Non Resistance

It is human nature to resist against the various forces that coerce him/her into doing things forcibly. This can be seen from the minor defiance to bloody wars and revolutions. The sole aim of resistance is to bring about change quickly, preferably for the better. This resistance can be individual or collective, but its attributes are similar. The consequences of a successful resistance are well observed throughout history, thus rendering it the seal of approval. But all this is in the realm of society. In the spiritual realm there is a strong advocacy for non-resistance. "Resist Not Evil" is the adage used frequently. What is the reason behind this apparent contradiction? The dilemma seems to be "To Resist Or Not To Resist", to take a cue from Shakespeare.

Resistance is important in the society. To bring about positive and beneficial change among the populace, a strong and effective resistance is vital. The independence of various countries would not have been possible without some sort of resistance to the existing forms of government. In such instances, resistance is a widespread and far reaching movement. Consequently, the immediate and far reaching effects of resistance can not be predicted. Rather, it is like a loose cannon, ready to blow up any time in any direction without notice. This unpredictability notwithstanding, social resistance is an effective method.

Resistance is not spoken of fondly in spirituality; non resistance is the norm here. Here is where the difficulty arises. If one thinks upon resistance in spirituality, the first item to consider is the ability to resist. For example, non violence is harder to adhere to for a physically strong person. Likewise, only the person capable of resistance can practice non resistance. Next comes the outcome of non resistance. This aspect seems even more complex to realize. The idea to let things take their own course does not seem to be very promising. It is human nature to take things under his/her own control and keep them that way. But non resistance goes in exactly the opposite way.

Upon closer scrutiny, however, a different picture emerges. Non resistance is one of the most important and powerful tools for spiritual expansion that we can have. Spiritual advancement is possible by curbing the various human instincts, one of which is resistance. I am not saying that human instincts are vile or wrong. I am only stating that they don't serve any purpose in spirituality. So non resistance is a sort of a spiritual exercise also. Thus it is a means as well as an end in itself. This is consistent with the theme of spirituality.

The Meaning Of Success

Recently, one of my good friends finished her PhD. thesis, and a bug has been twirling inside me ever since. I have always wondered what we think of success and achievement. What exactly is the meaning of achieving something? Is it merely a fulfillment of one's goal or something else......something more?

The root of the question is... from where exactly does this goal emerge? I opine that most of the goals that we chase are either set by others, or even worse, not worth pursuing at all. So this blindfolded and single minded passion for achievement may all go down the drain if not focused in the right direction. But right now, we will assume that the goal is worth pursuing, for reasons to be discussed in future blogs( hopefully).

Each and every aspirant who is laboring towards success knows that the path is almost always difficult. But that seems to be the beauty of it. We are happy even when we are exhausted to our own limits. To take an example, say a sculptor working hard to make his statue sees a glimmer of happiness when he visualizes that the statue will come to fruition, even though it may take serious hard work to get there. Also, the happiness felt after reaching the goal is not just due to the fact that its over, but also due to the hardships endured along the way.

So we see that it is the work done towards the goal that makes success so sweet, and not just the achievement. As always, other views are welcome..

Atheism and Science

This age is hailed as the age of technology: the age where man has pushed and ultimately crossed the very boundaries of possibilities and turned them into reality. Man's enterprising spirit and desire for knowledge have led to unparalleled innovations in all fields of life and, if cryogenic freezing is made possible, even death. These inventions and discoveries have induced further doubts in the mind of the so called learned people regarding the necessity and the efficacy of religion in their lives. Science is very busy these days in questioning and disproving the age old religious beliefs.

But is this atheistic concept or belief the sole reality? The reasons for such a belief seem to be pretty interesting. Almost, if not all, the scientists that claim themselves to be atheists have been - dare I say - 'disillusioned' by the two prime monotheistic religions they they belong to: Christianity and Judaism. If we take the Nobel Prize as the highest symbol for excellence in the scientific world, then most Nobel Prize winners are either Christians or Jews. The other major purely monotheistic religion, Islam, has had 11 winners, whereas Hinduism, the most varied of all religions, has had 6 ( I could not find any other Buddhist Nobel Prize Winner other than the Dalai Lama). Now if most of the so-called geniuses believe that there is no God in the Universe and that science in one form or the other is sufficient for explaining all of it's workings, then they are surely mistaken.

A scientist's mind is conditioned to work on facts and facts only. The scientist will not accept any other point of view that contradicts his/her own logic and reasoning. Using these weapons of logic and reasoning, the modern scientists are busy bringing down the entire structure of religion. But this is where they are wrong. Each and every scientific theory stands true only as long as the experiments confirm it's truth. The moment one experiment yields results that are contradictory to the theory, the theory is banished and a search for the new one begins. Now imagine that God is one such theory and the various religions are it's various experiments. If a scientist who does not know even of the various experiments on which the theory has been tested, he can't say that the theory does not give satisfactory results. Similarly, if a person does not know about religion then he can't deny the existence of God. He may not accept His existence as well, but the denial is equally wrong.

So if a person is dissatisfied o unimpressed by a system of religion, he has to continue his search by other ways and means until he is 100% sure of the truth of his belief. In the scientists' case, they have an advantage of already heading into that direction. Each and every scientist is pushing the limits of science in his own way, only unconscious of the fact that he may stumble upon the greatest and simplest truth along the way: Self Realization. Only after this will the truce between science and religion be forever reached.