Change and The Inside War

Usually we are inclined to form opinion about people. Some people, we think, are bad and some are good, some can be trusted while others can never be. These opinions may last longer than our lifetimes. However, have we ever asked ourselves, are we justified in doing so? If you feel the answer should be 'yes', you must be thinking that 'people never change', which I think eventually means that you don't want them to change or you will never accept if they ever change. On the contrary, analysis of human behaviour suggests that people are prone to change. There are two major reasons for that:

Firstly, every human is exposed to different circumstances. They teach lessons nobody can ever teach. Mistakes make people learn and improve. Circumstances can also affect people in negative ways, depending on different choices and perceptions of poeple which help them derive conclusions out of circumstances. These are really tests from God, He places human in different situations in which he/she has to make a choice, and depending on the choice, people change. So, it's irrational to assume that someone will never change.

Secondly, there is a war within ourselves, of good and evil, of selfishness and selflessness, of hope and despair, of happiness and pessimism, of everything that brings us to life and everything that keeps us away from it. I call it "The Inside War". Inside every person, this war goes on till he/she exists. Whenever, the 'good side' is dominant, person is inclined to do things and make choices that are more humane, and vice-versa. Here, religion plays a role, only blessings from God can make the 'good side' be always dominant. So, forming an opinion about someone means that you think that only one side will remain dominant in The Inside War, which itself is quite inhumane.

Every person is divine creature of God and deserves chance. It just depends on ourselves if we are able to see the good side dominating in the person or not. Whatever you may think about someone, you must ensure one thing always: the good side must never be disappointed due to lack of opportunity.

Patience

No matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, there will always be hard times in life. Life is all about hardships and struggle. Even the most successful man on earth faces adverse circumstances. Whenever the wind blows against a person, there are two options left. One is to get depressed, which is off course not a solution. Second is to face the problem, which needs strength. But how can such strength be acquired? Answer is Patience.

Patience doesn't mean not to react at anything. It means doing the right things and wait for their effects to appear. When I say 'the right things', that means things which are prescribed by religion and universal moral values. For example, when someone starts shouting at you, you have a choice. Either you can make that person calm down, maybe by just submitting to what he says if possible, or else start shouting at him too. In the first case, you can try to make that person realize your point of view when he is in his right mind later on. Off course, chances of success in the argument are not cent percent, but at least it will make that person give due consideration to your point of view. This increases your chances to resolve the problem, instead of magnifying the problem by shouting.

But all this requires a little control on what you feel. This control is patience. If you can be patient, you may also be able to understand others and also, yourself. This understanding may give a solid environment for love to blossom. Love always needs patience, and maybe patience needs love to exist. Both 'love' and 'patience' come together in package, and never separate. So, to make this world more lovely, patience is a necessity !

The Need for Compassion

Human being is a mystery of God, something which He has created. Circumstances are also result of God's will. Whatever is the discretion of human being over the circumstances, the product of mysteries of human action and circumstances reflect the divine will. Whenever we see a human being, with all his colours, we see something divine.

Today when we don't hesitate to humiliate someone, to show our disrespect to someone, or even become enemies with someone, we need to ask ourselves how we look at this divine creation of God? Someone who is created and nurtured by God or someone who is devilish just because he or she doesn't belong to our religion or ethnicity? or perhaps, doesn't have the same perspective of looking at things as we do?

This mysterious creature of God is really difficult to understand. However, what we need is a try, a serious attempt to listen to others. Not just try to identify where the other is not similar to us, but to put ourselves in their shoes and think in their perspective, with knowledge of the biasness we already possess. Maybe then, we will start respecting others. Maybe then, we will start living a compassionate life.

Thanks Karren Armstrong for making me understand this.