Strength Develops Through Suffering
Spiritual Strength vis-à-vis Physical Strength?
What is physical strength? Strength of your body, your intellectual strength, strength of the tools that you use, which are basically extensions of your body itself – like a weapon, like a computer, like a device.
They don’t function for you unless your body is connected to them.
So all these tools are just part of your physical strength only.
Your knowledge, the regular knowledge, is part of your physical strength.
Unless you make use of your eyes, ears, brain – you can't acquire this kind of knowledge.
This knowledge is stored somewhere in your body.
They are all part of your physical strength.
Spiritual strength is completely different from these. It is not even mental strength.
It is another kind of strength that you acquire through spiritual practices.
Avatara purushas such as Rama, Krishna – they come with this kind of strength.
They come to show us that this kind of strength, which is the greatest of all strength, exists.
They only come to show this to us. Otherwise how will we ever know?
We will be only thinking in terms of how to develop a super supercomputer or a missile with a bigger range – completely around physical materials and physical powers such as electricity, nuclear energy.
But then Rama comes, takes an army of fledgling monkeys with him, builds a bridge of floating stones across the ocean, defying scientific beliefs, goes to Lanka, and destroys someone as formidable as Ravana and his huge army of cruel cannibals – lakhs and lakhs of them.
A single man. He didn’t destroy Lanka by sending a lightning down.
Why didn’t the Lord do that?
Because he wanted to show us what a man can do.
How much a man can do.
One man – of course Hanumanji, Lakshmana – they are all there, but just extensions of his own strength.
Who is Lakshmana – Adi Shesha – his own bed.
Who is Hanumanji – Rudra – he himself in the tamasik form.
So, one man and a few monkeys against Ravana and his empire.
See what the Lord is showing us.
He is motivating us to explore those realms.
Otherwise, how will we even know that this kind of power even exists?
How does that power develop within ourselves?
How does muscle power develop?
It doesn’t develop by applying some kind of fragrant cream over the muscle or wrapping up the muscle in the comfort of silk clothes.
It doesn’t develop by wearing gold or platinum or diamond over the muscle – say your biceps or triceps.
Can muscular strength develop like that? Never.
Muscles develop when you pump weights. Then your muscles will pain. Then your muscles will sweat.
It is not a very comfortable experience.
You enjoy it sometimes because you are motivated by the results that are going to come.
But isn’t it suffering – real physical suffering for the muscle?
Someone is gently massaging a muscle for you.
The same muscle you pump 10 kg of weight a hundred times.
Is it the same experience?
Strength develops through suffering.
Mental strength also, intellectual strength also.
You can stay awake and study till 2 or 3 in the morning.
Your eyes will be drooping. Still, you will drink black coffee or black tea and continue.
Is it as comfortable as watching an entertainer movie?
But movie – just a time pass. Studying – you are gaining power.
That’s the difference.
Strength comes through suffering, not through pampering yourself.
Strength comes through sacrifice, not by pampering yourself.
Our rishis would stand on a single toe for years and do tapasya.
That’s how they developed spiritual power.
Ahimsa is a policy of conscious suffering, conscious sacrifice of your power to mete out a punishment.
And ahimsa has only one benefit, one outcome –
Development of your spiritual strength.
One of the best and most efficient methods to develop your spiritual strength.
Ahimsa is not meekness.
Those who practice ahimsa consciously are not meek people.
They are the most powerful people in the world.
They may not show off their power.
It is not for demonstration like those WWF fighters.
They know when to use that strength, how to use that strength.
They can tap into the whole power of the universe whenever they want.
How much power you have access to will depend on how spiritually powerful you are.
Depends on your practice.
But the resources of those who practice ahimsa are unlimited.
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