Daily Excelsior
SUNDAY, July 20, 2008
The atoms of darkness change into bright light the moment the rays of the sum touch a surface. If the world of matter did not have the capacity to change, things would have for ever remained as they were. But this is not the case. Everything existent changes and changes every moment. Matter undergoes changes too subtle to be perceived by our gross eyes. Being subtle, we are hardly aware of the transformation brought about by the change. Changes brought about by goss causes are felf even after they are extinct, while those of others are felt only so long as they last. A piece of red cloth can make a crystal appear red so long as the latter is under its effect. Once the cloth is removed, its effect too disappears. Take another example. A man stumbles on a stone and gets hurt. The contact with the stone was momentary, but its effect lasts a long time. A thing receives a new formal look if the causes are adequately present. Since it is very clear and gross, we call it a change.
Change is born of two originals- the material cause and the instrumental cause. Competence becomes operational by combining with favourable circumstances. Without the latter it will not be able to fructify. If competence is ab initio absent, circumstnaces can be of no avail. Change occurs only when both original competance and favourable circumstnaces combine properly. The heat of the sun makes the earth intensely hot, but it has not effect on the sky. Even the sun cannot heat that which has no capacity to absorb heat. The earth does have that capacity, but it cannot be hot without the sun.
A house has electricity. It is capable of lighting the house. But if these is no hand to press the switch, the house is not lighted. The third strand in the texture of circumstance is the limitation of human endeavour.
Man has in him the inherent instinct for light. That is why he wants the protection of light in the midst of darkness. The inherent instincts do not merely knock at the door of future acheivements, they even open it wide. The fourth strand in the texture of circumstances is the limitation of genetic traits or destiny.
Even the karmas accumulated in the previous birth do not fully fructify in the absence of proper circumstances. Geographical environment affects the size, look and completion of the body. Mental ups and dons are influenced by external contacts. Thoughts are affected by external contacts. No man is immune to the effects of circumstances, so long as he is within their zone of influence. Man starts shivering as chilly winds blow. The shivering is not without a cause. He starts sweating profusely under the scorching heat of the sun. The sweating is not without a cause. Man gets enraged when the encounters anything country to his heart’s desire. He becomes arrogant on getting something he had not even imagined. Happiness, elation, fear, grief-- all these sensations are expressed as a result of circumstances. They disturb the balance of the mind. As a result, the mind becomes restless.
It is impossible for the mind to remain unaffected by circumstances in whose sphere of influence it operates. But if animated and inspired by the right sentiemnt, it can come out of the sphere of influences and then he is not longer a plaything in the hands of circumstances.
Not having favourable circumstances, having unfavourable circumstances, feeling of hellessness, conflict, doubt, fear, malice, jealousy, cruelty, anger and disappointment create an imbalance in the mind. An unbalanced mind suffers from resltesness which swallows up happiness. Contemplation, peace and happiness are causually related. The Gita says:
There is no peace without contemplation and nothing can happen in the absence of peace. Contemplation is the process of transforming inherited traits. Constant reflection, thinking and practice in accordance with life’s objective cause the inherited traits to be undone and new traits to be formed.
No one can acquire peace without first destroying the inherited traits responsible for unrest. Circumstances do not always remain the same. Sometimes they are favourable and sometimes unfavourable. He who feels intensely happy in favourable circumstances cannot avoid being intensely and in unfavourable circumstances. That man remains unaffected by circumstances who consecrates his consciosness and dedicted efforts with the experience of truth. Untruth exercises a magnetic influence on the effect of circumstnaces. Truth lacks that magnetism. Therefore, it is unable to attract the effect of circumstances. Fire destroys many things, but it cannot destroy the non-existent. Only that mind is afflicted by circumstances which has not been animated by the contemplation of truth.