Adjust!

              POEMS AND POETS

           30. Adjust!

How to deal with the constant changes in the world is the problem facing man.Science does not address this issue. Modern secular advice is to be worldly wise-keep adjusting to the changes.

Old religious advice in some quarters was to look to the other world- this world is only a bridge we have to cross, so build no castles on it. Your real treasures are laid up elsewhere.

Modern sensibilities do not agree with such an approach.. Must we bear the heavy burdens here in the hope that 'something will turn up' elsewhere? This is like the advice given to Bolingbroke to take his exile as a blessing, that there is no virtue like necessity. And who can disagree with his reply?

O, who can hold a fire in his hand,
By thinking of the frosty Caucasus?
Or cloy the hungry edge of appetite,
By bare imagination of a feast?
Or wallow naked in December snow
By thinking of fantastic summer's heat?
O, not the apprehension of the good
Give but the greater feeling to the worse.
Fell sorrow's tooth doth never rankle more,
Than when it bites, but lanceth not the sore.

                                   (Richard II, Scene III)

What is heaven worth, if it cannot deal with our woes here?

Hinduism, in its popular form, does not ask people to abandon the world, but advance through gradual detachment. Artha and kama- worldly prosperity and fulfilment of  normal desires- are prescribed as goals for the householders, but to be sought through righteous means, dharma, and not forgetting the ultimate goal-Liberation.  God is conceived as Bhoga -Moksha pradayini- the bestower of both this world and liberation. But the philosophical side stresses the transience of this world, specifically calling attention to its impermanent nature. 'Anityam asukham loke', 'dukhalayam asaswatam', 'mrityu samsara vartmani', etc ( this impermanent,sorrowful world, this seat of sorrow and impermanent, this world subject to death)  are some of the phrases used in the Gita to describe this world. But this advice is given to one who aspires for God, nothing else, nothing less!

Pre-modern societies fixed man as part of a social structure,in which each one had a fixed position and role. Though mobility was usually denied or limited,it ensured that everyone was assured of a means of livelihood.The Indian varna system was also similar, but gave unlimited intellectual and religious freedom- one could believe in anything,so long as the social arrangement was not disturbed.It reserved occupations for everyone, prevented competition, and the required skills were naturally acquired in the family itself. But modern arrangements have disrupted this,thrown open everything to every one, at least in theory.In practice , occupations have become formally structured with formal educational qualification becoming necessary. But education has become expensive, and the skills become dated.The sources of livelihood have become uncertain and unsteady for every generation. Life long career or occupation can no more be taken for granted.Modern writers deal with this question. 'Who Moved My Cheese?' by Spencer Johnson is one such delightful book. We have seen how Shakespeare and others looked upon this world  as a play or a game to be played. Only, there are now too many games, and the rules and tools keep changing fast. Each one must find his way.This causes great psychological distress.

Sahir Ludhianvi, a celebrated recent Urdu poet sang:

Main zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya
Har fiqr ko dhuen me udata chala gaya

Barbadiyon ka sog manana fazul thaa
Barbadiyon ko jashn manata chala gaya

Jo milgaya usiko muqaddar samaj liya
Jo kho gaya  main usko bhulataa chala gaya

Gham aur kushi mein farq na mehsoos ho jahan
Main dil ko us maqam pe laataa chala gaya


I kept on moving with life
Letting every worry fly away, like smoke.
                             So I kept on moving....

It was waste of time,worrying over the failures
So, I went on, celebrating them!
                             So I kept on moving....

What I received, I took  as my destiny
Whatever I lost- I kept forgetting
                             So I kept moving......

That state, where one sees no difference between                                                           sorrow and joy-
I moved on, trying to fix my heart on that state!
                             So I kept  moving.......

I must apologise for the poor translation, which does not bring out the beauty of the original words. My enthusiasm has overtaken by competence. But I trust the sense is conveyed.

Is this a light song? Not at all!  When did worry solve a problem? This song prescribes contentment. It talks of not finding difference between sorrow and joy- ie not being affected , a point Gita calls Samatva! So, it seems, we cannot deal with life without a dash of philosophy! But some poets make it look so light! This is the special gift of the poets!

Our age abounds in self-help books, written from every conceivable angle, and advocating every possible solution. Surely, we found a Norman Vincent Peale or Samuel Smiles or Robert Schuller or Stephen Covey or Wayne Dyer helpful at some point in our life.

Louise Hay's You Can Heal Your Life is such a great resource. They all speak of a spiritual attitude as the forte, derived from either old fashioned religion, or newer 'insights'. Here is our friend Emerson.

Ralph Waldo Emerson
Good-Bye Proud World

Good-bye,proud world! I'm going home:
Thou art not my friend, and I am not thine.
Long through thy weary crowds I roam;
A river ark on the ocean brine,
Long I've been tossed like the driven foam;
But now, proud world, I'm going home.

Good-bye to Flattery's fawning face;
To Grandeur with his wise grimace;
To upstart Wealth's averted eye;
To supple Office, low and high;
To crowded halls, to court and street;
To frozen hearts and hasting feet;
To those who go, and those who come;
Good-bye,proud world! I'm going home.

I am going to my own hearth-stone,....
A secret nook in a pleasant land,....
And vulgar feet have never trod
A spot that is sacred to thought and God.

O when I am safe in my sylvan home,
I tread on the pride of Greece and Rome;
And when I am stretched beneath the pines,
Where the evening star so holy shines,
I laugh at the lore and pride of man,
At the sophist schools,and the learned clan;
For what are they all,in their high conceit,
When man in the bush with God may meet?

This is simple old fashioned 'contemplation', not the new-fangled 'meditation'. A knowledge of history teaches us humility, and provides a perspective on things, in the light of history's long sweep. Our best solutions to old problems have only led us to ever more and newer problems!

When Emerson is here, can Thoreau be far behind?

Henry David Thoreau
Inspiration

Whate'er we leave to God, God does,
   And blesses us;
The work we choose should be our own,
   God lets alone.

But if with bended neck I grope,
   Listening behind me for my wit,
With faith superior to hope,
   More anxious to keep back than forward it,

Making my soul accomplice there
   Unto the flame my heart has lit,
Then will the verse forever wear,-
   Time cannot bend the line which God hath  writ.

I hear beyond the range of sound,
   I see beyond the range of sight,
New earths and skies and seas around,
   And in my day the sun doth pale his light.

A clear and ancient harmony
   Pierces my soul through all its din,
As through its utmost melody,-
   Farther behind than they- farther within.

It speaks with such authority,
   With so serene and lofty tone,
That idle Time runs gadding by,
   And leaves with Eternity alone.

Such is the Muse- the heavenly maid,
   The star that guides our mortal course,
Which shows where life's true kernel laid,
   Its wheat's fine flower, and its undying force.

So, there is at life's core a kernel which contains the secret-  a clear, ancient harmony-through all this activity. Discovered, it provides inspiration. We have to take the time to discover!