A potter had two daughters. One was married to a farmer whereas the other one was married to a potter. Once the father went to see both of his daughters. The wife of the farmer said, "Oh father! We are all at the verge of catastrophe. Seeds have been sown but there is no sign of rains yet. If it does not rain, we will be ruined. Please pray for us for plentiful rains."
When the man went to see his second daughter who was wife of a potter, she said, "Oh father! All our pots are getting baked in the oven. If it rains now, we will be ruined. Please pray that sky may remain clear."
Now the man was in a dilemma, what should he do? One daughter requested him to pray for rains and the second daughter requested him to pray for clear sky. After deep contemplation, he sent for both of his daughters. He got them seated side by side. He said to them, "Both of you are real sisters. You should not have conflicting thoughts. I would suggest a way out of this problem. Both of you should wish prosperity for each other. Therefore, think over calmly on what I have to say." Then he turned to the farmer's wife and said, "If rains come and you get plentiful crops, give half of your profit to your sister."
Then he turned to his second daughter and said, "If it does not rain and all your pots make a good sale, give half of your profit to your sister. Because without rains they would be ruined just as by plentiful rains you would be ruined."
Both the girls agreed to abide by this solution suggested by their father. The cause of conflicting thoughts had disappeared.
Whenever there is a clash of interests, a reconciliatory way out somehow gets discovered. It is not possible at all that a way to end the conflict cannot be worked out. If there is no reconciliation, clash of selfish interests continues unabated.
There have been two famous kings in Gujarat. Maharaja Jai Singh and Maharaja Siddha Raj. Both of them were great believers in harmonious way of life. Acharya Hem Chandra was venerated by both of them. Once Maharaja Siddha Raj visited a Shiva temple along with Acharya Hem Chandra. Somebody told the Maharaja that Acharya Hem Chandra did not worship Lord Shiva. The Maharaja was wonder-struck. He asked the Acharya, "Sir, could you sing a song in the praise of Lord Shiva?" The Acharya said, "Why not!" He, at that very instant wrote down forty Sanskrit shlokas in praise of Lord Shiva. The first of those forty shlokas says, "I am not concerned with name or form I bow before that Almighty who is beyond infatuation and jealousy, who preserves every animate or inanimate being with equal concern. It is of no interest to me whether HE is addressed as Lord Brahma or Lord Vishnu or Lord Mahadev, but I bow HIM."
The clash of thoughts was averted because of harmonious thinking. When the consciousness of harmony is activated, one can discover unity in diversity. Agreement can be reached within the protest and clashes: wars can be eliminated. If man can develop coexistence and harmony, the entire social climate will become pleasant and healthy. Without co-existence and harmony, we cannot think of a peaceful and progressive social order. Opinions and concepts would keep on clashing with each other. If harmonious atmosphere develops, all such thought-currents can co-exist. There would be happiness all around and a lot of needless misery can be avoided.
These days, co-existence has become an item of political agenda internationally. Man has learnt from past experience that co-existence of various forms of political systems is not only feasible but also possible. We see that socialism, capitalism and dictatorship are co-existing in the world. Although they are inter-contradictory, yet they are there.
If one thinks of preserving one system and eliminating the other, then there is no alternative other than war. When it was understood by thinkers of the world that war is the only alternative to peace, and that war was the greatest enemy of mankind, they thought of finding ways and means to avert it. It was possible only through co-existence. Hence, they decided that all systems of government can co-exist. Therefore, in the spirit of coexistence, international understanding paved the way for organizations like the United Nations to be established. In the United Nations, socialist countries are represented along with the capitalist countries. Democracies are represented there along with dictatorships.
We have already listened to a father suggesting a harmonious remedy to his two daughters. We have learned about the harmonious solution averting a clash between worshippers of Lord Shiva and Acharya Hem Chandra. We have also understood that in present day international political scene, different nations and different political systems have also accepted the principle of co-existence.
Coming down to the level of a family, we find many diversities among its members. Someone likes sweetmeats, someone likes salty preparations. Someone gets up at 4 A.M., someone leaves his bed at 8 A.M. Someone is talkative while someone prefers to be silent most of the time. Someone makes a mountain out of a molehill someone ignores even big things. Even then they all live together because co-existence has become a way of life for them. Co-existence comes to existence when we realize that this entire universe consists of couples of heterogeneous elements. One element in a couple has to be of a opposite kind otherwise a couple cannot be formed. Male-female, feminine-masculine, loss-gain, mortal-immoral, darkness-light, winter-summer etc. are all opposites, yet they co-exist. In this creation of God, diversity, protest, disagreement, opposition, all these elements must also exist simultaneously. All these go to constitute the world. The day they cease to co-exist it will be the day of doom of total destruction. That is why coexistence is essential for life to prosper and to progress.
ANUPREKSHA OF CO-EXISTENCE
- Mahaprana dhvani: 2 minutes.
- Kayotsarg: 5 minutes.
- Visualize that you are inhaling pink coloured rays along with air. With every inhalation, pink coloured rays are entering your body—3 minutes.
- Concentrate to visualize pink colour at the an and kendra (in exact center of the chest, near the heart)—3 minutes.
- Carry out the exercise of anupreksha, "I will carry out this exercise to adopt the concept of co-existence. I will not support any destructive and combative or offensive tendency". Repeat these words 9 times. Carry out "marksmanship" of these words 9 times—5 minutes.
- Contemplate: "I comprehend that there have to be diversities of thoughts, behaviour and interests among persons, families, societies and various nations. To emphasize the diversity would harm co-existence. I will not encourage any diversity. I will always actively support the principle of coexistence."^ minutes.
- Complete the experiment with Mahaprana dhvani - 2 minutes.
EXERCISE
- Explain the concept of harmony with examples.
- "Co-existence is the prime need of the day". Explain.
- Describe all the stages of the anupreksha carried out for the purpose of coexistence.
