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Death and new life


Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the soil, it cannot grow into a new plant.  Jesus said that, but it is a very obvious truth. 

The mailbox in the picture is one which was in function until a few years back.  Now it stands like a relic in Fatehpur Beri, South Delhi.  It will gather rust and fall down one day.  Civilisation has killed it already before time will kill it once and for all.  No one will mourn its death any more than anyone will mourn the death of the cassette player or the typewriter.  The new takes the place of the old.  And the old dies.  Naturally. 

Civilisation keeps moving ahead with new technology and better ways of doing things.  Life becomes easier and better.

But
has life really become easier and better?
Is the new life better than the old?

Such questions are silly because their answers are as obvious truths as what Jesus said about the grain of wheat.  Everything has merits and demerits. 

Life goes on.  Changes are as inevitable as death and new birth. 

But
I’m just wondering why we, who keep creating marvels in technology, architecture, medicine...
why we can’t create the marvel of tolerance in place of strife,
cooperation in place of terrorism...

Well
maybe a genetic mutation is awaiting mankind.

Maybe the ape who walks on two legs will die to give birth to a new species.

That's a better hope than awaiting heaven in the hereafter :)

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Comments

  1. Datta GhoshSeptember 5, 2014 at 4:05 PM

    we are slowly evolving technically speaking..The Homo Sapiens has become Homo Sapien Sapien. Wonderful post Sir

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 5, 2014 at 8:35 PM

      There's another evolution that we need, Datta: at the consciousness level. A lot of people had imagined it, Bernard Shaw, Nietzsche, Teilhard de Chardin... Evolution is a slow process, I guess.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 5, 2014 at 9:35 PM

    Something profound in this

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 6, 2014 at 8:58 AM

      I kept it short in order to prevent scaring readers with too much "profundity" :) Thanks.

      Delete
  3. PurbaSeptember 6, 2014 at 6:27 AM

    We have reached a stage when we are realizing that progress came with a cost. Some us will learn and change and the rest of us will adapt.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 6, 2014 at 8:59 AM

      True, the change has already started with quite many people questioning the prevailing dominant world view.

      Delete
  4. Nima DasSeptember 7, 2014 at 5:01 PM

    The old gives way to the new but always at a cost! Good read.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 8, 2014 at 9:31 AM

      Many civilisations perished when they lost touch with the roots (traditional ways), according to a scholar on the topic, Felipe Fernandez-Armesto.

      Delete

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