If you're looking for the guilty, you only need to look into a mirror !!

Does this statement has any truth in it ?? If you ask me, it carries a lot of weight. A person has to be completely honest & truthful to oneself to say otherwise.

Today the world sees the race of humans as a species which thinks only about itself, for his own benefit, his own profit, his own comfort. So much is the mind of a man corrupted, that he will go to any extent just to satisfy his ego and thirst. So much is he blinded by his desires that he doesn't get to see the wrongs been done to others. Man would do anything just to be one step ahead of the person next to him, and if that seems difficult then he will bring down the other guy just to seem taller. This is his philosophy, this has become his principles- "By hook or crook, achieve your desires".

Impossible it has become for man to look deep inside himself and hear out his "self" (atman is what Upanishads term it as; I simply call it the "energy of self"). The inner-self of man has become covered with so many layers of delusions and rules since his birth; that even with his eyes wide open he can see the world, but has become blind to its language & purpose. Today, man commits a mistake but puts the blame on someone else. He points out the idiocies of others, but fails to see his own stupidities.

Enough of words, now for some sightseeing: People point out the crime committed by another, but don't get to see what goes on in their own mind. Let me see, hmmmm... let’s take prostitution (simple example of corruption of mind by lust); there are people who oppose this profession & look down upon those people; but they turn blind to what their mind thinks from inside in solitude. Same is the case with pornography, the seduction of mind by lust. People swear about its wrongness, but who indeed is pure from the mind ?? Take human activists; they oppose the killing/injustice done to a criminal, I ask only one thing, how would one of them react if a criminal kills/rapes one of his own relative. Will he leave that criminal alive, if he gets the chance to catch his throat ?? This is what I am talking about, the criminals are not out there, they are within us or else the criminal class would not have mushroomed in our society. We say the roads of India are dirty and filthy, I ask how much have you contributed to keep it clean ?? How many times can a person check himself and restrain from throwing garbage on an inviting filthy road ?? Moving to politics; people blame the Government for not ruling the country properly and swimming in corruption, then I ask what have you been doing about it ?? After all in democracy politicians are elected by the people, are they not ?? (I am removing the "for the people" portion, it doesn't imply anymore). All people do is to sit back and give their comments. It is very easy to say and pretty difficult to stand up and work. Oppressors can never rule over the oppressed, if the suppressed community stand up to them.

What, then is the solution ?? How can salvation be achieved ?? I leave that to the person who finds himself guilty for any kind of problem. All I can say is look inside yourself and ask earnestly- "Should I live my life with righteousness and befriend truth for the lifetime.... or... should I live my life the way I want & desire" ??

Greed, anger, sorrow, laziness and lust are indeed the 5 cardinal sins of man, no wonder Gautam Buddha told humanity to fight them out. As for me; by simply acknowledging & living the "Five Precepts" of Buddhism has taken quite an effort and strength. Believe me when I say, in today’s Kaliyug...it is much more difficult to live a truthful and righteous life than living a corrupted and disillusioned one. Power and greed corrupts the mind of many; as the mind feeds on these thoughts to retain its control over the man, to prove itself superior over the atman. It takes effort and a clean conscience to light a lamp in darkness, not just for oneself but for all those who swear the darkness, remain idle and mock at one’s efforts.

Like the character V says in the movie "V for Vendetta"- "if you're looking for the guilty you need only look into a mirror."

One understands self,

when one looks inside.

The truth alights itself,

while the illusion sits beside.

Shown is the way,

while the eyes alight.

Life becomes clear,

as darkness takes its flight.

Understand thy self,

& know thy heart.

For never you will suffer,

& never will truth be torn apart.