I have been wondering about one observation I had when I was in India. Pretty much all streets in India has the least traffic order you can image--the streets are throng of drivers, pedestrians, animals, and all living things possible trying to cross each other and only narrowly avoiding each other. You hear horns and traffic engines, but you rarely hear people yell or shout at each other, like people do in China and most other places. I always wonder why.
Today I find my answer, or at least one answer, from the book of yogi IYENGAR. "In the West, people take everything very personally and there is even now something called Road Rage where drivers attack and even shoot at each other....In Pune and most of India...Drivers honk their horns constantly at each other to alert each other that they are there and to vie for position, but we take if far less personally. We know that it is the roads and millions of people trying to live their lives and get to where they are going....Every Indian is not a yogi, but our culture reminds us that sometimes life is impersonal. We all are subject to impersonal forces--like traffic."
I see. Isn't that the same with other things as well. I/We got so annoyed when people bump you or stay close to you in the subway, we got so upset when pedestrians do not follow traffic lights, we are probably most angry when motorcycles or cars pass you fast that they almost cause danger to your safety. We continue to reminate the office we received long after. Yes, they don't obey rules. But think about it, they cut us off is not because they have no respect to us, they are just people trying to living their lives and going somewhere. They may not have the same standards as we do, but we can not control them. When think of these, we think of ourselves first, that we are subject to these impersonal life forces, control, direct and work with the anger.
Today I find my answer, or at least one answer, from the book of yogi IYENGAR. "In the West, people take everything very personally and there is even now something called Road Rage where drivers attack and even shoot at each other....In Pune and most of India...Drivers honk their horns constantly at each other to alert each other that they are there and to vie for position, but we take if far less personally. We know that it is the roads and millions of people trying to live their lives and get to where they are going....Every Indian is not a yogi, but our culture reminds us that sometimes life is impersonal. We all are subject to impersonal forces--like traffic."
I see. Isn't that the same with other things as well. I/We got so annoyed when people bump you or stay close to you in the subway, we got so upset when pedestrians do not follow traffic lights, we are probably most angry when motorcycles or cars pass you fast that they almost cause danger to your safety. We continue to reminate the office we received long after. Yes, they don't obey rules. But think about it, they cut us off is not because they have no respect to us, they are just people trying to living their lives and going somewhere. They may not have the same standards as we do, but we can not control them. When think of these, we think of ourselves first, that we are subject to these impersonal life forces, control, direct and work with the anger.
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