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There is a story in the Indian mythological scriptures about Ravana, King of Lanka ( now Sri Lanka)). As a result of his long meditation to Lord Shiva, he received a boon from him that he will remain unconquered by any rival king. He became mighty and rich to such an extent that he built a palace of gold for his stay. He kept on visiting, Kailash in the mountain in Himalayas- abode of Lord Shiva, .After some time his arrogance had better of him when he thought of moving Kailash to Lanka to avoid taking long journey to Himalayas. When Lord learnt of such a vicious plan, he just made a movement of his toe, as a result of which Ravana not only lost all that wealth but he was pushed down to hell. The story is symbolic of present generation of human activity. The mystery of visible manifested universe, its harmony in the diversity both at the macro and micro level :the order in the sky with billions of galaxies, moving and widening, maintain their rhythm ; the bright Sun, a small unit of our galaxy, maintaining a watch over its children on earth with the right amount of light and energy ; the air and water ,so essential for preserving life; the human body with an intelligent mind and apparatus to grow and sustain life ; the rhythm in the lives of all living organisms: from insects to animals on the land, butterflies to birds in the sky, have rightly lead humans to believe about the presence of a Cosmic Intelligence behind all this .Researchers have added to this belief by unfolding the mysteries of nature at the micro level, not easily detected by the human apparatus: the forces that maintain the stellar bodies in motion in the cosmos; the small particles and waves that fill the sky, and which have enabled us to communicate freely around the earth and beyond; the forces that bind even the smallest atoms together and which is the tremendous source of energy. “God does not play dice” remarked Einstein the most revered explorer of our times. There is another reason also for humans to look beyond their intellect. There are situations where human endeavour has not been successful: devastation of dwelling places by unpredictable earthquakes, untimely floods causing devastation of crops, diseases with no cure I sight. Even prayers do not work there.. Though by and large humankind has linked their destiny to the acts of God, yet there exists is an inner urge in some to explore manifestation differently. They argue, reason rather than blind faith in unknown, should be given a chance. Thus, a new chapter in the human endeavour started. Some argue that mystery of manifestation is a subjective domain which can be understood through the subjective means alone. We may be able to understand some secrets of nature through objective means but that will not lead us to the ultimate truth. The domain of God is great. We humans are a very tiny part of manifestation. Both arguments have divided the humanity sharply into two broad groups which we may recognize as Believers and Explorers.( Explorers are not necessarily non believers). Initial discoveries by explorers starting at macro level received great boost with the works of Galileo and Newton in the seventeenth century which dramatically changed the old concept of cosmic position of earth and the forces that govern matter. Discovery of telescope by Galileo proved conclusively that Earth was not at the center of cosmos but it is a planet going round the Sun along with other planets. Newton by discovering the law regarding motion established how planets maintain their regular orbits around Sun and similarly how Moon, a satellite of earth maintains its regular orbits around earth. More and more discoveries followed. The giant Hubble telescope which was placed in the space a few years back has revealed that there are billions of galaxies like the one that holds the Sun round which earth makes regular rounds. Each galaxy including our galaxy has millions of Suns. Moon is a satellite of earth and other planets also have satellites even more than one. The size and shape of earth has been mapped which has brought humans closer to each other, never seen before. The material resources : forests, minerals ,glaciers and water bodies have been identified. This has dramatically changed the vision of mankind. Over the years explorers focused their attention at the micro level of the objects as well which helped mankind enormously: discovery of electricity to run machines and light homes; faster travel through land, water and air, communications through telephone; cure for many diseases which has resulted in the longevity of humans; mechanical sensors have been developed and fitted in calibrated instruments to help human activity; artificial language has been developed and instruments like computers developed not only as storage tools of information but for exchange of information as well. Roberts fitted with artificial intelligence are replacing humans in many places which traditionally need human presence. Humans have never before witnessed such a wonderful life. Human curiosity has no limits. They are not prepared to accept the traditional belief that all manifestation is a divine creation. They have embargoed on a plan to explore manifestation to the smallest individual unit. A hypothesis known as Bigbang is the current favourite theory which states universe came in being as a result of sudden explosion of preexisting immensely dense particle size matter which keeps on expanding even now across empty space and gradually condensing and coalescing into large bodies of galaxies with stars. Human birth is ascribed as a result of tiny living organism called bacteria which like matter in the space assembled and coalesced together initially in oceans but gradually shifted to land and evolve into various living organisms including humans. No definite answer has been given about the origin of life in the bacteria. Some speculate living bacteria entered earth from space through the agency of meteorites. A lot of debate is going on among explorers with no concluding evidence. Believers call it the dance of ignorant. Subjugation of the weak is the basic instinct of all animals including humans. The knowledge that has largely benefitted humanity, is being used for suppressing the weak. While humans have successfully used the knowledge about the structure of matter for generation of electricity but that very knowledge has been used for making nuclear bombs which have been used for en mass for destruction of innocent people. Thousands of artificial satellites have been put in the space, some to help mankind by predicting weather changes in advance or to boost communication but also for spying on other nations. A stock of powerful missiles is lying in the backyard of powerful nations fitted with nuclear weapons. Other not so rich nations are diverting their meager resources at the cost of their development to follow the suit. The deadly biological viruses like smallpox and anthrax which caused wide spread destruction of human race were successfully eliminated but are now secretly preserved to use as a war weapon. Chemical agents such as Ricin and Sarin are lying in the stockpile of some nations as war weapons. A worrying situation for mankind is developing from the excessive use of harmful materials. The ecosystem in the biosphere is showing signs of degradation: The pattern of climates is changing, global warming is raising the temperature in the atmosphere, which results in rapid melting of glaciers the perennial source of fresh water , so essential for quenching thirst and cultivation of crops; the rise of water level in the oceans has started showing effects by inundating land masses near the shores thus, forcing humans to migrate to safer places; the depletion of ozone layer in the atmosphere which acts as filter to prevent harmful ultraviolet rays from Sun; all these and even more acts are ascribed to the single cause of release of excess of carbon dioxide gas, than sustainable limits, by burning of huge coal and petroleum for industrial activities by humans. Despite efforts by civilized human societies to rationalize the emission of this dangerous gas for the last two decades no single solution is in evidence. Humans greed is prompting them to seek immortality by replacing their worn out/sick body parts with new ones grown by manipulation of their stem cells. Not only this, they are working on cloning themselves. They have successfully cloned some animals in the labs. Despite protest by civilized society through their governments, the efforts continue secretly under a different pretext. Huge resources are spent on finding some earth like place in the cosmos which humans could colonize. Efforts to find Moon as a destination received a severe jolt when the first man Armstrong from USA landed there about five decades back and reported it as hostile place for living, with neither water not air. Efforts are now focused on Mars and may be some earth like satellite of a different planet. Some humans, like wolves, are bent upon destroying the fragile harmony of the earth by seeking access to deadly weapons of mass destruction. Despite human watch they may succeed in their mission. AC Grayling “In the mystery of things” quotes from the John Gary’s book ‘Straw dogs,’ “humans are subject to exactly the same determination as all other animals in respect of population growth and decline, eventual extinction, and impotence in the face of what their ‘assemblage of genes’ dictates. So, beliefs to the effect that humanity can change itself and its environment, improve its lot, learn from its mistakes, manage its technologies, and strike a balance with the rest of nature are all nonsense. Human fate is dinosaur fate: to exist, and then to vanish, willy nilly, with humanity having only deluded itself that it understood anything, got anywhere or achieved anything- least of all the moral sphere.” In our efforts to explore universe we may overstepping into the subjective domains of Lord Shiva to receive His wrath. He may move his toe once again | |
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Great and informative.
Added By Vijay Kaul