It is not our abilities that show what we truly are...it is our choices !!

Is it actually true, that we are recognized by our choices and not by our abilities ?? How could the conscious choice of a man be given more importance than his abilities, which actually helps in bearing the fruits of his labour ??

It might be- that our choices actually direct us to our goals; they decide the road to be taken by us; where as our abilities simply qualify or complement us to travel on that road.
Abilities are the capabilities which man has in him to perform a task, to make him feel strong in taking a right decision; and that right decision comes from conscious choice of that man. Both are inter-dependent to an extent, yet the choice decides the fate of man rather than the abilities. Abilities come to man either from birth or polished over a long period of time and experience; where as choice is something which man makes in every important step of his life. His choice is dependent (at times) upon his abilities and later on decides the usage of those (or other) abilities. To make crude comparison- ability is like a stored energy, it can be positive or negative energy (or) potential or kinetic energy. Choice is the determining factor for the ultimate fate of that stored energy. Meaning, ability is the energy, where as choice makes it kinetic or potential.

To take my favourite example from literature- Sherlock Holmes had once told that had he not become a detective, then he would have become the most famous criminal of his times. But he didn’t, he became one of the legends in criminal literature. Why ?? Just because of his choice, a conscious choice made by him to pursue the road of righteousness rather than that of crime. He had the analytical abilities inside him for both good and evil purposes, but in the end his choice said it all. Now let’s give some emphasis to ability. Holmes also was excellent in chemistry and used to perform various chemical experiments, not to mention his skills in playing violin too. So according to these abilities of his, he could have opted for research in chemistry or to a theatrical environment to hone his musical skills. But the question which crops in my mind is- would he have become equally famous in those fields as he had become in that of crime ?? I guess only Arthur Conan could answer to that, while rest we know is legendary……

It is very aptly said by the character Morpheus in the movie “The Matrix Reloaded”- Everything begins with a choice. In the movie, Neo had made the choice to believe in himself and thus increased his abilities as per the requirement (of course the movie mixes the philosophies of destiny, ability, choices & action). Indeed it is true that man’s choice decides his road to destiny. But sometimes man doesn’t know of his abilities and hence makes wrong decisions, thus leading to unwise/undesired results. For those destined to be successful & make a name in history, destiny reveals its purpose bit by bit to them; but for those who live a normal (struggling to be happy) life, choice has a great role. A simple choice can change a man’s life from one extreme to another and most of the times ability has nothing to do with it

Let’s take few famous and simple examples to see it-
Siddhartha (Gautam Buddha) was a crowned prince & he was strong, wise and intelligent (or else he wouldn’t have won his wife’s hand in swayamvar). He was the only son of his father and thus unquestionably would have become the king of a great empire. But he didn’t listen to his abilities, did he now? No sir, he made a conscious choice for a far greater & righteous purpose- in short, his destiny and became Buddha. He was stopped, discouraged & distracted many a times by Mara (the Evil one) & his family, yet his choice never wavered. Indeed, this is true respect to one’s choice.
Adolf Hitler had a deep interest in painting & wanted to become a painter; also he was a field soldier in WWI. But fate I believe, had other plans for him & by serious of incidents led him to make the most important conscious choice of his life, ultimately affecting the political scenario of the 20th century world. Rest we know is history. Narendra had studied in law & was from a well to do family; but by making a conscious choice, today we know him as Swami Vivekananda.
I know of a person who had studied in political science (non mathematical background) and was interested in Indian civil service, today he is doing well in the armed forces of India (which requires mathematical knowledge). His choice was not dependent on his abilities. Also there is a person I know of from non-biological background, and yet today he is working in a Pharma company & in the director level.

What I wish to share here is that although most of the times we give importance to our abilities, yet we should never forget the power of “Choice” which ultimately is responsible for our life. Our choice reflects our character and not the abilities. A person having a criminal mind can become a criminal, and yet can make a conscious choice of joining the police force. A man of excellent scientific knowledge can become a scientist, & yet can join corporate sector to utilize his knowledge. The choice of a man later turns into his habit and later shapes his character. Start of a good habit by making a conscious choice, live up to that choice, and you shall emerge in life with a fresh & pure character within you.

Like the character Albus Dumbledore says in the story of Harry Potter & chamber of secrets; “it is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities”


The ability is within you,
but choice decides your fate.
Believe in that choice,
& your life, you will never hate…

Shape up thy destiny,
raise your inner voice.
Be strong in character,
just by making a choice…

Let thy choice rule,
let thy choice guide.
You could reach your end,
by your choice thy should abide…

Man fears most what he cannot SEE !!

True to each word; since the ancient cave times, man has always feared what he cannot see and perceive. Was this the reason for the birth of God & Devil ?? Is this the reason why he still fears night & stays in the comfort of lighted surroundings ?? Is this why criminals roam the streets in night and not daylight ?? Is this why man fears his future and death ??

“Sight”, an activity entirely dependent on two sense organs called eyes, has made man disillusioned in the modern times. So much is man dependent on his eyes, that without which he is completely lost for one meter of space and 5 seconds of time. He cannot simply imagine to walk around with eyes closed or to appreciate something or someone without seeing it/them first. Sight is one of the major sense organs which has corrupted man and robbed him of his right to live peacefully. He sees a beautiful woman & lust enters his mind, he sees money & greed enters his mind, he sees the progress of his colleague & jealousy enters his mind, he sees his loved one in the arms of another man & anger enters his mind. What can one then conclude from this ?? Isn’t eye of man to an extent guilty for his downfall ??

So much does man rely on, “seeing is believing”, that he has lost the skill of using his other senses. He sees food & if its sight is not good, then he concludes that the food is bad. He sees a woman & if her sight doesn’t soothes his eyes, then he concludes that she is not worth his time. Only when he gets to taste the food or know the woman, does he come to understand their value (& repents in some cases). This means that the first judgement of man is entirely dependent on his eyes. Does this mean that a blind man cannot live his life, that he is totally helpless and doomed ?? Why do we get to hear that a blind man may have lost his sight, but he develops his other senses to a level considered a miracle ?? Is it actually miracle or has he simply started believing and using his other senses to a greater level. Maybe a blind man can see more of the nature than a normal man; maybe he can see & understand the inner hidden gifts of nature which a normal man fails to see and receive.

If I remember right; this is why in martial arts at one level the teacher teaches his student to fight blindfold. He teaches him to stress on hearing and sensing the presence of an adversary and accordingly make his moves. This develops the student’s skills in using all the five senses; you can say that when all the five fingers close tightly, the fist is bound to deliver a good punch. Likewise, when all the five senses are in check, man is bound to make an impact in life.

Man doesn’t explore his inner self, he doesn’t peek inside himself and brings out his talents. He contains remarkable potential inside himself, but he doesn’t use it. To an extent he follows Newton’s third law; till the time he doesn’t put his talents into gear, it remains stationary & finally gets lost in the mist of time. And since, he doesn’t invoke his true inner nature; hence he fears the nature around him. Since he can’t see the future, he regards it with fear & caution.

What I want to point out is- Don’t be attached to your senses & especially don’t be dependent upon your sense of sight only. Invoke the rest of the senses and you will feel a new world around you. Use these senses wisely & rein them firmly and nature will feel proud of you. And believe me; when nature feels proud of you and showers her blessings, you my friend are indeed on your road to learn & master the three times (past, present & future). All you need is, true belief in your inner self

Like Henri Ducard says in the movie, Batman begins, “Men fear most, what they cannot see”


Peek inside yourself,
& rein your sense.
You shall then see,
that no more you are tense.

Open your third eye,
& take a look around.
You shall see a world,
to senses which is bound.

Take up the quest
& free yourself from this.
You shall then see,
that to you comes, bliss.

Everything that has a beginning has an end !!

What does this line mean and how should one perceive it ??

Man takes this quote earnestly, when he goes through difficult times. When calamity strikes him, he reassures himself that one day it will end and good time will flower again. This belief gives him peace of mind and the strength to face the hardships of the dark. In a way, this is good because the belief that morning shall come after the night gives man the hope to live and move ahead. For a common man who lives a normal livelihood, this belief is enough for him. But he forgets this belief the moment he steps into the courtyard of happiness. He forgets the dark, when he sees the light. We see these events occasionally when man sees himself in the depths of hell. He prays to his God to rescue him from the sorrow, to lift him from the deepest pits of hell; only to forget and turn his back to that God when he has been rescued. No one remembers God when they are in their happy times or enjoying themselves. This is because lust, desires and pleasures clouds the mind of man to see the truth, to see the light, to acknowledge and respect the good. Blind he becomes and turns his face from the light, until he again suffers in dark and calls for help. Thus the cycle of light and dark keeps going in his life.

That is why I say, “To respect the Good, one has to know the Evil. To jump Higher, one has to Bend down.”

But what then about the other side of the coin ?? If after night comes the morning; then inevitably shall the night strike again when the day is over. What then ?? Such a vicious circle of happiness and sorrow will keep revolving in the life of man. I don’t want to sound pessimistic, but the truth is- happiness and sorrow both go hand in hand; because without the one the other can’t exist. They have a mutual relation, just like two sides of a coin. Man has to hop from one to another his whole life just to keep himself engaged and emotional. Is this the ultimate purpose of life ?? Is this what man has been born to go through his whole life ?? Is this what intelligence of man has come to ??

If there is a right, then there is a wrong, if there is up, then there is a down; if there is god, then there is devil; if there is happiness there is sorrow. It indeed is inevitable, that one can never escape this circle of inevitability. What then is the solution ?? How can man allow himself not to be affected by such calamities of both pain and pleasure ??

Is this why it’s told, that desires cause suffering? If there is desire, then one tries to attain it, one then gets happy; and later in the absence of the happiness, one gets unhappy and drowns in the pool of sorrow. So if there is no desire, then the chain of events will not start in the first place. Is this why Gautam Buddha had told us not to seek desires and control them so as to escape suffering ?? Is this the path to end the cycle of dependence of “emotional atyachar” ?? Because if you don’t point out the beginning, you cannot point out the end, if there is no ‘start’, then there cannot be any ‘stop’.

Like it is said in the movie "The Matrix Revolutions"- "Everything that has a beginning, has an end"

If you see the day,
Then so shall you see the night.
Open your eyes to the truth,
And escape you might !!

Behold the truth of life,
where desires cause pain.
Why indeed have desire ??
Just so as to see some gain.

Look around yourself,
& see thy nature around.
Hear out her language,
& no more you shall be bound !!

If you're looking for the guilty, you only need to look into a mirror !!

Does this statement has any truth in it ?? If you ask me, it carries a lot of weight. A person has to be completely honest & truthful to oneself to say otherwise.

Today the world sees the race of humans as a species which thinks only about itself, for his own benefit, his own profit, his own comfort. So much is the mind of a man corrupted, that he will go to any extent just to satisfy his ego and thirst. So much is he blinded by his desires that he doesn't get to see the wrongs been done to others. Man would do anything just to be one step ahead of the person next to him, and if that seems difficult then he will bring down the other guy just to seem taller. This is his philosophy, this has become his principles- "By hook or crook, achieve your desires".

Impossible it has become for man to look deep inside himself and hear out his "self" (atman is what Upanishads term it as; I simply call it the "energy of self"). The inner-self of man has become covered with so many layers of delusions and rules since his birth; that even with his eyes wide open he can see the world, but has become blind to its language & purpose. Today, man commits a mistake but puts the blame on someone else. He points out the idiocies of others, but fails to see his own stupidities.

Enough of words, now for some sightseeing: People point out the crime committed by another, but don't get to see what goes on in their own mind. Let me see, hmmmm... let’s take prostitution (simple example of corruption of mind by lust); there are people who oppose this profession & look down upon those people; but they turn blind to what their mind thinks from inside in solitude. Same is the case with pornography, the seduction of mind by lust. People swear about its wrongness, but who indeed is pure from the mind ?? Take human activists; they oppose the killing/injustice done to a criminal, I ask only one thing, how would one of them react if a criminal kills/rapes one of his own relative. Will he leave that criminal alive, if he gets the chance to catch his throat ?? This is what I am talking about, the criminals are not out there, they are within us or else the criminal class would not have mushroomed in our society. We say the roads of India are dirty and filthy, I ask how much have you contributed to keep it clean ?? How many times can a person check himself and restrain from throwing garbage on an inviting filthy road ?? Moving to politics; people blame the Government for not ruling the country properly and swimming in corruption, then I ask what have you been doing about it ?? After all in democracy politicians are elected by the people, are they not ?? (I am removing the "for the people" portion, it doesn't imply anymore). All people do is to sit back and give their comments. It is very easy to say and pretty difficult to stand up and work. Oppressors can never rule over the oppressed, if the suppressed community stand up to them.

What, then is the solution ?? How can salvation be achieved ?? I leave that to the person who finds himself guilty for any kind of problem. All I can say is look inside yourself and ask earnestly- "Should I live my life with righteousness and befriend truth for the lifetime.... or... should I live my life the way I want & desire" ??

Greed, anger, sorrow, laziness and lust are indeed the 5 cardinal sins of man, no wonder Gautam Buddha told humanity to fight them out. As for me; by simply acknowledging & living the "Five Precepts" of Buddhism has taken quite an effort and strength. Believe me when I say, in today’s Kaliyug...it is much more difficult to live a truthful and righteous life than living a corrupted and disillusioned one. Power and greed corrupts the mind of many; as the mind feeds on these thoughts to retain its control over the man, to prove itself superior over the atman. It takes effort and a clean conscience to light a lamp in darkness, not just for oneself but for all those who swear the darkness, remain idle and mock at one’s efforts.

Like the character V says in the movie "V for Vendetta"- "if you're looking for the guilty you need only look into a mirror."

One understands self,

when one looks inside.

The truth alights itself,

while the illusion sits beside.

Shown is the way,

while the eyes alight.

Life becomes clear,

as darkness takes its flight.

Understand thy self,

& know thy heart.

For never you will suffer,

& never will truth be torn apart.