The Principle of Balance

"In this world, there are no achievements without sacrifices. To obtain something you desire, you have to pay with something of similar value. That is the alchemy principle of equal exchange."

Fullmetal Alchemist




The above quote was extracted from a popular anime in Japan called Fullmetal Alchemist. In this thought-provoking storyline, an innocent pair of brothers attempted to use alchemy, a science widely acccepted in their world, to resurrect their dead mother. In the process, the body of the little brother was taken away but his elder brother sacrificed his entire right upper limb, after losing his right lower limb as the price, to exchange for the soul of his brother, who now resides in the casing of an armour. What they brought back was not their mother, but a half-dead distorted body with the face of their mother. After this experience which changed their lifes drastically, they seek to find a way to redeem their original body.

I learnt and understood more about life after much pondering about the main quote, which will show up during the opening theme of the anime in every episode. There are at least 2 lessons we can learn from this. I used to believe in what people call "luck". That one can simply sit back and wait for something , hopefully pleasant, to happen without doing anything. I will just attend some lectures during my JC period, forgoing all the tutorials for Mathes 'C' and expected to obtain good results. Your first reaction may be one of extreme repulsion and disgust. But before you dump this issue at the back of your brain, spend some time to think about it. When was the last time in your life that you said "Thanks!" and really meant it, or offered to help out a family errand without a single complaint? I believe most of us, myself included, are taking things around us for granted! There is a purpose for everything to exist. However, those things will fade and disappear if their purposes are not justified. Pardon my straight-forwardness, but that is the exact reason why the morals of Mankind has succumbed to almost the level of an animal, at the astonishing speed similar(perharps proportional) to the accelerating advances in technology!

The other lesson which we can learn is one of "equal exchange". Using an example from quantitative analysis of chemistry to demonstrate the balance of action and reaction, to titrate a certain amount of potassium permanganate, one requires to add the exact amount of sodium hydroxide. Too little and there will still be a tinge of purple inside. Too much and the solution will be too basic or alkaline. It is the same in the way we do things or behave. If you talk too much, people will think you are a chatterbox. If you talk too little, people will think you are an extremely shy person. Therefore, in life, one needs to be aware of the balance of the universe. To conclude my session of blabbering, I will leave you with a quote from the Mean, one of the doctrines of the Wise Master, Confucius.

"While there are no stirrings of pleasure, anger, sorrow, or joy, the mind may be said to be in the state of Equilibrium. When those feelings have been stirred, and they act in their due degree, there ensues what may be called the state of Harmony. This Equilibrium is the great root from which grow all the human actings in the world, and this Harmony is the universal path which they all should pursue."