Acharya Mahaprajna
Co-existence is given a lot of weightage in today's politics. The principle of co-existence is held aloft. Co-existence between all the different ways of life is absolutely essential. One stream of thought is based on socialist principles while the other on capitalist principles. If one is the dictate of democracy, the other is that of autocracy. Both the streams of thought are well known in the world today. They are opposing thoughts. In such a situation the ideal outcome should be that either the socialist remains or the capitalist, either democracy or autocracy. Both cannot exist because they are contradictory. Either you or me... not both together.
If one continues to think like this: either socialism or capitalism; either democracy or autocracy then there will be no alternative left but to wage wars. In the political arena it has been concluded that emphasis should be placed on co-existence. Both can co-exist, both can live. They both have the right to do so. On the basis of this co-existence, institutions like the United Nations have the representation of both socialist and capitalist countries. Even though the idea of accommodating co-existence in politics is something new, in the laws of nature the idea of co-existence is found all the time. It is nothing new. To make and to unmake, to do and undo, this is an age-old process.
In our body there are billions of cells. Every second, five crore cells are being destroyed and a new five crore are being created. This co-existence is continual. To be born and to die, to be and not be. If the cells did not die, then the body would. If new cells were not created, then the body would break. When both the activities co-exist, then the body lives on.
Life and death are contradictions and yet they come together and move on together. The same second, in which a man lives, he is dying and in the very same second in which he dies, he continues to live. The two contradictory events of life and death co-exist. There is no definite time schedule that at a certain time man lives and at a certain time, he dies. The two activities go on together. The second which is life-giving is also the same second which is death-producing. Similarly the second which is death-producing is also the salme one which is life-giving. The two cannot be separated.
