equality - pc

From the Bhakti List Archives

• January 19, 1996


The question of equality between the sexes, religions, races, and so on, is a 
very emotive issue.  As soon as we read things relating to these subjects our 
blood starts to simmer and soon boils over if the statements do not agree with 
our own thoughts. But, if we believe with the Scriptures, with what the guru 
tells us, then how can we possibly be affected by them?

In Chapter 2 of the Geeta, Lord Krishna tells us:
12 - Never did I not exist, nor you, nor these rulers of men, and never shall 
all of us not exist from this time onward.
18 - These bodies are perishable while the embodied is eternal, indestructible 
and immeasurable.
22 - As a man casts away old clothes and takes on new ones, so the embodied 
casts away worn out bodies and accepts new ones.
56 - He whose mind is not agitated by misery or happiness, who is free of 
desire, who is free from passion, fear and anger and whose thoughts are 
steady, is said to be a muni.

>From this it is obvious that we are constantly changing these bodies. 
Therefore, if we believe in such, then what possible use to us is equality or 
political correctness. More than likely, in our next birth we will take on the 
body of a woman, a black, a white, an Indian, an Eskimo, or whatever. In that 
case all this botheration about equality, etc, in this life is of no use to us 
whatsoever.  The whole purpose of this life is to purify our existence so that 
we do not take rebirth.  To get tangled up in such mundane bodily activities 
is negating the reason why we are engaging in religious life at all.

This birth, this body, is the result of the activities we have performed over 
countless previous births. This karma has brought us to the stage of actively 
seeking out liberation from a material existence. We should be devoting 
ourselves towards the spiritual path and not just meandering along the 
material one.

Regards
--- Ramadas