Harmony and the play of consciousness

This world is full of wonders. There are incredible landscapes, wondrous architecture, beautiful arts and crafts, and the most amazing inventions of technology. However, what amazes me most is the human brain. The first thing, I am quite amazed at is the sheer diversity of human thought. We have so many different belief systems, and yet almost every one of us is equally convinced of one's beliefs.

Most of us are happy in our own world, our own family, society, and friend circle. We do not want to look beyond the same. Their well-being and comfort is the ultimate desire we have and all our lives, we keep making efforts for the same. Our best moments are the ones when we spend happy time with our family and friends and the worst are the ones when any of them passes through a bad phase or there is a death in the family. We are fully convinced that it is the ultimate reality and the only purpose of life. We discuss politics and social issues sometimes, soon to believe that all these discussions are meaningless.

Some of us are restless souls. We are not satisfied with the things and people around us. We want the systems to improve, and people to change for the better. We have an ideal shape for everything in our minds. A strong sense of right and wrong. We want family and friends to move in a particular direction. Kids to do well in studies. We want to get promotions and do well in our organization. We want our organization to expand, society to change and the nation to prosper. 

Few of us are system setters. They believe in harmony. They want to bring harmony to everything around them. The relationships should be harmonious. Society should provide equal opportunities to everyone. The organizations should be driven by the rules and regulations. There should be systems all around to facilitate the growth of each one of us who forms part of the system.

In each of these types, there is a desire. The form of the desire is different. The first type of people are "laidbacks" who want to perpetuate what they have. They want to protect and preserve what they have. The second type of people are "go-getters" who want to change the world as per their wishes and desires. The third type of people are "system-setters" who want to bring harmony to the world. 

However, if we examine closely, all three types have closed their mind. They start believing in some ideas and concepts as reality and start living with those ideas and beliefs. Some of these ideas may be "self-centric", while others may be "system-centric". However, from a broader perspective, there is not much of a difference between the two because in the first case, people identify themselves narrowly while in the second case, they identify with the family, organization, society, or nation where they want to bring harmony.

Can harmony be the ultimate goal of human existence? This is the most interesting question which I have been exploring of late. On the surface, it appears so. However, a deeper examination may reveal that harmony at one plane may be prohibiting evolution at the other plane. The dinosaurs era was quite harmonious for the dinosaurs. When that ended, humans could evolve faster. Who knows tomorrow, the demise of human civilization may result in the evolution of a different life form. It may create a sense of panic in the minds of some. However, if we examine this independently, we will see that all life forms have emerged from the same field that we may call "consciousness". If "I" am consciousness, "I" would just like to evolve. Why would "I" like to get confined to a particular life form? 

When we observe ourselves and this world from the perspective of "consciousness", all our ideas and concepts fall upside down. The desirable becomes undesirable and vice versa. As "consciousness", we would just like to evolve, and the "laidback" would appear to be missing the opportunity for evolution. The "go-getters" would appear to be narrow-minded and parochial. The "system-setters" would appear to be a barrier to evolution. Had any dinosaur tried to set up systems so that the dinosaurs could survive harmoniously for ages, that would have been the biggest barrier to human evolution. The same consciousness may like to operate in the form of human beings, rather than the dinosaurs, which offers far more possibilities. Who knows tomorrow, the same consciousness may operate in the form of a different life form that possesses far wider possibilities.

However, till the time human consciousness evolves to experience its true nature, it will be confined to become a "laidback", or a "go-getter", or a "system-setter". As it evolves, it rebels. It can no longer be confined to a small container of greed or ambition. No rules or customs of the society could stop it from evolving. After all, when Mira loved Krishna, no rules of society, including the institution of marriage, could stop her. 

When the consciousness evolves, it carries so much energy along. It is not possible for the social conditioning or the conventions to stop the flow of this evolution. When a nuclear bomb explodes, it is not possible for the bricks of mortar to stop the explosion. Whatever comes on the way burns into ashes to give way to a new creation for the "consciousness" to explore further possibilities.