“The biggest danger is not the virus itself. The really big problem is our own inner demons, our own hatred, greed, and ignorance”, says Yuval Noah Harari, tweeting on the COVID 19 pandemic.
The viruses visit us every now and then in every century and do kill us–sometimes many of us and sometimes not so many of us. These are the horrible viruses that come escaping from certain scientific labs such as Wuhan and riding on the human body to enter the other human bodies. Also, some scientists have always been preying on certain animals and these poor animals have been used in studies and research for millennia in human history. History tells us that even in ancient Greece, Aristotle used animals in his studies, mainly to advance the understanding of living animals.
One report published in Brazil in April 2017 says: In addition to being used to investigate the basic principles of life, animals were also used to develop a better understanding of the animal and human anatomy, physiology, pathology and pharmacology. The possibility of experimenting under controlled situations and mimicking biological conditions of human and animal diseases reinforced the development of scientific methods and the creation of the concept of animal biological models. ( Author: Monica Levy Andersen )
Human beings themselves in their many lives have lived in various animal forms and finally evolved into being human–hence the similarity and the pull towards their past. Evolution into being human has not finished the animal instincts–and some times we see that no animal in the world can match the violent instincts of human beings. Osho says: “The animal heritage is man’s past; we have all passed through that stage. This fact is confirmed by science as well as religion. Some years ago, Darwindeclared that man is descended from animals. But thousands of years before Darwin, here in India, Mahavira, Buddha, and Krishna declared to the world that man’s soul evolved from the animals. The last link in man’s past was an animal. Manhood is a state of transition, a bridge over which the animal passes to be transformed into godhood. As we go deeper and deeper within, we experience the past as heavy because it is a known thing. It is not so easy to be free of it, to get rid of it.”
Many of us develop an affinity towards certain animals of our liking and we start feeling that we are our past. The animals also become very obedient or loving towards us. We have heard stories that some times the animals became so loving to us or towards their fellow animals that no human being could match their love.
The animals have certain purity in their instincts whether they are loving or violent, but they do not seem to have any mind. In contrast, human beings are gifted with a mind that calculates and manipulates and can cause large-scale violence more than any animal is capable of. We have seen this in the history of thousands of years and recent history. The man within himself has animal instincts and all kinds of demons–which have been described by enlightened mystics as man’s real enemies. We need to conquer those real enemies, and the miracle is we can do that simply by meditation, and not by any fight.
Osho talks about it in one of his discourses The Miracle: There is no need to fight with others — it is a sheer wastage of energy. There are many things inside we have to fight against: the ego, greed, violence, ambitiousness, possessiveness, and so on, so forth. These are the real enemies — fight with them. And the art of fighting with them is meditation.
Watch them, be aware of them, because there are a few things which simply disappear by watching. If you can be aware of your anger the anger will disappear. Try it and you will be surprised. Just watch it arising, see the cloud surrounding you, trying to pull you in, making every effort to seduce you. Just remain aloof, a watcher on the hills, far away, just a witness and you will be surprised; within minutes the cloud is gone. And when the cloud of anger goes without affecting you, you fall into such a beautiful silence which you may not have known before at all. It is the silence that follows the storm. It is really penetrating, it goes to the deepest core of your being. It is great nourishment for the soul.
So watch the inner enemies, meditate on the inner enemies, and slowly they start dying of their own accord. A moment comes when you are there and there is nothing to watch. A contentless consciousness — that is the ultimate peak of meditation. You have won, you are victorious.
In India, we have called this state the state of a Jina, one who has conquered. We have called Mahavira, the Jina; Jina means one who has conquered. And we have called Siddharth Gautama, the Buddha — one who has become fully aware. But these are two aspects of the same coin: you become aware and you become a conqueror. You can become a conqueror only if you become aware!
ReplyReply AllForwardEdit as new
