Animesh Anand is an editor, based in Dehradun, India. He loves reading about the spiritual traditions of the world. He also loves music!



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Animesh Anand

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 id="h-animesh-anand-explores-the-nature-of-cultural-differences-how-we-perceive-them-how-we-transcend-them-and-how-a-meditative-mind-can-perceive-from-a-deeper-level-avoiding-prejudice-and-bias-this-leads-to-unity-amidst-the-diversity">
 ANIMESH ANAND explores the nature of cultural
 differences, how we perceive them, how we transcend them, and how a meditative mind can perceive from a deeper
 level, avoiding prejudice and bias. This leads to unity amidst the diversity.
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Around the time I started meditating, I was studying a particular culture. After I was done with some preliminary
 reading, it got me thinking, “So how is it that this is so beautiful, but others don’t know about it”? Then, when I
 read about another culture, I felt the same way. Each of them was so right in their own way. Over a period of three
 weeks, I felt like I had been two different people!



After a few more meditation sessions, it hit me: It was me who was looking for a side to pick. It wasn’t those books.
 Those books said to me what they wanted to say. And each one wanted my best, in their own way. My line of
 questioning changed to: what if everyone’s talking about the same thing, but in a different way? Is there a point of
 intersection?



Looking at things with a contemplative mind helps you expand your consciousness– your sense of awareness of the
 things around you and your own self. You see “the bigger picture.”It helps you slow your brain activity. The
 increased focus helps you really understand what you are looking at. In terms of learning about another culture, it
 would be: What are you learning? In what context?



Often, we approach a culture, or a faith, with a preconditioned mind. We are born into it, or told that it is the
 only truth. Our inclination to cultures are deepened by looking at people and the goodness we see in them. That’s a
 beautiful thing; but we often disregard the fact that we see only a subset of a very large group of people, who are
 a result of many things – not only their faith, but other factors that are instrumental in bringing about goodness
 and affecting their choices.



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The differences we see in each other are often the result of factors like:



<ol type="1">
 <li>Forms of governance. As an example,
 people born in capitalist societies are often more punctual than those born in socialist countries.</li>
 <li>Geography. People choose their
 attire depending upon the land they were born.</li>
 <li>Land. This decides what people eat
 (meat, vegetables or both).</li>
 <li>Size of country. To what extent is
 a culture strongly or loosely connected? Has there been an intermixing of cultures that has led to what we see
 today? etc.</li>
</ol>



Meditation helps us see that it’s always easier to see the separators than the integrators. They
 are more frequent, more prominent, and more fact-based, something our minds gather quick. Integrators happen when
 the mind’s done its work and the heart operates.



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<h4 class="has-text-align-center">Integrators happen when the
 mind’s done its work and the heart operates.
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After we are done trying to fit another into our pattern of identification – and, in the worst case, failed – we let
 the heart take over. Imagine if you were lifted from your country and placed in a different country where the
 language is different. I believe you would pick the language up, eventually. Would you be hungry for long? I don’t
 think so. You would start communicating, expressing your needs. Others would start responding, and you would develop
 a sense of how communication takes place in this new culture. How do babies learn a language, anyway?&nbsp;



Contemplation helps us see that the intersections are love, harmony, compassion, and kindness. So-called primitive
 societies are often limited to such integrators. For more complex societies, we can add intersections like zeal to
 work, being honest, accepting what is rightfully ours, and rejecting what’s not.



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An intersection common to all societies is the realization that we are all born, each of us has a desire to live a
 peaceful life, and each has wishes, a few of which are going to be met and some are not. Each one of us is going to
 have a life that’s for themselves and for others. The intersection is love.



Unity comes with a move toward the higher.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Meditation helps us see the higher side. It lets us see the reality among truths. In practical terms, it helps us see
 the esoteric sides of faiths, which we often tend to miss. While understanding a culture, we are often
 re-establishing our association with an existing belief system, rather than trying to understand what it really is.
 Our approach is inherently conformational. Otherwise, the integrators would be more prominent. And our walk toward
 unity would be faster.



Isn’t it ironic that we are pre-disposed to seeking unity in the material world? Because we have a common material
 interest. Yet, in our personal world, we have found ways to dissociate from others. The same people we work with,
 might have a different relevance outside the context of work. Bringing it down to a smaller context, when we have a
 bad day at work, we are eager to go home. When we have conflict within the family, we want to run to work. Think of
 it in the simplest context: If you were dying of thirst in the middle of a desert, and someone gave you a glass of
 water, would you be worried about their culture or their religion?



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Points of intersection

<h4>
 ANIMESH ANAND
 gives us some tips on how to identify and cultivate the simple things in
 life that make us happy, rather than trying to create happiness through
 external means.
 </h4>

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 Ever since childhood, we’ve been bombarded with stressors: to perform
 brilliantly at school, to be awarded a prestigious degree, to get a
 wonderful job, a beautiful partner, a profitable client, a big car, etc.
 It’s endless. What if we were to look at them not as stressors, but just as
 other tasks? As things we don’t need to do if we can’t. What if we
 look at our entire lives like that?
 

 
 Will not having those things make us less beautiful as human beings? I don’t
 think so. Can we use that as a reminder every time we feel stuck and at a
 loss? Imagine feeling low at potentially losing a $1,000,000 business deal.
 Worse, what if the deal comes through but you die on the way home? (Sorry,
 just trying to make a point here!) Every time we “lose,” can we remind
 ourselves of the beautiful things we already have: the spouse who loves us,
 the child who looks at us and sees his entire world, friends who look
 forward to spending time with us.
 

 
 Every day lived well is a day of a few acquisitions and a lot of gratitude.
 

 
 What gives us the strength? Happiness. Sometimes, we seek
 to create happiness, but “to create” can be another stressor,
 because we seek to create something we lack. Could we instead
 identify happiness? Let me explain. Say you like music and playing
 the guitar. Creating happiness would mean that you play the guitar to derive
 happiness out of the activity. Identifying happiness reminds you that you
 are playing the guitar because it makes you happy.
 

 
 Finding something that’s already there is much easier than creating
 something. The distinction may not be that great, but when we’re feeling
 absolutely beaten and someone tells us to create happiness, it is
 yet another difficult thing.
 

 
 We derive happiness from the little things in our lives, and from the people
 we touch and who touch us. Sometimes, I think that all we need is food,
 shelter, clothing, and a few good people. Of course, there’s
 nothing wrong with trying to have it all, but it’s okay not to. It’s
 important to remind ourselves that we are not the doers. In fact, we can try
 with all our might to do the best we can, without entertaining the idea of
 “doer-ship.” That’s the essence of life.
 

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 It’s
 important to remind ourselves that we are not the doers.
 In fact, we can try with all our might to do the best we can,
 without entertaining the idea of “doer-ship.” That’s the
 essence of life.
 
 </h4>

 <hr />

 <hr class="vertical-space1" />

 
 Everything in Nature keeps moving. Trees give us life. The Sun shines. Your
 pet dog wags its tail at you. Excellence cannot be forced. It’s already in
 you. The only problem is that we’re bogged down by the hits we take, and the
 idea of doer-ship adds to the burden of negatives. When we don’t feel we are
 the doer, yet we go about doing things, the idea of unhappiness isn’t really
 a burden. Of course, sometimes we will feel down, but it is easier to get
 back on our feet.&nbsp;
 

 
 There are things we can do, and there are things beyond our control. Should
 the world end, who would be there to know if we ever existed? Yet, playing
 our part to save the world is our duty. Since we exist, we must act. We can
 ask. We cannot demand. We can try. We cannot be sure.
 

 
 Forgiveness also helps us identify happiness. Seeking rewards appropriate to
 your efforts is a great thing, but wishing ill for those who deny you those
 rewards is not. Sometimes you feel you’re not being heard. So change course,
 wishing well for those who didn’t hear you. The end result? You are in a
 happier state of mind.
 

 
 What happens when you think about things that make you unhappy? I believe
 they are polarized views of the world, choices, desires driven by choices, a
 perceived sense of loss, generalizations, etc. Of course, choices are what
 make us and they are important. If it weren’t for choices, a man stuck in a
 hole would never pull himself out. But creating a balance is equally
 important and conducive to happiness. It essentially comes down not to
 disregarding things that are not on your palette of choices, but
 just letting them be.
 

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 class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/identify_happiness2_fb4956081f.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-10T13:01:39.391Z" />
 

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 Happiness isn’t always winning. It isn’t
 always having a big smile
 on your face or making merry with family and friends.
 Sometimes happiness is just being able to stand tall in the
 face of adversity.
 
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 Happiness isn’t always winning. It isn’t always having a big smile on your
 face or making merry with family and friends. Sometimes happiness is just
 being able to stand tall in the face of adversity. Some people spend their
 entire lives malnourished, yet they smile. Why? Perhaps it is because the
 concept of material comfort has not even been planted in their minds. It is
 okay to work for money and success, but without being disappointed if we
 don’t acquire them after consistent efforts. Why do we let the idea of not
 having something that was never ours disappoint us? For everything we have
 lost, for everything we thought we could be, we still are and will always
 be.
 

 
 Once we identify what makes us happy, accepting what we already have, we can
 work on creating something from it.
 

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