By: BK Usha
Source: The Daily Guardian https://epaper.thedailyguardian.com/view/2910/the-daily-guardian/15
Dated: August 30th, 2025 

The number zero might seem like ‘nothing’, but it is one of the most important numbers in mathematics. In the decimal system, zero lets us distinguish between numbers like 10, 100, and 1000. Without zero, we would not be able to tell the difference between 42 and 402 — it keeps our place value system working properly. Zero also allows us to express the absence of a quantity in a clear and measurable way. Without zero, modern computing, science, and technology would not exist. The binary code used in computers relies on zeroes and ones. So zero, also called nought or nil, is by no means a worthless number.

A missing or extra zero makes a lot of difference in accounting. Adding a zero to any positive whole number increases its value tenfold. However, the value added by a zero is not the same for all numbers; it depends on the value of the original number. A zero placed after four will make it 40, which is a tenfold increase in the value of the original number. The same zero, placed after 4000, will make it 40,000. In percentage terms the increase in value is the same in both cases. But in real terms, the gain in value in the first case is 36 units, while in the second case it is 36,000 units – a huge difference. What this means is that the higher the value of a number, the greater the gain in value by adding a digit.

In real life, too, it works this way. If a company earns revenue of billions of dollars, a ten per cent growth in its earnings will be a huge amount compared to a similar growth in the income of a small-time trader. Similarly, a one per cent rise in a top banker’s salary may be equivalent, in amount, to an entire year’s earnings of a factory worker.

What this tells us is that the greater our strength, capabilities, or worth, the more we can achieve with less effortThe same effort will bring a relatively small reward to someone not as powerful. In other words, as our worth increases, so does our ability to grow.

This applies to spiritual life as well. Spiritually powerful souls touch the lives of countless people. Their words have a powerful effect on others, but the same words spoken by an ordinary person may sound prosaic. The power and influence of spiritual leaders is acquired over years of meditation, study, and inner work. The greater their powers, the more profound their impact on others. To illustrate this point, consider the difference between various kinds of lights. A night lamp and a floodlight both give light, but there is a vast difference in the quality and intensity of the illumination they provide. If we add another night lamp, and also a floodlight, the difference the two would make to the lighting would also be vastly different.

We can light up the lives of others and serve them only to the extent that we have a store of spiritual powers and virtues. If I am just pretending to be peaceful and loving, others are not going to experience these qualities from me. But when I develop my inner resources, be it peace, truth, happiness, or compassion, they will be naturally expressed through my face, words, and behaviour. I will not only be complete and content within, but also have enough to share with others. Success will then come easily, as my virtues will speak for me and I will not have to strive to convince others.

BK Usha is a Rajyoga teacher
at the Brahma Kumaris headquarters in Abu Road, Rajasthan.