Good, Evil and Peace.

                We are living in a society of contradictions. From our childhood, we are taught nothing but contradictions. Contradictions are everywhere, in the form of good and evil, in the form of right and wrong, in the form of rich and poor, in the form of superior and inferior etc. In the broad spectrum of contradictions, in our society, we are often offered to take sides. We are often taught to take the right side of the spectrum of goodness and righteousness etc. and abhor the left side of the spectrum which constitutes all evil. We often mistake that the religious goal is all about attaining the state of goodness. But true religion consists in transcending both goodness and evil alike. Because both good and evil actions, leave a residual karma, which invariably brings results in the form of future birth in a mortal frame.

Good and Evil

                The comprehension of good and evil, emanating mainly from the religious code of conduct, affects a great deal in our lives. It affects the way we form our society, affects the way we build our national consensus on important issues, affects the way we build our national security and so on. We will see how these contradictions affect our daily lives.

The problem of good and evil:

                Every religious system comprehends good and evil in a certain way. The western religious ideals of good and evil are very rigid, with God taking sides on the good part and the devil taking sides on the evil part, and there is a constant warfare between the two sides. The evil is for eternal and is damned to suffer in hell forever.

                This perception of good and evil is reflected everywhere in the western society. That is why we find an innumerable number of superheroes battling an innumerable number of super villains. We find Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America etc., always in battle with the evil and sinister looking Joker, Bane, Goblin, Dr. Octopus, Electro etc., This reflects the way we look at a man. It proposes that the root of someone is good and that of another as evil. This idea of recognizing evil poses a great danger for the spiritual growth of the society.

Super Villains Vs Super Heroes

                This philosophy of recognizing evil necessitates an eternal battle against evil. That is why we find that the western society is in constant warfare with a society which they recognize as evil. Even when they don’t find a necessary evil, they devise one. That is why in Iraq we find that the western nations devised a WMD though they did not find any concrete proof of it, to wage war. They label someone as evil to wage war.

Spiraling war in the Middle East

The degree of good and evil:

                According to the eastern religious views, all actions done in the purview of the society is accompanied by both good and evil. Every action is accompanied by a certain degree of harm to someone. For example, we build a dam, but it displaces innumerable habitats of human beings and animals. Eastern religions recognize only a degree of goodness and evil. An action which is good is accompanied by a lesser degree of evil, and an action which is bad is accompanied by a greater degree of evil.

                This philosophy doesn’t mean that a person has the right to commit murder, looting and rape and say that it has something good in it, but rather it presents an opportunity for a person to come out of evil and progress on spiritual lines. A man has to progress from evil to good and ultimately shed both good and evil because both are equally tainted by residual karma, which creates further births in a mortal frame.

                That is the reason why our society doesn’t take much credit for the good works it is doing. We are not attached to the credits of good work. India is one of the most charitable nations in the world. Our charity is inbuilt and doesn’t need a publicity for it. Whereas the western nation do a charity as an outward engagement, and give a huge publicity, and are attached to the credits of good work, since they recognize evil.

charity 

               Peace is not goodness and not evil either. Peace is above good and evil. Therefore transcend both good and evil alike.

Thank You.

               

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Objective and Subjective Peace

                Peace and enjoyment don't go together. We often mistake enjoyment for peace. Enjoyment is a fleeting sensory experience, derived from objects outside, whereas, peace is long lasting, an art of abiding in the subject. Enjoyment can be obtained in an instant, but peace needs a long concerted effort. It is very easy to lose peace by engaging in sensory pleasures, but difficult to retain it. To sustain peace, one has to tune up all the parameters of life to an optimum level. There must not be an occasion or excuse for not being peaceful because peace is often related to the subject, rather than the object or the environment, to which we are exposed to.

Objective Peace:

                The rigors of life, sometimes, makes a man search for peace. The current situation or the stint in which he is in, makes him to look for peace elsewhere. Sometimes, the proximity of the stressful objects, makes him to look for peace outside. This is the natural reaction of a man, in stressful situations, to look up for peace outside.

                Many, looking for peace, end up in objects, which serve their gratifications. The objects, no doubt, gives peace and enjoyment, but only for a short while. For example, some, to beat stress, watch movies, which no doubt, provides the much needed relief, but the enjoyment which we derive from it doesn’t last long. The memoirs of the movie doesn’t linger long in our minds.

                The same is with television, internet, partying with friends, dining in fine restaurants, going for a holiday, smoke and drinks etc., They beat stress, but once again we find ourselves in ground zero when it is over. By following this quest for objective peace, we create a cycle of stress followed by a cycle of peace. From Monday to Friday we will be stressful, and in weekends we will be peaceful. Our objective is to create a real peace, and not create repetitive cycles of stress and peace.

stress and peace alternating

                The next objects which promises peace, as we see, are very tricky, as some of them guarantee peace, like reading books on peace and going to temples etc. but often we lose peace in the process. We search for books on peace, hours together in a web portal, a book that will satisfy our soul. Even if we find the right book, it is only the practice in our lives, which ultimately counts. Books are just the path teller, and not the path itself. It is just like a map, but actually we have to make the real walk. Man knows how to be in peace; looking for peace in books is nothing but another diversionary tactic of our mind, to be away from peace.

Subjective Peace:

     Subjective peace is not dependent on any objects. It comes from within. It has no trace of sense-impressions, freed completely from all tangles of entanglements. To understand this, we will have a short look at the philosophy of the subjective peace.

                According to the ancient system of Samkhya and Yoga, the highest possible state, which a man can attain is of two. One is the state, which is devoid of objects or any impressions, and which abides in the universal consciousness, and which is the subject itself. The other, is the state of realization, accompanied by an objective consciousness (projected by the subject), with universal aspects, a God.

                Some of the great saints, even cut down the objective consciousness of God, to attain the highest state of universal consciousness, devoid of objects. This is the acme of spiritual effort. The body cannot sustain long in this state, and that is the reason why some of our great teachers of mankind, climb down from this state, to a relative plane of God-consciousness, to preach humanity.

                The goal of the subjective peace is to attain the former state, of objectless state. Any ‘objective impression’, which draws the mind out, has to be rejected. Because, according to yoga, all objective impressions, end up in misery and weakness.

Subjective peace

                This is the real peace, and it can be practiced in day to day life. The process is to cut down all objective impressions which draws the mind outside. A man gets lasting peace in this state, than seeking temporal peace in external objects. Therefore, it is ignorance, to search for peace outside, for the real peace is within.

Peace! Peace! Peace!

Thank You.

               

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The Ugly Duckling and the Art of Self-Transformation

Hans Christian Andersen:

The Ugly Duckling is a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen (1805 – 1875), a Danish author, who is best known for his fairy tales for children. His fairy tales were so popular that it was translated into more than 100+ languages around the world. He has 168 fairy tales to his credit and some of his popular works include, “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, “The Little Mermaid”, “The Princess and the Pea”, “Thumbelina”, “Tinder Box” etc. His work, the ugly duckling is a classic and has captivated the imagination of millions of children and adults across the world, ever since it was published. I was one such kid who was captivated by this book when I received it as a prize for some oratorical competition, the details of which I no longer remember.

The odd looking ugly duckling

The theme:

                The whole book is not more than 10 pages, but it is the theme which resonates in the lives of millions and millions of people, the theme of self- transformation. This book is more about the real identity of a man. The book is about spiritual growth. The book is about life. The book is about meditation. The book is about life's miseries, joy, and final redemption. Thus, there are innumerable themes which can be interpreted out of it and all can be put together under self-transformation.

The story in five lines:

                This book is best read in the form of a pictorial story. Most of the publishers have a pictorial story of this book. But there is always a small variation between the original story and the pictorial version adopted by the publisher, without compromising the theme. Here is the story published in a pictorial.

1. An ugly duckling of an abnormal shape, size and look is born, among the other fine looking ducklings.
2. The ugly duckling, because of its odd looks, is often abused, neglected, disregarded and scorned by the society.
3. The ugly duckling, hurled by the salvo of abuses, decides to leave the society, to live in the forest.
4. In the forest, the duckling leads a lonely, meditative and beautiful life, without abuse or scorn or fear from the society.
5. After some years, the ugly duckling grows into a beautiful swan, much admired by its new companions.

   

   The Transformation

                The story ends with the transformation of the ugly duckling into a beautiful swan. The original story has many human elements which are trimmed by some of the publishers.

Spiritual context:

                  The ugly duckling paints a beautiful part of our nature which is contrary to the conventional identity that we have assumed ourselves or what the society has given us. Often that which is ugly turns out to be beautiful. This story shatters all conventions of the society. The story is one of human growth and maturity.

                Men are often engrossed by their identities, in the form of looks, social strata etc., which the society labels on them. They are piled by the miseries and the sufferings, which the society puts on them. Men are akin to this ugly duckling, often cited for their ugliness and miserable looks. 

                Men often think that the social life is the only life that exists. But there is another side of the life, where the goals and ideals are contrary to the social conventions. As men enter the other side of this life, a great peace dawns on them, far removed from the chaos of the society. This is the life similar to that of the ugly duckling, a lonely, meditative and beautiful life, far removed from the abuses of the society.

                Men, after a prolonged series of meditative life, transform themselves into something larger than life, just as the ugly duckling transforms itself into a beautiful swan. This is the transformation, which nothing can alter, which nothing can disturb, and which is permanent. Men then become majestic like the beautiful swan in the ugly duckling. Men experience great joy and peace-infinite with this transformation. 

                Men in their lives carry the so-called tag of social identity, which is far removed from the real identity. A man has to pause for a while to find out his real identity, to seek redemption, peace and joy.

The self-transformation

Thank You.

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Entropy of the mind.

Expanding Universe and Entropy:

The universe, as we know, is expanding because of entropy. Edwin Hubble and other scientists made a series of observations in the galactic systems, which indicated that the universe is expanding. As the universe expands, there is an increase in entropy or increase in the disorder of the system. As a result, there is nothing which is going to stop the earth and sun from being wiped out. (According to second law of thermodynamics, entropy is the degree of increase in the disorder of the system)

Expanding universe

Vietnam War and Entropy:

One of the reasons why the Americans lost the Vietnam War is the entropy. Earlier, the Japs and the French were at a loss at how to defeat the Viet Minh. The Viet Minh were ubiquitous. They were ever elusive and would not give an open battle. The Americans, later, faced the same problem in containing VC (Viet Cong) and NVA (North Vietnamese Army) in Cochin China and Annam. Even the American fire power, bombing of Ho Chi Minh trail and the secret bombing of Cambodia and Laos, could do nothing to deter the VC from infiltrating the South Vietnam. This is entropy. There is nothing which is going to stop it from happening (unification of Vietnam).

Americans battered in Vietnam

Entropy of the mind:

Our human mind too is prone to entropy and disorder. As time goes on, the entropy of the human mind increases or the degree of disorder of the human mind increases. For example, how we go on surfing the net without any reason. We hop from one site to another endlessly. We start from Gmail, then to Facebook, twitter, news, amazon, Flipkart etc., and then we go on endlessly jumping from one site to another. The mind is not fixated on a particular thing or the mind drains away in the process of hopping. This is the entropy of the mind.

This happens not only during surfing net but also in our day to day activities. As soon as we begin our morning, hundreds of thoughts enter our mind and hundreds of desires enter our mind and hundreds of unplanned activities that too will enter our mind. All these things fuse together and bring chaos. The mind begins to shift its gear from one activity to another, without any reason or aim or without seeing the end in one particular activity. This hopping off the mind drains our energy. 

Entropy of the mind

Brain Drain:

What happens when the mind drains out?

1. By constant hopping and because of the constant scattering of the mind in various activities, the mind loses its resoluteness. The singularity of the purpose is lost. The loss of resoluteness of the mind is passed on to the body, which culminates in the loss of vital energy of the body.
2. We feel abundant energy during that time, but it is only a last glow before flickering and dying out. The energy is transformed into outward movement or activity, which when barred becomes anger, and which when stopped from execution, becomes destruction. Entropy ends here – in destruction.
3. By this process, we not only disturb our peace, but disturb the peace of others and the whole world as well.
4. By the repetition of the cycle, disease creeps in. The body becomes prone to anxiety, build-up of stress, poor time management and so on.

          How to stop entropy of the mind:

It is very difficult to stop entropy. It is an uphill task. It is like pushing the river back to its source, the mountains. As we all know that the material systems are bound to entropy, the body being a material system, disintegrates, becoming a receptacle for innumerable diseases, and finally brings death. The mind too is prone to entropy and that is the reason we find loss of memory in old age. The mind too fades out. So, how to stop this ever disintegrating disorder?

A way to do it is to lift the mind from the material plane to the spiritual plane. In the higher planes, where the material phenomena is absent, the entropy ceases. Entropy has no effect on the spiritual system of man. The body may finally disintegrate, but we remain identified in the spiritual phenomena. So, how to lift the mind from material plane to spiritual plane?

1. Disengage from all outside activities.
2. Bar all external movements of mind and body.
3. Bar all external contacts with sense objects.
4. Bar all nominal identifications, with respect to the body.
5. Meditate and be at peace.

Meditate to counter entropy

This is the process. We have to shut down the whole system. Shutting down refers to shutting down the material system, but remain alive in the spiritual system. Many are at first apprehensive about shutting down in its entirety, because they feel that life is lost altogether. Yes, it is true the individual life is lost altogether, but a new universal life opens up, which is not prone to entropy.

Therefore escape disorder (entropy) by escaping into spiritual realm.

Thank You.

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Money – an Anathema of Spiritual Life.

                Two spheres of life coexist in man. One is the spiritual sphere and another, the material sphere. These two spheres of lives are inherently incompatible with each other and yet, they seemingly coexist with each other in man. All conflicts of man arise mainly due to the incomprehensibility in resolving the nature of existence in these two spheres of lives. All conflicts of man arise due to the finiteness of existence in the material sphere of life. Therefore, man ought to know clearly the nature of these two spheres of life. We will see how money acts as a great impediment in resolving the conflict between these two spheres.

Spiritual sphere:

                The spiritual sphere is opposite to the material sphere of life. It stands for everything non-material. In other words, it is not subjected to any material conditions. All material activities cease to exist in this sphere. All identifications of the body and its associated objects cease to exist in this sphere. All traces of ‘I’, and ‘mine’ is completely obliterated in this sphere.

                Man in infinite, eternal without pain and suffering. Man in this sphere is identified with the universal consciousness. These are not mere theories, as we often think, but is the blatant truth.

Idea of Infinite

                The whole struggle of mankind is indeed the struggle to arrive at this spiritual sphere of life. All challenges that we undertake in our lives is simply aimed at but arriving at this phenomena.

Material sphere:

                In one word, if this sphere has to be defined, it is the limitation. It is the limitation of the existence of the body, the limitation of birth and death, the limited condition of material life and so on. Every day, we are the witness to this phenomena. Every day, we witness the death of an innumerable number of fellow beings. Every day, we witness the deformity associated with the material body. The outcome of such a living would be nothing but pain and suffering. The material sphere is further complicated by the idea of enjoyment in material opulence, which in fact furthers suffering. Material sphere poses an insurmountable wall, difficult to overcome. We, human beings are normally confined to this material sphere.

Idea of material and body

                There is a way to move out of this material sphere. Its principles are laid down in ancient times by Yogis (men of insight). The principles, as we see are always contrary to the ordinary run of the world. For example, whatever brings the idea of the body must be rejected. This, in fact, is contrary to the very idea of living in a body but is in perfect accord with the spirit. Money is one such a thing, as we see, poses a great impediment to the attainment of the spiritual sphere of life.

Money:

                The whole gamut of the material world can be squared into a single entity called money. Money represents an idea of reference to the body. Money represents the possession of sense objects. Money represents the idea of enjoyment of sense objects. Money refers to everything that signifies material. Money represents the base of the material world.

Money - a curse for aspirants

                Therefore, hard-core spiritual aspirants, wishing to get rid of the idea of body, get rid of money altogether. Money, for them, even possessing in the least trace, would hinder the goal towards highest realization. What money means for those aspirants is detailed below.

1.        Money implies the loss of peace.
2.        Money brings all external movements towards objects, which is contrary to all meditation.
3.        Money implies all sense objects, which gives an aspirant, the idea of a body.
4.        Money explicitly implies sex, which again generates an idea of the body.
5.        With money, one cannot begin any meaningful spiritual practice.
6.        Money makes an aspirant behave like a whore, who parades the idea of the body in the world outside of  the spiritual realm. 

Caution:

           Therefore, money is an anathema of spiritual life. For those who give up their lives entirely for the sake of striving towards the higher spheres of life, must reject the money altogether. But the case certainly does not apply for those who lead a marital life. The best practice for them is detachment towards money and objects, but keeping up the work at the same time. 

The challenges for a spiritual aspirant are always upside down, contrary to the world outside. But nevertheless a significant challenge and what is life without such challenges?

Thank You.

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