Can there be harmony?

July 22, 2023

Can there be harmony?

As grown-up adults, we look around and see disharmony everywhere. We get up in the morning and see the power cuts. We walk in the park and see the plastic packets everywhere. We see the water leaking from the public taps. We see dogs roaming around everywhere and barking at the people passing by. We see vehicles driving at a very fast speed where kids are standing creating a panic situation for everybody. Then we open the newspaper and read the news about the electrocution of so many people due to water logging in residential areas. We reach the office and see people coming late to the office without any remorse on their faces. We come across numerous instances of negligence while people are performing their duties. People have a huge sense of entitlement and hardly any sense of duty.

Where is the scope for harmony in this situation? What should a person do in this situation? The more a person tries to set the systems right and more frustrated he becomes because of the simple reason that systems are built by people and people are by and large unwilling to participate in the process of building systems or harmony.

These are two images of Dharavi, the biggest slum in India. Resources are so limited here. How do you bring harmony here? The following are the images of the water-scarce areas of Rajasthan. How do we put the systems in place?

The following is the image of the busy local station in Mumbai:

The same is the scene in Delhi:

We see chaos everywhere, not only in India. The recent Russia-Ukraine war, the cold war, the terror attacks, the accumulation of weapons of mass destruction, etc, all are examples of chaos. Even nature did not leave us undisturbed. We have seen Covid-19 in the recent past which led to the death of so many human beings and the widespread panic among all of us. We see so many floods and storms every year. Life seems to make no sense in this chaos.

There have been cycles of order and disorder in each part of the world. India was once called the golden bird was looted by attackers for centuries and after independence. India is again on the path of becoming the superpower.

There was renaissance in Europe which resulted in so much of affluence and growth of art and science. However, it was also followed by world wars:

Bringing about harmony seems to be a never ending process. Probably the war between the forces intending to bring harmony and disharmony will always continue on this earth. In fact, it reminds me of the perpetual war between the devas and danavas, as portrayed in the Indian scriptures like Puranas.

Both Danavas and Devas approach the God, time and again to get the boons and the God is generous in granting boons to both of them. After getting the boons, the Devas try to bring harmony and and the danavas try to accumulate more and more wealth.

I feel that what matters is the continuous remembrance of that connection with the divine. So long one remembers that connection, one does not suffer from the illusion of this world. One remains aware of the temporariness of this entire world whether harmonious or chaotic. The moment, one forgets that connection, one falls in the trap of illusion. If one's nature is that of davav, he becomes unhappy when he is forced to operate within the boundaries of systems. If his nature is devik, he becomes stressed and anxious if the systems fail and become chaotic. In both the situations, it is utmost importance to remember that connection with the divine and to understand that this entire creation is just like a bubble and what remains after the bubble is burst is air, which is the only reality.

This universe has energed out of nothingness and will merge in to that.

In the meanwhile, we are just playing our own role on the stage, to make this play beautiful. To create something beautiful is our basic nature and that is the reason we have taken this birth. To create something beautiful.

This beautiful creation may happen in the worst of circumstances and with the least resources. We have so many examples around. We just need to open our eyes and observe them to get the motivation:

Life becomes fulfilling with the permanence of the connection with the divine and not with the accumulation of wealth or setting up systems. If one is connected to the divine, one will naturally develop compassion for others and make efforts to bring back their awareness of the divine connection. More and more people recall that divine connection and a more harmonious society will become automatic. It's a natural outcome of awareness.

Howsoever good systems we build, unless people become aware of their divine connections, they will just use them for their shallow interests to dominate the world. The best of the inventions in space science and quantum physics will be used to develop weapons of mass destruction.