Happiness

Posted on May 8, 2012 by gokulmuthu

We all want to be happy. No creature wants to be unhappy. If asked when we want to be happy – morning, evening, Saturday, Sunday – we would surely say “Always”. If asked where we want to be happy – office, home, road – we would surely say “Everywhere”. If asked under what conditions we want to be happy – success, failure, health, disease, gain, loss – we would surely say “Under all conditions”. Thus we all seek “unconditional happiness”. We want to be happy irrespective of the conditions.
Now the question is, “Is it possible?” Fortunately, it is possible. If we sit and think, “if I make a resolve to be cheerful and happy, irrespective of what happens, can anyone or anything make me unhappy?” We all would answer, “No”. We all have the freedom to be happy unconditionally. Problems will be there in life. Failure, disease, loss, etc are inevitable in life. But, to be happy or sad is a choice. We all have the power and freedom to be happy. In spite of this, we are carried away by the situation and become sad. Krishna declares in the Gita, “Wise people do not grieve about the arrival and departure of people, objects and situations.” (gataasoon agataasoon ca na anusocanti panditaah – 2.11). In fact, this is the central teaching of the Gita and the Vedas.
Why do we become unhappy? Desires.
Why do we have desires? Sense of incompleteness.
Why we have a sense of incompleteness? Wrong understanding of oneself.
What is this wrong understanding? Thinking oneself to be the body or mind, or, a part, property or product of the body or mind.
This wrong understanding is the root cause of the entire problem.
If an object can give happiness, then the same object should give the same happiness to anyone at any time. At some times, I like to be in the company of people. At other times I like to be left alone. The second sweet that I eat gives me less happiness than the first. Some people like something while some other people hate the same thing. Thus, there is no direct connection between people, objects and situations, and happiness. The happiness created by an object is proportional to the desire for that object. Sometimes we get somethings without a desire for them before and they give happiness. But, when it is removed, we come to know that there is a desire for it. The desire might not have been there particularly towards that object, because of the lack of knowledge about the object. But the desire surely was there for that class of objects. Here, objects should be extended to people, pleasure, situation, etc.
Sorrow is nothing but desire. To whatever extent the mind is free from desires, to that extent, the mind is happy. The common method to remove a desire is to satisfy it. But there are problems here:

  1. Dependence on fulfilling a desire to be free from it makes the person dependent. It does not free the person from future occurrence of the desire. (aapekshika dosha)
  2. Anything that is acquired in time will be lost in time. Pains have to be undergone to fulfill the desire. There is always a worry and anxiety of when we will lose what we have acquired. In variably, what is acquired will leave. It will leave behind a bigger sorrow than before, because the mind would have got accustomed to what is acquired. (anityatva dosha)
  3. There is no limit to acquisition. Any amount of anything that we acquire, there is always a possibility of better quality and more quantity. So there will be a sense of incompleteness. Also, there will always be someone else who has better quality or/and more quantity. This will result in the desire not actually being fulfilled. (shaadhishayatva dosha)

Thus, acquiring something to satisfy a desire does not solve the problem at all. In fact, it only makes the problem worse. Kathopanisad says, “No man has been satisfied with money.” (na vittena tarpaniyo manushyaha) Here “money” has to be extended to all kinds of possessions, pleasures and fame.
Now, there is another way to become free from the desire. That is renunciation of the desire. As sorrow is nothing but desire, renunciation of desire also gives the same happiness as fulfilling the desire. In addition to that, this method of freeing from desire does not have the three problems listed above. So, this way of becoming free from desire is a better and permanent way.
Aananda Valli of Taittriya Upanisad has a section where it defines the happiness of a young man in good health with all the wealth and pleasures at his command as one unit. Then it defines the happiness of human musicians as one hundred times this one unit. Then it defines the happiness of divine musicians as one hundred times of that. Like this, it defines ten levels, each level with hundred times the happiness of the previous level. At each level, the Upanisad says, “This happiness also belongs to the desireless person who is full of knowledge.” (srotriyasya ca akaamahatasya) Thus, the Upanisad declares that there is no happiness more than that of a person who has renounced desires because of proper knowledge and understanding.
Thus, knowing the true nature of oneself as not the body and mind, not a part, product or property of the body and mind, making a resolve to be happy unconditionally, if a person renounces a desire, the happiness got out of that renunciation would be much much more than the happiness got out of fulfilling the same desire.
This freedom from all sorrow is called “moksha”.
Then should we not fulfill our desires? Is desire an evil? Without desire, can anything be accomplished at all?
Having desires and fulfilling them is not wrong subject to three conditions:

  1. Legal and ethical – The desire and attempt to fulfill it should be legal and ethical.
  2. Moderate – The desire and attempt to fulfill it should not jeopardize the chances of attaining long term goals.
  3. Non-binding – Non-fulfillment of the desire should not result in sorrow and depression. Be prepared to face the situation where the desire is not fulfilled.

Fulfilling a desire can result in development. But do not expect it to give happiness. Depending on fulfilling desires to get happiness is foolishness, because of all the discussions above. Happiness comes only from renunciation. There is no other way to happiness.
 

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Space and Consciousness

Posted on April 17, 2012 by gokulmuthu

In the 13th chapter of the Gita, Krishna uses space and light as examples to explain consciousness. The Upanisads also use space and light as examples.
In his lectures, Swami Paramarthanandaji uses the concept of space to beautifully explain Consciousness.
Consciousness is the subject which can never be objectified. Everything that can be perceived or thought of, in other words, “objectified” is insentient. The experiencer who can never be an object of experience is the Consciousness. All attributes belong to the objects only. The subject can never have any attributes. This feature of attribute-less-ness of Consciousness results in several interesting corollaries.
Space (aakaasha) and Consciousness (caitanya) have several commonalities:

  1. nirgunam – property-less or attribute-less
  2. nirvikaaram – changeless with respect to time, because any change can be only to properties
  3. sarva vyaapakam – all-pervading because changeless with respect to space, because change can be only to properties
  4. achalam – non-moving because changeless and all-pervading
  5. akhandam – partless, homogeneous and isotropic, because attribute-less
  6. ekam – unique, because there cannot be two, because attribute-less
  7. asangham – non-contaminatable because cannot take on any attributes
  8. sarva aadharam – substratum for everything else
  9. sookshmam – subtle and not easily comprehensible

The difference between space and Consciousness is that space is insentient, whereas Consciousness is sentient.
Now, to understand Consciousness better, Swami Paramarthanandaji takes us through various stages of understanding. First, consider the room and space.

  1. I should learn that the room has space inside.
  2. Next I should understand that space is in all rooms.
  3. Even though rooms are many and varied, space is the same in every room.
  4. Not only there is one space inside all rooms, there is space outside the rooms also.
  5. Really speaking, space is not inside and outside all rooms. All rooms and in fact all objects are in space only.
  6. Not only all objects are in space, all objects are formed in space and when the object disintegrates, it goes back into space only.

Now, replace room by body and space by Consciousness.

  1. I should learn that the body has Consciousness inside.
  2. Next I should understand that Consciousness is in all bodies.
  3. Even though bodies are many and varied, Consciousness is the same in every body.
  4. Not only there is one Consciousness inside all bodies, there is Consciousness outside the bodies also.
  5. Really speaking, Consciousness is not inside and outside all bodies. All bodies and objects are in Consciousness only.
  6. Not only all objects are in Consciousness, all objects are formed in Consciousness and when the object disintegrates, it goes back into Consciousness only.

In fact, all objects are just super-impositions on Consciousness only. Consciousness is the substratum. This is called Brahman.
To explain this, Swami Paramarthanandaji uses another interesting example.
When we say “tall tree”, “tree” is the substance and “tall” is an incidental property. The tree was short earlier. Now it is tall.
However, when we say “golden bangle”, “gold” is the substance and “bangle” is an attribute, because we have “golden ring”, “golden chain”, etc. The bangle can be melted and a chain be made of the same gold. Thus, gold is the substance. “bangle”, “chain”, “ring”, etc are incidental properties.
When we say, “this is a pen”, there is a property which is implied in the word “is” there. It actually means, “this is an existent pen”. Similarly when we say, “this is a boy”, it means “this is an existent boy”. Now, Advaita Vedanta says, “Existence” is the substance. “pen”, “boy”, etc are incidental properties. This substratum called “Existence” is called Brahman.
Thus, the entire world, including my own body and mind, is a super-imposition on this Existence-Consciousness substratum, which is called Brahman (literally meaning “Infinite”).
Another example used for Consciousness in Gita and Upanisads is dispersed white light. Light is everywhere. But only where there is an object to reflect the light, the light is perceived as the object. In the absence of object, the light is there, but it cannot be perceived. Similarly, Consciousness is everywhere. Where there is a reflecting medium in the form of an object, we perceive the Consciousness in the form of the object. In the absence of the reflecting medium, Consciousness cannot be perceived. The word “Consciousness” can be replaced by “Existence” and the same concept applies.
As Brahman is the only Conscious Existent entity, it has to be my own essential nature, because my consciousness and existence are two things that I can never deny. This real “I” is called aatman. Thus, “I” am Brahman.
The entire world owes its existence and appearance to me, just as the entire dream world owes its existence to the sleeping person. The difference here is that when the sleeping person wakes up, the dream world disappears. Whereas, in this case, even after I know that the world depends on me for its existence, the world continues to appear. However, the world will no longer threaten me or cause anxiety to me, because I know that I am greater than the world. The world rests on me and appears in me. Just as movies are projected on a screen, the varied world appears in me. Just as the fire and water in the movie will not burn or wet the screen, the world cannot affect me. I am a greater reality than the world.
A thousand salutations to Swami Paramarthanandaji for explaining the subtle concept of Advaita Vedanta in an understandable way using effective examples.

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Pilgrimage to Prayag, Kashi and Kolkata

Posted on February 29, 2012 by gokulmuthu

I went on a pilgrimage with a group of young boys and Swami Paramasukhananda (Anand Maharaj) from Ramakrishna Math, Ulsoor, Bangalore. We were at Kashi during Shivaratri and at Belur Math, Kolkata during the birthday of Sri Ramakrishna. I cut short my trip and returned back to Bangalore from Kolkata. The others proceeded to Kamarpukur (birth place of Sri Ramakrishna), Jayrambati (birth place of Sri Sarada Devi), Bhubaneshwar and Puri. Photography was prohibited in most of the temples. So I could take only some photos.
From Bangalore, we went to Lucknow by flight (on 18th February 2012) and from there took a train to Prayag (also called Allahabad). The train got delayed because of engine problem. Because of that, we had a lot of time to spend in the train with Anand Maharaj. We stayed at Ramakrishna Math at Prayag.
At Prayag (on 19th morning), we did tarpana (thanksgiving ritual) to various deities, to the forces of nature and to ancestors. Boat journey from the shore to the place of confluence (Triveni Sangam) of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati was nice. Two of the people in our group wanted to tonsure their heads. A barber came to the boat and did the job by the time we reached the Sangam. There were hundreds of birds on the way. Wind was blowing strong. The birds were just floating against the wind. There were some vendors selling snacks for the birds. People were buying them and throwing in the air and water. The birds were competing for them created loud noises.
The calm and blue Yamuna could be seen in contrast with the turbulent and milky Ganga. Initially the boat was going in the calm water. The moment we entered into the turbulent waters, the boat was rocking nicely. There are platforms built at the Sangam to do rituals. We had a nice bath there and performed the rituals. The Ramakrishna Math at Prayag had arranged for a priest, who did the rituals elaborately. Most of the mantras were clearly understandable. At the places where the Bengali accent of the priest made the mantra not very clear, Anand Maharaj told loudly to us in clear accent.
Ganga is the deity of the physical river Ganga. Yamuna is the deity of the physical river Yamuna. Saraswati is not visible in physical form here. The physical river Saraswati is visible in Mana near Badrinath. The concept of deities in Hinduism is very interesting. I am the deity represented by and occupying this physical body. The physical body is not me. I am currently represented in the physical world by this body. I manifest myself, experience the physical world, express myself in the physical world through this body. Similarly, Ganga is the deity of the physical river. Surya is the deity of the sun. When some one offers food to me, though it is the physical body that will eat the physical food, the food is actually offered to me, the deity manifesting through this body. Similarly, all prayers offered and objects like flowers, etc. offered during the various rituals are offered not to the physical river, but to the deity manifesting through the physical river. I, having a close identification with the physical body, would find it easier to express my gratitude to the deity of Ganga through the physical medium of a flower, etc. It is like a person giving a bouquet to another person to express his love. If my body becomes sick or gets dirty in mud or even were lose an arm, nothing happens to me, the deity manifesting through the body. Similarly, Ganga does not lose her sanctity by physical defects. However, out of our gratitude and love towards the deity, we should not pollute the physical river. Prayag, which is the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati, is itself a deity. Prayag does not have a definite physical form. The place and the concept of confluence is the deity. The concept of Prayag is much more subtle even than the concept of Ganga. Similarly, Kashi itself is a deity. Recently, the High Court at Prayag acknowledged this concept in the Ayodhya judgement by pointing out that the Rama Janma Bhumi itself is a deity. This way, Hinduism grooms the person from the kindergarten of worship of God through a form like that of Rama, Krishna, Shiva, etc (called pratima puja) to the school level of worship of God through formless aspect like that of Shiva linga, Ganga, Surya, Prayag, Kashi, etc (called pratika puja) to the graduate level of worship of God as the entire world itself (called viswarupa puja) to the doctorate level of realization of God as the formless and attributeless Absolute Infinite (called nirguna brahma jnaanam).
Anand Maharaj gave a long talk on truthfulness. He explained how truthfulness is the core of all virtues and how it is the bedrock of spiritual development. He got us all make a vow of lifelong truthfulness at the Sangam. He explained that any major pilgrimage should accompanied by a noble vow. That gives more meaning to the pilgrimage.
We visited the Hanuman temple near the river. We visited the three tier temple by Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham. We had a very good view of the Kumbhamela site from the uppermost level of this temple. We visited a couple of other temples. We saw Ananda Bhavan, the house of Motilal Nehru, which houses a museum of Indian Freedom Struggle. We did not have time to visit the museum. We just saw the building from outside. We visited Azad Park, the place where the great freedom fighter Shahid Chandrasekhar Azad shot himself just before being captured by the Colonial government forces.
You can find some photos here.
From Prayag we went to Kashi by van. We reached Kashi on 19th evening. We stayed at the guest house of Ramakrishna Sevashram at Kashi. The Sevashram, which was established in 1900, runs a huge hospital where hundreds of poor people avail medical relief everyday.
There is a belief that death in Kashi will ensure that the person does not come back to the earth as another living being. Sri Ramakrishna had a vision that Shiva chants the taraka mantra into the ears of the people being cremated here.
It is a tradition that people come to Kashi in their old age and live here till they die. This is an amazing concept. Most of the problems of man, especially in old age, is because of our non-preparation to face death. Many of us find it very uncomfortable to even think that we have to face death one day. The problem becomes more and more acute as the person becomes old. This results in a lot of psychological problems like insecurity, etc. When a person decides to go to Kashi and never to return back, he has accepted death as a reality. This removes the fear of death. This helps the old person to face death with peaceful dignity and with a sense of indifference. This is very visible in the environs of Kashi. At Harischandra Ghat and Manikarnika Ghat we could see people watching burning corpses without any discomfort. Cows roam around eating garlands removed from dead bodies. A queue of corpses covered in white sheet and decorated with colorful flowers await cremation. Corpses burn in open fires of logs of wood. Children were playing happily flying kites near burning corpses. No one seemed to be uncomfortable with death. Seeing the whole sight, we also start accepting death as a reality and start becoming comfortable with the concept of death. This is the magic of Kashi.
We walked from Dasashwamedha Ghat to Harishchandra Ghat one day. We walked from Dasashwamedha Ghat to Ramanandaji (Kabir’s Guru) Ashram on another day. We visited a number of Shiva temples. We visited a dilapidated house (near Kedar Gauri temple) where Sri Ramakrishna stayed for three months when he visited Kashi. Sri Ramakrishna’s sandals are preserved here. We visited the Vireshwar Shiva temple near Scindia Ghat where Swami Vivekananda’s mother prayed for a son. She believed that she got Swami Vivekananda as her son by the blessing of the Shiva in that temple. We visited the ancient Bindu Madhav temple. We spent some time at Ramanandaji Ashram. They are running a wonderful gurukula.
On the day of Shivratri (20th Feb) we fasted. Some of us ate only fruits. Some of us did not eat anything. On the night of Shivratri we went to Vishwanath temple. We had a nice time in the temple. Due to the crowd, we could not go into the central shrine. There was a CCTV installed in which we could see the deity. We spent more than one hour in the temple. Under Anand Maharaj’s leadership, we chanted from Vedas in the temple premises. He chanted the entire Rudram. Then we visited Vishalakshi temple and Annapurna temple. We again went to the Vishwanath temple the next day. It was crowded but we could get a glimpse of the deity.
We visited Saranath and other temples in Kashi like Kalabhairav temple, Tulsi Manas Mandir and Durga temple. We visited the Hanuman temple called Sankata Mochana, where when Swami Vivekananda visited, he was chased by a group of monkeys. He ran away from them and they chased him. A sadhu who saw this shouted to Swami Vivekananda to face the brutes. He immediately stopped and turned back. The monkeys ran away in fear. Swami Vivekananda recounted this incident and advised people not to get frightened by problems in life. If we face the problems courageously, they can be solved. We took part in the Rama bhajans by a small group of local musicians in the temple. Tulsi Manas Mandir has nice exhibits of moving toys depicting various scenes from Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavata and other Puranas.
Saranath is the place where Buddha gave his first sermon. Several countries like China, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Sri Lanka, etc which have a significant presence of Buddhism have built temples here. There is a small museum by the Archaeological Society of India. Here is kept the original piece of the Lion Capital, which is the emblem of India. The original of the Ashoka Chakra which adorns the Indian flag is also in this museum. We visited the temple built by Thailand, which has a replica of the Bamiyan Buddha, which were destroyed a few years back in Afghanistan. We also saw the excavation site with the foundation of a big Buddhist monastery.
You can find some photos of Kashi here and Saranath here.
From Kashi we went to Kolkata by train. We reached Kolkata on 22nd. We stayed in a guest house near Belur Math. We visited various places in Belur Math and a few places in Kolkata related to Sri Ramakrishna tradition – Dakshineswar Kali temple, Swami Vivekananda’s ancestral home, Balram Mandir (house of Balram Bose, a devotee of Sri Ramakrishna), Cossipore garden house (place where Sri Ramakrishna passed away), Cossipore cremation ground (place where Sri Ramakrishna was cremated), Baranagore Math (place where the monastic disciples lived after Sri Ramakrishna’s passing away), Yogodhyan at Kankurgachi (where Sri Ramakrishna’s ashes were first enshrined), Udbodhan house (place where Holy Mother lived) and M’s house (place where the Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita was written). At every place, Anand Maharaj told some incidents that happened in that place and explained the significance of the place. We also visited the Kali Ghat temple.
You can find some photos here.
The tradition of Ramakrishna Math is to have the sannyasa ceremony on the night of the Jayanthi of Sri Ramakrishna. Sri Ramakrishna Jayanthi come three days after Shivaratri. On Shivaratri, the would-be monks perform the shraadha rituals for their parents, grand-parents and great-grand-parents and then to themselves. On the night of Sri Ramakrishna Jayanthi, there is a Kali puja. Then the rituals to take the monastic vow happens. Then they are ordained into Vedic monasticism as dandi sannyasins. Then the next part of ceremonies start. At the end of it, they are ordained as paramahamsa sannyasins. They belong to the Puri order of Dasanami sampradaaya. All the rituals are held privately in the presence of only other sannyasins. At the end of all the rituals, at around 5:30am, they are given the sannyasi name. Then they go out for their first bhiksha. It is a really grand sight to see the young newly ordained monks going in procession after the ceremonies. Blessed are the people who get to reach the final phase of human life as proposed by the Vedas. A hundred times blessed are the people who get to reach the final phase without passing through the life of a householder. A thousand times blessed are the parents of these young monks.
A soldier serves the cause of his country by offering his life and the comforts of hearth and home. A monk serves the cause of the entire humanity by offering his life and the comforts of hearth and home. When a soldier gives up his family and relationships temporarily, the monk gives up permanently. When a soldier is paid a salary for his job, the monk lives on alms. The life of a soldier is glorious; the life of a monk is a million times more glorious.
Normally people in world are so carried away by the idea that happiness and security comes from relationships and objects. All sorrow in life is because of this misconception. The monk, adorning his ochre robe, is a bold declaration of the truth that happiness and security do not depend on relationships and objects. His name has the words Swami (sign of non-dependance on anything for security) and Ananda (sign of non-dependance on anything for happiness). The very presence of monks in the society is an elixir to the suffering humanity. The monk is the epitome of human evolution and development. The monk is the sign of man’s complete mastery over nature. The monk is the living declaration of the victory of the human being over all the remnants of his animal ancestry.
Overall, I had a wonderful time in the company of wonderful people visiting wonderful places.

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Sutras for life

Posted on February 4, 2012 by gokulmuthu

There was a 3-day Stress Management Workshop conducted by Art of Living for some of the people in our office. There was a list of short principles that are very good to always remember and try to follow. These are not new. I have come across all of them in several contexts before. Just that the collection is good. I am sharing them here:

  1. Whatever you do, give your 100% to it.
  2. Live in the present.
  3. Life will always be full of opposites like success-failure, anxiety-peace, etc. It is the negatives in life that make us understand and appreciate the value of the positives.
  4. Accept people and situations as they are. Only when we have accepted, we can think calmly and prepare an intelligent response.
  5. With responsibility comes power. Take responsibilities.
  6. Don’t be a football to other’s opinions.
  7. Don’t see intention in other people’s mistakes.
  8. Be grateful for the good things in your life. This will attract more good things.
  9. Sam-gachadvam – Let us progress together.

However, I want to add one more, which was not taught in the workshop:
I feel the biggest stress-buster is to be absolutely honest and straight-forward. I just need to be plain, simple and straight-forward. Let there be absolute alignment between my thoughts, words and actions. Then I let nature take it to its logical result and I accept the result without any complaint. I have found this to be the ultimate stress-buster. I am not not the one running this world. My only responsibility is an honest contribution to the best of my ability. With me or without me, the Lord will get His work done. By being a contributor, I gain some experience, pondering over which, I will gain some wisdom. Otherwise, I have no business in this world. There is nothing to be achieved by me in this world. My only responsibility is to be honest, pure and humble throughout my life.
 

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Poverty

Posted on January 29, 2012 by gokulmuthu

I am watching the wonderful video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pktOXJr1vOQ
Here are some thoughts … may be right, may be wrong, may be immature.
Millions of people all over the world are dependent on structures and systems hundreds of kilometers away from where they live for basic necessities. This is the main cause for poverty. The only way to solve the problem of poverty is to decentralize and localize creation of wealth and value addition.
The poverty in the world today is the remnant of the devastation created by the colonizing powers like Spain, Netherlands, Portugal, French and British. The devastation is continuing today in the form of capitalism and multinational corporations. Countries half way across the globe were looted of their gold, silver and tin. Food crops were replaced by cash crops. Cash crops were exported and food was imported. Raw materials were exported to the colonizing country and finished products were imported, even for basic necessities like clothing. This model, which makes the rich richer and poor poorer is followed by multinational companies across the world and by corporates within the country.
Every business should ask this question: “Is the way that the product is developed, services offered and the business done make the rich richer and the poor poorer, or does it tend to make the gap narrower?” If every effort is made to make the gap between countries and between people narrower, then it is an ethical business. Otherwise, it is not.
The basic necessities of life like simple food, primary health care, quality education from 5 years to 17 years, water for drinking, washing and agriculture, materials and technology for construction of houses, financial institutions that give loan, employment round the year, etc should be available within 100 kilometers of every person. Any person anywhere in the world should be able to live based on food, medicines, water, building material and schools completely procured and produced within 100 kilometers. A person may have to go beyond 100 kilometers or procure from beyond 100 kilometers for luxury food items, higher education, fancy construction material, luxury items like cars, TV, mobile, etc.
Similarly, local language, local myths and legends, local religions, local literature, local drama troupes, and other local art forms should be promoted. Of course, customs which divide people, customs which do not uphold the dignity of every person, etc should be reformed. But the local cultural diversity should be preserved as a living human legacy and not as a dead museum piece of the past.
Local support systems like families, extended families, communities, cooperative societies, etc., that can collectively take care of people who are facing tough times by supporting each other at a local level are always more accessible by everyone than big banks, insurance companies, orphanages, old age homes, etc.
More number of children and poverty almost go hand in hand. As the number of children go up, the attention given to their health, education, care, etc go down. This creates a generation of people of less quality. But lone children have other attitude problems. Good schooling and extended families living close together give a better environment for children to grow into better adults intellectually and emotionally.
Poverty can be ended. The solution is decentralized administration and decision making, developing local economies at village level and empowering people at the lowest level. Raw materials should not be moved. As much as possible, finished products should be developed as close to the place where raw materials are produced. This will improve the local economy. No part of the world should entirely depend on food and water from beyond 100 kilometers. This basic empowerment will make people stand on their own legs.
 

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