Friday, December 30, 2005

The Folly of a Diamond

My music teacher, "Guruji", told me something quite interesting just yesterday. He said, a diamond implies the greatest level of "agyaan" (Sanskrit for the absence of knowledge).

To illustrate what he meant, he gave me the example of a man who comes to possess a huge diamond. The man immediately takes it away to the safest, darkest location he can think off and shuts it away. He spends time and resources in devising a protective concealment for the stone...a strong safe, alarm systems, a room with an unbreakable door and a lock that cannot be picked...the works. The diamond is then as safely guarded as is humanly possible for him. However, a little feeler of doubt gnaws away at him constantly. When he is away from his precious possession, his thoughts are with it constantly...he wonders, "Did I lock the safe properly?" "Did I turn the combination lock on my way out?" "Did I remember to turn on the alarm system?" etc. etc. Thus, in a short while, it is not the man who possesses the diamond, but the diamond that possesses the man. He hides his precious secret from his friends and his family. He does not take it to get valued because he cannot trust the intentions of any jeweller. All he does is visit the stone, to gloat over its marvellous shine, shape, cut, clarity etc...his visits are made furtively, with him looking frequently over his shoulder each time he makes the trip to worship his wondrous but idle and inactive treasure. When his life comes to an end, the precious jewel sits locked up in its prison, until it is somehow found by some other unfortunate man.

The diamond, despite it's rare and marvellous nature, was of no use to the keeper. It magnified his greed and suspicion and leeched away his time and intellect. Could there have been a greater folly? The diamond served no purpose, did nothing for anyone while it was in his keeping. It's useless nature continued even after his demise. Where did the man's wisdom go, what happened to his invaluable life that could have been spent in a thousand other profitable and fulfilling ways? All of these truly important elements of his existence were reduced to "Shunya", the absolute zero or null and void condition.

So what then, is truly the greatest of all jewels? Which possession can be more valuable the the diamond and yet be kept out in the open, for all to see, without fear of its being stolen. The answer, Guruji smilingly gives, is "Gyaan" (Sanskrit for knowledge). Gyaan is the mightiest of all jewels, a treasure that nobody can steal and a resources that increases with its distribution and use. Knowledge is power; an energy that can be channeled in thousands of different ways, it can elevate the lowliest of beings to a more evolved state and can help the individual ascend in this path to self realization. Knowledge, when disseminated freely raises the consciousness of entire nations...it is the only way of ensuring constant progress. It is a seed that must be shared, nurtured and loved.

Today, people talk about stealing knowledge...but that only happens because people want proprietorship over some knowledge that they think they have created and have the right to control. This is folly. New knowledge is a gift from the Divine. It comes in bursts of creativity and intellect. It is given to a few who are chosen as channels for it...the vessels that are meant to take this treasure and spread it far and wide, providing growth and development for many. Unfortunately, some of the vessels are tainted and can either pervert of hoard the knowledge that was given to them. They wish to patent the knowledge in the hope that when the knowledge is used, their names will be remembered and that they will benefit from it. In the process they retard the true use to which the knowledge can be used or else cause others to steal and pervert it. Then there emerge wars that are just aimed at stealing from one another and hoarding, amassing. Such knowledge becomes inert and eventually its potency is destroyed until it becomes like the beautiful, but useless diamond.

Think about it...

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