THE EINSTEIN ELEMENT: Seeing Greatness the Indian Way

Note: If your mental capacity is underdeveloped for intellectual activity, this article may seem a bit long-winded. Thanks for stopping by anyway.

Observing is good. It’s not necessary to say that one is observing or that one has been benefited from observation. Simply observe your world within and without. You will take away bountiful treasures.

A book, recently, caught my eye. It was titled How To Think Like Albert Einstein. It is apparently, a highly controversial topic to imitate a genius, of whatever area of expertise one might be. Nevertheless, it was a book on success and was very strategic in its presentation. It may not be an exaggeration that if a reader stumbles upon the book he or she is tend to take it word for word as the true essence of the great Albert Einstein. However, arguments exist that reject such an overwhelming influence.

Imitation may hinder an individual's progress to evolve into a being of higher consciousness, because in imitating another person in thoughts or action, one is essentially following someone else's paradigm of living. This, at the same time, does not indicate the fact that elements of greatness whoever the carrier of those elements be, must not be followed in our personal life.

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To think that lessons learnt are greatly valuable, irrespective of the source, would be a lie. Indeed, the source matters. Therefore, we cannot neglect when a population adores and worships an individual for the capacity of growth one has exhibited in human form. It is, therefore, important to evaluate one of the greatest known persons on planet earth today, Einstein or Gandhi, whoever be it. An investigation into what might have helped an individual outperform his or her limiting circumstances could reveal invaluable lessons for generations to come. This is, perhaps, the take-away-goodie from How To Think Like Albert Einstein.

Imitation is not our concern. Our concern is to transform this generation into a bunch of geniuses. In this regard, this book, How To Think Like Albert Einstein seems to be fulfilling a greater purpose.

What makes a few people among us geniuses? Isn’t it an interesting question to ponder? I am not the first one to inquire in this line. I have even heard that they have Albert Einstein’s brain under scrutiny in order to study what the elements are that made him what he was. Some say his brain was bigger in size compared to the size of brain of an average human being. Is it the brain alone that made his personality and thinking process uniquely important? We must remember that Einstein’s contributions helped transform a generation.

I reviewed a book a few months back, The Proof of Heaven, written by Dr. Eben Alexander. This book enumerates the reasons to believe that consciousness can outlive human physical life. This indicates that thoughts have a life beyond brain. In other words, to be a brainiac is not the important thing, but to be able to tune into the frequency of cosmic consciousness in which thoughts exist.

Another criteria, some might say involved in proclaiming someone a genius, is credentials he or she gathers in the area of work they are specialized. One such individual comes to my mind. His name is Sachin Tendulkar.  

Sachin Tendulkar is the latest in the long line of geniuses traced back to Newton and Bethovan. Sachin was only sixteen when he first played his international match. This legendary cricketer played his Test debut on 15 November 1989. He played this match against Pakistan in Karachi.

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What delineates Sachin's personality from others' of his generation from the same field of activity? Sachin's cricketing career started back in the early 90s. As a teenager Sachin’s performance captured the heart and soul of India.

Sachin was a full-time candidate for greatness throughout the 29 states and 7 union territories in India. People responded by crowning him with the title of “Master Blaster”. As a teenager, I was a great fan of Indian cricket, this game nurtured by the British, but carried forward by its colonial subjects. Sachin Tendulkar's phenomenal reach into the Indian demographic, perhaps, owes to his ability to appear meek and amenable. When I observed him as an individual, I came across several qualities in Sachin Tendulkar that I believe, rewarded him with the throne of the “god of cricket” in India.

My attraction for cricket started dwindling down, later. This was the time of match fixing and corruption. Many Indian players were part of the scandal and actively took part in the illegal process. They did it just for one thing—money. Perhaps, Sachin Tendulkar is different from all those in this regard. He wasn’t charged with allegations, and stood by his values by fighting corruption in Indian cricket.

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At this point, a very important realization rises in my mind. Greatness isn’t necessarily the result of what one does in some field of activity, like Einstein or Tendulkar. Greatness could be those silent qualities an individual harbours and interacts with inside one’s higher consciousness. Then, perhaps, we all have a share of greatness in us, irrespective of our professional qualifications, nationalities, and colour.