Stirring Of Soul




Even Gold becomes pure when it is fired and hammered. Our apocryphal stories are woven with the concept of “Manthan”. It is to be understood as they are indicative of a greater truth that one has to endure pain and suffering to realize his true and pure nature. There is “Manthan” in real life too. And that is “Stirring of Soul”, an emotional churning. It reveals the truth that was hidden in the darkness of ignorance and provides the strength that you would have never felt. “Stirring of soul” defines and decides yours mettle.
In our life time, almost everyone has to go through pain and sufferings(I am talking particularly emotional one) . Some of them can not able to cope with it and despite facing they bend themselves on their knees, hiding their faces with their palms. And some accept it, face it without calculating if they would defeat or would be defeated. In a long run, former types prove to be so vulnerable that a slight storm of distress destroys their whole being. And later types are shaped and enforced by such strength that even a tornado of disaster couldn’t tremble their being.
According to Darwin, Struggle of life generates changes in the species so that they could survive. This change is so effective and impacting that steers the changes in Generation through Genetic modification. In life, in which we often witness emotional conflicts and struggle for survival...we have a plenty opportunities to develop the strength of resistance. Just we need to face it. Accept it and we would get the changes to endure any further sufferings.
Personally, I have also passed through “Stirring of Soul” in the 22 years of my life. Though they were endurable however I feel when I retrospect that it was the turning point of my life that made me to reach where I am standing. Just I was reading Autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi...It was amazing to find how little weakness and disabilities shaped him to be “Mahatma” from a mediocre school boy. A man, who could not speak a written letter in public, led the greatest historical revolution of world. Gandhi Ji is not only one...the great philosopher, the great musician and the great scientist all prove how important “stirring of soul” is.
Every gloomy situation in life has a bright side too. We need to find it... like in the book “Alchemist”...We need to receive the signal that existence sends...I feel these pain and suffering are the signal and if they are received aptly and perfectly in complete awareness...It would lead us for greater good...
Life is not a utopia nor can everyone be detached. And so we are destined to endure pain and sufferings. When Buddha says “World is full of miseries. And desire is its reason.” It is true; but can we ever become without desires? I think Most of us cannot be. I feel Tolstoy quote more rational when he says “Pure and complete sorrow is as impossible as pure and complete joy.” So Miseries are bound to happen and only way to save from these miseries is to accept sufferings with open arms so that it can lead you to resistivity otherwise distortions are another possibility.


Well, I don’t know to what extent I am correct however even a faith or thought that these sufferings would make me more resistive and perfect, provides me a courage to endure suffering with patience. And for an agnostic like me this "faith" is congruent to the “God” of theist.


Regarding Post I would say... it is just my mood, not an intellectual expression. 

Comments

Yayaver said…
Many people would rather die than think, infact most do.” - Bertrand Russell. Amit, You express yourself much better in mood than intellectual expressing the thought. People run away from solitude and become uncomfortable in thinking about themselves. they will be everywhere giving free advice without using head to others. Soul is stirred but still we want to remain as child always uncritical or thoughtlessly accepting anything. Like Kundera said-when someone says that Children! You are the future. It does not imply that children will one day be adults and so they are the future, but that the society is becoming more and more like a child.
Anonymous said…
pure and complete sorrow doesn't exist as complete and pure joy...

this line sums it all..

once again a thoughtful post Amit....
@ Yayaver
Thanks a lot for your wonderful comment... :)
I could really visualize my thoughts more clear by your comment.. :)

Cheers!!
@ RSV
Thanks a lot... :)
Glad that you liked it.. :)
Cheers!!
Roshmi Sinha said…
Let me first of all wish you a very happy, safe and prosperous Deepavali/Kali Puja... !!! May the festival of lights bring lots of happiness and colour into your life and a New Year blessed with prosperity!

P.S. Very nice thoughts and well expressed too!

I, however, differ on your views on Gandhi. He was a staunch casteist and a supporter of 'apartheid' (in South Africa)... and his so-called 'protests' were linked to these beliefs. It was given a different 'spin' when he was presented before the poor and gullible people of India as a 'saintly' person... Perhaps, he was a 'creation' of the imperial forces.

He made no attempt to inform/sensitise the people about the partition... and had no strategy for handling the event and aftermath of partition. Infact he went about demanding that 60% of the country's gold should be given to pakistan... else he'll migrate to Pak or Afganistan...

Within five months of his arrival in Delhi on March 22, 1947, Mountbatten managed to convince the British government that partition of India was inevitable. He went ahead with his partition plan and in August 1947 the two independent dominions of India and Pakistan surfaced on the map of the world, at the cost of millions of
innocent human lives.

Infact, it was Mountbatten who decided on the date... 15th Aug., 1947... for the day of independence/partition... arbitarily. He later said... on being asked, how this date was arrived upon... that it came to him out of the blue, and he set it as the date. I ask you!

In the aftermath of the Cabinet Mission’s failure, Wavell invited both parties to form a coalition interim government. But the sagacious 'Gandhi insisted that a coalition was "the wrong way of forming a government," reiterating that it should be left to one party or the other.'

Gandhi’s demand was not compatible with the need of the hour, given the political turmoil India was in, and its ethnic and religious diversity. His insistence on one-party government meant the inevitable partition of India (to which he claimed to be against throughout) as the two political parties were unable to resolve their differences to accommodate each other in a coalition government.

Even Rabindranath Tagore and others had warned him about the consequences that this nation will face if these things were not attended too. But to no avail. Infact, Tagore never supported Gandhi.

His outward show of living simply and frugally was a sham... to quote Sarojini Naidu: "It cost India millions to keep Gandhi in poverty." And his 'jails'... e.g., the Nizam's palace! To quote Sarojini Naidu again: "Some Jail!"

Also, sleeping with five naked girls... embracing you just so that you can prove your 'chastity' and show the world that you shun sexual pleasures and/or a master of 'tantra' is not noble, it is sick! Especially if one of those girls happens to be your grand niece...
Manu Gandhi... she as well as others are on record.

The Buddhist period... or the Golden Age of Buddhism... in India or rather 'Bharatvarsha'... had sowed the seeds of decline and we are still reaping the crops. The concept of "Ahimsa" was and has been distorted.

So, "Buddhist" China is respected and honoured in the comity of nations... and not "Ahimsa" following India. And China achieved "Independence" 2 yrs after India... also China is nearly 3 times the size of India and has a larger population. See where it is today...

This so-called "ahimsa" and "non-violence" doctrine instilled in us over the last 1000 years or so... has made us to turn the other cheek... if slapped on one... and cry. We cannot slap back and laugh... Unfortunately!

I think Swami Vivekananda's teachings and philosophy is more relevant...
Yayaver said…
@Roshmi Sinha, first of all Swami Vivekanand was supporter of caste system but staunch reformer opposing any form of caste or religious discrimination. Your points are correct. Still Gandhi was a major difference in the rising of Congress. Congress was the party of elite Indians, only Tilak was there with public support. Gandhi with his simplicity and ahimsa make congress a public party. He had several flaws but all people saw his sacrifice, simplicity and non violence as a weapon to fight against tryant British. These character won him more followers. Force however strong should never have last hand. When you read world history, then you will see civil wars and bloody coup then Mahatma's contribution seems to light the path. By electing Gandhi as their leader, the whole India was faulty. Everybody of us are product of the environment. Its very harsh to judge someone on his judgements. Aren't we?
Shruti said…
Amit
hey lovely post again by u amit!!
Buddha's quote "World is full of miseries. And desire is its reason" is the best in this post!!

P.S : Very busy? Couldn't see u in my blog these days?!
Madhu said…
Good one Amit. Unleashing ones own self is often (and many say only) path to wisdom. Suffering, joy, pain etc are emotions...just emotions and nothing more. The day we come to accept this fact, our perception of life would change for good.
Bharathi said…
Well, its a nice post. even I reflected the aspect of suffering in a small story of butterfly and a man. I dont know if you are right or wrong as I too in the same state as you are now. I believe, when we are open to learn, we get to know lots of things. All the best.

btw. is it possible for you to give a writeup on the topic 'Death' in hundred words. I would like to post it in my blog as guest post. i already got a poem from Vipul, so i would prefer a writeup rather than a poem. If you can, please email it to bharathionline@gmail.com
@ Roshmi
Thanks a lot :)....For the longest Comment I have ever Got in My Blog..
Wish You Too A very Happy And Prosperous Diwali/Kali Puja...:)
Well, Whatever I have said about Gandhi Ji is based on his autobiography Which I have read...
Thanks a lot for Sharing so much Knowledge...which has stirred me to know much more about Gandhi ji...
However, I Would not say Gandhi as an Intellectual being Like Tagore...but I feel at that time when people's mind were enslaved by so many orthodox...it was Gandhi's Austerity, Simplicity, and Commonness, that could attract the people...Do you feel Tagore could lead the people??..I don't thinks so...His thoughts were beyond the perception of the people in those days...
And Yes..I believe in Vivekananda's Philosophy...And Now I would try to know more... :)

Cheers!!
@ Yayaver... :)
I would echo with your thoughts "Gandhi with his simplicity and ahimsa make congress a public party. He had several flaws but all people saw his sacrifice, simplicity and non violence as a weapon to fight against tryant British. "
Now..Gandhi is not a historical personality..he has become more or less a "Thought" which is inspiring millions of people...And "thought" which people are accepting is free from his personal weakness, vices and his orthodox thoughts....
So i feel it would be better to expand him as an Idea..Rather than to postmortem his personality.... :)

Cheers!!
@ Shruti...
Thanks a lot.. :)
Glad that you liked it... :)


Cheers!!
@ Madhu..
Thanks a lot.. :)
So true...
"Unleashing ones own self is often (and many say only) path to wisdom."
keep visiting :)
Cheers!!
@ Bharathi... :)
Thanks a lot.... :)
You are True...
"when we are open to learn, we get to know lots of things"
Glad that you liked it... :)

And Thanks again for giving me an opportunity to write a Guest post... :) I would try my best to write it today... :)

Cheers!!
Unknown said…
Thats good post amith.... Yes... its so true that stirring of soul is very important and everyone goes through it in their own life. But what we learn from that is most important....and how we grow out of it...

Darwin's theory is so true.. a very nice post...
Urmi said…
Lovely post as usual. Just brilliant.
@ Amit
Beautiful Post! Which almost made the people wonder the philosophy.

For me there is nothing like Struggle...if atall I have struggled in my life...I address it as Lesson of Life! I have always learnt from the moments. But then I wonder, If there was No so called Struggle...I would have not learnt many things.

I shall live till I learn whole and SO I shall to Learn More and more I shall Struggle!

I'm glad that your post made many doubts of my life clear. Here I learnt something worthy in your Post!

COngratulation for a lovely post!
@Shankar..
Thanks a lot.. :)
Glad that you liked it... :)
Cheers!!
@Babli..
Thanks a lot... :)
Glad that you liked it.. :)
Cheers!!
@ Rachana..
Thanks a lot for your wonderful comment.. :)
You are so true...Struggle makes us to learn many things...its define our potential...develops persistence and patience...
I believe this should be our attitude towards life....We have to learn a lot... How well Bertrand Russell says..
"Life should be inspired by Love and Guided by Knowledge"
And this "knowledge" is not only what we read in our Text-books...But it is derived by the struggle too... :)

Cheers!!
Roshmi Sinha said…
Thanks Amit... for your response. I appreciate and respect your views... which are different from mine... and maybe we will continue to agree to disagree :)

I'll respond to your comments in two or three days... since I'll have to compile my thoughts and views. That'll make this comment of mine... even longer... you know, the "Mother of all comments" :)

But... I'll try to break it into several parts :)

@ Yayaver: When someone is called a "Mahatma"... put on a pedastal and given the honour of "the Father of the nation"... his actions... private/personal/social/political got to be dissected. Since those very actions have shaped the destiny of a nation and its people... and still is.
Roshmi Sinha said…
@ Amit: You could not have been more off the mark... in your observations on Tagore.

I'll discuss his life and legacy in my next comments, for sure. Please read his works... even though the english translations take away a lot of its essence... but will still give you a fair idea.

His is a multifaceted and gigantic personality that is not just restricted as the poet laureate who penned our national anthem and that of Bangladesh. Or that of the first Asian and the first non-European to get the Nobel Prize.

Its a shame that the gov does not let a pip out when his works and belongings (and they are priceless) as well as the nobel medal and citation get stolen... from the premises of this (erstwhile) worldclass centre of Learning... that he had founded in Shantiniketan. No measures are taken to secure them and to provide better security to the institute.

But then the rot had already begun much earlier. Gandhi's fav. Pandit's daughter destroyed this very institute. Reason? She was a student here for a short while... and was known for being a poor student and uninterested in studies as well as indisciplined. Tagore himself asked her to leave (after a few attempts to rectify her behaviour went in vain, that is). Therefore, this excellent centre of learning had to pay the 'price' one she got the 'opportunity'. But then thats the 'trend'... as far as our centre of excellence goes... isn't it... ??? All of them were and still are being destroyed in the name of 'social equality', etc... and mindlessly sacrificed on the altar of politics/power/commerce.
Roshmi Sinha said…
Tagore's works, philosophy and thoughts inspired the people/intellectuals/writers/activists/poets.... even in far away South America. Most of their great writers/poets have been 'influenced' by his works/legacy and/or directly lifted them. These very works influenced their 'Renaissance' and helped in the re-establishment of their 'national pride in their indigenous culture/traditions/customs'... which had been mocked and systematically destroyed under colonial repression... and played a huge role in their struggle for emancipation.

But then... in India... don't we have a history of neglecting our own heros/heroines... the genuine ones... ??? The great and much celebrated German poet/writer/ philosopher Goethe is on record that he has been 'influenced' by Kalidas' "Meghdutam". Much is made of Goethe's works... but how many of us know about Kalidas' and/or read "Meghdutam" apart from his other works... ??? The much popular dance form of "Flamenco"... is actually a combination of India's most graceful dance form "Odissi"... and Arabian. How many of us know that or even want to... ??? Miyan Tansen could create magic with the way he rendered the 'ragas'... he could set everything on fire... by the "Rag Deepak" and bring down the rains with his rendition of the "Rag Megh Malhar". Today... nobody can do that. Why??? 'coz the complete wordings of these ragas have been a casualty of the ravages of time... due to gross neglect.

Before I end this installment of my comment... I would like to quote the immortal words of 'Kabiguru' Rabindranath Tagore here:

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Very inspiring, timeless and immortal words indeed! This is Kabiguru Rabindranath Tagore's dream of a free and glorious India... a dream that has yet to be achieved... and we are nowhere near it.
@ Roshmi..
Thanks a lot... :)
I really adore Tagore...I have read his mesmerizing Book..."Gitanjali"...and is one of my favorite... I believe that Tagore is far more intelligent and open minded than Gandhi ji...
I have already written a post on Tagore...plz do visit at.... http://amit414voice.blogspot.com/2009/08/brief-difference-in-attitudes-of-two.html

Thanks again for your wonderful comment... :)
Cheers!!

Popular Posts