Acharya Mahaprajna
Today, in the field of Politics, great stress is being laid on co-existence. The doctrine of co-existence is universally recognized to be very important. Co-existence is necessary in every kind of system. There is the ideology of socialism matched by that of capitalism. On the one side we have the democratic system, on the other side, dictatorship. Both kinds of ideologies and systems are prevalent in the world today. Both are opposed to each other. Naturally, it becomes a question of socialism or capitalism, of democracy versus dictatorship. One of these rival systems must triumph over the other. Either you or I? Both cannot live together.
If we think in terms of either socialism or capitalism, either democracy or dictatorship, then there is no alternative left except war. With the realization that war is our greatest enemy and that it poses a great threat to the human race, the question of avoiding it became prominent. If we opt for a policy of annihilating all opposition, the question of avoiding war does not arise. Thus an alternative was sought. The principle of co-existence of rival systems was enunciated from the political forum. Both can exist together. Both have the right to exist. It is on the principle of co-existence that in organisations like the U.N.O., both socialist and capitalist countries are represented. Both democracies and dictatorships find representation there. The enunciation of co-existence in the political sphere is a new development but co-existence in itself, based upon the laws of nature, is an ancient tradition. There is nothing new about it. Origination and dissolution-it is an old process.
Our body consists of millions of cells. Five crores of cells die each second, and an equal number evolve. Thus birth and death co-exist. Evolution and dissolution go together. If the old cells are not continually renewed, the body disintegrates. Both dissolution and renewal are necessary for the body to continue.
To be born and to die - both are contraries. Yet they co-exist. A man lives and dies in one and the same moment. The moment of death is the moment of renewal. Both these contrary movements of living and dying go together. There is no time-gap between the two. We cannot say that a man lives at a particular moment and that he dies at a different moment. No, the dying and the living go together. The moment of birth is the moment of death and the moment of death is the moment of birth. The two are inseparable.
