FUNDAMENTAL HAPPINESS Series 18 - Acknowledging your lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) status is also a sign of spiritual growth.

Acknowledging your lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) status is also a sign of spiritual growth. It requires both courage and authenticity and leads to self discovery.

Those of you following events in India may be reading about the existence of an outdated Section 377 in the Indian Penal Code (which dates back to 1860!) that makes carnal intercourse 'against the order of nature' between consenting adults a criminal act. In other words, gay sex has been historically considered 'unnatural' by law. The LGBT community and the liberal segments of society have been struggling to get gay sex decriminalized. In a historic judgement delivered in Jul 2009, Delhi High Court overturned the 150 year old section. On 11 December 2013, the Supreme Court of India reaffirmed homosexuality to be a criminal offence setting aside the 2009 judgement given by the Delhi High Court. The Court has ruled that it is for the law makers to amend the law to decriminalize gay sex. This has been unfortunate not only for the LGTB community in India, but also for free, independent thinking. 

Anyone following my blog may have observed that the starting point of a spiritual journey towards FUNDAMENTAL HAPPINESS is acknowledging your entire existence truthfully. The basic stance of joyful existence is authenticity  or truthfulness about yourself. It leads to self discovery and acceptance of self. If you do not do this, you are in denial. Sadly most of us are in denial as far as the state of happiness/unhappiness is concerned. We may live our entire lives pretending we are happy. The first step is to honestly acknowledge the basic unhappiness within. That could pave the way for lasting real HAPPINESS.

I recall my own plight for many years. I was feeling my inner dissatisfied self; it was painful. Yet, I thought it was 'correct' to pretend to be like other 'normal' people. This pressure to be 'normal' could also be societal. Normative behavior is considered safe. Falling into a predetermined, accepted norm is often considered to be the safest thing to do. In effect we are constraining ourselves like prisoners. "So what? I have the comfort of being accepted as normal" some would say. Not being able to give up our comfort zones is the biggest hurdle in the way towards FUNDAMENTAL HAPPINESS.

Now imagine the plight of a gay person. If you have the courage to acknowledge your orientation and come out openly with it, you risk social rejection in some segments of society and, worse, you may also invite legal action! Yet, these are the persons who have done a big service to themselves. They have been authentic. Unknowingly, they have brought spirit into their lives. Leave aside their frustrations with society, they could be joyful and peaceful persons, having accepted a major aspect of their existence. That is a mighty starting point.

In contrast, those who are still not out in the open are often forced to lead an artificial, fake life, and are likely to be miserable. Much like the fake life many of us are leading on the happiness-unhappiness scale.

Cheers!

Deepak Chatterjee

chatterjee.deepak33@gmail.com
www.facebook/deepak.chatterjee.944
@Deepak33C


Views are personal