Bhubaneswar, May 22 -- By Prasanna Mishra

There is a quiet but dangerous illusion at the heart of modern civilisation: the belief that whatever we can control, accumulate, purchase, dominate, or legally possess, truly belongs to us. Human beings today speak endlessly of "my" land, "my" wealth, "my" success, "my" position, "my" resources, "my" influence, and even "my" time, as though existence itself has been permanently transferred into our custody. Yet beneath this language of ownership lies a profound fragility. We arrive empty-handed into the world and leave it equally empty-handed. Between birth and death, we merely pass through.

The ancient insight of the Isha Upanishad - "Receive the world without the arrogance of ownership" - the...