An Interplay of Opposing Forces

“Why does a war occur? When will people understand that the solution to mankind’s problem is not war, but peace”. So goes Preity Zinta, the leading lady in one of my all-time favorite movie Lakshya (English: Aim/Target). I’m sure this isn’t the first time this noble idea has been thought of. Indeed it is safe to assume that right from the starting of mankind, most (if not all) people would have always wanted peace. But, have they succeeded? A quick look at the history of war would tell us an entirely different story. A war has been fought in some part of the world every 5 years or so. Clearly wars are not as infrequent as economic recessions.

But wait, are economic recessions a rare occurrence? A cursory look at the history of economic recessions says otherwise.  Echoing Preity Zinta, “Why do recessions occur? When will the policymakers understand that people want to be happy & prosperous, not sad & gloomy”. Now, I’m neither an economist (not quite yet), nor is this post about the causes of recessions. But one thing I can say for sure, if given a choice, everyone would want his life to be filled with happy events.

Happiness. Everyone wants it. Everyone pursues it (afterall, the Pursuit of Happiness is described as an inalienable right in the American Declaration of Independence). But does one ever achieve it on a permanent basis? Ask your parents and they might tell you that sad/challenging events were as much a frequent part of their life as happy events.

Yup, life’s just like a sinusoidal wave - an interplay of opposing forces. Happiness & sadness are part and parcel of life just as war & peace, and, boom & recession. This uncannily reminds me of the story of Samundra Manthan, wherein the gods and the demons formed an alliance to churn the ocean for the nectar of immortality. 

Samundra Manthan as depicted at the Bangkok Airport

The symbolism behind this story provides an interesting insight. The gods/demons represents the pleasure/pain principles of life respectively. Their mutual participation signifies that to (spiritually) evolve, one has to reconcile, harmonize and integrate both the positive and the negative aspects of one’s nature and engage them towards a common goal.