Albert Einstein died on 18th April 1955 when a blood vessel near his heart burst. Before he breathed his last he said “I have been thinking the whole of my life that I would demystify the universe. But what has happened is just the contrary. The deeper I went into existence, the more the mystery deepened. I am dying full of wonder, I am dying in wonder.” He refused to undergo a surgery as he felt that it was tasteless to prolong life artificially. He said “I want to go when I want to go. I have done my share; it is time to go. I will do it elegantly.” Albert Einstein had the courage to live life according to his own rules and not surrender to the whims of others. These are rare qualities that did not allow his thought processes to be circumscribed by social mores and let his intelligence thrive unfettered. Perhaps, we too are born with such a free and open mind but with time it gets clouded. We do not let our intellect survive the pressures of our surroundings and let our souls surrender to mundane things of little value. Einstein reached a level of spirituality through his realisation that it was far more important to have a deeper communion with existence than to attain fame, prestige, wealth and power.
We have come to a stage in the history of mankind when we need to introspect whether everything that we fight for are really worth the amount of blood spilt and the miseries brought about to mankind. Fundamentalist forces are again raising their heads to gain control over the world, thus holding billions of human lives at ransom. They take advantage of the impressionable and unthinking minds to instil hatred. It becomes difficult to influence when the mind is free to think on its own, without being prompted by others. We shudder to think that these aggressive forces will soon engulf the entire human society and overpower everything we hold dear for the benefits of mankind. If allowed to continue unchecked they will not spare even those who are not directly affected today. The vulnerable sections of society, including women, will be the worst sufferers irrespective of the country they live in. The scourge will spread across geographical boundaries and exert their authorities over the entire human civilisation. With the suppression of the freedom of thought, society will again be thrown back into the dark ages. All the efforts of the past centuries will be obliterated. It will take several generations to rise into a more just and egalitarian society.
This is the time to ponder over the calamity that is about to engulf us. If the human mind is hypnotised into a command obeying automaton, then the very purpose of our existence will be defeated. As we celebrate the Bhadrotsab, let us also pray for the liberation of humanity from oppression. Let us strive to keep our thoughts free and dispassionate so that we may have a deeper communion with our existence like the great scientist, who tried to understand the mysteries of this universe and became convinced of the powers of the great Creator! Let us also pray for the world to wake up into a rational and sympathetic future, more in sync with the will of the Master.
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