In
a riverbed were two trees. One was the mighty banyan tree and the other
was a thin bamboo reed. The banyan tree used to poke fun at and deride
the bamboo. "You are spineless and cannot stand for your rights. Look at
me. Not only am I tall and stand erect, I also give shade to the wary
and my tentacles allow me to spread myself far and wide", it would say
to the bamboo. In the rainy season a great flash flood came. The mighty
river’s force uprooted the banyan tree while the bamboo simply bent with
the current and when the floods receded it became erect again. This
story is normally told as an example of humility. Bamboo was humble, it
bent and survived whereas banyan was haughty, arrogant and refused to
bend and hence was uprooted. However there is another great lesson in
this story that is only those systems that come in equilibrium with the
surroundings survive.
Evolution of natural systems normally takes place via branching. Thus
all species whether plants or animals branch out at a certain time in
their evolution. This branching takes place when the system goes far
from equilibrium or "becomes unwieldy", and is governed by laws of
non-linear thermodynamics.
The branch, which comes into equilibrium with the surrounding forces,
survives and prospers whereas the other branch simply withers away. This
is the basic theory of survival of the fittest since the evolutionary
branch, which can withstand and weather the elements survives.
Coming into equilibrium with surroundings also means actively
interacting with surrounding forces like sun, wind, atmosphere and
gravity. A system can only interact with the surrounding forces when it
can sense them. Thus natural systems have developed mechanisms for
sensing all these elements and hence have temperature, humidity, solar,
chemical and gravity sensors.
By following the natural evolutionary mechanism it is possible for us to
become happy.
Most of the time we are not happy because of conflict within the self or
with the surrounding forces, which include people and environment. In
order to resolve the conflict or come "in equilibrium" with them we
should be able to sense our surroundings. The first mechanism for
happiness is therefore to become acutely aware of the surroundings and
the corresponding forces. This means that one should develop a sensitive
mind and increase one’s awareness. Both these are produced by making our
minds powerful through Yoga. A powerful mind is a great information
processor and hence can process signals and information from the
surroundings very efficiently. Without awareness the interaction with
the forces is only a one way affair i.e. we are controlled by them.
This enhanced awareness also helps us become non-violent towards nature
and our fellow human beings because we can start understanding the other
person’s point of view. Similarly it also gives us strength to make
others aware of our point of view. This is the genesis of compromise or
coming in equilibrium with the surroundings. If we approach a conflict,
which could either be internal or external, in the spirit of compromise,
then it has a mechanism to elicit a corresponding sentiment from the
other person. This results in conflict resolution.
Compromising
nevertheless is not an easy process. It requires a great courage and a
very high quality of thought to produce compromise formulas since a
viable and an acceptable solution has to be provided. Gandhiji had made
this compromise process into an art form and it was the reason for his
great success in finding solutions to difficult problems.
This ability to compromise is the second mechanism of happiness. Without
the process of compromising, the evolutionary path will be based on
conflicts and may end in all round destruction of both people and
environment. This path is being presently followed by our civilization.
Hence conflict resolution through the mechanisms of awareness and
compromise can produce true sustainability and eventually happiness.
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In
a riverbed were two trees. One was the mighty banyan tree and the other
was a thin bamboo reed. The banyan tree used to poke fun at and deride
the bamboo. "You are spineless and cannot stand for your rights. Look at
me. Not only am I tall and stand erect, I also give shade to the wary
and my tentacles allow me to spread myself far and wide", it would say
to the bamboo. In the rainy season a great flash flood came. The mighty
river’s force uprooted the banyan tree while the bamboo simply bent with
the current and when the floods receded it became erect again. This
story is normally told as an example of humility. Bamboo was humble, it
bent and survived whereas banyan was haughty, arrogant and refused to
bend and hence was uprooted. However there is another great lesson in
this story that is only those systems that come in equilibrium with the
surroundings survive. 