Peace Turns Minus into Plus
According to a German psychologist, Alfred Adler, a unique quality possessed by human beings is ‘their power to turn a minus into a plus’. What enables man to perform this extraordinary feat? The only answer is that it is through peace. The human brain is a treasure house of unlimited power. If man loses his peace of mind at a time of crisis, he is not in a position to utilize his mental capacity in a positive way. Negative thinking is an obstacle to human development, while positive thinking is like a life-giver in that it stimulates human capacities. Therefore, when an individual or a nation is able to maintain peace in every situation, infinite possibilities open up. This is when minus can be turned into plus. Here I would like to present two examples to illustrate this point. One is of a societal nature and the other of an individual nature.
A very prominent, historical example of turning one’s minus into plus is provided by the Prophet of Islam. In his famous book The 100 Dr. Michael Hart of America has observed: “Muhammad was the only man in history who was supremely successful at both the religious and secular levels.”
How was the Prophet of Islam able to achieve this supreme success? The secret lies in the fact that though he repeatedly faced moments of crisis in his mission, he never lost his peace of mind. As such he was able to respond positively, even in negative situations. By avoiding confrontation and availing of opportunities, it became possible for him to convert his disadvantage into advantage. The British writer, E.E. Kellett, has thus described this achievement of the Prophet:
“He faced adversity with the determination to wring success out of failure.”
The whole life of the Prophet was a practical example of this principle.
Swami Vivekanand, an Indian saint, was once invited to the home of one of his friends, who wanted to test his mettle. When the Swami arrived, he was ushered into a room where the sacred scriptures of all major religious traditions were placed on a table, one on top of the other. The arrangement was such that the Gita, the Hindu religious scripture, was placed at the bottom, and other religious scriptures placed on top of it. Swamiji’s friend was sure that he would be provoked on seeing this arrangement. So he drew the Swami’s attention to the books placed on the table, and asked him to comment. Swamiji simply smiled and said:
‘The foundation is really good.’ This successful response from the Swamiji was due to the fact that his peace of mind was not disturbed.
