All the true Greats who have walked so far,
who influenced humanity in different ages to change the world positively by altering
definitions and functional paradigms of societies never claimed to be perfect
human beings or God-like souls.
Throughout lives they all lived, they
remained human beings, like you and me, never out of our reach. And being the
human beings like you and me, they were always fallible, till the very end.
Yes, they rose to become Great, but,
intrinsically, they were the ordinary human beings who worked on their Good
Self to dominate their Weaker Self so effectively that they became God-like for
us. Yes, but they were not Gods, and they never acted so. The Weaker Self was
very much alive within them and that let the Greats remain among us, something
they always aspired for, something they needed emotionally.
All the Great Souls who have changed the
world or have healed humanity sacrificed the aspirations of their material
lives, first consciously and then spontaneously, to help others, to reach out
to the humankind.
Yes, there were and there would be
reflections of their religious and ideological affiliations that reflected and
that would reflect in their teachings. Yes, they did expect people to behave in
the way they taught because they believed it could help them to win over the
odds of life. But the true Greats, none of them ever forced their views.
But people criticise the Greats even if
they are no more physically present among us, and most of the time the basis of
the criticism are the ideological and spiritual references of their teachings
and their distorted interpretations by some of their fanatic followers. The
critics, they never venture into the realm of spirituality or are not capable
of doing so, something that can give them the insight to comprehend the real
essence of the teachings that speak of the universal values to heal humanity,
to help the needy, the universal principles of civilizations. Religious,
cultural, sectarian or personal bigotry blinds the critics to see what they
should see and they slip into criticising those who have been the guiding
lights.
Yes, the Greats, they can and they go
wrong, they have gone wrong, for they are, for they were, humans like you and
me.
But who are we, the men of the material
world, consumed by our individual lives, sucked by our own petty problems, who
never venture out to help even a single needy person, let alone helping the
dying ones, to question the motives of the Greats?
Yes, for the Greats, such criticism never
matters. The Greats never believed in defending something that was so utterly
misplaced or something that would obstruct them in their duty and
responsibility to reach out and heal humanity. The Greats don’t respond because
their emotive responses are concentrated on reaching out and helping others.
Yes, the Greats, being humans like us, they
all have their own limitations. Yes, they do win over them and manage them much
more efficiently than us. But that doesn't mean they cannot err. They are as
much entitled to err like all of us are. They cannot be expected to be
all-knowing or versatile.
Give the Greats the liberty to remain
humans. They crave for it in their private moments. Give them their freedom to
remain fallible. Give them their moments to introspect. They deserve it after
committing their lives for others, to us.