FROM TOI PRINT EDITION
Action sustains hope, knowledge fulfils hope
May 30, 2021, 8:01 PM
IST Speaking Tree in TOI
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By
Jayant B Dave
It
is wise to entertain hope than despair in all conditions and at all times. Hope
is a prerequisite to success in material and spiritual life. Ichchha shakti,
will, germinates hope; kriya shakti, action, sustains hope; and jnana shakti,
knowledge, fulfils hope. Hope stems from one’s samskaras, latent cravings,
aspiration for progress and possibility of attaining God-head in this life as
assured by scriptures and demonstrated by lives of great men.
Hope is like prana in our
psycho-physical self that nourishes body and mind. It is prevalent in all
living species. A lion hopes to catch a prey and a deer hopes that it will
escape the predator. The virus mutates because it hopes to thrive on the host
and the host hopes to drive away the ‘unwelcome guest’ by activating its immune
system. Bowler, batsman, fielder and skipper all have hope. The winner is the
one who sustains hope.
God
too hopes that all elements in cosmos will play their part in sustaining the
order in creation. He hopes that man, who has forgotten his true identity, will
regain it and return to his divine abode. It was perhaps hope that inspired one
and non-dual Ishvara to manifest as many.
If
hope is the summum bonum of life, spirit behind our existence, what causes hope
to extinguish?
One,
many times we entertain unjust and excessive hopes leading to discontent and
despair. Exercising moderation and wisdom in expression of our desires is the
way out.
Two,
often we do not have a set vision in life. Absence of short-term or long-term
goals of life invites tamas, inertia, to set in. Setting swadharma, the right
course of life, and reviewing it from time to time is the way out.
Three,
at times when we are afraid to face a likely failure, we try to create a
protective wall by diminishing hope. One should try to optimise benefit to risk
ratio in any critical situation, focus more on benefit and not overestimate the
risk. Emergency approval granted to Covid vaccines and therapeutic drugs
focussed more on life-saving prospects rather than avoiding any likely
insignificant adverse event.
Four,
lack of hope that may extend to fear stems from ignorance. This is best
exemplified by vaccine hesitancy because of undue fears of side reactions to
Covid vaccines. Spiritually speaking, in ignorance of our true self, we
conceive ourselves as ahamkar, ego. But when ego is transcended, ignorance has
lifted itself like a mist, finite ego merges with the Self.
Five,
lack of hope stems from lack of faith in relative and absolute truth. Krishn
has assured in the Bhagwad Gita that untruth has no being and truth does not
cease to be. Relative truth is the beauty and immediate goal of life that leads
to absolute truth. Scientific truth is also unravelled with faith in the
present and hope for the higher principle. Man’s aspiration for eternal
happiness, knowledge and truth stems from this innermost reality. A
sthitprajna, man of steady wisdom, is ever content and satisfied – ‘Atmani eva
atmana tushtah’, self-satisfied in the self. This is the culmination of the
highest hope called mumukshutva, aspiration.
The
writer is president, Divine Life Society, Vadodara
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