Limitations Of Perception

Our physical senses are far too limited in perceiving the Divine. 

Two friends were walking down a country lane.

One believed in God; the other did not.

Said the atheist to the theist,

"We have had God

and religion for thousands of years and yet evil thrives in

this world. Hatred, crime, war and immorality is

getting harsher than ever," he further sliced the

theist with doubled sarcasm," what good has been

your God or your religion?"

The theist kept quiet and digested the raw rancour

with a smile.

They strolled on.

Once again the atheist swung his sword of sarcasm,

"With so much unrighteousness around, what good

has your God and religion done?"

And again, the theist silently advanced on.

Up ahead, they saw a young boy splashing in a

muddy puddle. He was covered all over by mud.

Hitting at the boy, the theist turned to his friend and asked,

"Tell me, what good has soap been to this world.

We've had it for so long ..."

"But you have to use it!" snapped the atheist.

"Exactly! You have to use religion, accept God and His teachings

in your life to see the benefits."

The dialogue finishes here.

But as is the case with many non-believers, some would argue, "I can see the soap. I can see its foams and suds; and its cleansing process. But, with God, I can't see Him with my eyes! Only when I know God through my senses will I accept Him."

Our inability to understand the existence and nature of God through material senses has given added momentum to atheistic cults. One who believes in God is often attacked as "primitive," "Out-of-fashion," "Only for the weak-minded and not for the modern and scientific brains."

As the so-called modern, scientific understanding is based on knowledge acquired through material senses, we reject God.

But is it a fault of God if our scientific senses are too feeble; insufficient, inaccurate and underqualified to know the glory of His being?

Careful analysis shows that our knowledge through the material senses is defective. There are a lot of discrepancies. First of all, the senses themselves are limited, thus imperfect. Secondly, we easily become illusioned. Thirdly, we make mistakes. And fourthly, we lack experience.

Let's have a closer look at these four limitations.

1.Imperfect Senses

It is true, human senses are powerful, but not powerful enough. There is much we can't see! Much we can't hear! Even to get accurate information about the external world, our senses have physiological limits, or 'thresholds of perception.'

Take the eye, for example.

A human eye cannot see through walls; it is blind to x-rays, ultra-violet rays and the infra-red! We can only see a tiny fraction of the total electromagnetic spectrum. An electromagnetic wave can range from one quadrillionth of a metre upto 100 million metres in length. And of this immense array of energy, we can see only the wavelengths between 400 and 750 millimicrons long (a milli-micron is a billionth of a metre). This we call the visible spectrum. And anything outside this range is invisible. Our visible spectrum is shockingly small and shrinks to near insignificance when compared to the vast section of waves that remain invisible.

Our eyes can see only 0.00000000000035% (3.5 x 10¯¹³) of what is there to see. To visualise this infinitesimal figure, if we take the population of one earth as 6 billion and collect 2 million such earths; out of the total number of people before us (2 million x 6 billion) we would see only 42! This is the stunning limitation of the human eye!

And in this frail band of vision lies our wonderful world of colours!

Our hearing is limited as well. No human ear can hear the dog whistle! Its frequency is beyond the range of human hearing. Sound waves are measured in Hertz (cycles per second). Our hearing extends from 20 Hertz upto 20,000 Hertz. And we are deaf to any vibration above or below this range.

Each of our remaining senses exhibits similar limitations.

So our senses are limited, imperfect. But what of scientific instruments! Can't they help us get more perfect knowledge! Not really.

Nobel prize-winning physicist, Eugene Wigner points out, "Even if we photograph the stars, we must eventually 'take in' by our senses what the photograph shows. Furthermore, without our senses, we could not handle a photographic camera. Clearly, all knowledge comes to us ultimately through our senses."

So even if refined by instruments, ultimately, whatever knowledge we gain through sense perception is no more perfect than our imperfect senses.

2. Illusions

Even within our limited range of perception, we suffer from illusions. You only have to ask a magician and he'll demonstrate how easy it is to deceive a person through illusions. He has hundreds in store up his sleeve.

Our eyes are most easily illusioned.

Many of us have seen mirages on a hot summer day. As you drive down the highway you see what looks like small puddles of water up ahead. But in reality they are just illusions.

As school kids we studied 'refraction' in physics. If you fill up a glass beaker with water and partially immerse a pencil in it, the part of the pencil in the water appears bent - an illusion due to refraction of light.

If you stand between the railway tracks at ground level and look at the tracks as they stretch ahead, they don't seem to be parallel. They appear to converge and meet at a far distant point. But we quickly realise that our eye is lying.

Are the center dots in both figures the same?

fig..

Psychologists and other students of perception have done much research into illusions, particularly in the realm of vision (see illustrations).

The sense of touch is also highly susceptible to illusion. If you cool your right hand sufficiently in water at 5°C and then dip it in a trough of water at 15°C, the water will feel 'warm.' But if your left hand has been preconditioned in 20°C water, then the trough of 15°C will feel 'cool.' Though the water is the same, it simultaneously feels both 'warm' and 'cool.'

Hearing. Most of us have been fooled at least once. We have turned to what sounded like someone calling out our name, only to find out in embarrassment that it was a fault of hearing or a trick of the ear!

Spooky or strange sounds and uncanny noises are also sound illusions, which the ear bears when the mind is scared.

Taste. The tongue lies not only through words. If after having eaten a sweet chocolate or some sugary foodstuff, you drink tea; the tongue reports an absence of sugar. But in reality, the tea does have sugar. It is an illusion of taste!

Try tasting an orange after tasting sugar, the orange will taste sweet. Try the orange after a lemon, and the same orange will taste sour!

- Is the diagonal line straight?
- All the horizontal lines are parallel, but they do not appear so!
- The bright white triangle which seems to overlap the dark circles and V-shaped lines 

is an illusion.

In short, all our senses, apart from being limited in power are subject to illusions.

3. Mistakes

With our imperfect senses and our illusion-prone mind, mistakes are inevitable. "To err is human."

The Challenger space shuttle was definitely the best production of top brains in science. Yet something went wrong. What began as a spectacular space expedition ended in a nightmarish fireball! Some unknown mistake had been made. A mistake that shook NASA and brought tears to humanity. Sadly, many such mistakes have been a part of human history!

Dr. R.C. Gregory, Director of the Brain and Perception Laboratory at the University of Bristol, England, says, "Science with all its dramatic successes, had from its beginning also generated wildly incorrect accounts; stars were believed to be pinpricks in a crystal ball, electricity and heat as fluids, the brain as an organ to cool the blood... These are dramatic deviations from what we now see as truth; and when invented they were deviations from what then appeared true."

The tragedy of mistake-making has haunted humanity. Everybody knows that there was a time when Aristotle claimed that the earth was stationary, the centre of the universe and the sun revolved round the earth. It passed unquestioned, until Copernicus, and then Galileo focussed his telescope towards the heavens to prove otherwise. The list of our past mistakes is appalling; the earth was considered to be flat and all matter as 'solid.' But today, the earth is a globe and nothing seems to be 'solid.' At subatomic levels, everything is forces, and more forces.

In another instance, three astronomers recently discovered a significant mistake in the 'Hubble Constant,' an equation used as a cosmic yardstick to measure enormous distances in the universe. The 'Hubble Constant' - named after astronomer Edwin P. Hubble - has undergone so many corrections since he first formulated it that many astronomers now laughingly call it the 'Hubble Variable.'

As new frontiers of knowledge are explored, man changes his old views. In the light of higher knowledge our old theories, howsoever dear to us, have to be rehashed or replaced. Is it not possible then, that when higher wisdom dawns upon us that the 'no God' theory will have to be dumped in the junkyard of human mistakes?

4. Lack of Experience

Behind many mistakes is lack of experience. It makes us professional mistake-makers. Whatsoever we undertake to study, without the necessary experience in the subject, we are always likely to misunderstand or not understand at all. If Einstein himself knocks on your door and presents to you his prized paper of Relativity Theory, will you be in a position to understand it?

Never: If Physics is like hieroglyphics to you and you know nothing of the subject.

No: Even if you know physics but have not the requisite depth.

Yes: If you are equipped with enough insight in physics and are thoroughly grounded in it.

How likely is a man, ignorant of science and mathematics, to appreciate the formula E=mc². Even if the scientists themselves demonstrate all the proofs, will he follow the logic of proofs?

Thus, it is plain logic that to read a book in Chinese, I must first train myself in the Chinese language!

And if someone who has no idea of what a number is demands that I logically show that two plus two is four. I can't do it. Similarly, if a spiritual ignoramus demands that God be logically demonstrated to him, his very request is illogical!

And given the proof of God, would he, a materialist know how to read it?

Even if God himself were to appear before him, he would fail to understand Him, for he lacks sufficient spiritual experience!

Conclusion

We can logically conclude that the perfect, infinite personality of God cannot possibly be understood by our limited, illusion-ridden, inaccurate and inexperienced senses.

Does it mean that we can never know God?

No. Even with all these severe handicaps, there is still a way to realise the Supreme.

The colossal gap between us and God can be bridged This bridge is the genuine Sadhu who is infallible in spiritual wisdom; who is in constant communion with the Supreme at one end and in humanly touch with us on the other. He links us mortals with the Immortal. He guides us and acquaints as with spiritual sadhana. And through his company and training a person rises above the material limitations. This process of rising is known as Divinisation.

Bhagwan Swaminarayan explains: "When a person undergoes genuine spiritual training under the care and company of an enlightened Sadhu who reveals to him the glory of God, his senses and mind become divine. Graced with such a divine vision he is able to see God in human form and develops a firm conviction about His supremacy. Otherwise it is impossible to see God with the material senses." (Vachanamrut Gad.I. 51)

Bhagwan Swaminarayan further describes in Vachanamrut Sarangpur 2 that when a person thus realises God, his power of perception transcends all barriers and he can hear everything being said in any corner of the cosmos and see everything anywhere in the multiple universes.

There cannot be more convincing words than God's own. And once you've tasted the bliss of God, doubts disappear like darkness before the sun.

To understand what I mean, I leave you with this last incident.

Addressing a packed audience, an atheist vociferously defied God with proof after proof. His mastery of words and logic left everyone stunned. He arrogantly challenged from the stage.

"Can anyone contradict me? Or wishes to attempt proving God to me?"

A heavy hush engulfed the listeners.

Then an old man limped up onto the stage with anxious faces monitoring him as he took his stance before the microphone.

Surprisingly he said nothing. Instead, he picked out an orange from his pocket and began peeling. Minutes ticked by. Everybody was intent on listening to his defence. Yet he quietly, with head down, kept on peeling.

The atheist breathed fire, "Old man have you nothing to say? Or have your ideas suddenly vanished and you can't find words?"

While the atheist belittled him, the old man finished peeling. He waved a hand and broke his silence. Then placing a segment of the juicy orange in his mouth and sucking it with delight, he turned to the atheist and said, "Can you tell me the taste of this orange?"

"How can I? I haven't eaten it," he retorted.

The old man faced the audience.

"Can anybody describe how this orange tastes?"

Silence.

Van Gogh

Some illusions are apparently caused by odd imperfections in our sensory apparatus. As the famous painter Vincent Van Gogh reached the end of his life, he began depicting shining objects (such as the sun) as if they were surrounded by concentric rings of colour. For a long time art critics were convinced that Van Gogh had "broken through a new level of reality" by letting his imagination run free. If this were the case, then we might say that Van Gogh was hallucinating the circles around the sun that he so often painted. 

But we now suspect that Van Gogh suffered from a dreadful disease that was systematically destroying his nervous system. One of the symptoms of this particular illness is that the person's vision becomes cloudy and all bright lights have halos around them. It is likely, then, that Van Gogh was suffering from the same kind of illusion that you can experience if you look at a streetlight on a foggy night, or watch a full moon through a thin layer of colours.

"Scientists, sociologists, professors and people of much greater intelligence than me are present here, and yet, nobody knows the taste of this orange. Only he who eats it knows how it tastes. It is the same with God. Only he who has experienced Him and tasted His bliss knows that He forever exists."

Dear reader, for a person who genuinely wants to know God, God is nearer than his own heart, God is as clear as sunshine!

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Merchant of Death

Although considered a "merchant of death," Alfred Nobel was quiet and peace loving, interested in the arts and science.

From time immemorial, fame and riches have been the prime objectives of mankind at large. For many, these two aspirations have become the touchstone of an accomplished and a happy life. But after reaching the summit they have different feelings, seekers after fine do not give up trying. They only became prudent as they go along, they try to revert back mentally but nothing can be done as they have been cast in a loud. After the mould has been cast. In spite of such cases in history the The cords of ambition attained and kept, but soon they snap with a torment that demolishes the golden edifice built through years and years of sweat and toil.

Let us consider the life of the 'dynamite' man - Alfred Nobel. We associate his name with two important things. One is an event and the other is an invention. The event hits the headlines every year - i.e. the Nobel Prize giving ceremony. And his invention was dynamite.

Nobel though affluent had found very little happiness during his life. In 1888 a bizarre incident rocked the very nerves of Nobel. He was 55, breathing quite healthily and sober mentally. It was in the morning papers that he read his own obituary. In fact, his brother Ludwig had died but the press had mistakenly wrote his obituary. The papers had branded him as 'a merchant of death,' because his fortune had been amassed through the making of arms and weapons. Nobel felt, "Is this how posterity is going to remember me?" It left an indelible mark upon his conscience. He resolved to change his 'dead image' while he was still alive. Unknown to many, Nobel had given millions of dollars to those in despair and the poor. He became refined man, a connoisseur of art, culture and a man very much in love with poetry.

Alfred Nobel was born in Stockholm in 1833. The birth of Nobel gave no consolation to his already bankrupt father, Immanuel Nobel. His father, had scant education, yet he was a gifted genius, a self-taught engineer, architect, and an inventor. Alfred's youthful days were not at all pleasant due to his failing health and dreamy nature he kept himself aloof from all ties of love and friendship. For Alfred, understanding, love, friends, a home, a wife and children spelled happiness. He never attained any of them. When he was middle-aged his brother asked him to write a short autobiography. He wrote the following:

Alfred Nobel: His miserable existence should have been terminated at birth by a humane doctor as he drew his first howling breath.
Principal Virtues: Keeping his nails clean and never being a burden to anyone.
Principal faults: He has no family, is bad tempered and has poor digestion.
One and only wish: Not to be buried alive.
Important event in his life: None

Alfred Nobel had attended school for only a year. His education continued under the guidance of a private tutor. He had acquired no degree or diploma but his ambitious nature and natural acumen got him wealth and fame.

For many years his elder brother had tried to find something more explosive than gun-powder. In 1855 Alfred and his father began to experiment with nitroglycerin. For fifteen long years both father and son pursued their project. In 1870 they invented a new power packed explosive-dynamite. Alfred Nobel truly believed that his invention would not be a weapon for further destruction but would lead to the signing of peace treaties. Writing to an eminent contemporary, an Austrian pacifist he said, "My factories may put an end to war sooner than your (peace) congresses."

Nobel was a mystery tycoon like Howard Hughes. A hermit whom very few people knew and saw. He often felt a need to be alone, "I want to live among the trees and bushes, silent friends who respect the state of my nerves, and I escape when I can from both large cities and deserts." He abhorred publicity. Inquiries about his life were often made, but he replied with a flat "No." The only portrait of him that exists was made after his death. Though Nobel was a delightful man, witty, fluent in four languages, he lived a solitary life and died a lonely death in 1896. His immense fortune amounted to 9 million dollars. In his will he desired that the money be spent in awarding prizes, to be distributed annually in five domains, namely; physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace. The subjects of his will reflect that Nobel was a man of peace. Now economics has been added to the list.

The presentation of prizes takes place at solemn ceremonies in Stockholm and Oslo (Denmark where the peace prize is awarded) on December 10th, the death anniversary of Alfred Nobel. The prize is a handsome sum of 40,000 dollars, a gold medal and a diploma. But why is the prize awarded on his death anniversary, quite an inauspicious occasion you may think? It is probably because Alfred Nobel rather than be remembered as the "Merchant of Death," wanted to be remembered as a "Merchant of Peace and Generosity."

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Tomorrowitis

Do you suffer from Tomorrowitis? If you find yourself saying: I'll find time tomorrow… Sure I want to do it, but… My hands are full at the moment… and other similar things…, then you are suffering from tomorrowitis. Learn in this article how to get rid of this problem.

Thousands thronged to see him. Day after day they sought him out, the fee charged was of no consequence. He was a must for all. Harry was an instant success, yet he was a dismal failure.

Our star was the focus of attention at one of the greatest introspective plays of the '40s, 'The Iceman Cometh,' by Eugene O'Neill. Harry's wife had died twenty years previously. Since that time he had never stepped out of his house. Oh yes, he had planned that proposed walk down the road, unfortunately that walk never materialized. You see one day he would have 'a back playing up' another day, 'bad weather' then 'caught cold', in fact there was an impressive array of excuses he could turn to. The audience watched in uncontrollable mirth as Harry, afflicted by Tomorrowitis, sunk deeper and deeper into his grave of failure. 

Tomorrowitis is a psychological disease in which we postpone all our 'activities' to another day. But predominantly that day never arrives.

Tomorrowitis was the cause of Harry's blocking his own highway to a happy and fruitful life.

Do you suffer from Tomorrowitis? If you find yourself saying:

I'll find time tomorrow…
Sure I want to do it, but…
My hands are full at the moment…
I am waiting for inspiration…

First, I have to make a detailed plan, budget, etc… and other similar things…
These are all symptoms of a crippling disease called Tomorrowitis - the ghost that will forever haunt you. But don't worry! Unlike terminal cancer, Tomorrowitis can be cured with 100% success. This wonder drug cure is already in your hands. It is upto you to use it.

FIRST, we have to introspect. Sit down and think honestly along these guidelines:

Why haven't I started this project?
Am I scared of failing?
Do I really want this, if not why am I doing it?
What will others think?
Why haven't I taken that long proposed foreign holiday?

Remember, you must be TOTALLY honest with yourself. Only you will know the outcome of this investigation. No one else will know, so there is no need for embarrassment. Thread by thread untangle this knot, that has denied you your personal success.

Now that you have dragged out into the open all your 'reasons' for procrastination, we can broadly classify them into two groups:

(1) Fear of failure.
(2) Lack of interest.

You will now have realized that the previously once insurmountable 'problems and fears' you faced have now rapidly diminished in size and have lost their awareness.

SECONDLY, begin the job in hand, this is the key to success. I can guarantee that Mozart, Bach, Wagner, etc., didn't wait for inspiration to walk into their heads, they galloped to inspiration. Day after day they sat down to the job of composing. The sheer effort they put, sparked off that genius latent within them. You can also spark off that hidden genius in yourself whether you want to compose music or make a kitchen wall unit.

To succeed you need motivation.

Do you want to pass those exams or don't you?
Do you want promotion or don't you?
Do you want to live a happier life or don't you?

If you really want these things and much more, what is there stopping you? Go right ahead and do it. School children are often heard saying, "Finders keepers, losers weepers". This rhyme applies to every one. For success we have only to search and endeavor, those who don't ultimately end up weeping.

Take the example of Master Haeng Ung Lee. When Lee was a boy growing up in Korea in relative poverty he had no concept of business or the martial arts. After World War II he started judo - but failed, boxing met with a similar result. Finally he tried Tae Kwan do, an activity that combines physical fitness, self-defense and internal discipline. Soon, Lee founded a martial arts school, but it was a failure. Some then suggested that he should go to America. Lee took up the challenge but after six months found himself back in Korea due to a faulty visa. 

Lee didn't give up, despite the fact that he lost all his friends. Fighting hard, Lee regained his visa and once again travelled to the U.S.A. He opened a martial arts school in Omaha. Working intensely, Lee slowly expanded his school. Now he has over 250 schools and needless to say money is pouring in like water over Niagara.

But more importantly, Lee, the former pauper boy of Korea, is getting satisfaction from his being able to help thousands of other people lead a more fruitful and healthy life.

So far we have discussed how you can become aware of the habit, for that's what Tomorrowitis really is, a deadly habit. This habit has now to be got rid of.

The logical steps in escaping from any habit are:

(1) to become aware of it,

(2) replace it with a desirable habit. How? Well you virtually have to break the habit of Tomorrowitis.

One way is to force yourself to do everything. Go and see that friend now, write that postcard now, fix that drainpipe now, … remember, Now.

Don't be concerned if you can't finish everything. To finish is not your present goal. You should be concerned only with starting. Finishing will automatically come later, but starting is the magic formula.

If Dr. Livingstone could replace the spear for a Bible in darkest Africa, I'm sure you can replace a bad habit for a good one. If Mahatma Gandhi could slowly memorise the entire Bhagwad Gita during his daily morning brush rituals, I'm sure you can start a big task on a regular basis, bit by bit. After a few weeks you will feel as if a dragging weight has been removed from your shoulders. You will be free, a liberty you probably haven't enjoyed for a long, long time.

You are now on your way to success in your chosen field.

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Panacea for Today's Problems

This article explains the current scenario of society and how the Swaminarayan Sampradaya is overcoming the social problems spiritually.

Introduction

Look at today's newspapers and what do you find? Wars! Terrible accidents! Riots Crime is on the increase! New orgy of mass murders! Mob rule threatens big cities!

War:

In the first eight decades of the 20th century more than a 100 million have become cannon - fodder at the hands of their fellow-men.

Crime:

There has been a cancerous growth of crime and violence. For instance, in the U.S. there occurs a burglary every 10 seconds, a rape every 7 minutes and a murder every 24 minutes.

Drugs:

A Drug Culture has emerged. It is made up of heroin addicts, shooting galleries, psychedelic lights and posters, rock music, underground newspapers, hippies, smuggling, drug pushers and the like. The drug problem is primarily a youth problem.

Moral Degeneration:

Man has descended into an abyss of moral evil that staggers imagination. Fraud and greed are triumphant everywhere. As Dr. Einstein said: "There is no defence in science against the weapons which destroy civilization."

Juvenile Delinquency:

Under the circumstances, juveniles commit almost half of all serious crimes. In America, 15 is the peak age for crimes and violence! The key to a peaceful world lies with the care we take of youth who are the citizens of tomorrow.

Youths:

Rebellion… The Generation Gap… Student Unrest… Juvenile Delinquency… Illegitimacy… Sexual Revolution … Pot … Escapism … these are the social problems of today's youth.

Reasons:

Why do children and youths go astray? Because they aren't brought up the rightway. We are failing our children. They are our future and our most precious resource and yet our most lawless citizens. We have never given them any spiritual training.

The world is in torment. The gravest problem scourging today's world is the 'Crisis of Character'. Crime stems from a lack of character.

The simple reason for all the violence is plain Human Nature - uncurbed human nature, allowed to run rampant in a tolerant society. So long as we are dominated by passions and desires, we will flout our neighbor, never leave him in peace, build institutions and societies which mirror our violent impulse, aggression and greed.

Education:

Education, however more than any other single factor that can mould the citizen of the follow future. But modern education has failed to provide solid goals and values that its youth could rally behind individually and nationally. It fails to teach students how to live. It commits the crime of developing the machine, instead of the Man. The result is a mixed-up, unhappy and fearful world in chaos.

Remedy:

Ours is a diseased humanity we have plenty of knowledge. Through their, the young people of the world show their utter contempt for the values of a society that has a materialistic way of life through riots, demonstrations etc, what society needs is a spiritual sheet anchor. Man does not live by bread alone.

Religion:

Religion is the life-giving water which quenches materialism that is burning the core of the hearts of millions. It is meant to refine the nature of man. Some say religion has failed to do that. But it is really not so. In fact, religion has not been tried in its true sense. As C.C. Colton said: "Men wrangle for religion, write for it, fight for it, die for it, anything but LIVE for it."

Character:

Undoubtedly, "The greatest, the highest and the noblest contribution that a man can make for the benefit and prosperity of this world is his pure and spotless character."

Today, the Swaminarayan Sampradaya founded by Lord Swaminarayan two hundred years ago, is a dynamic force working miracles with the youth. The fountainhead of such metamorphosis was Yogiji Maharaj succeeded by the present Head, His Divine Holiness Swami Maharaj.

A Novel University

His Divine Holiness Yogiji Maharaj's impact on the student is vividly borne out by the following incident:

In 1965 a mob of 2000-militant students at Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar, marched towards the Chemistry Department to burn it down as a protest of their grievances. At the head of the mob was a burning torch and the students were in a violent mood. 

However, to everyone's surprise, a dozen students halted the mob. One of them coolly suggested to the 2000-strong mob: "You may first burn us down before you proceed to burn the institution of education. It has been the source of education for thousands and will still educate thousands more for decades together. What shall we gain by burning down the buildings?"these dozen youths held back the 2000 agitators. This seems incredible. But the Head of the Chemistry Department, could not even imagine that there could be such students who would, at the risk of their lives, make the mob see reason even in their frenzy. 

The mob dispersed.

The Head of the Chemistry Department, later on, called on those youths to find out in which "University" their moral fibre had been moulded. Pat came the reply: "It is Yogiji Maharaj who has taught us this. We are followers of the Swaminarayan Movement which has always provided peaceful solutions to problems."

This has been so because Swamiji has been an idol of selfless love.

Youth Power Sublimated

Swami Maharaj has inspired noble virtues in thousands of youths today. During a grand festival to mark the Bicentenary of Lord Swaminarayan in April 1981, Ahmedabad, 10,000 youth volunteers, were working day in day out, to make the 37-day Festival a grand success. 

Millions thronged to the festival. However, at that time, there were rampant anti-Reservation Riots with escalating violence going on in Ahmedabad and throughout Gujarat. 

The situation was out of hand as even the Central Government arbitrators had failed to bring about a peaceful settlement. The Gujarat Government was ill-equipped to curb such riots. 

Curfew used to be the order of the day. However, the religious festival, held in the very midst of Ahmedabad City went on without a single untoward incident. The youths, the fellow-students of the rioting students, were involved in an activity that transcended the worldly agitations and violence. In spite of the general atmosphere of looting, arson, and violence, these youths remained above the politicking. Not only that but they also assisted for peace in Ahmedabad and Gujarat at large. Peace was soon restored in Gujarat.

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The Shadow of Death

Jean de La Fontaine: "Death never takes the wise man by surprise he is always ready to go." Learn more about the concept of death in this article.

On 5th May 1993 a news age agency in China solemnly filed a report that Li Ching Yu, the oldest man on earth, had expired at 256!

When the present proof-crazy authorities declare of knowing no one having celebrated his 116th birthday, people still put trust in the Russians announced the death of Muslimov of Barzavu, in august 1973. They said he lived to enjoy the 100th birthday of his third wife and his grandchild.

Despite the fact that we do not know how close to truth these claims are we still find them strikingly impressive; surprising and bewildering! Like us, the majority of humanity tends to marvel at stunts of life, and life itself; yet overlooks the commonest and the most stunning part of it all : DEATH!

In the days of Shri Krishna, Yaksha bemused Yudhisthira with a similar question, "What is the greatest wonder of the world?" Yudhisthira unravelled: "Although, before his very eyes, man witnesses people dying and things perishing, he never, for once honestly feels that death shall befall him likewise." 

Your Nursery Teacher told You so!

Is it not absurd that we mechanically get into our daily routine sparing no thought or wilfully ignoring the most conspicuous feature of our life - DEATH? Since birth our eardrums have received the din of death, our eyes have seen its sieges and our mind has tolerated its tremors. Yet we forget!

On your zero birthday while you frolicked spitefully in your mother's arms, a 'Birth Certificate' had been issued, but at the same time, the same people, set aside a similar piece of paper for the 'Death Certificate'. Birth is an invitation to death. Age toddled you onto nursery. Surely! You can recall the dramatic voice of your teacher?

"… and the b..i..g..bad wolf DIED!" You cheered in a class-chorus as it meant a happy ending for the three little pigs : It was strongly suggestive that not only the baddies but even the goodies came to an inevitable end, whether unhappy or happy.

Now you're older and roaming the streets. It's Saturday. With a teenage gait and a stylish tilt you look up-Gosh! Colourful posters from the movie-world arrest your eyes. They read 'Game of Death' and 'Death Race 2000'. Age comes harshly down and you find yourself in the early twenties, hung on a job. One evening, making full use of your cushioned sofa, you wearily turn on the T.V. The box screens a few protesters waving curse, "Death to…." The news terminates taking with it a few more years. A new horizon gives way. Crowded with dreams, you stand facing a 'yagna' or a church altar, holding a warm, delicate hand of your second half to be. Softly and shyly both of you whisper, "Till death do us part."

All this goes when death strikes.

Even the Strongest Proved too Weak

At 33, death disposed of Alexander the great with an ease of a spider gorging a trapped fly. Napoleon, Stalin and Churchill were all great and sturdy but greater and sturdier still was death; The list is endless and it's here that the famous lines of a Gujarati poet, Narayandas, need framing:

"As for a man, his days are numbered:
With dawn, as a bud of the field, he flourisheth.
With dusk, as a withered flower he falleth.

No Time for Good-Byes

When 900 people in Jonestown, Guyana committed mass suicide in November 1978 the world was riddled by its suddenness and freakishness. Hardly anyone prophesied it or later believed it but it was crystal clear, how inhumane was the instigator, Rev. Jim Jones, is of little importance here as we are concerned with the unpredictability of Death.

Science Won't Help!

Many say, Science will curtail death and eventually eliminate it; as it has already increased our lifespan from 30 in the 1900's to well over 60 in the 1990's. The question to ask is will the space age scientist be able to devise a protective outfit to fight death? The most logical answer is 'No'.
Today, the microscope has revealed the unseen world, the scalpel has discovered hidden regions and the telescope distant galaxies. Yet death has remained a mystery.

It's Coded Messages

So far, so good; we've closed in onto a few features of death. 

(a) Death is predetermined; none can escape it.

(b) Death arrives at anytime.

(c) Death is too complex to be understood.

(d) Death remains uninfluenced by scientific or worldly methods.

Birth bargains with joy; death deals with gloom. We entered the world empty-handed and we'll have to exit it empty-handed. If our own body fails to accompany us then what of possessions? What use is expending a life for things which we are to leave behind? It would be like slogging day and night for 50 years at a factory and coming home without a dime! Vain and disheartening!

Before it's too late we must change things. We have to act lightning fast because death may befall us at anytime. Even now at this very moment! But we can't understand it. We're in a fix! What do we do? Well, what does a child do when he's stuck with a maths sum? Simple! He runs to an experienced teacher. Our experienced saints and sages direct us to religion. Science remains mute on this topic, it offers nothing. Only religion needs resorting to.

Steve McQueen No.1 Hollywood Star admits

His athletic physique, manly stride and a handsome squarish face topped with flaxen hair, hoisted him to the apex of Hollywood. For years, he remained nonchalantly, the No. 1. Inwardly, a proud, rigid man disillusioned by success, Steve relentlessly despised God, until… At the age of 42 the doctors stamped him a patient of terminable cancer. The horror of dying struck him. A dramatic metamorphosis followed. He found himself struggling to play a role he'd never played before. His film career was at stake, his dreams were dwindling, and he desperately needed aid. Past successes and publicity did poorly for his present state. At last, with a lacerated ego he meekly turned to God. In 1979 a British newspaper reported.

"A man who publicly scorned God began to privately pray for hours at an altar, he specially installed at his place." In his own words, "I have touched God. He has given me more courage than I have ever had in my life." Though Steve never recovered physically, he died a different death. He had experienced that his entire life, though teeming with fame and wealth, was useless at the point of death. This understanding transformed him. He sought God during his final months and tried tirelessly in the limited time available. God indubitably assuaged the misery of his soul.

He was fortunate enough to foresee death, we may not be so fortunate. We must act immediately! Opt for a resolution - a God-centered life, or a betterment, if we already are religious.

Overcoming Fear

In the Shrimad Bhagwat, King Parikshit, when informed about his impending death in a week's time, became paralysed by fear. He at once sought the succour of sage Shukdev and took refuge. For a week he did without royal comforts, food and even water, focusing his senses on the religious discourses. The knowledge of God cleansed him, enabling him to transcend fear. He embraced death smilingly, fearlessly and went forth to become immortal. Through God he had vanquished the fear of death….

But religious tales and God's words shed divine light which dispel this darkness. Lord Swaminarayan says, "One who has devotion with exuberant love towards God will overcome fear of death and feel fulfilled." (Vachnamrut Loya 2).

Does Death Call for a Party?

It has been bred in the very marrow of Indian Culture that death is not the inevitable, inescapable, tortuous ordeal. From young age the religious have been nursed on Gita's ambrosia in the form of shlokas.

"The soul is never born nor dies; nor does it exist on coming into being. For it is unborn, eternal, everlasting and primeval; even though the body is slain, the soul is not."
Protected by a mail of knowledge, people well grounded in Indian Culture have sent invitations to death. They realise themselves to be the soul; the soul never dies. No question of death lingers and the process becomes negligible. Moreover, Lord Krishna explains.

"As a man discarding worn-out clothes, takes other new ones, likewise the embodied soul, casting off wornout bodies enters into others which are new."

Noteworthy historical events during the life of Lord Swaminarayan up to this day espouse the above statement.

A devotee in a vision was informed by the Lord that the elder of his two sons will expire in a month's time. And exactly a month later, the body demised. His relatives mourned and the village showed concern. But to their unthinkable horror, they saw the father distributing sugar-pieces. He was celebrating his son's death!

Another month swept by and the Lord predicted his second and last son's death. It followed accordingly. People grieved at the second successive death in such a short interval. Yet, once again the father rejoicing celebrated this inauspicious occasion. When the village folk irately questioned his barmy behaviour, he clarified, "My sons were happy, but have become happier. They now sit in God's abode, eternally.

Jean de La Fontaine's saying demands some attention, "Death never takes the wise man by surprise he is always ready to go."

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