Who is a Yaksha? We can understand the idea of Yaksha through an example. A century and a half ago, people across Asia ate unpolished rice. Subsequently, colonists brought rice mills to Asian countries. However, the natives continued to prefer the taste of the brown rice. They did not want to switch to white rice for a long time. This situation may have continued for longer. However the traders and the elites played their part in pushing white rice to the rest of the society.
Certainly, polished rice has a longer shelf life. It survives the severe conditions in dock yards and warehouses. Naturally, traders wanted more polished rice from the farmers. Secondly, the neo elite in any colonized country prefer western sensibilities. They therefore coined the term “dirty” for brown rice. Besides, they branded white rice as the staple of the educated. As a result, parents in the middle class began feeding only white rice to their children. These parents dreamed of their children becoming “sophisticated and modern”. Soon, the consumption of white rice spread. Citizens, especially the young were denied vital nutrients. However, the ruling elite paid no attention to the idea of nutrition. In summary, brown rice became the norm within a generation or two.
Getting an entire population of a nation to switch back is not so easy. It has widespread ramifications for trade-dependent development models. For example, by the calculations of the New Economy working group, Philippines can eliminate rice imports if its citizens made the switch. However, Philippines continues to be one of the world’s top importers of rice.
Collective Psyche and Yakshas
Inertia in human societies appear to favor a do-nothing attitude. Politicians avoid rocking of the boat rather than doing what is right for its citizens. Unfortunately, the heaviest inertia is in matters of Economic equilibrium. This makes us wonder if there is “free will” in a human society? Certainly, Individual citizens have free will, but does a society have free will? Any society must go through churning when an existing equilibrium is destroyed to give way for a new one. In summary, a society resists its new personality! Who in the society is the leader of this resistance? Is it the politician who anyways has a short span of rulership? Is it the economist? Planners also come and go.
Ancient Rishi’s simplified the understanding about such phenomenon. They attributed it to the collective psyche, the collective consciousness. They called the collective psyche of a town, a province or a nation as a Yaksha. A Yaksha is a legendary being with a psyche but no body. However, he has a life span. Secondly, his lifespan is longer than the human life span.
We can turn to ancient knowledge to analyze many irrational behaviors in the post modern world.
There are several nuances and kinks about collective psyche in a modern society. The Vedic tradition attributes these to beings who have more power than a human being. For example, every activist struggles against the establishment. But who is the “establishment”? This question lead us to accepting a certain powerful force of inertia in society. A Yaksha is as undeniable as this force of inertia.
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