Acharya Tulsi
Life is a song, if someone could sing it. Life is an opportunity, if someone could utilize it. Life is a duty, if someone could follow it. Life is an adventurous journey, if someone could undertake it without fear. Life is a mystery if someone could unravel it. The only question is: How can life be made meaningful? Man today is living in the age of jeevanvijnan.[1]which some people wrongly interpret as biology. But this is not the science that explains the mysteries of the animate world. It is directly related to man's style of living. The person, who wishes to learn the art of living, must necessarily train himself in the science of living. The science of living does not mean book reading. It means creating a tapestry. It is not bookish knowledge. Rather, it is contemplation and continuous reflection. Saint Kabir says out of his own experience:
"One does not become a learned man by reading bulky books. He who reads the language of love becomes a learned man. [2]”
A person delivering a scholarly speech may or may not leave his impression on the listeners. But a person can bring the whole world under his spell by uttering a few words of love. From this point of view, practical life is much more important than bookish knowledge and academic degrees. Only the person who has faith in practical life can read about the science of living. How can the people, who have not heard about the science of living, read about it or understood it, have any faith in it? It is possible to have faith in something only after knowing and experiencing it.
Quest of Trust is the Need
The science of living is not knowledge in the traditional sense. It is not a conventional extension of education. It is related with the reality of life. Its fundamental dictum is, "Discover Truth yourself.[3]" Truth is one and indivisible. Only some rare individuals who have attained the absolute knowledge can know it. So long as one does acquire the qualification to realize the absolute Truth, we shall have to be content with knowing the fragmented Truth. Truth is always Truth, no matter who his discovers it. Our predecessors had set out in quest of Truth. They had realized Truth. We can live our life only by accepting that Truth as the support which we have got as inheritance. But the Truth discovered by anyone except ourselves can become stale. If we do not like to eat stale food, why should we carry on with stale Truth?
The Tirthankaras are the knower of Truth. They embark on their journey with the goal of discovering Truth and keep on moving till they attain Truth. Their Truth is not the Truth of the scriptures. It is the Truth they have experienced. Their disciples compile their words they have preached and take the form of the scriptures. Two Tirthankaras are not found simultaneously in the same place. There is always a time gap between them. Moreover, their Truth is all their own. They never refer to what a particular Tirthankara may have said. They only emphasise what they have to say themselves. Bhagwan Mahavira did not make use of the Truth discovered by BhagwanParswanath. He only said, "I say this because I have seen it, known it, experienced it."
Since I am not a Tirthankara, I am making use of what others have discovered. I have made use of the Truth discovered by Bhagwan Mahavira and would continue to do so. However, why should I choose my own? We have to follow the path to discover Truth on my own? We have to follow the path indicated by the Tirthankaras. Let us discover Truth ourselves and benefit from it. Mahavira never said that he had discovered everything and nothing more needed to be discovered. His approach was: 'Discover Truth Yourself. Continue your quest and go on realizing it more and more. You have to still discover and realize Truth as much as it was necessary for me." What a sincere and broad-minded approach! If we continue our quest of Truth taking this as our basis, then the door would open for us some time or the other and what is unknown would become known. But this is possible only when there is an inclination to start the quest. Many people write research thesis these days. But on reading any of those theses, it appears to be a mere compilation. There is nothing like research in them. Degrees are given just on the basis of such compilations. Truth cannot be realized through such research work.
Co-coordinating Spiritualism and Science
The objective of the science of living is to create a spiritual scientific personality. Spiritualism and science are complementary to each other. Hence, their relative development is necessary. During the yogakshema year, the discourse was preceded as a rule by a song:
There are many possibilities of development in the field of spiritualism, but mere spiritual development would not help man. Man is dazzled by scientific discoveries. But it is not possible to protect the human existence with the help of those discoveries. Only when spiritualism and science are co-ordinated, it would be possible to give a turn to the trends of our age. Decide first what is to be attained.[4] It is from this point of view that attempts are being made to develop spiritual and scientific attitudes in the same individual.
The power of spiritualism is immense. There is nothing remarkable about accepting this as a matter of belief. However, one would have to dwell deep in order to grasp the significance of the deep mysteries of spiritualism. The individual who believes in the Truth conveyed by Bhagwan Mahavira says: "Oh, respected one, only what you have said is of real significance to me, it is the ultimate aim. The rest is all futile.[5]"But the individual who feels happy only in favourable material surroundings, regards only wealth as the significant and the highest aim. Spiritualism and the ultimate knowledge are meaningless concerns in his case.
After my visit to Delhi in 1964, many prominent persons came in contact with me. Among them were politicians, social leaders, educationists and many others. I had discussions with them. I explained to them what ideas I had in my mind. I discussed about raising the level of national character. They took whole hearted interest in what I conveyed to them. I proved to them the validity of my ideas. I was even told that it was all good work and should be carried on. They said that I should make a beginning and they would cooperate. But none of them said that they would work together with us. I was actually surprised when some of them said to me, "Acharyaji, the conditions are so difficult that nothing can be done in our country." When I hear such words of despair, I wonder what has gone wrong with these people. Would our talking, singing, persuading lead anywhere? If nothing is ever going to happen, why make any efforts in that direction? Any talk of changing the direction does not seem to make any sense.
Endeavour Makes the Personality
The dream of creating a spiritual-scientific personality is very fascinating. But it is extremely difficult to turn it into a reality, because it involves the changes in human beings. Changing them is the most difficult of all things. Even those who come with the objective of changing themselves need time and effort for bringing about the requisite change. In such a situation, how would the talk of bringing about change in unknown people have any effect? But in spite of this fear, I wish to conduct an experiment. I believe in experimenting in life. Whatever the experiment, it definitely brings some results. It may take time before the efforts show any results, but there is no scope for dark thoughts of despair. Most probably, our persistent efforts throughout life would bring the desired results. Only after churning we can get butter from the curd.
Father Williams, Chairman of the National Church of Mumbai, met me. I explained to him the rules of anuvrat. He became the follower of the path of anuvrat. With full understanding and sincere faith, he followed the rules of anuvrat and discussed about anuvrat wherever he went. He was a good spokesman. Once he narrated a small story in the course of his address to a meeting. Till today I have not been able to forget that story told in brilliant and impressive style:
A mud pot was full of curd. The housewife forgot to cover it and two frogs fell into that pot. One of the frogs was scared and his body stiffened because of fear. He gradually sank in the curd and died. The other frog although death was staring in its face, it would still try to save itself. It started moving its legs in the curd which got churned. With that movement and a round ball of butter was formed. The frog perched itself on that butter. By that time, the housewife returned. She took that frog from the butter. Then the frog was saved.
This is only a story. But its theme is to provide inspiration to make effort. Man should believe in making efforts and wait patiently for the result. His efforts would surely bear fruits at the appropriate time. With this aim in mind I have planned to expand my energy to create a spiritual-scientific personality. It can be successfully and meaningfully applied to develop traits of personality lying dormant in a child.
