We are living in an age in which there is a perennial rush to become, not be, often at the expense of everything that makes us human — charity, humaneness, love, respect, compassion and appreciating existence itself. While becoming is, by definition, a natural process of evolution to go from one state of being to another, the path of becoming without centering, grounding, acknowledging and appreciating some key realities — emotions, thoughts and state of mind — within us as we move along, is not quite natural.
In nature, everything has a state of being, evolution and stabilisation. In ancient Hindu thought, this is called Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. This goes on during the entire duration of anything existing in its physical form. The problem with today’s age is that there seems to be little time for stabilisation and appreciating being-ness, partly due to the competition, partly due to our expectations (formed by the ever-present tendency to expand, avarice, and the media that projects ‘ideals’), and partly due to the idea of instant or quick gratification. Cricket going from the test or ODI format to the T20 model is enjoyable, but life going that quickie way is a tad bit unnatural.
We need to ask ourselves who are we doing this for. How is this useful? Is this truly giving us happiness?
Are we human anymore?
Or does that not matter anymore? I write this piece with a lot of introspection and sense of worry. I was in Cambridge when I heard about how a drunken youth in Cambridge coming back from a ball displayed a currency-note to a destitute man teasingly, and then burnt it right in front of him! I have heard of how a girl, fearing the baggage of mental health as well as not having no time to be considerate of chaotic actions of a guy due to his obsessions (he had OCD) rejected him outright, even though all he wanted was some time after expressing interest.
I have heard of how children have brazenly taken their parents, sometimes by hand, and left them in an old-age centre, alone and helpless. I have seen first hand how people have lay injured on the road after an accident and no one stopped their cars to help them up since they are either in a rush to get somewhere or did not want ‘trouble.’ In a race, there is a finish line to reach. With there being no possible end to one’s expectations and definitely no limit to greed, I naturally ask:
What is this invisible finish line we are going towards? Can there even be one?
Some would say it can only be relatively measured with how much joy we feel in the moment or with our lived experiences till then. Others would say it can be measured with the sense of completeness or satisfaction one has with life. Aren’t both these ideas highly subjective and fleeting?
What is joy? What is completeness? What is satisfaction?
Is joy just a state of being when one has a rush of hormones, and the excitement and happiness one gets thereby? Is completeness not just the feeling of wholeness based on your ideas of the world and life that you create in your mind based on your experiences and perspectives formed till then (which itself is never quite ‘complete’, ironically)? Is satisfaction truly satisfaction when even the smallest of passing allurements, from a passing new fad to bigger material points of accomplishment, can make you feel deeply unsatisfied?
Recently, someone told me that apparently, I give too much importance to emotions, love and acts of charity. Hell yes! And I am proud to do so. I am sorry, but I do not accept becoming a humanoid robot (Honda is doing a good job in that already) and this sheep-mentality of being herded by generational expectations and fads. I reject them, I abhor them, and I stand against this entire manner of thinking. And in doing so, I am probably a rebel to the zeitgeist of the age! But more importantly, I feel all of this is rooted in one fundamental point:
What is the purpose of life?
Is the purpose defined by the number of houses, cars, gadgets and materials one can end up possessing by the end of one’s life? Is the purpose defined by the number of friends one has or the kind of experiences one has had? Is there a purpose at all, some would ask? Without wanting to bias the debate in any which way, I think the key point is to firstly reflect on that! The answer to this is usually not one that somebody stumbles upon one fine day, or even after sustained inquiry, for that matter, in most cases. And that is not an answer you can get unless you resolve the question,
Who are you truly?
Are you just a sum-total of your bodily parts? Are you just a product of your experiences? For the biologically minded, are you just a zygote who got lucky to have survived this long? Are you defined by the things you possess or the actions you have done? If you reflect long and hard on this, probably none of these alone define you, and even taken together, there still remains an unchanging reality to you that evades these inquiries. An essential core, so to say, that is simply based on three things: existence, comprehensibility and bliss.
Existence: We are.
Comprehensibility: We know we are.
Bliss: We are at peace and blissful in the knowledge that we are.
Does this knowledge help? Does this tell us who we are? Just by reading this in my words or listening about this, can we be completely awakened to this? No! This has to be realised and experienced. In its starkest, most real, and barest form, this experience, this realisation is empowering and liberating.
It is empowering as it makes us aware that we are not slaves to materialism and simply cannot be. It is liberating in that we cease to thereafter make false identifications about who we are. Somebody asked a few days ago: does this mean we do not partake in any activity because what is the point if we can just be, know we are, and be happy with this knowledge? That is a perfectly valid question to ask. Why bother acting or doing anything if there is a transcendent reality to us? The simple answer is:
We must engage and realise the transcendent reality while being in the relative, the material, and yet not become attached to it.
We must perform actions and yet, never get attached to the results of those actions. This is very easily said, but very tough to do. It is in this understanding that we are truly human. It is in this realisation that humans have immense potential. The tendency to expand and attain more is not wrong and is actually only natural. But if we try to manifest that tendency with the limited and the worldly, we will never truly succeed. It is like trying to accommodate the skies within a box. It is like trying to extract all the waters of the oceans from a small creek. It is just not possible!
I would like to end with a moment of calm and reflection, and conclude my meditation here by asking all my readers to seek. Seek what makes us human. Seek what gives us true joy, completeness and satisfaction. Seek what is the purpose of life. And most importantly, seek who you truly are!
In that quest, in that seeking, and what you attain thereafter, will you find true bliss.