The Quest for Wisdom

Which one should be valued more: a person’s initiative instincts, or his tendency to control his emotions and his way of consoling those around him? Which one do people scrutinize? And which is more constructive? Both of them are attributes of our mind. They are equally crucial. They establish our identity in nature, thereby procuring an implication. For one who understands, they are the hallmark of the wise. For one who yearns for just one of them, there are restrictions. The intelligent ones cannot be wise. The kind too are not always wise. As a matter of fact, wise are the ones who are both intelligent and kind. They contain both the attributes and hence elucidate divinity. Only the knowing can sense them, regardless of the truth that they are formless. These formless features facilitate the insightful to conduct inner or mental journey besides outer or social journey.

Comparing intellectual skills with empathizing nature may not be within the realms of possibility. They are distinct and equivocal. Yet they can be held by one personality. Such personality is declared as a man of wisdom, he who perceives to make sense of the structure that constitutes the world, can concede both tangible and intangible, and is in due course liberated. The cognitive and sympathetic traits equally dominate the expanded mind of a wise individual. There is neither without either, because they simultaneously accommodate him to disengage in fulfilling his pointless desires. They help him find the divinity within as well as see the same divine in every being. Thus, is wisdom found by that person.

What is wisdom exactly? Wisdom is the property which when received makes one understand the forces that are present and are concurrently acting in nature. As such, the enlightened do not discriminate success and failure, happiness and sadness, and good and evil. They seek no materialistic fulfillment, so are always content. They do not consider anyone their adversary because they can detect the inability to grasp and the agitation of the another. To know their propensity, we find some verses in the Bhagavad Gita, the God’s counsel —

“Arjuna, fearlessness, purity of heart, steadfastness in Yoga and knowledge, alms-giving, control of the senses, sacrifice, study of scriptures, austerity and straightforwardness, harmlessness, truth, absence of anger, renunciation, peacefulness, absence of crookedness, compassion towards beings, gentleness, modesty, absence of fickleness, vigour, forgiveness, fortitude, purity, absence of hatred, absence of pride — these belong to one born in a divine state.” - The Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 16 — Verse 1,2,3 (reworded)

The attributes of a wise mind — knowledge and kindness are for that great role players. The hurdle that prevails is that very rare know how to develop the required perception for building up these two psychological features. They are not as if something that can be achieved just like any objective in the physical reality, which is obtained rather strategically. What we are talking about is something which is indeterminate; it is the characteristic of the mind. The path to wisdom is not discernible; we can only be aware it. So is the path to develop the characteristics. In actuality, the two paths are not at all different; they are one.

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Note: The verse used in the article was extracted from Sri Swami Sivananda’s transliteration of the Gita. Furthermore, I have paraphrased the same.�

Our Bond with Music

Who doesn’t adore euphony? The people who don’t, are found scarcely. It is that power of
music in existence - to make people vivacious and vibrant and enthusiastic. Music is held in esteem and reckoned as an out of the world escapade. It has the proficiency to make us a passionate dancer. It can make even the tedious high in spirits. Hence, music is correlated with happiness. That happiness which will give a dazzling essence when mixed with the endeavor one can ideally put into an activity. Here, music is also correlated with work. Notwithstanding the level of difficulty of a determined task, we predictably work with ease when we find some melody along with what we do. Once we’re delighted, we become aware, therefore we become more productive.

Music has innumerable strong points. One of them, which is quite notable according to me, is music’s ability to evoke imagination. And imagination is a critical part of sophistication. Some people safeguard their acquired creativity, some lose it, and some don’t develop it at all. Perhaps they assume that it is rather nonviable. But they hardly fathom its significance.
Imagination is not impractical. For, it gave birth to artists and authors and scientists and economists and politicians who include some serious flair. Imagination empowers each and every one; it is a subsistence because of its purport. Music assists to expand virtuosity in ingenuity. We listen, and our brain generates imageries correspondingly. Without the ability to visualize, we would never be capable of devising even the simplest of ideologies.

Besides, music is an epitome of vitality as it is full of expressions conveying deeper meaning. That is why we categorize songs based on our state of mind. And further justification? To make ourselves be conscious of better things around, of course. Music creates the aura either to intensify the prevalent feeling, or eliminate that feeling. That would undoubtedly work, if the tune is breathtaking and the voice is natural. And then we come across the lyrics. The best thing to do is to decipher what the lyrics has to say, especially when the song is full of metaphors. The roots of love for that song, will only go deeper, when we go deep into the sense of the lyrics. The perfect amalgamation of the tune and the voice and the lyrics makes way for imagination. What does it impart? Rather an impressive, inspirational message, I must say. Well, does it make a song essentially a guide for life, compiled pertaining to the worldview of its composers and lyricists? The answer varies, thanks to the varying standpoints. But a more sensible question comes up here. Has a song any influence on our lives? A yes would not be appropriate. No one would take a song so earnestly. A movie can be more preferable, but a song is far from being an incentive medium.

Unescorted by music, life would be miserable. It helps us discover our extremity. Our world of thought restyles itself through the changing rhythmic patterns of a simple melody. Composed of brightest passion and darkest apathy, music is certainly an irrepressible episode of existence.