Action part of life is governed by gods. Man has been conceived in the passive voice.
Dr. Jernail S. Anand
Today, I wish to explore how powerful is man? Man is armed with knowledge and knowledge is power. If we compare man to animals, decidedly he is in a far better position, and this perhaps is the reason animals and birds still have primitive civilization, whereas man has improved upon the primitive, and built a brand new civilization which is progressing by the day.
As the eyes of the child open, and knowledge dawns upon him, he starts learning the basic lessons of life. And soon, he has a store of knowledge which he uses in the discharge of his diurnal duties. There is nothing to surprise in it. Every man is naturally endowed with several ingrained qualities of head and heart, and even if he is not specifically education, he carries a certain amount of information which is necessary for bare survival. But, our knowledge helps us to go beyond survival and make life more easy, comfortable, and beautiful. Science and technology have made life easier and comfortable, while the art and literature have made it beautiful.
One on this earth, and as soon as man gathers momentum, the first thing that he turns oblivious to is his connect with the divine. In the childhood, as William Wordsworth has also stated, he is visited by heavenly flashes, but as he grows up into this life, these flashes grow dim and rare. Very soon, he has already forgotten that he has come from the Heavens with a particular mission. Our education focuses on the physical and material aspects of life, and if at all we turn to the spiritual, it never attains central focus. Going to shrines, and remembering God is not doubt ordained by religions as a compulsory duty towards God, yet, we people look upon it as we look as optional subjects. As our connect with God has broken, we do not at all feel impelled to go the religious places, and try to connect with the divine. Seeking forgiveness in religious shrines for the acts amiss is more a ritual than a seriously carried out practice. It would not be an overstatement if I say, the most important task for man was strengthening his bond with the Almighty, but man never paid any serious attention to it. He was rather busy, and with a vengeance, to drift away from the sources of life, shun nature, and move into the world of technology, and in his comforts, just forget his brief as a soul which has travelled from above.
I took off with the question: How powerful is man? If we look at the civilization that man has built, he is the most powerful after God and Devil. Nature is a poor spectator in this game of one upmanship. Man who has science and technology and now AI at his command, appears to have harnessed the higher forces of nature, and he has acquired a speed which even planets lack. With so much knowledge, so much information, and so far processing, man should have been a Monolithic Creature, who can send fear down the spine of Gods. And to a great extent, it has happened. Gods look at man’s imagination and his power of creation, and wonder.
Man who considers himself very powerful is actually super controlled by cosmic forces.
With all these powers, why can man be happy on this earth? He has lots of comforts, and the life is easier as compared to earlier times. But still, the greatest dream of mankind is: Happiness, which is eluding him. Can’t AI help in ensuring happiness to man?
The real issue is that life is not all physical or material. Two and two make four. This statement is correct. But, when it is applied to life, it can be five, or even three. Because life is a protean entity, which is always evolving, losing and gaining something or the other, and never the same. So, no scientific instrument has been capable of mapping up human life with precision. It has to be admitted that medical science has developed so many technical advanced machines which can tell about man far more than any doctor, yet, there is something amiss. All is not well. Man is powerful, but, in spite of all the knowledge at his command, there are certain domains in which, his writ does not run.
The Big Hollow
In my opinion, we are pampering man when we tell him day and night that he is very powerful. The actual story is otherwise. Man is a highly compromised being. Actually, we consider him as a great actor, whereas the fact is that man is only a reactor. Action part of life is governed by gods. Man has been conceived in the passive voice. Look at these verbs which are passive. A was born at Chandigarh. It means the act of taking birth was not in the action mode. And it was not in his power to resist it. And then, he died. Can death be an active case except someone commits suicide? In the two major events, birth and death, man is passive. No one asks him his will. Where he will be born, to whom, and when. And where he will die, when and how. Man is unaware of all these major events of his life. No only this, he has no control over his caste, his creed, his color, and his stature. There are some invisible forces which decide all these things which are then bequeathed to man, and he cannot say ‘No’. Further on, he is so helpless. He cannot see his face. He cannot see his back. He cannot see himself. His body. And, if it comes to mind, the knowing game is entirely lost. And, then, man knows what he should do, but what is finally done, is not in his powers.
Take Away
The take away of all this discussion is that man who considers himself very powerful is actually super controlled by cosmic forces. He has no active role in major decisions of his life. If he has free will, it is in a very limited domain. It is man’s destiny that he does not know anything about his pre-natal and post-death existence. Thus, in its entirety, he remains confused on this earth, trying to set this chaos to order, and thus, endeavoring to force some meaning on this incoherent mass of moments that we call life.
Read – RACE FOR THE STARS: ETHOS OF AN IMMORAL SOCIETY
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Dr. Jernail Singh Anand, President of the International Academy of Ethics, is author of 167 books in English poetry, fiction, non-fiction, philosophy and spirituality. He was awarded Charter of Morava, the great Award by Serbian Writers Association, Belgrade and his name was engraved on the Poets’ Rock in Serbia. The Academy of Arts and philosophical Sciences of Bari [Italy] honored him with the award of an Honorable Academic. Recently, he was awarded Doctor of Philosophy [Honoris Causa] by the University of Engg and Management, Jaipur. Recently, he organized an International Conference on Contemporary Ethics at Chandigarh. His most phenomenal book is Lustus: The Prince of Darkness [first epic of the Mahkaal Trilogy]. Email: anandjs55@yahoo.com
Link Bibliography:
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