DARWIN AND DARWINISM

CHARLES Robert Darwin is famous for having given the concept of

evolution to the world. He wrote two books on this subject: The

Origin of Species and The Descent of Man.

The Origin of Species is merely, an attempt to interpret the origin of

species. Therefore, a more appropriate name for it would have been

‘The Interpretation of the Origin of Species.’ After the publication of

Darwin’s book, the Christian church bitterly opposed his interpretation,

as people had come to regard Darwinism as the negation of the

existence of God. But that is not true. Darwin’s book, The Origin of

Species, mentions God’s name more than once. He concludes his book

with these words:

There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having

been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one:

and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed

law of gravity, from so simple a beginning, endless forms most beautiful

and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved.

During the final days, Darwin suffered from ailments which could not

be diagnosed. It is believed that he was totally dissatisfied with the

contradictory explanations given in his book. He suffered from heart

attack twice and died in 1882. 

GENTLENESS

Mahatma Gandhi was very shy by nature. In his book, My

Experiments with Truth, he confesses that it was a long time

before he managed to shake off his shyness. While studying

in London, he joined a vegetarian society. At one of its

meetings he was asked to make a speech. He stood up, but was unable

to express himself. Finally he brought himself to voice a few words

of thanks and sat down. On another occasion, when he was invited

to express his ideas on vegetarian food, he set his thoughts down on

paper, but was not even able to read out what he himself has written.

Someone, however, taking pity on him, read out his discourse fo r him.

After passing his examination in law from London, he started his

practice in Bombay. Here again his shyness was a stumbling block.

When he appeared before the judge in his first case, he was so nervous

that he could not say anything. He had to tell his client that he would

not be able to pursue his case, and that he should choose another

lawyer for himself.

However, as Gandhiji writes, this apparent disadvantage turned to

his advantage:

My hesitancy in speech, which was once an annoyance, is now

a pleasure. Its greatest benefit has been that it has taught me the

economy of words. I have naturally formed the habit of restraining

my thoughts. And I can now give myself a certificate that a

thoughtless word hardly ever escaped my tongue or pen.

Mahatma Gandhi was well-known for his thoughtful and economical

manner of speech. But this outstanding trait only came from another

trait which few would consider outstanding. Initially his shyness

prevented him from speaking in public; later on it made him thoughtful

and economical when he spoke.

PRACTICAL WISDOM

Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) was a British philosopher; at the

same time he was a peace activist. At the end of the WWI, he

had been imprisoned for six months for participating in antiwar

protest. This would not be his last time in prison for his pacifist

stances. In 1961, three years after founding the Campaign for Nuclear

Disarmament, he was in jail for one week in connection with antinuclear

protests.

This street demonstration by Russell created media furore. He and

the protestors were able to supply temporary news for the media,

but in terms of the required result, it was totally a non-event. Russell

and his colleagues were successful in registering protest, but they

were unsuccessful in changing the course of events. There have been

countless similar protests and demonstrations throughout the world

which have proved largely ineffective.

The issue of peace is not a matter of street demonstration. Peace

requires change in people’s thinking. Without intellectual change, it is

impossible to bring about change in the real situation.

There is a dictum adopted by UNESCO: ‘Violence begins from the mind.’

The same is true for the issue of peace. Peace begins from the mind.

Anyone who wants to establish peace must adopt the right beginning.

The right beginning for this purpose is the human mind, and not

the streets.

Then, the object of peace cannot be attained through any kind of

short-term planning. It requires long-term planning. Anyone who

wants to see a peaceful world must adopt long-term planning. Longterm

planning requires patience, and it is a fact that any substantial

achievement can be had only through patient planning 

and not simply through emotional outbursts. 

                                         

NATURE’S GIFT TO EVERYONE

According to biological studies, every human being has four phases in his or her life. Everyone is subject to this law of nature. There is no exception to this rule.

 The first period is that of childhood, which lasts from birth to about ten years of age. In this period, one’s basic personality is developed. The second period is the phase of adolescence. This is from ten to twenty five years of age. In this period, a person attains maturity, both at the physical and mental levels. The third is the period of full strength, that is, from twenty-five up to thirty-five years of age. In this period, a person enjoys maximum strength. Old age is the last phase. It is a phenomenon of biological degeneration. The process of ageing begins after thirty-five years of age, and continues until the rest of one’s life. 

According to this biological definition, everyone has ten best years of life. In this period a person enjoys full strength and energy. In this age one can do anything. This age is the greatest natural gift for every person. A person reaps the benefits of the base for his entire life that he develops for himself during this ten-year period. 

Everyone must realize that he or she is subject to the law of nature. A person can build his future only by following the nature. If we deny this law, we will have no place in this world. It is the first duty of every person to realize this fact and understand that winning in this matter is winning forever, and losing in this matter is losing forever.

According to biological studies, everyone has ten best years of their lives when they enjoy their best years of mental and physical energy.

 

POSITIVE THINKING

Everyone wants to live in happiness. But, everyone is deprived of happiness. Why? This is because the criterion of people for achieving happiness itself is unrealistic. They are trying to find it in those things in which it is not present.

 Deeper analysis of this issue tells us that people are constantly trying to eliminate those things that, according to their belief, go against achieving happiness. However, this way of thinking is unnatural.  People are in a state of constant unrest arising from a feeling of inadequacy. The truth is that inadequacy in life is not a problem. Instead, it is a challenge. There is a positive purpose of this natural challenge. Nature wants to unfold one’s inner qualities and there is no other way except what may be termed ‘shock treatment’. Inadequacies are like shock treatment meant to unfold a person’s inner treasure. The fact is that life is full of differences.

Everyone tries to achieve their goals. This state of affairs leads to competition. It is this competitive situation that leads to human problems or social problems. One cannot abolish people’s freedom. So, one cannot even abolish the present situation that appears to be unwanted. Then, what is the solution? The answer is very simple: take the differences as a challenge. When one takes problems as a challenge, one would try to meet the challenge. This will activate one’s mind, motivate and unfold one’s inner capacity. The challenge will give a person a new target and inculcate in him positive thinking. All these things are the result of challenges of life. If one takes the situation as a problem, one will only become negative. But, if one takes problems as challenge, then one will become totally positive. 

Happiness and unhappiness are both states of mind. Unhappiness is the result of negative thinking and happiness is the result of positive thinking. The following points explain the above mentioned concept more clearly. When one takes things as challenge, it will help in one’s intellectual development. It is a fact that in this world the greatest thing a person can achieve is intellectual development, which is the capability of 'high thinking'. Negative thinking brings unhappiness, and positive thinking brings happiness. Happiness is the result of high kind of thinking.  High thinking makes one a positive thinker.

It is positive thinking that makes one happy in the true sense of the word. Happiness is not simply a joyful state, it is rather an explanation of things at a rational level. A positive mind is able to explain things at the rational level. If one cannot explain things at a rational level, one becomes unhappy. While, if one can explain things at the rational level, it will give one happiness.

  Inadequacies are like shock treatment, meant to unfold a person’s inner treasure. 

PERSONAL EFFORT

According to a report published in The Times of India, a survey of the world’s 100 richest people reveals that the vast majority of them did not inherit their economic fortunes. 73% of them were ‘self-made’. Of these, 18% had no college education, and 36% were children of poor parents. (The Times of India, August 18, 2013) 

How is it that people who were born into poor families—many of whom did not receive any higher formal education—were able to amass such wealth, and that, too, with no help from the Government or any organization? The answer is that, it was because of their own efforts.  

This illustrates a basic principle of nature. That is deprivation is not just a deficiency. Rather, at the same time, it is also the possession of a strength; an incentive to overcome the deprivation. According to the law of nature, deprivation leads to a fortitude to acquire whatever one desires to achieve. This inner urge motivates him to additional efforts until he reaches his goal.

To succeed in anything, it is not favourable external conditions that are crucial as is this inner motivation. In fact, it is often the case that favourable external conditions make people complacent and inactive. On the other hand, one who faces unfavourable external conditions develops a certain discontentment, which, in turn can motivate one to extraordinary efforts to achieve success.

Deprivation leads to a fortitude to acquire whatever one desires to achieve.

END OF OPPORTUNITY

Phillip Joel Hughes (30 November 1988 – 27 November 2014) was an Australian Test and One Day International cricketer who played domestic cricket for South Australia. On 25th November 2014, Hughes was hit in the neck by a bouncer, during a match at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The injury caused a haemorrhage. Hughes was taken to hospital in Sydney where he underwent surgery. However, he died on 27th November—having never regained consciousness—three days before his 26th birthday. 

This kind of death is usually referred to as an untimely death. But in fact, no death is untimely. Every death is a timely death according to the Creation Plan of God. Every death is consciously planned by the Creator. The form may differ but in terms of its reality, every death is the same. Every person is born into the world according to a divine plan. Each person spends his life on earth for a limited period. To be born is to be given a chance. During one’s life every person is watched by angels, every moment. When a person reaches the end of his destined period, death is decreed for him by the Creator—neither before nor after. The manner of death is irrelevant; the fact remains that the time of death has approached for the concerned person. Every death gives us a message. One who dies has availed his chance and it does not exist for him any longer. For those who are alive, every death gives a message that they still have their chance and therefore must avail of it. 

Every death gives a message to those alive that they still have their chance and therefore must avail of it.

Impediment to Progress

Omar Abdullah Ex.Chief Minister of the State of Jammu and Kashmir. In an interview with The Times of India (December 1, 2014), he was asked why there is still no development in his state. He referred to a lack of ‘roads’ in his state and said:  

“We are waiting for the four-lane Jammu-Srinagar highway.” 

There is a general lesson in this answer: Everyone is waiting for a supposed “four-lane highway”. Every person has developed the obsession that he needs a “highway” before he can progress in life. As soon as he would acquire that highway, he would be able to start running towards his future unimpeded and reach his destination quickly. 

This waiting psyche is a common feature of every man and woman. Everyone is unaware of that opportunity which is presently available to him or her. Every person feels that they can play a heroic role in life, provided they were given that required highway. 

But, this kind of thinking goes against the laws of nature. Nature follows its own laws and not anyone’s obsession. This is a serious problem in the life of every man and woman. Due to this phenomenon everyone lives in ‘waiting’. No person is free of this psyche. Everyone is waiting for the train, which will never arrive. Don’t wait for the moment; rather discover the opportunity that is already present, and avail it with wise-planning. The only successful strategy of life is in the acceptance of reality. It is reality that prevails and not anyone’s personal whim. 

Don’t wait for the moment; instead every moment try to discover the opportunity that is already present, and avail it with wise planning. In this way, you will surely find an entry into the list of super-achievers. 

The definition of a wise man and that of an unwise man is very simple. One who lives in his own mind is an unwise person, and one who knows the reality that exists in the external world is a wise person. Success is one-percent based on your mind’s desire, while the remaining ninetynine percent depends on knowing what the external world is ready to give you. 

The fact is that man did not create this world. The Creator is someone other than ourselves. We have to know what the scheme of things is in the mind of the Creator. We have to adjust our mind with this scheme of things; like one cogwheel that attaches to another. Success will then be as certain as the rising of the sun after the night has passed.

Wonders of Creation

According to a new study, the Milky Way is at least 50% bigger than commonly estimated. The research conducted by an international team at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the US established the presence of a bulging ring of stars beyond the known plane of the Milky Way. The findings show that the features previously identified as rings are actually part of the galactic disk, extending the known width of the Milky Way from 100,000 light years across to 150,000 light years. (The Times of India, March 13, 2015) 

The Creator is truly great, He made such a vast universe, of which our galaxy is only a tiny part. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is a unique astronomical phenomenon. The solar system is a tiny part of this galaxy. If a person is far away in space and has a telescope with which he can view the entire Milky Way, then there will appear before him a mind-boggling scene. He will see that there is a magnificent starry galaxy in the vastness of space. The solar system is situated on one spiral arm of this galaxy. The planet earth is part of this solar system, which along with other planets are continually revolving around the sun. The person will only be able to exclaim in wonderment: ‘The Creator is truly great, He made such a vast universe, of which our galaxy is only a tiny part!

MAKE EXCELLENCE YOUR GOAL

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was a Spanish painter. He was one of the greatest and most influential artists of the twentieth century. He is reported to have said: “When I was a child my mother said to me, ‘If you become a soldier, you’ll be a general. If you become a monk, you’ll be the Pope.’” Picasso followed this advice until he emerged as one of the greatest artists of his times.

 

This advice of Picasso’s mother was the best advice that a mother can give to her child. In other words, the advice was: Make excellence your goal. When a person adopts excellence as his goal, he develops a very noble quality in his personality—he exerts all his energies towards achieving success. He accepts nothing less than the best. He saves himself from all kinds of distractions. His thinking is focused. He inculcates the spirit of competition. He becomes very selective in his activities utilizing all his time without losing a single moment. This goal is bound to develop the spirit of self-development in a person. It inculcates the spirit of high thinking. All these qualities are positive qualities. Without utilizing these positive qualities, a person will not be able to achieve his goal.

 

The well-known Indian scientist Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam and former President of India, has rightly said: “Excellence is a continuous process and not an accident.” One who adopts excellence as his goal, automatically becomes a different person. He inculcates a strong spirit of achieving his goal. He, consciously or unconsciously, becomes aware of the fact that excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.

 

If someone wants to become a doctor, he will naturally choose to take up medical education. Similarly, in the case of the above person: one who wants to achieve the best in any discipline, will automatically try to do one’s best in order to achieve excellence in the chosen field.

 

This goal of excellence is not the same as developing the kind of mentality known as a superiority complex. A superiority complex is generally based on one’s past glory. While the spirit of excellence motivates one to achieve in the future that which he does not possess at present. This goal develops in a person the spirit of hard work and self-development par excellence. It becomes a motivating force to achieve great heights of success.

Motivation From Deprivation

 

Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé was born in 1940 in Brazil. From his childhood days he showed a keen interest in playing football. However, Pelé grew up in abject poverty and could not purchase a proper football. His father was a footballer too but he could never earn enough to feed his family. Pelé’s first football was made of socks filled with rags. Sometimes the stuffing was old newspapers, with a string used to tie the ball together. In this way, Pelé continued to play football as a child and in his youth, later adopting it as a professional career. Today, he is widely regarded to be the greatest football player of all time.

 

It is not accidental that a person unable to afford a football, reaches such an acclaimed position in the game. There are thousands of such cases in history. The law of nature helps explain this phenomenon in a rationally understandable manner.

 

The fact is that every human being is born with great potential. One aspect of this potential is the urge to achieve one’s goal. If a person is born in unfavourable circumstances, then this urge gets activated more intensely and becomes a source of great motivation. Self-motivation is so strong a quality that it can make a person achieve great heights without any external help.

 

Poverty is not deprivation. Rather, it is a challenge. The challenge then becomes greater than everything else, as it activates one’s mind. It makes a person capable of concentrating all of one's energies on the achievement of one’s goal. Pelé’s case was not a miracle, instead it was a well-explained phenomenon of challenge.

 

In his autobiography, Pelé writes:

“Poverty is a curse that depresses the mind, drains the spirit and poisons life. It is, being robbed of selfrespect and self-reliance. Poverty is fear.”

 

It is very strange that Pelé failed to draw a lesson from his own experience. He was born in poverty, but in terms of results, his poverty proved to be a blessing in disguise. It became a supporting factor for him as it motivated him, unfolded his potential and enabled him to work very hard. This was a natural supporting mechanism for him in life. Had it not been for this initial condition of his, he would never have been able to become the champion he was. Pelé should have said: Although I inherited nothing from my family, the law of nature gave me something much more than what one’s family can give.

 

Deprivation is a great motivator for achievement. The experience of Pelé’s life shows that hard work can overcome the problem of poverty. Poverty is an external problem; it is not an internal problem. Deprivation is a great motivator for achievement. One’s inner reservoir has a huge amount of energy which can compensate every kind of disadvantage.

SELF EMPOWERMENT

Satyendra Nath Bose (1894–1974) was an Indian physicist who specialized in mathematical physics. He is best known for his work on quantum mechanics. He was known to be a very hardworking student.

One of his stories from student life has a great lesson for us. While doing M.Sc. at Calcutta’s Presidency College, he once performed so well in a mathematics exam that he was unusually awarded 110 marks out of 100! He was given extra marks because he solved some complex problems by more than one method!

This incident illustrates a great lesson — and that is, if a person proves himself competent enough, he will be awarded more than his legal rights. In our world, there is no place for complaints or protests. All those who are engaged in what they call ‘rights activism’ have a better choice to adopt — that is, ‘opportunity activism’. They must tell people: 'Don’t press for your rights, but, rather, do better, and you will certainly receive more than your legal or constitutional rights.'

Every man and woman is born with a divine gift in the form of an unlimited potential. Discover this divine gift and avail of it by converting your potential into reality and you will emerge as a super-achiever. You can shape your future on your own. Make yourself a 'giver-member' of the society rather than a 'taker-member'. Asking for your rights is a kind of begging. When you have such great potential, why do you prefer to beg? There are many so-called ‘empowerment’ movements — movements in the name of Muslim empowerment, women empowerment, economic empowerment, and so on. But the greatest empowerment is self-empowerment.

Choose self-empowerment, and you will certainly achieve more than what you had expected from others. Every man can emerge as a super-man, every woman, a super-woman, provided they discover this potential and apply it to their own lives.

RE-ENGINEER INDIVIDUAL MINDS TO ERADICATE THE CORRUPTION

     Every individual complains about corruption, but no one tries to get to the root cause of this phenomenon. The Gandhian movement in the first half of the twentieth century was, in a sense, an anticorruption movement. In the mid-1970s, Jayprakash Narayan’s ‘total revolution’ was a strong movement against corruption. Then followed V.P. Singh’s movement in the late 1980s and the fourth in this sequence was Anna Hazare’s movement in August 2011. The criterion to judge the success of these movements is not the crowds they draw, but the result.

    It is an undeniable fact that in terms of results, all the three previous movements completely failed to achieve their declared goal. It is yet to be seen if the fourth will achieve what it has set out to achieve.

    All these anti-corruption movements made their demands from the system. But it is not the system that is responsible for corruption; it is the human mind.

   At the 25th session of the UNESCO General Conference, the Seville Statement on Violence was adopted. The Statement says, among other things, that “wars begin in the minds of men”. So it is in the case of corruption; corruption also begins in the mind. Any movement that intends to achieve its goal must target individual minds, rather than the system.

   To eradicate the corruption we see today, we need to re-engineer individual minds. This requires a spiritual campaign. We need to replace the money-oriented mind with a values-oriented mind. We need to make people believe that money is a need, and not a goal. People’s concern of self needs to be replaced with concern for the nation.

   To eradicate corruption, we have to give individuals a goal greater than money, just as to shorten a line, you only need to draw a longer line next to it. In the same way, to eradicate corruption, we should have a higher goal of intellectual or spiritual development. In other words, we have to replace money as a goal with wisdom as a goal. We have to convince people who pursue money to pursue wisdom. Although it is a long process, it is nevertheless the only process that can produce results. There are no shortcuts.

   The pursuit of wealth will only lead to discontentment, while the pursuit of wisdom will always lead to contentment. Only the content can abandon corrupt practices. To achieve this goal, we have to address individual minds, not attract crowds. A spiritual revolution cannot be brought about by a mob. And only a spiritual revolution can root out corruption.

 

TWO-POINT FORMULA FOR A GOOD LIFE.

Why is there widespread social and political upheaval in our present world? It is not due to injustice as is commonly assumed. It is due to an unrealistic concept of justice and an obsession with an unrealistic concept of human rights.

People are living in a state of over-expectation and when they find that their expectations are not fulfilled, they react. This reaction begins from negative thinking, and then it takes the shape of protest and, finally, it takes a violent turn. The solution lies in reconsidering and correcting the generally accepted concept of human rights. This is where to begin. Without this, there can be no beginning.

In the twentieth century, many movements were launched to champion human rights. But perhaps, there has been no significant movement based on human duties. Through the print and electronic media, these movements gradually spread all over the world. Now, everyone is obsessed with the concept of human rights. With perhaps no exception, individuals and societies have become rights-conscious.

This is against the law of nature. The law of nature is based on the ‘give-and take’ principle.
But, the human rights concept has gone in a contrary direction, that is, ‘taking without giving’— if not consciously, then unconsciously.

Under the influence of these movements, now everyone talks of ideal justice. But, our world is a world of competition and in a world of competition, ideal justice cannot be achieved. According to the law of nature, only working justice is achievable in this world and not ideal justice.

THE BEST FORMULA FOR A SUCCESSFUL LIFE IS: AS REGARDS MATERIAL THINGS, REMAIN CONTENT, AND IN SPIRITUAL MATTERS, BE IDEALISTIC. THIS IS THE ONLY FORMULA THAT GIVES ONE PEACE OF MIND

The only workable formula is that everyone should accept working justice. This will give one enough time to direct one’s energies towards more important issues. This law of nature is based on high wisdom, that is, everyone should be content with their needs and divert their ambitions to spiritual and ideological development. So, the best formula for a successful life is: As regards material things, remain content, and in spiritual matters, be idealistic. This is the only formula that gives one peace of mind. It prevents a person from complaining too much and it also keeps him away from indulging in negative thinking.

It frees one of the desire to complain and helps in developing positive thinking. In other words, to live a successful life, the two-point formula is: material ‘status quoism’ and spiritual idealism.
 

THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF LOVE IN BOLLYWOOD

"I’m waiting to see if a new style emerges. I can’t write lyrics like ‘Roz akeli aaye’ ( روز  اکیلی  آے ) and ‘Tum aa gaye ho noor aa gaya hai’ ( تم  آ گئے  ہو نور  آ  گیا  ہے ) any longer. That kind of romance is not happening in films any more. It’s very difficult to hold on to my aesthetics. Not that it was ever easy. I had to struggle all along."

GULZAR 

THE GOLDEN RULE

If there's any universal truth or common teaching across various religions, it's probably the golden rule: Treat others as you would want to be treated yourself. This tenet is expressed in Christianity, Confuscianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Taoism, and Zoroastriantism.

The Islamic Sunnah:

No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.

The Jewish Talmud, for example, says:

What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellowman. This is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary.

The Hindu Mahabharata declares:

This is the sum of duty; do naught onto others what you would not have them do unto you.

In the secular world, this is called empathy, one of the most important skills you can learn both for your career and social life. It's about understanding where the other person is coming from and, even more important, treating their concerns the way you would your own.

THE STRENGTH OF AN IDEA

Today, Disney is an entertainment giant of nearly unfathomable scale. It holds hundreds of properties, including Marvel Studios and the Star Wars franchise, and continues producing record-setting films and operating theme parks around the globe. Behind the initial company was the innovative, imaginative genius of Walt Disney himself. While many people recognize his earliest successful films, few know the difficulties he faced prior to making them. Disney's first animation studio was dissolved, and Disney could not afford to pay his rent. Even after the successful premiere of Snow White, many of Disney's early movies--classics like Pinocchio and Fantasia--were financial failures.

The strength of an idea cannot be objectively measured by its relative success or failure. Most of Disney's earliest films are considered masterpieces, even though commercially, they were objective failures. Even Disney's first studio, which went under, likely produced some amazingly high-quality work.

The next time you experience failure, on a small or large scale, remind yourself that you're in good company. In your own life, ask anyone you feel has been successful in achieving their goals or living their dream if they've ever experienced failure. The answer is, invariably, yes. Failure is never the end of the road--it is only a small step in the greater journey. Pick yourself up, learn what you can from the experience, and force yourself to move on.

PERSERVANCE IS EVERYTHING

A mastermind of technological innovation and corporate vision, Steve Jobs is responsible for making Apple the company it is today. However, his past is littered with failures, setbacks, and crushing defeats. Jobs started Apple in 1976 and the company began to take off, 

but after an unsuccessful product launch in 1985, Jobs was kicked out of his own company. Most ordinary people would have given up at that point, but instead, Jobs founded a new company called NeXT. NeXT was considered unsuccessful as well, at least for a time, until it caught the eye of a struggling Apple in 1997. Apple purchased the company and brought Jobs back into a leadership position, which he used to develop and launch Apple's breakthrough products, including the iPod, iPhone, and iPad.

Perseverance is everything. Because he committed himself to doing great things, Jobs was able to work past his personal and professional failures, and eventually leave behind a monumental and unprecedented legacy.

UNION & SEPARATION, TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN

“As long as man was in the moolight he desired to reach the moon…there was bliss in the moonlight but the moon itself was distant. Moonlight was near but man longed for the moon…man reached the moon but there he was without moonlight.

If one reaches the moon one does not find moonlight any longer and if one is in moonlight one does not find the moon. It is a strange fact that one is only because of the other…one is a sign of the other yet both are forever separate. If the Beloved is the Moon, moonlight is His remembrance. When the Beloved is present His remembrance is not and when His remembrance is present the Beloved is not. Proximity to one is distance from the other, Union with one is separation from the other. Thus union is hidden in every separation and separation in every union.”

WASIF ALI WASIF

STRESS IS A GOOD SERVANT

By Maulana Wahid-Ud-Din Khan

Everyone, young or old, complains of stress or tension—a common phenomenon of our times. There are several centres established in order to enable de-stressing, but these provide, at the most, only temporary relief. None of them offer any permanent solution.

Tension is only the negative term for a positive phenomenon. What is generally called tension is, in fact, a sign of a healthy life. It is not an evil, but a blessing in disguise. Your mind has unlimited capacity, but this capacity, which is a gift of nature, is in the form of potential. You need to turn this potential into actuality. How should you go about doing this? Your potential can be realised only through being exposed to different kinds of stress or tension.

Stress awakens our mind; stress activates natural processes which lead to intellectual development. Stress plays a role in developing our personality; stress awakens our mind; stress activates the natural processes which lead to intellectual development.

In volleyball, there are two players—the spiker and the setter. The spiker has the key role of hitting or spiking in this game, but he needs a setter. For without a setter, no spiker can play his part properly. It is this process of setting or boosting which is going on in the life of every human being.

When you face stress of any kind, don’t despair. Take it as a challenge. Take it as an intellectual booster. Stress is a positive sign, a healthy activity. It unfolds your mental potential. All great men have been faced with great problems. But these problems only increased their creativity, and became the source of revealing a fresh dimension to their personality. The English poet John Milton has several major works to his credit. His masterpiece was Paradise Lost, which he wrote after he had lost his eyesight. Almost all creative people have had to surmount similar difficulties.

When you come face-to-face with stress, don’t take it as a negative phenomenon. Look upon it as a challenge and try to meet it. You have to activate your mind in a positive direction. Don’t lose your positivity; don’t resort to the language of complaint.