TITLE: ON INDIAN CULTURE AUTHORS: Mrs.Shanta & Dr.Rajendra Dubey ABSTRACT: Mrs.Shanta & Dr.Rajendra Dubey of Waterloo have lived in England, Germany and India. Motivated by Guru Swami Bawraji, Dr. Dubey extensively studied yoga and meditation in the 1970's, then went on to teach both.

They constantly discuss Indian philosophy, and read widely in ancient texts and translated Sanskrit works into English. ARTICLE: According to Webster's Third New International Dictionary, culture is “The pattern of human behaviour and its product embodied in thought, speech, action and artifacts” and “dependent upon man's capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations through the use of tools, language, and systems of abstract thought”. The Oxford English Dictionary considers it the intellectual side of civilization.

These definitions suggest that the culture and civilization of a nation is a reflection of thought of its people. If the culture of a nation develops on the basis of conviction born of an understanding of truth and reality of existence, its foundation runs deep. A deeper foundation allows for building a bigger, grander and taller edifice that can survive longer and can be witnessed from far and wide. That is the history of Indian culture and civilization. People external to Indian sub-continent admired, envied and invaded this area many times during the last several millennia. The invaders even tried to change its culture. It did create brief periods of turmoil and disturbance. Ultimately, the truth on which its culture and civilization was founded prevailed. The incoming groups accepted the basic principles of Indian culture and the harmony and tolerance that India cherished, practised and propagated was restored.

People from Ionia came even before Alexander. Invasion by Alexander and his leaving behind a group of people to rule India is well documented. A group of followers of Moses came early and settled in India perhaps even before the time of Christ. Christianity came to India in 52 AD.

The descendants of people who converted to Christianity at that time still live in India.

Zoroastrians came after they were driven from their homeland in what is now known as Iran. Most of them still practice their faith but they were assimilated into Indian culture.

The followers of Islam established contact with India before 8th century AD and invaded the country for occupation early in the second millennium AD.

Indian culture evolved in the process of search for unity behind apparent diversity. The thought process used in the search led to the concept of Brahman and Atman. If Brahman is a vast ocean of water, Atman is a drop of that ocean. Brahman is soul of universe. Atman is soul of individual. Both share a common spiritual principle but exhibit different external features. The message that Indian sages and seers gave for people of India to follow was simple: the common spiritual connection must transcend the difference visible in external appearance. That connection is available to all in the form of consciousness. In absence of consciousness, there is no meaning to existence, life and thought. In absence of thought, there can be no culture and no civilization. Individual life, thought and belief may differ but they all owe their existence to same consciousness. Perception, thought and belief reflect multiplicity of universe and therefore create difference and division.

An understanding that perception, thought and belief are mere reflections in consciousness helps transcend the difference and clears the way to unity in diversity.

The acceptance of difference in appearance as fundamental and real is a recipe for promotion of turmoil, fundamentalism and extremism.

The acceptance that the difference is only in appearance, not in the essence of existence, promotes harmony and tolerance.

This deep-rooted conviction of unity in consciousness of diversity in visible universe has been the prime mover of thought in Indian mind.

The search for unity in diversity led to many fields of learning like Philosophy, Astronomy, Literature and grammar, Psychology, Science, Medicine and Geometry etc. It also led to development of well-planned and well- rganized urban centers. They are part of what is now known as Indus Valley Civilization.

This name is misleading because many urban centers of that time were spread over a much wider area, far removed from the river Indus. The concept of zero and of numbers also came from Indian mind. Buddha gave his message to masses to overcome a short period of social turmoil in Eastern India. His message was collected and propagated under the name of Buddhism. It was accepted in China, Japan and South East Asia. It is necessary to remember that not a single soldier went from India to enforce its message. No swords were drawn, no intimidation practised to spread Buddhism. It spread because of universal nature of its message. Yoga is another outcome of Indian culture with universal appeal. How many Indians have come out of India with blazing guns in their hand to enforce practice of Yoga? Yoga, Buddhism and Indian way of life evolves around the concept of consciousness. Does one know what consciousness is? People have experience of objects while awake. An analysis of such experience leads to knowledge about the object. It is easy to conclude that there are three factors involved in knowledge: a subject that wants to know, a process of knowledge and an object. The result of the process is expressed in terms like I see, I hear, I smell, I taste, I feel and I know. Dream offers another kind of experience. When people wake up, they recall experience in dream and make statements regarding their dream.

On waking up after deep sleep, people remember the experience of being in deep sleep and would say that I slept well. In all these kinds of experiences, there seems to be a common factor that one would identify as self or I. Even then, it would be necessary to be conscious of the experience that the self has and is able to recall. It would seem that the reason for experience and consequent knowledge is the reflection in individual consciousness of objects, dream sequence and of deep sleep. If a specific object evokes similar experience and the identical knowledge in different individual, it only points to similarity in nature of their consciousness.

In short, consciousness within every one is the same in nature and evokes identical experience and knowledge in regard to the same object or event. Because the number of beings and non- beings exist is infinite, the total aggregate of their consciousness would also be infinite. A system of such aggregate may be called universal consciousness. Indian philosophers relate Atman to individual consciousness and Brahman to universal consciousness and they declared that both are alike in essence. This indeed is a bold statement and would be considered a heresy in at least some religion especially if they identify universal consciousness with God. But such boldness is typical of Indian sages and seers who gave India its culture and civilization, the one that survived for more than five thousand years in spite of numerous invasions and attempts to change it. They also declared that the whole of humanity is part of one family. The common tie is because of consciousness we have.

The legacy of Indian culture can be seen in numerous temples with intricate carvings, colourful parade of Indian textile, the Indian culinary art, the Indian thought of global kinship, the graceful Indian dances and above all the fact that many different faiths have lived and survived in India in peace and harmony for over thousand of years. There of course has been a brief period of friction and turmoil during and just after British rule in India. It is certain that situation will become normal and peaceful again. India would then be like India of the old, India of sages and seers, India of bold thought and deep conviction.

This article was originally published in Cross Cultures Magazine in Volume 10 - Issue 1 - 2004. Unauthorized copying, distribution or other usage without express written permission of the publisher is prohibited.