The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : People are “enslaved to entertainment”

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Thursday, Dec 27, 2007
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People are “enslaved to entertainment”

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In the modern era, comforts masquerade as needs, lifestyle as top priority: Satish Inamdar

— Photo: K. V. Srinivasan

EXCHANGE OF IDEAS: Satish Inamdar, Director, Valley School, Krishnamurti Foundation India, interacting with delegates after initiating a lecture series at the international convention of The Theosophical Society in Chennai on Wednesday.

CHENNAI: People need to pause and reflect on each one’s responsibilities in relation with not just human beings but all living species, Satish Inamdar, Director, Valley School, Krishnamurti Foundation India, Bangalore, said on Wednesday.

Initiating a series of lectures at the 132nd international convention of The Theosophical Society, Mr. Inamdar said, “We need to evaluate whether modernity was taking us away or towards self awareness and a better appreciation of the human predicament.” Speaking on ‘The conscious, the unconscious and modern society,’ Mr. Inamdar called for considering whether it was possible to slow down in an era defined by speed and haste and listen to the “unconscious” self that was rid of biases and prejudices.

Noting that in the modern era, comforts masqueraded as needs, lifestyle was top priority and people were enslaved to entertainment, he said modernity had aggravated fears, insecurities and aggressive behaviour. In contrast, ancient times had a higher quotient of quietitude and happiness.

According to the Valley School director, the propagation of self-centred thought was modernity’s distinguishing feature and mankind had to search within to develop a holistic understanding of the fundamentals of human life. Only this understanding, unique to the human species, rather than socio-politico-economic systems, could provide deliverance, he said.

Earlier, the annual event got off with the customary chanting of prayers of all faiths and concluded with the mass rendering of Annie Besant’s universal prayer.

In her presidential address, Radha Burnier, Theosophical Society international president, exhorted members to “awaken and energise the mind, ours as well as that of others, to the real purpose” of life. Noting that though technological advances had brought the world closer in many ways, Ms. Burnier wondered whether this was helping humans to wake up to the totality of life, not just of human beings, but of all inhabitants of earth.

“If human beings become far less concerned with themselves and much more with humanity as a whole, the world will certainly become different.” Religion, the study of which the Theosophical Society upheld as a process to progress, along with philosophy and science, could take mankind beyond the engagement with material comforts to higher planes of understanding, Ms. Burnier said.

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