Venturing Into The Unknown

By: V.K. Madhav Mohan
Submitted: 2007-01-17 15:05:28
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Yet another year has sped past. Before we knew it, we’ve been pitch forked into the New Year! Can we make our life in 2005 substantively different or will we continue to make tame resolutions that evaporate on the flimsiest of temptations? This is a question that we need to ask ourselves now more than ever. Deep introspection is the need of the hour; and out of that introspection must flow a resolve that steels us against making the same mistakes that we repeated in 2004. The searing pain that we experienced as we followed the destructive path of the South Asian tsunami should be a starting point. All of us are in mourning.

A perverse kind of globalization has equalized all of us. No matter where we live, how we look and what we earn, nature’s destructive globalization has shattered all of us in the twinkling of an eye. Aren’t we refugees all, every one of us? What idealogy could not do, natures has accomplished; it has revealed starkly that we are all, in the end, truly equal; despite the encrustations of so-called civilization, we are an egalitarian race. None of us can revel in our accomplishments or wealth or position. All it takes is a micro second for it all to vanish.

And so we must mourn, and take stock. And out of that stock taking must emerge a new mental model for life. The tsunami’s hidden message was the need for metanoia, a paradigm shift in our mental models, the way we look at ourselves and the world. If we can engineer that tectonic shift in our mental plates, we can honour all those who have lost everything. In fact we have a duty to alter our consciousness and contribute to making the world a better place. That is the only way to ensure that those who suffered did not suffer in vain. Therefore 2005 cannot and must not be like all the other years. We must reinvent ourselves this year.

It was Adi Shankara who said “bheda darsanam eva hi antarkaranam”….the fact that we see each other differently is what makes us different. If we look at others as separate entities they will be separate, far removed from ourselves and therefore capable of threatnening us. If on the other hand we can shift our paradigm and understand the ishavasya upanishad’s declaration, “ishavasyam idam sarvam” (all this is the manifestation of the Lord) we can suddenly realize that all of us are part of the Divine. How can then we be different from each other?

This truth can be grasped at the temporal level too. Don’t we all share the same aspirations? All of us want good health, financial and physical security, happiness and loving relationships. Is there anybody who looks at life differently? And yet we compete with each other with with fangs bared and daggers in our hearts. The paradox is that sustainable success can never be achieved on a win-lose, zero-sum basis. It can only be experienced with a generous live and let live, abundance mentality, a win-win mindset. If we live out of a win-lose paradigm we are setting the stage for our own future failure, much like the man who sat on a branch and plied the saw!

And then there is the money factor. How much is enough for us? is 3 % of our entire nation’s GDP insufficient for us to feel satisfied or secure…if not, how much do we need ? Will Rs.5,000/- or Rs 50,000 or Rs 5 lacs or Rs 50 lacs or Rs 5 crores or Rs, 50,000/- crores be adequate ? Where will it all end? And when its time to cast away the body, what then? Can we electronically transfer the money to our numbered account in Devaloka? After all this lifelong acquisition, this ferocious competition that pits brother against brother and loved one against loved one, perforce we leave everything behind! There has to be a better way to live!

Strangely, the Tsunami has also washed away a large part of our separateness. It has taught us to reach out and lend a hand. Relief has poured in. Everyone worldwide is united in grief, wondering about life and its meaning. Many families are considering loosening the hermetic seals that insulate them from other people; they are considering adopting some of the hundred’s of little children that have been orphaned. Can we question our own mindset that postulates that blood is thicker than water? Are we strong enough to forsake the safety of the shore and plunge into the tsunami’s residue of debris and suffering to rescue and rehabilitate broken lives?

As we look ahead at 2005 only one certainty dawns: everything is uncertain. Forecasts are unreliable. Extrapolating the past in a changed world is a recipe for disaster. Business and life as usual is over. We have to survive like the brave girl in the Andamans who clung on to a broken window frame and braved the seas for 2 days. Survival means adaptation and determination and letting go of the past. Only by jettisoning the past can we cross the threshold of the present into the future.

We must venture into the unknown with love and prayers illuminating the path. Our journey must take us through the unfamiliar territory of personal change. The milestones that we pass will indicate whether we have diluted our egos and moved onto to a trajectory of learning and humility. To remain rooted in the past is to be washed away again. To venture again into the uncertain is life itself….

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