The Great American Ritual

The Great American Ritual - Black Friday

November 25, 2011

There is a great American ritual every year called Black Friday that is typically on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Stores open very early, sometimes at midnight and announce fantastic sales. As expected in the Bhagavad Geeta, this kind of sale encourages the wrong kind of response every year with crowds getting bigger and wilder. This year, the state of the economy is almost a tacit excuse for this kind of madness. The Youtube link below is a long one but you can stop watching after the first couple of minutes unless you take vicarious pleasure in scenes of mayhem (yes, that is normal but.... I am not judging).

Once again, Śrī Kṛṣṇa got it spot on in 16-12
आशापाशशतैर्बद्धाः कामक्रोधपरायणाः |
ईहन्ते कामभोगार्थमन्यायेनार्थसञ्चयान् ||१६-१२||
aashaapaashashatairbaddhaaH kaamakrodhaparaayaNaaH .
iihante kaamabhogaarthamanyaayenaarthasa~nchayaan.h .. 16\-12..
Bound by a hundred ties of hope, given to lust and anger, they do strive to obtain, by unlawful means, hoards of wealth for sensual enjoyments.

Pujya Swami Chinmayanandaji in his commentary in the Holy Geeta goes onto say:

Madly they strive on to acquire and possess, and in their desperate anxiety to indulge and to enjoy, they lose sight of the divine principles of existence and the noble dictates of their conscience. THEY DO STRIVE, day and night, to satisfy their inexhaustible passion, with wealth acquired and hoarded by all known unjust means.

Enough said. While I have never been among those who waited in line to be first into any store on Black Friday, I am among those who has wandered the stores on Black Friday hoping to get an 80% on something expensive!

Hari Om and Namaskaar until the next post

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