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by Jayaram V
Change is fundamental to life as water to the ocean or wind to
the storm. Without change life could never have evolved on earth.
Imagine the first organism that was born on earth, the one celled
being. Had it not divided itself by some quirk mechanism of fate
and changed itself into a multicellular organism, life on earth
would have remained forever confined to unicellular organisms.
In the process of evolution and creation, at every step change
has to intervene and enact its best drama or show its annoyance
and indulge in massive destruction, modification and purification
to produce desirable results.
Change is the ubiquitous force of Prakriti. Without change there
cannot be life on earth, but only death and inertia. There cannot
be consciousness, but only unconsciousness. There cannot be creation,
but only nothingness and the Unmanifest
In the beginning, say the scriptures, there was nothing whatsoever.
There were no night and day, no beings, no life, no elements and
no movement. Then suddenly, mysteriously and instantaneously, stirred
the primal ideas, which took shape and substance in the motionless
silent and sleeping world.
Thus, say the scriptures, began the process of change and the
mechanism of creation. Gods came into existence, many worlds, innumerable
beings, wondrous objects, and many forces, some of light and some
of darkness. Everywhere sprang up life and activity.
And on earth, slowly but steadily, through trial and error, through
the process of change and natural selection, life evolved and took
shape, giving birth to man. Creation, evolution of life and progress
of man are thus the children of change.
This change is inherent in every aspect of the manifest universe.
The Nirguna Brahman is changeless. But the Saguna Brahman, we understand,
must be continuously evolving and expanding.
The planetary bodies, the interstellar spaces, the galaxies and
other celestial objects are in perpetual motion and process of change,
never staying in one place, all rushing towards some unknown destination
as if pulled or propelled by some gigantic and great invisible force.
Change is but a form of energy. It is a force in action. It is
the weapon of nature with which it creates its forms and regulates
its resources. Desire is its womb and thought its guiding force.
When it reaches its target, and if the thought force is pure and
the movement perfect, it blooms into desired reality.
Some times the desired change may not take place. But change there
would still be, for that is how the dynamics of change are. The
beauty or tragedy of change is that it is fluid like, capable of
changing itself into many forms and shapes and flowing in every
conceivable direction.
Change is ubiquitous force on earth, the false god of the mortals,
to whom it offers worlds of dreams but shatters them in the end,
with its uncertain and dubious movements.
Time is the measure of change in this world. Without the notion
of time, it is difficult to even think of the process of change.
In the mortal world, time and change move hand in hand. Both have
forward movement. Change can be reversed, but time cannot be, at
least at human level.
God is the Master of change. He can bring any change with the
force of His will, for which He does not require any effort. His
mere wish can do miracles. His consciousness has unlimited energy
and capacity, for it is truth and reality itself. This whole universe,
perhaps, may be but a little dream of God.
All the beings in the universe have some capacity and strength
to change their circumstances. It depends upon where they are placed
in the hierarchy of universal creation. Man perhaps stands some
where in the middle.
He is capable of effecting conscious, planned and deliberate
changes both in his external and in his internal worlds. But he
may not always succeed in his efforts. He may fail some times, completely
or partially. His success or failure depends upon many factors,
some independent of him and some internal to him.
The ego being an instrument of nature, uses the medium of change
to create its desired reality as a part of its program to fulfill
its cherished goals or the realization of its dreams. All our progress
we have achieved so far can be attributed to our capacity to change
things and our ability to survive change.
But change also brings in its wake a lot of suffering. Every
change that comes in our lives puts on us enormous mental and physical
pressure and exposes us to unknown risks and grave difficulties.
It temporarily upsets the rhythm of our lives, and exposes us to
uncertainty and insecurity.
Only the toughest minds can deal with change with some degree
of confidence and courage. The rest turn away from the very possibility
of some fundamental change in their lives or activities. They would
prefer to maintain the status quo, afraid of all the consequences
otherwise. For them the squalor and the suffering are acceptable
but not change.
It is basically our limited vision and knowledge which makes
us reluctant to face change, as the mind cannot predict accurately
the outcome of any change and therefore does not know how to prepare
itself to face it and cope with it. Because of this the very thought
of change invokes in us fear and insecurity and sorrow and suffering.
As Arjuna entered the battle field he was aware of the general
consequences of war, but he was not sure of the specific consequences
the war would bring about. He indulged in mental speculation and
made himself more fearful and insecure.
He was not sure what change the war would bring into their lives
and what destruction it would cause to his family and himself. He
was certain of the destruction it would cause but uncertain of the
moral impact of his waging the war. So naturally it filled him with
anxiety and fear.
Suffering thus comes from the inherent susceptibility of human
life to change and of mind's inherent ignorance to deal with it
effectively and correctly. Like Arjuna we all indulge in speculation
and imagination depending upon our previous experience and make
our own predictions about the consequences of our actions.
We try to avoid, as far as possible, such actions which in our
opinion bring drastic changes in our lives and perform only such
actions where we have the confidence that we can deal with results
of change effectively.
But when we are confronted with a situation which is totally
beyond our control and unavoidable, but which in our opinion is
bound to bring serious changes in our lives, we suffer from severe
anxiety and break down mentally and physically. And in such moments
we turn to God and seek His help as Arjuna did in the Bhagavad gita.
Suggested Further Reading
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