Lockdown is being gradually eased out. People are trying to resume normal activities, but the problems confronting us are yet not over. It will take some time before things settle down.  As nature goes through unforeseen twists and turns, we are faced with such unprecedented situations. We can’t change nature’s course. But how we respond is definitely in our hands. If we negotiate with the challenges coming our way with fortitude and intelligence, we may be able to contain the damage. We faced similar pandemic during 1918 – 1920 in which more than 50 million people lost their lives, which included 2.25 million Indians. This time, however, the recovery rate is higher and death toll so far has been much lesser.  It is not that world’s destiny has taken a different turn.  It needs to be appreciated that it is the result of human endeavour that medical science has grown substantially and we are better equipped today. In Individual life also, we are often confronted with challenging situations, many of them beyond our control. Many of us often become a victim of our own making also because of our flawed perceptions. But here again, what matters the most is how we respond to the situation. Some amongst us are able to face the situation in stride, bravely and intelligently negotiate with the challenges and keep marching ahead in strength.  But many, particularly the weak, come under great pressure that is difficult to withstand, often at times calling for medical intervention.  The question now is: Why given a similar situation, different people respond varied ways? The answer lies in the unique character of each being, coming as it may as one’s Karmic carryover from the past.  In one’s life time, we would have learnt and unlearned many a things, acquired skill sets, developed habits and attitudes, acquired virtues and attributes, and also have unfulfilled desires left. Their imprints get carried over in the form of thought seeds to our successive incarnate body-mind organism.  As and when the thought-seeds get a congenial ground, they come into play involuntarily. That may be to our advantage or detriment, depending on the character and content of the thought-seeds. To sum up, we are all invariably born with a preconditioned mind, which sets the premise of one’s thought process - the basic fabric of individual mind-frame – on which our future life takes off. Accordingly, each mind involuntarily develops its individual specific defining principles that guide all actions on our part – the desires nursed and pursued, the initiatives we take, or how we respond or react to a particular situation.  That, of course, is subject to further modification as we go through learning lessons during ongoing life. With such a preconditioned mind, our scope of vision comes under restriction. That doesn’t let us look at the issues in hand with an open mind, and so often fail to perceive things in the right perspective due, and evidently to our detriment. The beauty of human mind, ...
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