Tamaso ma Jyotir gamaya!

I have spent most of my life teaching Science to school children.I have this queer habit of relating anything that I teach to the daily experiences of my students.Besides discussing the practical applications of science in our life I have always enjoyed discussing how to conduct ourselves "scientifically" in life too. I simply  find an analogy in life to different concepts of Science. I feel this works as a 'Hot stove rule' as it reaches the young minds immediately and quickly. Call these  'Personal values' or 'Life skills', which ever way you perceive them. 

Today is Guru Purnima Day.I have been thinking and stretching my mind around the ramifications and meanings  brought forward by the Laws of Motion proposed by Newton and how it can be applied to our life.  
I just thought of writing something connecting the Guru,who gives us the LAWS OF LIFE with  NEWTON'S  LAWS OF MOTION.

THE FIRST LAW (THE LAW OF INERTIA)  

An object at rest remains at rest, or if in motion, remains in motion at a constant velocity unless acted on by a net external force. This tendency of the body to resist a change in its state of rest or of motion is called inertia.

I like to call this state of Inertia as the ‘Tamasic’ state.(the state of inactivity according to Indian philosophy). A person in tamasic state is lazy and does not like to do any positive action or may continue to do wrong actions in life due to either inertia of motion (not willing to move away from/ stop this behavior) or due to inertia of direction (nobody to guide). And, the amount of inertia is directly proportional to the mass (amount of ignorance) of the body.

A tamasic mind can be moulded to a sattvic one( Sattva is the quality of goodness, positivity, truth, peacefulness, and virtuousness that is drawn towards wisdom and good existence) by the grace of a great teacher or Guru.(the external force)

The ability to initiate the change and to stop being how we already are is always difficult because we have to overcome the existing forces within us (comfort level,inhibitions,lethargy) that may be greater than the external force (extrinsically motivating factor) that is being applied on us. So, the external force has to be greater than the forces currently acting on us in order to move us from this state of inertia.

The Guru,therefore, has to be more knowledgeable and commanding to be able to counter all the resistances that the student offers before he willingly follows Her/Him and takes to  the new path of Learning.

Here I leave you with an open ended question. Do you really need to seek an external Guru? Can’t you be your own Guru and bring in this change? Can't we internalize our Guru and be guided by that Force? 

Paulo Coelho in his book, “The Alchemist” says, “When you really want something to happen, the whole world conspires to help you achieve it”. So if you could develop that unbalanced force to break your inertia of negative  notions within yourself, you could perhaps move ahead from all the difficulties in life.

THE SECOND LAW

The rate of change of momentum produced in a body is directly proportional to force acting on it .For a constant mass, force is equal to the product of mass and acceleration. This is written in mathematical form as F = ma

Scientifically, if you double the force, you double the acceleration, but if you double the mass, you cut the acceleration in half. Applying this to life is easy.

 When the magnitude of the force (The power of the Guru/ your willingness to change/transform) is very high , the process of learning also gets accelerated. And if you increase the mass (the load of ignorance,destruction and vices), the attainment of the goals gets proportionately decelerated.

So when you set your achievement goals, you must also work conscientiously( increase the force) towards achieving them if you want to see speedy (accelerated) results. This holds true even with simple habits like starting your day with a daily workout routine or reading a chapter in a book !

THE THIRD LAW  For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

As you sow, so shall you reap. Or ,as the Law of karma suggests, one has to face the consequences of one’s actions in the form of reactions in their lifetime. 

Ofcourse,this law of Cause and Effect may not be as spontaneous as in the physical plane where for every action we can see an immediate reaction. At the metaphysical level, the reaction reaches us in a cumulative form and appears to fall heavily on us!

By this logic,when our actions are filled with love, we receive love as a reaction . What you give, you get. The law of Attraction also follows this which is based on the idea that “Like always attracts like.” Positivity in actions result in positive consequences. The same holds true for negative thoughts,actions and behaviour . 

So, what is the role of Guru in this? Your inner conscience is your Guru. This Guru,(power) guides you towards the path of Dharma,to decide what is right and what is wrong, to understand the duality in nature and to sift information. Guru is like that policeman inside you who directs you to stop ,wait and go even in the absence of a real one on the road!

So,today on Guru Purnima Day, I dedicate this blog to all my Gurus who have shaped me to become the person that I am today. 
 Tamaso ma Jyotir gamaya!