SOUR GRAPES Dr. Shriniwas Kashalikar
The effect of what I see; in terms of happiness, excitement, greed, craving, envy, surrender, prostration, sadness, depression etc depends on my paradigm and my constitution i.e. personality! Thus I may develop desire or repulsion; both due to pettiness! If I see something very beautiful or something very impressive, then I think too highly about it (and lowly about myself) and conclude that it is beyond my reach. The other reaction could be that I may conclude that it is not worth (“sour grapes reaction”) the efforts and hence try to condemn it! If I try to acquire arbitrarily it may lead to material and spiritual exploitation of others and if I try to
renounce everything out of despair or despondency then it may lead to material and spiritual exploitation of myself. In both instances there is mutual loss and degeneration. Forced and arbitrary acquisition and forced and arbitrary renunciation do not constitute the way to satisfaction! The blissful essence or core of life (though the details may vary according to the times and places) is; everything in life (acquiring and dispensing) has to be so evolved and organized that it leads to individual and global blossoming. Conversely, the individual and global blossoming through NAMASMARAN, leads to evolution in the processes of acquiring and dispensing!