Being Modern in #ModernTradition

"Education is the manifestation of the greatness already present in mankind"

                                                                                            -Swami Vivekananda.

These lines were written one day on the school blackboard as the thought of the day. I saw it and I was never the same I was 12 then. 

My generation or rather our generation was different from my parents because we were standing and are still standing in the midst of a cultural evolution and we are questioning old norms. This is normal because in every society one thing that is and should be continuous is change. We upgrade everything in our life be it phones, Operating System everything is updated to adapt to the changes, similarly every tradition, every society needs to upgrade and change to adapt to the times. Every tradition when not upgraded after a certain period of time becomes evil. In this world every necessary good will one day turn into an evil and that will be the time to change it.

YADA YADA HI DHARMASYA GLANIRBHAVATI BHARATA

ABHYUTTANAM ADHARMASYA TADAATMANAAM SRUJAMYAHAM.

O Bharata, whenever there is decline of righteousness and rise of evil, I manifest Myself. 

If we go deep in the episode of "Draupadi Vastraharan" righteous men like Bhisma and Drona remain quiet why? because they were bound by the obligation to serve the throne of "Hastinapur" they were greatest men alive that time and were epitomes of righteousness and what they did was in accordance to the tradition and "Dharma" then why this "A-Dharma" of assaulting a women because had just one of them had used their common sense of standing up against the act which seemed a mockery of humanity it would have been avoided, a war would have been avoided. 

Everyone followed tradition but no one used common sense and stuck to the concept of being a slave to humanity before being a slave to a throne or a king.

What Lord Krishna did was then to infuse modernity in the steadily stagnant society, whose all goodness was rapidly expiring and turning into an evil.

Modernity actually lies in using reason, using common sense  to distinguish between right or wrong. Modernity lies in using your intellect and logically evaluating the validity of a tradition. Modernity lies in being righteous with rationality and curiosity. This sense of modernity stems from a stoic upbringing and a complete understanding of the traditions and the needs of the present day world. A person who is modern is not an extremist, she is a balanced person evaluating and analyzing every strain of thought before adopting any. Taking the best of both worlds, updating our tradition while knowing about our roots, feeling proud of our heritage. Modernity stems out of the tradition and it cannot be opposite to the tradition. Modernity is a balanced approach, an equilibrium between two extremes.

Wearing western clothes do not make you modern neither do being extremely simple. It is your state of mind and not your outer appearance. 

The strain of thought which regards as being Fashionable is hip and Modern is as shallow as the strain of thought which says if you wear traditional clothes you are all virtuous.

As a society we are far from being Modern. We are surrounded by stereotypes, prejudices. We forget to respect people's view and privacy. The "Moderns" mud sling "Traditionals" and vice versa. Ridiculing your tradition doesn't make you modern. Sticking blindly to every tradition even if they are archaic is not righteous. Being Righteous and Modern are all about balance and equilibrium. Being modern is to have a open heart and to acknowledge and respect and know about every tradition and strain of thought while having an individual stand which we do not impose upon.

Being modern is all about being educated not by degree but by soul, by spirit.

 "Aham Brahmani Asmi"
"I am God"

 Being modern is when we realize that if we want to see a better world we have to be better people and be the change we want to as it is human within whom divinity resides.

Written in Response to the Indispire topic in Indiblogger.

P.S. Thanks Gaurab for bringing a topic close to my heart.