Acharya Prashant explains that if we say we can be together as a nation only because we share a common language, a common religion, or a common race like the Aryans, we must see the dangers that come with it. He cites the example of Germany in the 1930s and 40s. He states that nationalism, like any other ideology, becomes problematic. However, there is a very distinct kind of nationalism that can be very virtuous. This is a nationalism that is not divisive, not founded on what separates us, but instead founded on what unites us. Acharya Prashant points out that all existing nationalities are founded on divisions. A group of people get together and say they are a nation because they have a common shared characteristic, which separates them from others. He refers to Jinnah's two-nation theory, which argued that Hindus and Muslims are two different nations because everything about them is distinct and exclusive. When you have a nationalism founded on differences, it becomes toxic, violent, and leads to horrible consequences. Most of the nationalism we see actually arises from the ego and is therefore not auspicious at all. The ego thrives on differences and loves to have boundaries; the bounded self is called the ego. He proposes a nationalism that arises from something beyond the ego, based on a unifying principle. This principle, he says, is enunciated most clearly in Vedanta and is called the borderless Self, or Atma. This is a clarity that is not tainted by personality. Our thoughts, ideologies, and opinions are not absolute; they are colored by our personal self. He suggests creating a nation with the objective to dissolve 'I-ness' and to create conditions in which the ego is dissolved, sublimated, or purified. The purpose of such a nation is the inner freedom of the individual. This, he says, is the proper nation. Acharya Prashant defines the real India, or Bharat, as something too transcendental to be contained on a world map. A true Indian is someone who wants to understand the self, relationships, life, and death, and is born to be liberated. This is the kind of nationalism we need—one founded on understanding (bodh). We must bring the reality of life to the young. The reality of life as we live it is the reality of the ego. If they can see how the inner thing operates, they will also see its futility. When men get together in their common mission of ending suffering, a noble nation is born.
