Why Favour One When Neutrality Wins?

Just as maya, illusory power of Brahmn, creates the illusion that the world is real, and one way to break free from its stranglehold is to develop a witness consciousness, in the same way, to remain unaffected by polarising opinions, individuals must cultivate equanimity by observing neutrality towards all ideologies, especially during an election season. This applies not only to spiritually inclined people but also to journalists and media organisations, as it is their dharm to report facts impartially, just like it is Arjun's dharm as a warrior to fight in the Mahabharat.

Recently, Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post, wrote an op-ed in his newspaper suggesting that newspapers should desist from taking sides in political campaigns, as presidential endorsements "create a perception of bias". Indic philosophical traditions uphold that neutrality is key, whether in outstanding reportage or progression on the spiritual path. Spiritualists and journalists must drop their biases, prejudices, and political endorsements to arrive at the purest form of truth, which can be discomforting and challenging. One benefit of spirituality is that it enables an individual to be neutral, saving him from getting bogged down by fixed viewpoints.

The Indic spiritual ideal is that of Sthitaprajna, a person of stable wisdom, without any biases or prejudices. In the Bhagavad Gita, chapter two, Arjun asks Krishn who a Sthitaprajna is and how he sits and walks. Krishn explains that a Sthitaprajna is unaffected by externalities. Unattached to everything, meeting good and evil with equanimity, he neither rejoices nor recoils. Attachments to things, people, thoughts, notions, and ideologies are deterrents to becoming a Sthitaprajna. Hence, to be equanimous, an individual should not be attached to any notion or political ideology - whether left, right, or centre - for he is a bystander, observing and maintaining a studied distance, as if enjoying a Bollywood movie unfolding on celluloid.

The Gita says, just as the wind carries away a boat upon waters, similarly, that to which the mind is attached takes away one's discrimination. Krishn explains that the wise look with equanimity upon all, whether it be a brahmin endowed with learning and culture, a cow, elephant, dog and a pariah, too.

Indian schools of thought provide a contextual framework for detachment, dispassion, and even-handedness that fosters a state of mind beyond the duality of likes and dislikes. The very definition of yog, one of the six systems of Indic philosophy according to Patanjali's Yog Sutras , is 'Yoga chitta vritti nirodh,' the cessation of vrittis of the mind. When the mind is calm, a yogi is free from modifications of mind born out of his likes and dislikes.

Academic distance and neutrality are deeply entrenched in various Indic scriptures. In the Yog Vasisht, Ram emphasises neutrality towards life and death by declaring, "I do not want to live, and I do not want to die." Sant Kabir encapsulates the essence of detachment in his doha: "Kabira teri jhopri gal katiyan ke paas. Jo karenge so bharenge tu kyon bhayo udaas," - O Kabir! Your hut is next to butchers' bay. Why do you feel down? For their conduct, they alone shall pay.

A spiritually mature individual is above all worldly pleasures and identifications, for he does not align with any school of thought or indulge in art, food, music, or technology, and practises loving detachment even when surrounded by a loving family. He is a post-culture, post-food, post-art and post-music being, established in the Self.

Authored by: Sonal Srivastava