Onam : A Remembrance For All, and a Hope for the Future?

Today (the 28th) marks the festival day of Onam. It is a date of great joy to the people of the State of Kerala, India as it celebrates an almost mythical period of great prosperity in their State, in a time long ago.

It is written:

When Maveli ruled the land, All the people were equal. And people were joyful and merry; They were all free from harm. There was neither anxiety nor sickness, Deaths of children were unheard of, There were no lies, There was neither theft nor deceit, And no one was false in speech either. Measures and weights were right; No one cheated or wronged his neighbour. When Maveli ruled the land, All the people formed one casteless race.

If only such conditions would again prevail.

For the Kerala people it is a time that is remembered in reverence, and an occasion to apply some of the principles you would find in such conditions, namely kindness and forbearance. 

Such an occasion is reminding me of the TV series recently shown on BBC TV about the Buddha, Socrates and Confucious. All these three could be said to be idealists who would greatly welcome the conditions stated above, and ideals that they promulgated in their lifetimes.

In other words, these three believed that in the psyche of man there is the spark and quality that can lead to perfection - towards the Perfect Man. And this is the Truth also taught (in different ways) by both Jesus and Muhammed and other great souls.

All we need to do is to work to find that "spark and quality". Yes that is "all". And if we were to do so then the ideal world would, ultimately (after much suffering perhaps), prevail.

It can be done: the Festival of Onam reminds us of that. But like the Great King of that time, our leaders must show the way. We should find leaders of the right character, then.

The time will come.