Greatness 27th February 2012.

Why do we often fail to acknowledge the greatness of others? The answer is simple. It can be due to our ego or due to our ignorance. I need not explain the ego factor. Every individual often considers himself as great as the rest of the world in various areas and this thought blocks him to see the truth beyond his narrow, little world. They wont that easily admit the efficiency and greatness of others. Instead, they will try to prove that they are also equal to others. When somebody would say that he had a really hectic time in the office, his colleague would interrupt it by saying that he too had a heavy day in his seat. In reality, the first man might have up-heaved mountains whereas the second man might have up-heaved only hillocks. When somebody would tell about his hardships he had faced in his life, the listener would also begin to tell about his perils that might contain only little truth.

Whereas the first man might have come up in life facing odd circumstances, the second man might have come up well from ordinary circumstances but he wont that easily admit the truth of the first man. This is a common situation. Every man considers his own life and circumstances to be as great as the life and various situations of others. Thus, we often miss to acknowledge the greatness of others. There is another situation. How can I experience the greatness of a person? It is only by the method of evaluation. Here, the measuring scale is purely mine and not yours. I can measure the world only up to the limit of my knowledge and experience and not beyond that. This is the truth. In other words, I cant experience the world through your eyes, mind and heart. This implies the fact that our measuring scale is very unique. And if we try to measure the greatness of Lincon or Gandhiji or people around us, how much can we gather pearls out of such experience? It is only up to the level of our intellectual faculty, mental grasp and the depth of our heart and not beyond this. We often miss this truth. Even standing in front of a gold mine, we might miss the truth and walk our way by saying :- All that glitters is not gold!. Nobody can really teach anybody about the truth but our inner voice. Even while Christ walked on earth in flesh and blood, how many did realize about his greatness? By missing the truth he was also crucified. Even while Lord Sri Rama stood before Ravana in real form, could he really perceive the greatness of the Lord? Ravana could go only as far as his experience would allow him. He could get at the truth only to the point where his intellect could allow him to do so.

So, the acknowledgment of greatness in people, places and in the every atom of the universe lies in the limits of the perceiver. If I can touch the common thread that runs through the entire universe, I can instantly feel the greatness of god. That depth comes out of my perception and awareness. Otherwise, I can never touch that core. I am bound to miss the truth. I have witnessed intellectual wars being vainly fought by people over the issue of greatness of certain celebrities and personalities. The summation of such wars is that these battlers often attribute to circumstances for the making of a man into great rather than to real mettle of that person. The real man is undervalued or rather overlooked and his circumstances are rather given importance. For instance, if I say that Yesudas is a legendary singer, the world might ( I have really witnessed) immediately chip in by saying it was only because of his golden voice that he could survive and minus that, he was zero! What does it mean? The world often needs circumstantial evidences to find greatness in a person. This is because the world often lacks an aesthetic heart to appreciate the greatness of a person. Even to appreciate god, we need an aesthetic heart. How many of us have understood this truth? Void of it, only criticism would remain in the air. If Wordsworth and Keats are considered to be great, if Michel Angelo still receives a legendary position, if Chaplin is regarded as great, if Charles Dickens is reckoned as one of the greatest reformers, if one says that Rafi is a legendary singer, if Akbar is still remembered for his golden era, if Christ is invoking your heart even after two millennial of his mortal existence, it is all because they had touched the philosophy of life in detail in their own fashion. They

used different canvas and stages to express quality life. Quality of life spoke through them in umpteen ways. If you can only take in their voices and leave aside all of their idiosyncrasy, then, you have touched the core of greatness. The heart of greatness lies beyond any flesh and form. If we get caught within the limits of flesh and form, within the boundaries of any material plane, we are bound to miss the true evaluation of greatness. What is the benefit of such an evaluation? Why should we after all consider Lincon or Gandhiji or even a crawling worm to be great? By such evaluation, by such consideration, we get an insight of quality life. Such evaluation would lead us to a kind of reverence towards all animate and inanimate things. We would begin to see goodness more and more around us because more than the head, it is our heart that is definitely ruling now. This will take us to the road of universal brotherhood. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx