There are some sentences from Shakespeare (Hamlet) that are justly celebrated as some of the most meaningful sentences ever written in any language. They are:
- To be or not to be? That is the question.
- To thine own self be true and then it follows as the night the day that thou cannot then be false to any man.
Forget the first quote above. That is beyond the scope of this article and possibly beyond the scope of my intellect. Focus on the second (To thine own self etc).
I have chosen to be guided by the second sentence in my life and have benefited greatly. From my experience I can tell you that if you are gentle with yourself, you will be gentle with others. Conversely, if you are harsh with others, you will be harsh with yourself.
This is a vital self help tip and is immensely beneficial for your sanity and social relations. When you behave in this way you are choosing to be guided from within while dealing with people and not being creative ethically. You are not practising jugaad in your interactions with people.
This is a much stronger foundation on which to base your relationships with people.
The British ruled India for about 200 years. In my opinion it is possible the British followed the above quote from Shakespeare in their dealings with the subject peoples of their Empire. They may have wanted to make money and exploit but they also played fair, maintained some ethical standards and were honourable. Or at least they did so to a greater degree than the Indian rulers whom they replaced when they founded their Empire.
There is a saying that when you and a companion are running away from a lion who is chasing you then you don’t need to run faster than the lion. You only need to run faster than your companion. He will be caught and eaten by the lion and you will have made your escape. It is possible that the British did something similar.
Some closing comments:
If you would like to practise the above teaching of Shakespeare and want to be gentle with yourself then I would recommend Buddhist meditation and mindfulness techniques. Specifically the books and audios and other materials of Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings should help you immensely.
Lastly I have referred to the British in this blog and how they were able to hold on to their colonial possessions for about 200 years. In my next blog I will give views on whether or not we should follow their example of being rigidly honourable in today’s day and age.
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