Page 22 - HIRS - Eng
P. 22

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
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