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Perspective
Human Power: A Divine Gift
by TA Ramesh
 In
the birthdays, marriage parties and other festive occasions gifts are
offered as a mark of honor or affection or respect or love. Likewise out
of love towards man God has also given him a gift which is present in
him. That is why the saying goes that – “What you are is God’s gift to
you and what you do with it is yours to Him.” God is not a merciless or
an inhuman spirit. God has given man freedom to think and do what he
thinks, feels and likes. So, we have to be thankful to God because of
this privilege conferred on us.
Using this privilege it is necessary first to discover what is the
special gift present within us. If we think introspectively about our
real nature, it will look plain that the gift we have is the power we
possess. It will look sufficient if we simply discover our power; we
have to develop it to the maximum we can so that it can be put to
effective use. Why? Our power only can help us to survive for the
purpose of fulfilling the noble cause for which we are created and that
can be the only aim of our life even though money, men and other aids
drift away from us.
Utopia
Already there are a lot of miseries, chaos, troubles and problems in
this world. So, either we have to do good deeds or simply keep quiet,
because if we do the things that is not expected of us to do simply for
the sake of doing something so that we can be thought to be dynamic, it
will further accrue unwanted miseries making this world a hell rather
than a heaven or a paradise which is our own making. Everybody loves
paradise or Utopia. It is our duty to convert this miserable world into
a Utopia. Each one should think about the part one has to play in this
venture. That is why the discovery of one’s own power is primarily
essential for everyone.
Evolution to Divine hood
The God given gift of man is the only real power of man. The rise and
fall of man depends upon the use of this power in his hand. From the
theory of the evolution of man we understand that from the Stone man has
evolved to the present stature. Because of his special capacity to
think, analyze, understand, discover and use the God given power in him,
man is actually distinguished from animals, plants, insects, stone and
other things on the earth. With the help of his special power he has
developed himself and the world to the present stage and is developing
further to the necessary extent in line with the creative expansion of
evolution in the broader sense. More and over it is interpreted that man
is in-between beast and God in nature. But with the right use of his
special power he is capable of achieving divine hood, which is the top
point of ascent of the evolution of man and is prevalently an accepted
assumption as far as the interpretation of the intellectuals are
concerned in general.
Variety in Creation
The Supreme Creator is a lover of variety too. That is why each and
every creation has an individual trait. No two creations are the same.
On the earth man is placed in a unique position because of his mind to
think about everything and act according to his thoughts much prettier
than other creatures. Among men also the mind varies from person to
person and hence everyone must be an individual. Therefore it is true
that God has certainly gifted every person with some special power
suitable to each one’s nature. Every individual with the aid of his mind
chooses a field in which he is best at and uses his special power to
express what personality he has. The fields in which individuals have
shown their powers are Arts, Philosophy, Religion, Science and Politics.
There is variety in God made nature and so also there is variety in man
made arts.
Creative Evolution
Step by step God has created so many things by evolution and is still
continuing the process of creation by modifying the already created
things through evolution. It is quite evident to know that the work of
God is creation through evolution. From the scientific observation it is
detected that the Universe is ever expanding. Therefore it is clear to
note that the expansion is the cause for the creative evolution of God.
What God is doing in the macro level man is capable of doing in the
micro level. Due to this fact it is said that man is an image of God.
Hence the creative activity has to be the best form of function of any
living being.
Evolution and Revolution
Natural evolution brings about changes in the existing order of things
as a sort of improvement or development leading towards a new order of
life. Man also brings about changes through revolution, a temporary
thing which cannot stand before the all round natural change in line
with the pace of evolution taking place in accordance with the
evolutionary trend. Then only it will be possible to preserve the
investigations of truths against the natural destructions for the
convenience of the posterity to explore the other parts of the whole
truth without starting the process of investigation right from the
beginning as it is being done in our centuries or a little bit earlier.
It is quite amazing to note that in spite of the great destructions of
the world due to the natural causes and the causes of the war lords the
mind is ever the only helping device for man to patch up the remaining
things of the past to find out the truths of the past men or creatures,
to know how far man has succeeded in his pursuit of the whole truth and
what he has to do next. In this respect man has become a revolutionary
in order to compensate the precious losses of things and Time so that he
can keep himself up-to-date and go ahead confidently in life.
The Work of Mind
For the past five centuries human mind has tremendously developed to so
high an extent that the performance of the psyche classified under
different nomenclatures shows a high degree of minute delicacy in many
human enterprises. It has now come to the stage that mind is everything
for man. In the 18th century poet Alexander Pope had said that “the
proper study of mankind is man” in The Proper Study of Mankind.
Even now the study about man is going on as man is still a great
mystery, because of the intricate activity of his mind. Without the
mind, it is impossible to realize the soul, conscience, heart existing
in the living body, the world and the Universe. Both the intrinsic and
the extrinsic activities of the body are totally governed by the mind
only. There is also variety in the very functioning of the mind. It is
ceaselessly capable of remembering, memorizing, contemplating,
reflecting, perceiving, conceiving and speculating day and night. Even
the sexual instinct, emotion, sentiments and passions are understood
through the mind only. Therefore whatever things man does, it is
entirely the work of his mind.
Time, Waves and Mind
There is a well known comparison between the mind and the sea waves and
between the mind and Time. Waves do not rest. Time never stops. Mind
works incessantly. In nature everything functions under the principle of
cause and effect. Human mind is also functioning under this principle
only. What is the cause for the ceaseless working of the mind? Time is
the basis for all kinds of activities and without which no development
is possible and no progress is attainable. The natural forces make the
waves agitate constantly in order to make chaos null and void. The
activity of the mind cannot be kept in a standard position. Mind has to
collect information, analyze and investigate truths and associate ideas
to solve problems. This is the cause for the ceaseless working of the
mind and is the purpose for which mind is created. Hence, it is to be
said that mind is the only reliable guide to man for his marvelous
activities in the world.
Three stages of the Mind
The natural functions of the mind are considered to take place in three
stages. They are 1. the sub-conscious stage, 2. the conscious stage and
3. the super-conscious stage. The sub-conscious stage of the mind is in
charge of heart beating, breathing and is in control of automatic
withdrawal from pain and indulgence in pleasure and such like things.
The conscious stage of the mind as said earlier is doing the work of
thinking, reasoning, perceiving, acquiring knowledge and so on. The
super-conscious stage of the mind which is called the spiritual mind or
Supra-mental Power is concerned with the truth consciousness in
everything. The spiritual illumination of the super-conscious mind is an
experience of bliss obtained in pursuit of absolute truth. Like the
human body has evolved so long from the stage of the stone to the
present stage of man, the mind of man, it is said, is evolving to a far
developed stage of perfection which is the full fructification of the
super-conscious stage or the spirit of human being.
Synchronization of Mind and Time
It seems that the time taken so far for the evolution of human being
gives the clue for the time needed for the full evolution of human mind
too. The time consciousness of man for all sorts of activities has
become so essential that time is considered to be a great spirit which
guides man as to how the proper use of his body and mind can be
effected. This Time-Spirit calls for accurate knowledge for the
developmental activities of man so that the right use of the body and
mind is easily possible. The mere ambition of man cannot bring about the
necessary result without the possession of real knowledge along with the
pace of time. Even though Mind has advanced far beyond Time, man’s
activities should go in line with the pace of time, then only the
transformation of man to a developed stage will be a healthy one as per
the gradual evolution of Nature. Hence, the synchronization of the mind
and Time is needed for the steady pace of development.
Knowledge needed to discover Power
Indeed the vast scope of the mind is a great boon to man whether the
physical structure of man is healthy or unhealthy or strong or weak. But
only the right use of both the mind and the body simultaneously can
fully express the personality of a person in any field like Arts and
Science. The power of man is known or understood only from the
self-expressions in such fields. Just like the saying goes that “the
face is the index of the mind,” the acts of a person reveal what sort of
a nature or personality he has or power he possesses. Hence for the
right use of the body and the mind what is most essential is the right
knowledge. Then only the self expression of one’s personality or power
in any field will be truthful and truly great. Therefore importance has
to be given to the attainment of True Knowledge before any attempt is
made for the discovery of what power one possesses or how best it can be
used for the benefit of all concerned.
True Knowledge
Whenever the issue of knowledge arises immediately the idea of the
institutional education comes to the mind. The educational institutions
are not providing every individual with true knowledge. True knowledge
comes of intellectual understanding of the Self and the World. This is
certainly reliable as True Knowledge alone can reveal what for one is
born in the world and what duty he has to perform both for one’s self
and for the world. That is why knowledge is virtue and power for man in
general. In this respect the ideas of The Republic and The
Bhagavad-Gita are relevant and still useful. The individuals with
freedom and right in the democratic States can choose a line suitable to
one’s physical and mental nature and go ahead rendering true service to
humanity. That is the best way to find out what power one possesses and
how it could really be used satisfactorily for the benefit of all in the
world.
Two types of Individuals
Individuals are responsible for bringing about many changes in the
world. Individuals are to two types mainly. The individuals of the first
type are the Men of Thought and the second type are the Men of Action.
There are many characters of literature and personalities of real
history to quote as examples for these two types of individuals. Men of
Action are like Othello, Macbeth, Napoleon and Hitler and Men of Thought
are like Hamlet, Brutus, Carl Max and Mao. There are also Men of Action
like Orlando and George Washington and Men of Thought like Prospero,
Voltaire and Shaw. The flaw in the mental make up of the individuals in
the former set has proved the truth of the saying that “too much of
anything is good for nothing;” and the goodness of the individuals in
the latter set has shown to the world that “all is well that ends well.”
Apart from these two types there is also a third type of individuals who
are not very common in the world. Individuals of this type are equally
thoughtful and active in such a fine measure that they never fail in
achieving their targets. Solomon, Vikramdhitya and Gandhi belong to this
type of men. The unique ideas of these men gave new hopes to humanity.
Nature of Intellectuals
The great thinkers, intellectuals, philosophers, professionals, artists
and scientists are all individuals. They are the lovers of freedom and
happiness that are the sole and spirit of humanity. They have
independent views about Nature, Culture and Religion. They are
interested in Facts only. They make facts out of their own experiments
and experiences in life. These facts printed in the form of words in
Books impart knowledge to the readers. Reading guides the sense of
observation in real life leading towards the development of the thinking
process, which produces better ideas useful for bringing about required
changes in the society time and again. They are the seekers of truth in
everything and make truth prevail over everything.
They relinquish pomp, power, position and possession for the sake of
truth, because truth is the only reliable and guiding force for everyone
in the right direction in every matter in all the activities of men in
the world. Hence they never commit themselves to any ideologies as they
are not the permanent solutions for the betterment of men. What they
think as truth they express it to others and practice it in life without
bothering about the consequences. Their only aim is to achieve
perfection in everything and for that whatever efforts they feel
necessary they will sincerely undertake. That is the true nature of the
individuals.
Discovery of Nature by Gifted Men
Nature is a great open secret! It seems Nature reveals its secrets to a
chosen few among the whole of mankind, who are deeply engrossed in the
study of its activities. The chosen few are the Scientists and Artists
who are concerned about Nature as well as Human Nature. In the course of
time only one among the few, who are deeply interested in the things of
general nature by chance, are capable of seeing the ultimate
significance behind the activities of everything in Nature and
expressing it clearly to mankind.
Then comes another brilliant person after an elapse of sometime to
interpret why the things are going on like that, how the things are
functioning and how they can be harnessed for the betterment of the
posterity or how the things can be made to function in the manner that
can be useful for the benefit or the comfort of man. Such top persons
are called the highly gifted or the most powerful human beings on the
earth. They are the immortal men. The power that has brought them to
such a top level has been developed by the utilization of the resources
totally within their own reach. They are the ones who have really
gratified the gift conferred on them.
Three Types of Powerful Men
About human power there are still a few more things to be decisively
discussed. It is now clear that the successful expression of thoughts or
ideas in words and works during the life span of every human being gives
the complete idea of what human power actually is. But there are also a
few types of powerful persons available in the history of men. To be
more specific for our understanding they can be classified under three
types.
1. Men of the first type are born powerful.
2. Men of the second type become powerful.
3. Men of the third type are forced to be powerful.
Buddha can be mentioned as an example for the first type of powerful
persons. Newton can be mentioned for the second type. Rousseau can be
mentioned for the third type.
These well known gifted persons rose to immortality in a unique manner.
They were not aware of what they would be like in the future before they
realized by some accident for what purpose they were born in the world.
After the great discovery of their own power, they open a new world for
mankind groping in the darkness to go on steadily doing interesting
things beneficial for them and the posterity. But till that hour of
their won discovery they were also just like any other men living
without knowing what aim they should have or for what purpose they were
living in the world. All the three great persons were thinkers of
general problems. They were interested in knowing the truth of things.
They were deeply probing over the mysteries of Nature and Human Nature.
In this sense they are the true philosophers.
Buddha, Newton, Rousseau
Buddha was born in a Royal family. Both by birth and nature he was a
powerful person. His heart was so pure and good that he was not aware of
the evils and bad things of the world. He was not having any personal
problem in life. Newton, though was not born in a highly well placed
family, was also concerned about the general nature of things. He too
was impersonal. But Rousseau was not well placed even by birth. He was a
melancholic person by the very nature of his birth and bringing in
unfavorable circumstances. To forget himself he sought the bosom of
Nature. He used to be a very depressed person. All these three general
persons used to indulge in some muse or other in Nature.
The miseries, sufferings and old age of men gave Buddha a great shock
one day. He left his kingdom and roamed about in the forest as his
mental energy was suddenly let loose. He became enlightened after
sometime and came optimistically to solve the problems of mankind. After
him, Buddhism developed into a new religion in the world. Even after
relinquishing power, position and possession, true to his nature,
automatically he had to take the position of a great genius in
philosophy.
When Newton was in a state of reverie lying under an apple tree, an
apple urged him to discover a natural force called gravitation, a open
secret of nature, which opened a new world for many scientific
discoveries after him. He became a genius in Science.
Rousseau who was returning after seeing his imprisoned friend was so
much choked with grief that he sat under a tree shedding tears, while a
storm of thoughts was raging in his mind. Though romantic by nature,
after that strange experience, he was forced by himself to utter his
social thoughts and ideas like liberty, equality and fraternity, the
seeds of democracy that largely affected and changed the world. Soon he
came to be called as a political genius (against his will).
A shock, an accident and a depression released the potential energy of
their vast general mind to concentrate on a particular thing. The result
_ they investigated the great truth, defined the problem and discovered
the solution to solve the problem.
From the above three cases it is quite evident that all human beings are
having some powers. Some are aware of it and some are not aware of it.
But time and necessity certainly make men use consciously or
unconsciously such powers both for satisfying their curiosity and for
perfecting their manhood in accordance with the pace of evolution.
Method to Detect the Power of men
Finally, by devising a method it would be possible to detect the power
of an individual and to harness it in the field it can be best utilized
for the benefit of mankind. So let us see how a method can be devised in
order to satisfy the above need. For most of the time it is the general
tendency of every human being to act according to one’s natural
inclination. One is capable of doing the best only in the thing one is
deeply interested. Therefore the natural inclination of a person lies in
the thing one is very much interested or one likes most.
The agents like the parents, the teachers and the intimates ought to
spot out the natural inclination of an individual. The society that
expects much to be done by the individuals ought to have done this most
vital duty to them first. As the whole world today is in a hurry or in a
state of pell-mell condition the budding individuals, whether they are
artists or scientists or intellectuals, are constrained not to expect
cooperation or support or assistance from the society. Therefore the
self-discovery of the individuals by themselves is the best possible
method by which something really effective can be done in the present
day world.
Observation of the Self
How can one do this? Mere observation will do. It is enough if an
individual observes oneself introspectively and retrospectively what
were one’s general interests and activities. Basing these two aspects of
One’s Self, it would be possible to infer in what field one will be best
at. These observations and inferences would be of much help to judge
where one’s skill or natural talent lies. There are persons who are
naturally inclined in some fields like Arts or Sciences or Philosophy,
which are the essential factors helpful for deciding correctly the
actual talent of a person. Therefore it is to be said that empirically
one’s talent or skill or ingenuity represents the natural power of a
person.
One may be prominently best at singing or painting or writing or
inventions or creations of new things. In general this kind of
prominently noted activities of a person will be sufficient to indicate
one where lies one’s real power and from which it would not be difficult
to find out the field in which one could express oneself to the
satisfaction and the benefit of all concerned. It is not sufficient to
discover the power; it has to be utilized appropriately by constant
efforts. Then only a person can retain his power forever. Therefore the
discovery and the right use of one’s power are most important. But the
use of such power in the suitable field only can keep one bright, strong
and steady forever. This is the secret of man’s power. This is the gift
of man.
August 20, 2006
Image under license with
Gettyimages.com
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