What is Culture ?

I wish to make a mention that my inspiration is mainly drawn from the books by Chinmayananda ,Dayananda and ofcourse, Vivekananda. I respect their schools of teaching very much.

Man’s control of external nature is called civilization.

His control of internal nature is called culture.

Our culture is deep and beautiful. We must learn to admire and respect the same.

Instead of mechanically following the customs, if we try to understand their significance we learn there is logic, science, social as well as spiritual significance in many of them.

We must make an effort to follow the practical aspects which are suitable for the modern, technological age, at the same time remembering that we must not lose our roots completely. Our culture is highly adaptable and rejuvenates itself.

An individual’s nature is called “ samskara “. The same nature when applied to a community living for a long time in a particular geographical area can be, in a broad term, called culture of that community. Hence culture differs from one country to the other.

By culture, we also mean a kind of refinement in words, thought and action. This cannot be taught, but has to be imbibed ! The inner beauty of a person cannot be judged by his or her external appearance or educational qualifications. It is best judged by the refinement of character which we can call the person’s culture. We need both spiritual culture and materialistic culture in our life.

There are people who think that religion is a matter of faith and we are accepting what we do not see. We also think that science and religion are contradictory. Dr. Radhakrishnan, the great philosopher has said “ A little science takes you away from religion but more of it brings you nearer religion.”

Let us not take philosophy to an extreme, but learn to analyze keeping it in balance.