Of love and like...

Fortunately or unfortunately I have seen life to the extremes. By ‘extreme’ I meant things which are not appropriate for my age. After all life is the same for everybody but for a select few like me things tend to be mistimed. But not always I had this kind of maturity to not to curse. I struggled as anybody would. I had only the advantage of mishaps happening in rapidity because of which I became immune to the negative effects. As I faced emotional breakdowns, I quickly regrouped my spirits together. Or rather I should put- I was compelled to do so by the turbulences in succession.

In this course I tried to find out the logic behind everything that happens in life. My obsession with math might have contributed to this. I made the greatest discovery of my life in this quest. Every phenomenon in life obeys causality. It’s only because of the presence of so many variables one often gets perplexed (which in Vedic terms became the ‘maya’ or ‘leela’ of life). Humans, being social animals depend on others for survival. In this process everyone makes a deal or two with every other individual one encounters. The extent of every deal is directly proportional to the quantum of the need (Quality being the decider of the dimension of calculation). In mathematical terms deals obey linear math.

Deal ∝f(need)

Deal=K (need)

need∝f(essentials for survival)

If avialability of survival essentials>threshold=>comfort

K is the constant dependent on the quality of the need

Almost every thinker from Karl Marx to Lenin observed the human life from this perspective and they discovered socialism which happens to be the idealized version of the above equation i.e. they tried to eliminate the selfishness from the equation. But unfortunately it didn’t materialize. The more one tried to resist selfishness in one dimension, with more immensity it showed up in the other. This was exactly the reason why socialism as a way of life failed. Having researched the raise and demise of socialism, I tried to device a model which can plug the holes in the socialist theory.

You must probably be counting the loosened bolts in my brain by now! But all that I said till now is very much relevant to my understanding life. Every facet of my life was troubled by the selfishness of every person I interacted with and I mean everyone literally including my mother. I asked myself the same question you probably must be willing to ask now. How can a mother be selfish with her own children?

To answer it frankly I should ask- Why not? After all a mother is a human being and selfishness in one way is nature’s way of making humans imperfect. Yes! It’s the imperfection in us which makes who we are. Otherwise I don’t think that humans wouldn’t have invented Gods. (By saying this I’m not trying to be an atheist. My perception of divinity follows a totally different perspective from what is usually in vogue). To understand this dilemma one should probably define selfishness. Selfishness is the essence of any deal. It’s the sum total of all the innate shortcomings a human being possesses. It’s the exact reason behind every deal one makes. As I explained earlier, all the deals follow linear logic.

There exists a totally different side to human nature. This side doesn’t follow linear math. The nature of this side can’t be written in equations. The sum total of this side constitutes love. Selfishness is a tool of nature to introduce imperfection in life so as to create the dynamic equilibrium and love happens to be the exact opposite which continuously nullifies the effects of the former. Ethics are the outcomes of the long term observations of this struggle. But what is Love? Innumerable souls tried to define it in innumerable ways but still Love evades definition. Why?! The answer is simple- Because love doesn’t follow linear logic. Rational human mind can never understand it. Love defies all the logic. ‘Transcendental’ is the term which does some justice to express the nature of love. To approximate in rational argument, love is the cement which binds every relation. Be cautious! Relation is a totally different entity from deal and both obey different types of logic; hence the functionality of each is at diverse poles. But again relations are of numerous types, each conditioned by the need in question which again is the manifestation of human selfishness. Relations may be of different types but the binding essence, the love is the same.

As I said earlier love defies all logic. It is the limit to human understanding. Just as in the equation E=mc2, the term ‘c’ which happens to be the limit of human observational power, love is the limit to human psyche. Its presence is always felt in a relation but can never be expressed in words nor can it be quantified. Because of this peculiar feature the expressions more love, less love, this kind of love, that kind of love so on and so forth are obsolete, speaking in the strictest sense. What one exactly means by those is nothing but the quantum or quality of the need. To put in the simple words, as long as a relationship exists, there shall be love.

Here comes the paradox. Every relation stands on the slack sand of social deals by virtue of needs; so all the relations are wobbly. But we do see that relations such as those between siblings, parents, spouses and friends are mostly stable. Even though the biological continuity partially explains the former three, the latter evades explanation. Here is where we find the magnificence of human psyche which made us what we are- namely ‘choice’. To elucidate choice, I have to strain the gray cells.

Everything in the universe follows a set of rules which we otherwise call the laws of physics. This inherent nature of everything results in certain orderliness. But nature is nothing but the summation of innumerable orderly systems interacting with each other at mind boggling rates and in countless dimensions. This phenomenon is known as ‘chaos’. Chaotic systems follow non linear math which in simple words means that trends can be observed even though unpredictability is the rule.

Choice is a peculiar aspect of life. To understand choice first one has to understand the basic aspects of psyche. Lets start with- consciousness. One can’t define exactly what consciousness is. It’s a subjective feeling which we all feel. If we apply this consciousness in broad sense, we can observe this in everything around, not only in living but also in non living. It sounds strange but I give a simple example. Imagine what happens when we pour water on a rough inclined surface. Naturally the water flows down because of gravity. What I am interested in is the particular way the water takes to reach the bottom. As it is a rough surface, obviously there is a lot of resistance and the water takes a tortuous path. Every time the water stream encounters an obstacle, it changes its path, where it has least resistance and it ultimately reaches the bottom of the inclined surface. On can’t predict the way taken by the water just by gravity alone or by the average resistance offered by the rough inclined surface. We have to know the exact position and the quantity of resistance offered by each obstacle. We have to know the angle at which the water was pour and the exact point at which the water touches the surface. By all these we can tell that the path taken by the water is sensitive to initial conditions. Let’s examine this from a different angle. Who has told the water to take that particular path? Who guided the water to the least resistance direction? The sum total effects of physical forces acting upon water answer the former questions. Hence we can say that the water also possessed a level of consciousness may be in the form of obedience to the laws of physics (Newton’s Laws of Mechanics in this case).

Suppose ‘X’ is a set of physical forces progressing freely in all possible directions. ‘Y’ is another set which is opposing the progression of set X in an environment represented by set ‘Z’. ‘Y’ in fact is a superset which has all X primes. (I mean X like things). X possessed consciousness by virtue of the interaction of it with Y and Z and the progression of set X is modulated by both Y and Z. If by some changes in the configuration of set X, if the set X were to progress in some or all directions in spite of the presence of sets Y and Z, we can say that X has “life” and that quality which led X to take over the opposing forces of Y and Z can said to be intelligence.

Intelligence is nothing but the ability of every living organism to make a random choice. Life differs from everything else in this aspect. All the physical systems are the victims of the nature’s causality by virtue of the dependence on physical laws which is inevitable. But life has the ability to make a random choice independent of the nature’s frame work in spite of being dependent on the same for the existence and this quality is present in various life forms in various dimensions. But how we humans are special? The answer is simple. Our intelligence retroactively influences our consciousness i.e. we have ‘Insight’. ‘Intelligence’ gave us life and ‘In sight’ gave us identity.

The term universal love is only possible with humans just because of the in sight. If we only make a choice we can love anybody or anything (It’s the imperfection inherent in us which prevents us from doing so). Friendship is a perfect example of a relation which is not dependent on biological continuity (Relations created out of biological continuity are seen in every species. So in my view friendship is definitely a matured relationship).

The eeriness of love takes us to strange places. Anyone of our senses alone can’t perceive the exact nature of it. It is only understood when all our senses work in unison with our consciousness. Mathematically ‘art’ is nothing but the expression of love. And Kahlil Gibran paints it to perfection in the following verse-

“When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams
as the north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, "I am in the heart of God."
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips”

I think nothing else summarizes ‘love’ better than this poem. As Rigveda aptly quoted- “Ekam Sat Viprah Bahuda Vadanti!”