For a peaceful and fulfilling life, we must activate our intellect to keep the external attractions at bay, withdraw and stay centred much like that tortoise withdrawing its limbs. In the hare and tortoise race, tortoise wins the race. This story has deep spiritual significance and each of immense learning value. After all life too is race in which all of us have to participate. The human mind is like hare, fast, Swift, impulsive. It creates mental agitations. The ongoing rumbling of thoughts saps us of our psychic energy, living us feeling exhausted. Depending upon individual psyche, it may lead to disgusting, disappointment and even depression to extend that a person may feel defeated in life much like the hair lost the race, with the attributes of a of hair, one is most likely to lose in the lives race. On the other hand, with the tortoise like attributes, one can aspire to be a winner. Tortoise has a hard shell that keeps it protected. The human intellect is like that shell. Because of its logical and objective thinking, it keeps away from temptations of the materialistic world and taking emotional decisions. Our senses are powerful enough to push towards external attractions leading to misery and sorrow.
It is ironic to call ourselves homo sapiens while undermining the very basis of our survival. Human beings on an individual basis are wiser today. They have an amazing capacity for wisdom and compassion. But at the collective level it is not 50. On the ecological level, we are undermining the very basis of our survival and that of so many other animals and plants. Also, we could be on the verge of another world war with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the growing tension between the US and China. We need global cooperation and regulation to ensure that new technology like artificial intelligence or bio engineering are used for good but we don't seem to be wise enough to unite. The World Cup is an amazing example of global cooperation. So we can have very strong national loyalty but everyone has to agree on the same rules for the game. This should be the model that is applied to climate change and artificial intelligence. At the world cup after footballer Breel Embolo scored a goal for Switzerland against Cameron, his country of birth, Cameronians fans stormed his father's home in the village of Yaounde, threatening to beat him up. Breel grew up in Basel and had been inducted into the national Swees team barely a few months earlier. When he scored the goal he did not know whether to celebrate for his adopted country or feel guilty about scoring against his birthplace. An unhealthy nationalism left him unsure and ambivalent. Many players playing for a country other than that of their birth face a similar dilemma. When playing for countries, sports creates unbridgeable divides in personal loyalty and national allegiance. If a player playing for his adopted country performs poorly against his birth country he is quickly leveled as a traitor and booed by the audience of the adopted country. The good that comes out of such instant protest dissipates quickly barely registering into any long term policy or change. And certainly amidst the rising racism, exorbitant players pay scales and the inconsistent labour policies, the sporting world can be a harsh and uncompromising place. But this does not dismiss the good side of international events like the world cup. What else can put the US and Iran on the same pitch? Then there was Morocco whose rise up the world cup ladder was nothing short of miraculous. The world cup surely proved that football is no monopoly of a selected few. Besides the audacious confidence of the players, the country carried with it the cooperative spirit and pride of all of Africa and the uniting the Arab world and inspiring those who watched them play. But off the field the team's wins and losses sparked fan clashes in both Brussels and Paris. The bigger question is: what then is the way out of the feast fights? Even mixing and matching like in IPL, a varied citizenry in world tournaments has not worked successfully.
The final match between Argentina and France was truly worthy of the occasion. Messi and Mbappe shone like the stars they are billed to be. A contest that came alive in classical fashion, one team takes a lead and the other just as everyone writes off the possibility, comes back. Finally, Messi was the favourite of all, who had the one trophy that was missing from his cabinet and the economically battered nation of Argentina could dream again. As a gesture of true sportsmanship, Messi and Mbappe hugged each other after the final. The French President consoled the losing team.
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