Politicians did not come and fall upon us either from heaven or hell, they are just one of us. They are not made in heaven or hell. If a situation crops up, one of us will stand up as a politician, isn’t it? Even if one of us become the leader of this country tomorrow, we will be doing the same things that they are doing, or probably worse, because that is the kind of system we have set up. In Tamil there is a saying, “You only get the kind of leader that you deserve.” It is very true. We have that kind of leaders because that is what we deserve.

If we want to have better leaders, we must make ourselves deserving, that we do not play petty politics in the small arena of day-to-day life. If we stop playing petty politics among ourselves, won’t we naturally elect a better leader? If all of us develop a certain sense of integrity, can the leader afford to continue the way he is? No. So you can transform them only if you transform yourself.

Without individual transformation there will never be universal transformation; a basic change in consciousness needs to happen. Trying to change social, national or global realities without working on human consciousness means there is no serious intention. If people are genuine about their interest in transformation, they need to understand that it has to start with themselves, there is simply no other way.

So should we wait for the population of the whole country to transform themselves before the leaders transform themselves? No. That is not what I am saying. But without that intention in you, without that intention in the people, we cannot demand that from our leader, isn’t it?

For example, suppose a minister comes to the local village, the village people are only talking about something for their community, it does not matter what happens to another community; that is the attitude. So there is corruption and division in the very way you think and feel and understand life. How can our leaders be free from that? The leaders are trying to please the people because this is a democracy. They have to keep the people pleased all the time otherwise they will not get elected. So people’s likes must change if our leadership has to change. There is no other way.

So wherever we are, whatever little activity we are doing, if we show some sense of unprejudiced leadership which is for everybody’s wellbeing around us on a day-to-day basis, on a moment-to-moment basis in our life, then we will throw up good leaders.
Isha Foundation New Zealand conducts Isha Inner Engineering and Hatha yoga Programmes. It also offers free Isha Kriya and Isha Upa yoga practices online for the general public regularly.
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