The past few
weeks have left me numb and emotionally exhausted as
media frenzy over the Virginia Tech shooting, had
all kinds of coverage being blasted from every
possible media.
As the story started sinking in my head, the deep
sorrow I felt at the loss of innocent lives, ( whom
I got to know through the profiles of each victim
being posted by CNN, as they became available) was
only increased by this thought-Why? Why did this
have to happen? Statistics say it happens most
frequently in the US? Is it just about inadequate
gun laws or inadequate security? Or does it go much
deeper than that?
Since January this was not the first story of
unwarranted violence that had shaken me. My close
friend Uma’s cousin Geeta and her husband had been
brutally shot, their lifeless bodies discovered by
their thirteen and twelve year old sons on returning
from school. It’s been more than three months and
they haven’t found the killers.
Another friend talked about her dad killing her mom
in a homicide-suicide attempt last June. He had been
diagnosed with schizophrenia for years and had still
been released from the hospital because they “needed
the bed” temporarily. The temporary lapse in the
medical system in Canada cost an innocent woman her
life and a mentally ill man jail term that his
daughter is fighting against.
Cho’s profile was that of a man crying for help..
What was sad was that for the longest time-from the
grand aunt in Korea, to his parents, to his
Professors and college mates, every one had seen the
signs that he needed help loud and clear-and yet not
one person took it as seriously as they should have.
What one of his room-mates said made me think how
isolated and self absorbed we have become as people.
Karan Grewal said that the others including him had
given up long ago to try and make small talk with
Cho, because he was monosyllabic and never
responded. "He never spoke," Grewal said to CNN. "I
never saw him with anybody else. Ever. I just
thought he was very lonely."
I remember seeing an interview with a Psychiatrist
and an FBI agent-both wanted to make sure that
everything that had happened wasn’t just attributed
to mental illness: they said that over 90 percent of
people who commit crimes of passion are not mentally
ill. They are just angry at something or the other
and the resentment builds over the years and finally
explodes.
Many people get angry and even take weapons to
school, or public places, but they don’t use them
because some how better judgment prevails in that
case. I strongly feel that the gun laws may be lax,
but if someone is determined to kill, they will find
ways and means to do so. Of course if guns are
harder to get to, that moment of extreme anger may
pass and many may not act upon it.
I also remember seeing the interview with a neighbor
of Cho’s family. The neighbor was really sad when he
talked about how the family was simple and hard
working, always kind and helpful, and that made me
think how horrible it would be for them for the rest
of their lives. They will always be known as the
parents of that horrible guy who took so many
innocent lives, and how they may became targets of
hate crimes and violence themselves. They will be
haunted by not just their son’s death but also the
manner in which he died.
Another point that was made was the media frenzy,
and the big headlines that constantly kept repeating
the fact that this was the biggest number of people
shot in US history on a campus. The next thing you
heard was a man threatening to kill a 100 people and
break that record. NBC has already come in for a lot
of flack for showing excerpts of the videos of Cho
talking about why he did what he did. NBC can say
what they want, but the fact remains that the only
obvious intention was to be ahead in the numbers
game, for they had the scoop of the year. It was the
biggest piece of terrible journalism that I have
seen in recent times.
I finally met him last October-the man I now call
the mystic scientist-Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, the
founder of the Isha foundation. I connect with him
totally on an intellectual level because whatever he
says makes a lot of sense. I think there are only a
handful of enlightened beings that can make the
complex look as simple as he does. I have since then
had a series of conversations with him on a variety
of topics, and always found his explanations hit the
mark. And so after the shooting we spoke about the
violence we see these days and so much of it in the
US.
Sadhguru had some very thought provoking points. He
said that a short while ago, he happened to be at a
meeting where top brass from different industries
and an ex US President were present. One of the men
there was asking the former head about Iran and then
said ”Why don’t we just knock of all these
Ayatollahs-these are just few guys, instead of
getting in to this business of threatening war and
dire consequences?
“I found it strange that they were having this kind
of a discussion in an open meeting,” said Sadhguru.
“I said-there was a time that US was seen as a
generous and kind nation-today the world perceives
it as a bully and that reputation has been well
earned. Look at the 600 plus billion dollars that
have been spent on the Iraq war. If a fraction had
been spent on human health, education and well
being, you could have fed the whole world and the
world would have fallen in love with you. Instead I
see the US leadership and community leaders always
talking about knocking someone off.” His comment was
much appreciated and people calmed down.
The fact remains, says Sadhguru that the leadership
at the top in every nation, and what it preaches is
very crucial, because it’s the leadership that
trains and persuades the common man.
“Violence happens with regular frequency in this
country, “ said Sadhguru. ”The question is not
whether 2 people got killed or 32 or 100. The
numbers are decided simply by what kind of weapons
someone gets their hands on and how many people are
in the vicinity. The death toll at Virginia Tech was
shocking but what was even more shocking was that
someone could have such an attitude, such a need to
go out and do something like that.
“ As a culture and as a nation we have developed
this attitude that violence is the way to deal with
the world. Who is the bad guy also depends on who
you are yourself. It is based on your own need, your
own suffering and your problems. Then once you
decide who the bad guy is, you then feel you must
eliminate him. When many leaders talk of eliminating
others and encourage violence then I don’t see why
children will not follow what their elders preach.
Every other TV channel you surf, every other movie
you watch, who do you see as the real hero? It is
always the guy who shoots down the maximum number of
people. With violence being idolized and easy access
to weapons, it’s a double whammy. Violent emotions
and thoughts-that itself is violence right there.”
It is true I thought-we do see people as good and
bad depending on our state of mind, and the other
guy may be looking at us and thinking the same about
us. Sadhguru said to me that there would be no
ending to this process unless we bring in a culture
of peace, and yet peace is not something you can
safeguard by military and guns. You have to create a
civilization and a culture of peace, which we have
not strived to do so far.
“If society does not embrace a culture of peace
these aberrations will continue. Then the question
will become what will you consider normal? Will it
be normal if it happens once in three years, or one
year or 6 months or 5 weeks? Something like this
should have never happened in an academic system.
Instead of trying to find quick fixes like changing
gun laws, beefing up security, we need to root out
violence from the social structure itself. Only when
we change the way we think, will the major shift
occur.”
I said to Sadhguru that often it is said that the
more materialistic the society the more dysfunction
there is. He replied-“ Why should advancement turn
you into a mess? Why should affluence not free up
some time for you to work on your inner well being?”
His take was unless we work on each area of our life
and create inner and outer balance, things will not
work harmoniously.
“If we bring the simple process of meditation into
the lives of both adults and children, you will see
a marked decline in violence. We introduced
meditation in jails in India with very positive
results. In schools yoga and meditation should be
offered as a choice and it should become everyone’s
choice. It should never be made compulsory because
forced meditation is not going to work.”
Sadhguru also said something else that got me
thinking. He found the phrase “terrible teens” in
common use in the US.
“The teenagers are going through hormonal changes
which cause havoc in the body and it takes time to
stabilize all the body chemistry. It is the upheaval
within that makes a teenager behave in a certain
way. We have not made any arrangements in this
country to help create that emotional and physical
balance and harmony. We have left it to time and
hope he will be alright. If he continues to behave
beyond the acceptable time frame what do you do
here? You dose him with a chemical in the form of a
medication that makes him dull and slows him down
and that too is not the solution.
The other day I was talking to a bunch of youngsters
who regularly smoked marijuana and said that smoking
pot was a better solution as it stopped them from
indulging in violence or the teenage stuff. So
should one smoke pot to stop the wars? In the 60s
and 70s that was considered the solution and that’s
how the flower children happened to come about and
we know the outcome of that. If the society as a
whole does not invest in its inner well being just
as it invests in its outer well being it will always
face situations like what happened in Virginia
Tech.”
I see how peaceful I feel when I do my yogic
breathing and exercises. I actually feel the stress
toxins leave my body and feel more focused, rested
and connected. I also discover such beauty in most
strangers I take the time to get to know. In a
country that is considered the most advanced, multi
cultured nation in the world-there are still things
that technology and material success cannot replace.
Its time to go back and reconnect with nature and
humanity.
Write to Kavita at opinion@nripulse.com. |