Page 22 - HIRS - Eng
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xx How I AcHIeved ReAl SucceSS
I focused on parts of the Vedic scriptures relating to women
and tried to assimilate the message. I studied the position of
women in Vedic society. I noticed that in India each generation
was drifting further and further away from Vedic traditions,
but the modern culture had failed to deliver the fulfillment
it had promised. I noted that we had turned away from our
traditions in disappointment, seeing them used as an excuse for
exploitation. And yet, on studying the scriptures, I realized that
the problem lies not in the practice, but in the practitioners;
not in the culture, but in the misuse of it. Somewhere along
the way the rituals had remained but the object of following
them — to please the Supreme Lord — had been lost.
I noticed a peculiar dichotomy in India. Even though my
parents and grandparents were following Vedic culture in
some shape and form, they did not have a deep understanding
of it, and consequently, neither did they feel it necessary to
convey it to us coherently, nor stood in the way when the
modern value system started, slowly but surely, replacing
our traditions. Enamored by the contemporary worldview,
they were liberal in our upbringing. But, at the same time,
they were reluctant to completely abandon their culture,
and sentimentally clung to the hope that we would continue
the tradition. They wanted us to be pushy career women and
submissive wives and daughters-in-law, all at the same time.
For most of us, however, the balance was tilted away from
the traditional model.
Still, I could appreciate that even though the older generation
did not know in great detail the whys and wherefores of Vedic
culture, they had strong faith in their culture and followed it
almost intuitively. I observed the behavior of older ladies in