Abhijit Naskar's Blog - Posts Tagged "moderation"

Many people are mad at the escapades of billionaires in space, but the fact of the matter is, had they been invited to go with the billionaires themselves, most of them would be thrilled to their bones, for they are not really mad at the billionaires, they are mad because they can’t afford such fancy travel.


You see, they are the same people who save up their hard-earned money so they could have a relaxing or thrilling vacation somewhere, even though their version of vacation turns bleak in front of the glorious space vacations of the super-rich.

So to those who pompously ask the question, “should people travel to space for fun”, I ask, “should you have a vacation on an island for fun – should you have dinner at a fancy restaurant for fun – when countless souls are suffering from the lack of the very essentials of life?”

It’s all about status. A billionaire’s idea of vacation is in space, whereas a regular person’s idea of a vacation is on some island or in another continent. And if the billionaires are abusing resources for personal enjoyment, so are these regular people.

You have no right to demand moral accountability from billionaires, if you yourself don’t mind engaging in your everyday luxuries – for your luxuries may seem dim compared to those of the super-rich, but still the resources you spend on them could feed and clothe at least ten families in developing parts of the world for a year.

The very existence of billionaires is a sign of economic disparities, but they are not the sole cause of those disparities. Every individual engaging in luxury beyond necessity is as much responsible for the economic disparities in society as the super wealthy. So till you learn to distinguish between necessity and luxury and thereafter abolish all trace of luxury from your own life, you are the problem yourself, as much as the greedy capitalists and politicians.

(The above piece is an excerpt from Gente Mente Adelante: Prejudice Conquered is World Conquered, 2021)

All our life we work hard to buy golden chains.
With which we then bind ourselves.
What's the point of living as fancy slaves?
What will we do with our billion-dollar graves?
We sit on our couch covering our eyes,
Then we yell, why everything is so very dark!
But no one hears for they are also shouting,
Praying for a messiah to bring back life's spark.
We've forged fascist fences out of all our gold,
And have placed them as walls around us.
Then we shout out - help, help,
And beg to be saved by the universe!
Greed of dollar is the toxic mold on the green of life.
Life flourishes on moderation, not consumerist strife.

Ever wonder in a world of consumerism,
Who’s the consumer, who’s the product!
You may think that you are the one owning things,
But it’s the things that own you, head and heart.
When unmoderated materialism is the world’s norm,
Consumer is the product, product does the consuming.
And this insanity is revered as industrial growth,
Then they wonder, why is there so much suffering!
The point is, your insecurity is good for business,
The shallower you are, the more your pocket empties.
But if you don’t wanna end up at la casa de loco,
Stop living in products and focus on memories.
Corporations chasing revenue cause economic disparity.
Buy less, buy local, to construct a sustainable economy.

Peace is not a statement,
Peace is existence.
Love is not a sentiment,
Love is sentience.
Awareness is not a practice,
Awareness is absolution.
Moderation is not restriction,
Moderation is jubilation.
Ignorance is not inferiority,
Ignorance is upliftment.
Failure is not the end,
It is the road to development.
Acknowledge the whole, quirks and all.
You have all the powers to treat the world.

Be a gentle giant like the elephant,
not an opportunistic carnivore like the wolf.
The elephant doesn’t harm anyone
to prove its greatness, while the wolf
doesn’t think twice to devour another wolf.

Greatness unfolds through gentleness,
Illumination unfolds through expansion.
Coldness is the mark of cowardly animal,
Cruelty is cover for beastly degeneration.

Worst of all carnivores are the humans,
There is no end to their appetite.
Animals no longer partake once they are full,
While human greed knows no sane height.

More clothes, more cars, more cash,
Just how much will you consider enough!
Till you put a cork on cocky abundance,
Not felicity but disparity wreaks havoc.

Savagest carnivore of all is the human.
Uncorked materialism is new cannibalism.

I don’t do Netflix,
I don’t binge for adrenaline.
I find it far more soothing to
listen to old BBC radio shows
while I do my writing.

Happiness is not a matter of exhilaration,
Happiness is a matter of moderation.
Just because all the monkeys are partying,
doesn’t mean you gotta give submission.

So I say, get your priorities straight,
Happiness will take care of itself.
If you don’t know to draw your own lines,
That’s not freedom, but apish descent.

I don’t scroll till I pass out,
I don’t drink till I feel sick.
Happiness means happy-in-less,
Trends don’t bring you peace.

“Joy of Conscience (The Sonnet)

Consciousness brings joy,
Consciousness brings relief.
It's a different kind of joy,
sanctified by bouts of grievance.

Consciousness causes content,
unsurpassed by material excitement.
Only through conscientious moderation,
shall we overcome shallow disturbance.

Materials are needed for sustenance,
beyond that point it becomes poison.
Cluttering the mind with toxic waste,
it separates the human from human.

Consciousness brings joy,
untainted by shallow glee.
Surrounded by compromised ritual,
consciousness alone can set us free.”

“Radość Sumienia (Sonet)

I'm happy,
I'm happy.
Moje życie nie jest moje,
Służba jest zbawiieniem.

Służba is zbawieniem,
Radość tkwi w byciu razem.
Pomaganie to ludzkość,
Egoizm is przekleństwem.

Moją walkedą jedność,
Moje Światło jest niepodzielne.
Most of the time it is integrated, it is
important to know that it is not possible.

When the problem arises,
it may be degraded.”