Life : Living Happily or Miserably ?

 

The most important thing to us is our life. If it's the most precious and valuable thing we have, we should think twice before spending it. Most people spend their life to buy a living which facilitates to have food , a house and clothes. Making a living, though, is not a big problem with most people if they are fairly smart. All other creatures are doing it . 

A Universal Issue : Many Responses

How to make life is a personal question which needs a personal solution. As this question has troubled everyone from the beginning of humanity , it has got various responses and has also become a universal question seeking universal solution. These solutions have been codified in the scripture books of various religions and cultures. Many philosophies have emerged .

Approach to Life : Human and Animal

In my opinion, making a life requires a conscious effort from us . If we leave it to flow on its own , it will have the same course as that of the other animals without little or no brain. Human beings boast of having the most evolved brain enabling them to think most efficiently ,so they must deal with this most important question with the most conscious thinking possible.

What Do We Need To Live?

It occurs to me that life needs a balance among its components. Any excess can poison it. Any deficiency can ail it. Body is the first thing to deserve our care. Breath, food and water are the first three needs without which life is not possible. They are present in plenty around us ; nature takes care of them . What we need to do in this regard is only one thing - save it from the greed of yourself and other humans.

Next come the clothes and shelters.Fulfilling these needs requires no great effort . The matter gets complicated only when they are used for show off.

Then we face the issues of safety and security .They cause fears.They are sometimes real ,threatening life. But in most cases they are psychological and unreal. Our wish to live a quality life is greatly affected by these fears . If the problem is psychological , the solution too needs a psychological approach. 

Psychological 

On the next stage we encounter another psychological problem which exists only in the mind but has a great effect on our life. That problem is in the form of desires for money, power, fame , love and respect . 

Money as a means to fulfill the needs is all right and necessary because, in society, we depend on each other for our needs. But it is an evil if used for show off. Power comes from competence and ability . It is necessary to sustain life .But when it is needed to dominate and harm others, it is a perversion . Fame is purely a psychological and unreal need. A desire to be in the memory of others actually turns the energy of a person in the wrong direction. It leads to unending frustration and unhappiness. Love is a noble feeling and brings happiness but only till we keep getting it. What is done by us is under our control but what is done by others is not.If we want to love someone, it's in our hands but if we want someone else to love us , it is not. Our desire to get it from others is a psychological want and leaves us restless . It too will damage our happiness. Likewise we are free in giving respect to others and we have full control over it.But a desire for getting it from others is nothing but an ego-born unnecessary want , a psychological one. This too is impossible to always get from others and will lead to frustration. 

Life is Simple, Not Complex

Thus we see how we make a mess out of our life. We have , ironically, become masters at making a simple thing , complex. Living life is a simple thing but we make it complicated by putting innumerable and unreasonable conditions before it. On a little close observation we find that most of the problems hindering us from enjoying life fully, are the products of our own psychology. Ruining the major portion of life by running after our desires for money, power, fame and lust is nothing but becoming a prey to our own psychology. In such pursuits we forget the real goal which is life.

Know Yourself and Your Tools 

To live a life to its maximum possible limit , we need to work on our capacity to experience it. The capacity to experience life is enhanced in a peaceful and attentive state of mind. Peace and attentiveness can be obtained and increased by following some time tested rules prescribed by the sages of all ages. Following the path of simple and virtuous living brings immense peace. That peace enables us to focus on our mind. A regular focus on mind reveals its true character and its composition. Understanding the character and the composition of mind with its way of working and influencing our life shows us the ways to effectively control it and live happily and freely forever.

We see that our day to day business is performed by our five sense organs with other body parts like hands , legs etc. These sense organs and action organs are controlled and employed by the mind. Mind works through thoughts, feelings and emotions which compose it. Mind can be controlled by intellect if one desires to do so. But intellect itself works under the control and guidance of the identity we give to ourselves.

 Identity, we see , is ever changing and shrouded by ignorance. In the state of peaceful meditation we can easily view ourselves as different from these organs, mind, intellect and the mistaken identity. This knowledge gives us a sense of freedom and relief. It gives us control over our life . Now we shall find ourselves in the position of a driver not a vehicle. We shall see that we can control our physical and mental actions. We can control our thoughts, feelings and emotions. We can change our identity which means that we are above all identities . 

Knowledge is Bliss , Not Ignorance

Such knowledge will enhance our experience of life greatly. It frees us from pain and sorrow. It makes us realize the evanescent nature of the cravings which do not let us live happily. We realize then that even without the blind chase of money, power and fame , one can live happily. 

Purpose Of Life

 

What Are We Doing And Why ?

" I am going to buy a house next year and then a few years later ,a car. I have also to help my son get a  successful career . I have yet to take out some time for my hobbies…" I was thinking. My thoughts didn't stop there. They never stop .There were innumerable desires which kept gripping my mind for some time then. It was not the first time that it was happening with me. Such thoughts generally keep me , like others, busy day and night. The pathetic reality ,however, is that knowingly or unknowingly ,we are all drifting  towards the other end of the life sailing on the boat of these thoughts . It is these thoughts that cause all our actions and unending busyness. In that helter-skelter ,we forget ourselves and our purpose of life. Purpose! Yes , the meaning of life ! The meaning of our existence! Of course the end reminds us of the duty we should have done . Death marks the physical end of our life .And it also serves many as an alarm bell  reminding them of their sense of purpose in life which is coming to a close. It alarms us to rethink about life and work and reorganize them lest something should get missed. Just a thought of death fills the mind with various fundamental and existential questions about life we have been generally ignoring and postponing.

Know Your Life

 We are always busy doing this and that in our day to day life and in this way our whole life is spent . Thoughts and actions driven by each other consume our life. Busy with our needs and desires ,we never pause to see ourselves, our thoughts and our actions . We never care to ask ourselves if we are doing the right thing. We never ask what is the meaning of all that we are doing. We dare not ask if we are treating our life as it should be treated and in this unconscious and automatic way arrives the imminent end . 

The period between our birth and death is the most valuable and important thing for us. Generally we do not start a work until we get to know it and its purpose. Nobody can make us do a task whose meaning and purpose we are not sure of .Even when we are to do some small and unimportant work , we know or try to know what and why of that. For example when we are eating we know we do it to sustain our life. We exercise to make our body healthy. We laugh to express fun and pleasure and so on. But do we really know what life is? Do we ever bother to know why we are living and what is the meaning or purpose of life? Do we really care to know how to live it best?

We can do our best and accomplish the work in hand in the best way possible if we know it well and are clear about how to do it.  Life ,being the most valuable thing we have ,deserves our best attention and efforts. Let's try to understand it lest it should go in vain.

What Is Life ?

Literally life means living. It is opposed to death. It begins with birth and ends with death. Its simple meaning is that we are living if we are not dying. Apparently it is a time period during which something shows the signs of life like movement, growth, reproduction, consciousness etc. These signs are present in different  degrees in different kinds of life forms. The degree of the presence of these signs decides the level of evolution of an animal .The greater the signs are , the greater the evolution is. In short, life means the duration in which one is active, growing, reproducing, moving, happy and energetic . Life is time and energy, consciousness and growth.

The Purpose of Life 

But the question of its meaning and purpose is not a simple one.  How do we know the purpose of something? To know the purpose of something one needs to know who created it , as the purpose is assigned by the creator himself . For example a gramophone is meant for listening to audio. A toothbrush is meant for brushing our teeth ,pen for writing and book for reading . Their investors made them for these purpose.

Sometimes the purpose is assigned by the users also in addition to or apart from the creator's purpose .For example, food is used for eating ,water for drinking, baking and washing, trees for wood, shade and oxygen and land for farming etc. In both these cases the purposes are not bound to be singular  and absolute, for there may be more than one purpose of an article. Whether the creator or the user gives a purpose to a particular thing, it cannot be final and absolute.

There Is No Single Purpose

 A writer with a pen can say that the pen is serving its purpose but does it mean anything to the pen itself. If water is used for the purpose of irrigation and not for drinking, can we say that it has not served its purpose? If a flower has blossomed and fallen in the obscurity of a deserted place and has not been used by anyone, has it lost its purpose and its life in vain ? These examples indicate that the purpose or meaning is an artificial and psychological notion and it is not fixed . We also feel that it is a perspective based understanding which may vary from person to person.

Purpose Is Psychological

 What is the purpose of an earthworm, a fish or a bird ? What is the purpose of rivers, seas, mountains and forests? What do the sun, the moon and the stars stand for? Whatever good or bad, intelligent or stupid, religious or secular meaning or purpose is given to these things, will appear to be the result of a human centric thinking. But the universe is not human centric in reality. Thus the question of finding a purpose or meaning of anything seems to be a human psychological problem ,not a real problem in itself.

Therefore let us consider the real limitation of our ability in dealing with this question. We become satisfied to get a clear cut purpose for something.Our mind becomes restless when it doesn't get a definable meaning of something. But is it necessary that there should be a purpose for everything? Should all our actions have purpose? With the limited information we have , can our intelligence and intellect know the purpose of something completely? Though, looking at the practical limitations of our intellectual capacity, we are aware that our knowledge of purpose cannot be final , we cannot help dwelling upon this question due to the same intellectual urge. 

Purpose Of Life Is The Life Itself

       Since we do not know for sure who created this life and why , we are free to give it any purpose because we are ourselves the life and it's user . Having no purpose also seems equally good. It looks as good  as any other purpose suggested by religion, politics or society . As a life myself, it occurs to me that the purpose of life is to live it fully with all its possible experiences. It is to have the experience of life in all its profoundness as its opposite, death, is characterized by pain inaction, stagnation, stoppage and a sense of finality. Life should have happiness, action, movement and hopefulness. The lesson is to fill our life with the characteristics of life.

How To Attain The Purpose

However it is easier said than done. How to live life, deserves a careful study. We all want it to be perfect, in both quantity as well as quality. Quantity here means duration. It should be long enough to achieve full realisation.  Quality means positive experience ,full of ultimate happiness of a permanent kind. Quality also implies the state of consciousness. We know that anything good or bad in life is of any importance only when we can perceive and experience it and that is possible only when we are conscious. Raising our level of awareness is helpful in realising this purpose. Quality is also composed of a sense of timeless security which means life needs to be true and real devoid of any fear of loss.

This is the intrinsic desire of all creatures to experience a life which is eternally long,  happy and conscious. This universal longing gives a clue to the universal purpose which lies in obtaining it. But how to obtain it, is also an equally misunderstood problem . When we talk about achieving a purpose , it is assumed that it is distant from us.  That makes it a purpose in the worldly sense. This problem is based on the wrong idea of self and its real nature.

Wrong Identity Leads To A Wrong Purpose

 We can never obtain the cherished purpose of living a happy and conscious life as long as we identify ourselves wrongly with the physical body which is temporary, unconscious and afflicted with pains. It has a beginning and an end. It is also not right to identify with the mind which is rooted heavily in the physical body and its experiences and memories. Our identity as a mind-body complex is at the root of all our problems. It is a wrong perception . On close observation we can view this complex as something different in the same way as we see our car, house and garden.

True Identity Shows True Purpose

 Our identity as a detached  and pure observer sets us free from all miseries.  As an awareness and consciousness ,different from this mind-body complex, we are already free.  With this realisation comes the feeling of eternity, limitlessness and permanence. 

Therefore  the purpose of living a conscious and happy life can be fulfilled ,not by making any external attempts but by making a transformation within. Such life cannot be achieved by money, luxuries, fame or power ,as they are all short lived and  just small means to give the desired experience. They bring with them many concerns, fears and engagements which may involve us in a series of unending hopes and despairs.

Rather than covering all the roads under carpets why can we not put on a pair of shoes . Rather than working on the branches, let us fix the root. Rather than subduing the stink of the body with deodorant let us clean it with a fresh shower.

Conclusion

 We need not pursue a purpose. We are the purpose. We are the meaning. The solution is just a will away. The moment we realise our true nature we shall have all that we appear to want.

कविता, पहचान के नाम पर

 पहचान के नाम पर

पैदा तो हम एक ' जीव ' ही हुए थे ,

पर बाद में हमें एक मिली पहचान ,

एक नाम के साथ
और हम हो गए विशिष्ट,
सबसे अलग :
मानव !!! आर्य !! भारतीय !
लिंग ! धर्म ! जाति ! रंग !
औकात , ज्ञान , बुद्धि , देह ...!

Nonviolence and Our Food

“Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages. " said Thomas A. Edison . 'Ahimsa is our greatest righteous duty ' is stated by our scriptures . In our Indian way of life we are expected to take utmost care not to harm the other beings in any of the three ways , physical, verbal or mental. We are taught to love every creature . We also worship some of the animals and plants . Cows , tulsi , peepal , Banyan tree and many more are all worshipped . It shows how deep is our bond with our fellows living on this common planet .

ALL RELIGIONS PREACH NONVIOLENCE

Nonviolence bears so much importance in the religious affairs of the humans that almost all the known religions forbid violence . Mindless and merciless killings of the innocent beings can on no ground be justified .Among these religions Jainism stands on the top by ensuring that not even the small creatures are harmed .Next comes the famous Buddhism whose basic principles are based on the concept of non violence in its all dimensions and under whose influence the great warrior and emperor Ashoka renounced his weapons and embraced the idea of nonviolence . The same is true about Hinduism , Islam and Christianity . They all teach love , compassion and selflessness . 

ITS TWO INTERPRETATIONS: NARROW AND BROAD

As it is clear that violence is a thing we should abstain from , the next and a bit controversial issue which arises is its practicability .We find  two types of views regarding its definition . In narrow view, non violence is not harming the other human beings. In broad view, it means giving up harming practices against all types of living beings , from elephants, lions and cows to the tiny creatures like ants and germs .The first view sounds practical and appealing to most of us as it has been an established fact by now that all humans are equal and any type of discrimination based only on caste , sex ,race, colours, regions etc is treated as violence and a crime . Thanks to the awareness among people and gradual evolution that the inhuman practices like slavery and untouchability have been eliminated , to a great extent  if not completely .However the problem arises when we turn towards the broad view .In the process of evolution most of us have not reached the enlightened level where our compassion would embrace all creatures alike , not only human beings. A century ago the slaves in the western world and the low caste people in India were treated as unequal and were forced to live in inhuman conditions. With the dawn of civilization people realised their mistakes and murder of any human has become illegal .

ANIMALS' RIGHT TO LIVE

In this journey of evolution, we have also come to realise that some animals too should be protected  and accordingly many laws have been framed banning the insensitive killings of elephants, tigers , deer etc . Their killings become news and the perpetrators are punished .But ironically our sensitivity and compassion stop right there and many of us who raise hue and cry over the diminishing population of some endangered animals and birds are not bothered at all about their non vegetarian food which is prepared by killing many innocent animals and birds. How long will it take us more to evolve to realise that every creature should have right to live his or her life. All big and small creatures feel fear and pain alike when they are hurt and killed .Some enlightened people had realised it much ago . Leonardo da Vinci once said , "I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men."

Human beings should not eat meat . Leo Tolstoy said "A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral. "

BIOLOGICALLY AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY WE ARE NOT LIKE CARNIVORES

Besides, according to biologists and anthropologists humans are herbivores who are not well suited to eating meat .Humans lack both the physical characteristics of carnivores and the instinct that drives them to kill the animals and devour their raw carcasses. Our teeth, jaws and nails are not like the carnivores to enable them hunt and eat .We lack the extremely acidic stomach juices of carnivores which help the quick digestion .The length of our intestinal tracts and colons also make us unsuitable to eating meat which requires short intestines .Psychologically too humans are not designed to derive pleasure from killing and eating animals . Most of the humans are rather revolted by the sight of blood , intestines and raw flesh and cannot bear the screams of the animals and birds being killed and ripped apart .

VEGITARIAN FOOD IS BEST FOR OUR HEALTH AND ENVIORONMENT

As it is unsuitable for humans , its large scale production in the farm factories and consumption have led to numerous health problems. Now , after the industrialized production has made it cheap and accessible for everyone , the diseases like cancer , diabetes, obesity ,blood pressure and many types of heart problems are on the rise .

Vegetarianism is friendly to environment and it can work wonderfully in addressing the environmental problems like pollution and climate change .

ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR OF NONVEGITARIAN FOOD ARE SHALLOW AND SELFISH

But it's not without opposition . There is no dearth of such people who offer numerous shallow arguments advocating eating meat. One of their famous arguments is that men have been eating meat from the time immemorial so the practice of eating meat should continue . This argument has been refuted by Issac Bashevis Singer ,a Noble awarded author , "People often say that humans have always eaten animals, as if this is a justification for continuing the practice. According to this logic, we should not try to prevent people from murdering other people, since this has also been done since the earliest of times."

Another argument is given that the world will be filled with the goats , chickens and pigs if we give up killing and eating them. Do we not know that it is the deliberate commercial production which supplies the demand for the meat , other wise the population of these innocent beings have never been a matter of concern for anyone . Nature is able to take care of itself .

One more logic is provided that no other animals except the human beings ever think in regard to what they should eat and what they should not . But how can we forget that we boast to be more intelligent than the other creatures ? Being an intelligent creature we have more responsibility and we should think . We should discriminate between right and wrong .

DO YOU HAVE LOVE AND COMPASSION FOR OTHERS ?

Finally we have to agree to the conclusion that from all the religious, ethical, ecological and health perspectives the practice of having non vegetarian food is inappropriate. It is merciless, cruel , selfish, mindless and self harming . We should love all the coexisting creatures on this planet as our friends. If we once understand that they too  , like us , have all the right to enjoy their lives, we shall understand the importance of non violence inspired by love and kindness .