Service to humanity

[Guest guest]

So many thoughts on Dr. Shah's and my " discussion. " I will narrate only

a few I have had.

 

Dear Brad, There are many spiritual paths being followed in the U.S.,

depending upon origin, but I think that no one, anywhere, listens

carefully to the silent springs of faith and conviction running in its

collective underground spring. The world, we included, look to the

bright, the visual, the vocal. They have nothing to do with practical

working spirituality.

 

Dear Sathye, In speaking of spirituality in either West or East, I am

talking neither about the doctrinal nor corporate. Though having lived

in the West and traveled widely, you apparently have not been privy to

the spiritual well-spring of this individual land.

 

Dear Devinder, Yes, the whole world is under the sway of materialism:

" Kamini Kanchana, lust and greed. " The U.S. is certainly no perfected

society, but it seems to be taken for granted that, because it has made

such tremdendous strides economically, technologically and

scientifically, that materialistic values are all it holds dear. That

is not the whole story. I often disagree and am embarrassed by my

country's policies but I have thought long and hard about the American

character and perspective.

 

Individualism: Yes -- in so far as the Great American Dream offers

everyone equal opportunity. That is, we TRY -- because we are able.

 

Immature, brash: Yes, we are still a young country --but with our youth

is also given a talent for forgiveness. We hold no grudges.

 

Materialistic: Does not the whole world want what we have? It is

called human nature -- not American.

 

Imperialistic: Power demands responsibility. He who has the power MUST

make decisions. And someone else's decisons are always easy to

second-guess; it is so very easy to criticize.

 

What has all this to do with Spirituality and this Ramakrishna chat-room

list? I copy below part of an editorial from a Toronto, Canada

newspaper; to its writer at least this crass materialistic society is

viewed as Swamiji would have wished: society ever at the call of

service to those less fortunate.

 

 

AMERICA

 

" This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the

Americans as the most generous and possibly the

least appreciated people on all the earth.

Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and

Italy were lifted out of the debris of war by the

Americans who poured in billions of dollars and

forgave other billions in debts. None of these

countries is today paying even the interest on its

remaining debts to the United States.

 

When France was in danger of collapsing in 1956,

it was the Americans who propped it up, and their

reward was to be insulted and swindled on the

streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.

 

When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the

United States that hurries in to help. This spring,

59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes.

Nobody helped.

 

The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped

billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now

newspapers in those countries are writing about the

decadent, warmongering Americans.

 

I'd like to see just one of those countries that

is gloating over the erosion of the United States

dollar build its own airplane. Does any other country

in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo

Jet, the Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas DC10?

If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all the

International lines except Russia fly American

Planes?

 

Why does no other land on earth even consider putting

a man or woman on the moon? You talk about Japanese

technocracy, and you get radios. You talk about

German technocracy, and you get automobiles.

You talk about American technocracy, and you find

men on the moon - not once, but several times -

and safely home again.

 

You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs

right in the store window for everybody to look at .

Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded.

They are here on our streets, and most of them,

unless they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting

American dollars from ma and pa at home to spend here.

 

When the railways of France, Germany and India

were breaking down through age, it was the Americans

who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and

the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them

an old caboose. Both are still broke.

 

I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced

to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name

me even one time when someone else raced to the

Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside

help even during the San Francisco earthquake.

 

Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one

Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get

kicked around. They will come out of this thing with

their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled

to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating

over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not

one of those. "

 

Stand proud, America!

 

This gives us all cause to think.

Edith Tipple