emotional environment around
me, people I come in contact with,
and the residues and impressions
they leave on my own heart and
mind. For I find if I hurt another,
the greatest wound is inflicted on my
own being. When I am able to forego
a reaction born out of anger or jeal-
ousy or other afflictive emotions, the
greatest good is done to me.
Living consciously has come to
mean eschewing habits that harm
the earth and all forms of life on it.
Vegetarianism, conserving water and
electricity, need-based buying rather
than greed-based shopping, wearing
natural, handmade fabrics, limiting
the use of plastics and other such
products that pollute land and water,
and opting for organic produce when
possible, are some ways in which I
attempt to translate high-minded
spiritual ideals into lived experience.
For me, the path has a strong ethi-
cal aspect. Ethics as in not moral
injunctions or religious strictures, but
values that help one actualise insights
gained on the meditation cushion
once one gets off it. I see
ethics as tools that engage
spiritual understanding with
the mess and chaos of the
world, that bring the wisdom
and compassion of self-reali-
sation to bear on the injustice
and inhumanity we are faced
with in samsara.
Ethics form the ties that
bind our inner, spiritual selves with
our outer, in-the-world selves. I see
them as inseparable, and through the
connective tissue of ethics, the for-
mer can inform the thoughts and
actions of the latter. For instance, I
see the gap that exists between beau-
tiful expositions of the Divine as uni-
versal oneness, and the simultaneous
existence of a social system that
denies basic human rights to a sec-
tion of its own population, as being
ethically untenable. As also the
hypocrisy of worshipping the Divine
Feminine in temples, and the wide-
spread practice of female foeticide
and infanticide, and the general
devaluing of women. These arise
from a gap between worship and
practice, between the spiritual and
the worldly, philosophy and reality.
Connecting with the innate oneness
of life has enabled me to see the need
for strengthening the connection
between spirituality and its expression
in the world, through a re-imagining
of ethics based on a spiritual under-
standing of life as opposed to a materi-
alistic one. It has become difficult for
me to turn away from issues that I
might have earlier categorised as social,
political or environmental problems.
In short, not mine to bother about.
Now, in my work as a writer, I am
increasingly focusing on ethical, con-
scious, compassionate ways of dealing
with so-called worldly issues. Can we
find something in the nature-worship
and earth reverence of old and indige-
nous cultures to counter climate
change? How can the values of apari-
graha (non-possession) and limiting
ones wants and desires function as an
antidote to the greed of consumerism?
How can dana, giving, and seva, self-
less service, draw us out of our urban
selfishness? Is there a way of translat-
ing worship of the Divine Feminine
into greater respect for living, real
women? Could the slogan vasudhaiva
kutumbakam (the world is one family)
carry a solution to war and genocide?
Could compassion and non-harming
be credible responses to oppression?
In asking these questions, I must
also look within myself for answers. I
must try to live them, walk my talk.
And that I find the greatest chal-
lenge, and growth experience, of my
life as a seeker.
Swati Chopra is author of Dharamsala Diaries (Penguin,
2007), and Buddhism: On the Path to Nirvana (Brijbasi, 2005).
Website: www.swatichopra.com
Contact:swatichopra1@gmail.com
Sacred living

I try and be attuned to

how my actions impact the
earth, the physical and
emotional environment
around me, people I come
in contact with.

BY SWATI CHOPRA