Dear India: Happy 77th Independence Day !
Dear India: Happy 77th Independence Day !
May you be independent of uniformity and freely express your diversity
While 1.4 billion people altogether call you Motherland, they speak over 19,500 diverse languages or dialects as mother tongues
While you gave birth to Hinduism, from your womb was also born Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism — and you seamlessly assimilated into your culture religions born elsewhere.
You truly embody SYNCRETISM, the antidote to rising fundamentalism worldwide.
Your vast and diverse civilization is like Navagunjara, the polymorphic mythical creature that represents the virat-rupa (omnipresent or vast) form of Krishna.
You teach us to practice “Neti, Neti” (not this, not this) to achieve other-worldly Mukti (independence) while also encouraging us to embrace “Iti, Iti” (this, this) to taste this-worldly Bhukti (material enjoyment) as jivanmukta (liberated while living)
You show us that the true purpose of one’s independence is to learn to value and promote interdependence among all beings
Today we celebrate your unshakable diversity — a precious gift to humanity.
Graphic source: https://lnkd.in/dD4J7fhh .
