I am less than 22 years of age. And still, I think I have seen more of my life than I should have. Don’t know the reason for that, but guess, destiny liked it this way. After all, its destiny that handles the things, not us. I have seen the ugly faces of life…. And I have seen the most lovable moments too. I have seen the problems, n I have been the solutions too. I have been a poor, and I have been a rich too. I have tolerated unsurpassable torments, and I have lived a so-called royal life too.
In short, I have seen what life takes a lifetime to show to its owner. And that way, it woudn’t be wrong to say that I own a right to write about life. After all, I am a veteran at the age of 22.
Life has different phases, and this makes it difficult to summarize life in one sentence. Every part of the classification has its own yardstick. To an infant, its nothing more than the closeness it shares with its parents. The quanta of love that the child gets from others, dominates his perception of life. His yelling being answered, his wishes being fulfilled, toys all around make him a happy face and the opposite holds true too. He feels the life to be ecstatic, if he gets what his nubile brain asks him for. Contrarily, life is hell for him if he feels deprived of luxuries.
As the kid grows up, he starts learning the relations- among numbers, among alphabets and among people. Thus entering into a more complex world, where human perceptions and emotions rule the definition of life. He starts comprehending the critical terms like studies, pleasure, anger, satisfaction, love, hatred, sex and more… its then that the complications arise. He feels entangled within the cobwebs of various emotions, and keeps floating on the undulating waves of pleasure and pain.
Slowly, he gains wisdom and becomes a learned intellectual. He shares his views about wide range of topics and feels bigger with every passing day. And then comes a day, when the road his life has been riding, comes to a dead end. The cruel life completes one cycle.
In between, a phase comes in his life, when he looks back at the life he lived. He scrutinizes all the decisions he took at the meanders. Having summed up all his life, he feels he did not live it his way. And thinks it better to write up his experience so that some other person may live his life his own way, by learning from the predecessor’s experiences. Alas, even after living full-length life, he couldn’t learn that it all belongs to destiny.
Things happen the way destiny decides them to. The codes are written up somewhere. Every moment pre-decided and recorded, waiting for its execution. It’s a set of events, a random selection from among the various event codes, put together in the form of a software program file. The files are distributed randomly to the life-owners. Owner he is, but not the administrator authorized to edit his life’s program. So, he lives it the life’s way and not his own way. He gets his wishes fulfilled if his life decides so. Better to say, his wishes are what his life decides him to wish. If he tries to differ, he gets punished. Pain, sorrow, revulsions, spasms…. all are the methods the life uses to make us learn that we are not the authority.
Life to me has been no different. I mean, the program file containing the event-list of my life, has a good mix of many ups and downs. I have been blessed with divine moments of delight, and also, I have been through tortures of hell. And at the end of it, I would only like to thank that programmer. U MADE MY LIFE.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
How true !!!
Budhdha said “the cause of all sorrow is desire”. How true. Lot of people realize this fact, but not before they have been through an ocean of sorrow. People tend to have emotional attachment with other buddies. And this emotional attachment is followed by expectations and the so-called desire. We feel that we have a right over some other person, just because we like him, or because we are emotionally attached to him. We tend to build castles in our mind, and correlate many wishes. We even dream of those desires. This feeling that since we are related to some person, or since we love some person, we have a right over him, generates expectations. In the unexplored corners of our subtle mind, we start nurturing varied dreams. Our minds are carnal to the core. They are like free stallions that have just broken their tethers. The mind keeps roaming freely, and since it rules over our senses, we tend to develop attachments with things that are known to us. This leads to desire. meaning hereby, that to have desire is natural as it is a common trait of all the living beings. Even trees bend towards the sun. every animal cares for its progenies. Desire may also arise from need. A beggar asking for a penny desires that people passing by would drop a penny in his hat. That’s a need, but there again, deep inside his heart, he keeps wishing that the person in front would have a soft heart, and that he would be kind enough to understand the beggar’s needs. This is expectation. He expects a sort of inclination towards him. A girl in love with a boy keeps nurturing many small wishes. She expects her man to be there with her in her treasured moments and also, at times of pain. She expects him to care for her.
That is to say, that desires and expectations are natural phenomena. They originate in our mind and engross our thoughts. Thus its not easy to control our desires, though its not impossible either.
Coming over to the effect of desires, they create a sense of longing. If the wishes are met, we tend to become happy and if they are not fulfilled, either the longing grows, or we land in a state of utter sorrow. Thus desire leads to delight and dismay. The beggar feels awed if a passer-by avoids him. The girl weeps when in her own shell, just because her lover said once that they were just friends. So, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that all pleasure and pain are our own creation. This statement can be concluded from the following facts:
Its we who have expectations and desires.
Its destiny which decides whether the desires are to be met or not.
If they are met, we become happy; and if they are not fulfilled, we become sad.
Thus, it is we who decide our happiness. The secret lies in controlling our desires. We should keep working without having slightest desire of the end-result. Have the aim in mind, work tenaciously towards achieving that aim, but do not attach emotions and sentiments with it. Work like a self programmable robot, who is capable enough to think about its courses and actions, and who then keeps working, no matter how tough the job is. The robot doesn’t become happy when it gains its objective, neither does it get sad when it cant do the job. But it does put in the best effort towards the aim. That creates an ideal that we should follow.
Its said in Geeta, that we should act the same, in pleasures and pain, in losses and gain. That we should be one in response to all kinds of ailments and ecstasies. It would going a step further if I say that inspite of acting the same in all kinds of situations, we should not let such kind of situations arise. The pleasure wouldn’t be there if I don’t get attached with the job. Similarly, pain will only come if desire is there.
So, the essence lies in controlling the desires. Let us be like a guest here, feeling nothing to be ours. Well aware of our duties and responsibilities, we should be consistently working towards the goal. But working just like a robot. No desires, no expectations, no longing, just work; work for the heck of working and nothing else. That the ideal way, do your duties without getting involved in them. Feel yourself as an individual, not as a relative to somebody. Respect the relations, but don’t get attached to them. Have it known to your inner conscience that no one on this earth is yours, and that you owe a duty towards all the individuals. Agreed that there are some people closer than others, but you should get to think beyond these shelled perspectives. Know your duty towards all the people around you, and keep working.
That is to say, that desires and expectations are natural phenomena. They originate in our mind and engross our thoughts. Thus its not easy to control our desires, though its not impossible either.
Coming over to the effect of desires, they create a sense of longing. If the wishes are met, we tend to become happy and if they are not fulfilled, either the longing grows, or we land in a state of utter sorrow. Thus desire leads to delight and dismay. The beggar feels awed if a passer-by avoids him. The girl weeps when in her own shell, just because her lover said once that they were just friends. So, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that all pleasure and pain are our own creation. This statement can be concluded from the following facts:
Its we who have expectations and desires.
Its destiny which decides whether the desires are to be met or not.
If they are met, we become happy; and if they are not fulfilled, we become sad.
Thus, it is we who decide our happiness. The secret lies in controlling our desires. We should keep working without having slightest desire of the end-result. Have the aim in mind, work tenaciously towards achieving that aim, but do not attach emotions and sentiments with it. Work like a self programmable robot, who is capable enough to think about its courses and actions, and who then keeps working, no matter how tough the job is. The robot doesn’t become happy when it gains its objective, neither does it get sad when it cant do the job. But it does put in the best effort towards the aim. That creates an ideal that we should follow.
Its said in Geeta, that we should act the same, in pleasures and pain, in losses and gain. That we should be one in response to all kinds of ailments and ecstasies. It would going a step further if I say that inspite of acting the same in all kinds of situations, we should not let such kind of situations arise. The pleasure wouldn’t be there if I don’t get attached with the job. Similarly, pain will only come if desire is there.
So, the essence lies in controlling the desires. Let us be like a guest here, feeling nothing to be ours. Well aware of our duties and responsibilities, we should be consistently working towards the goal. But working just like a robot. No desires, no expectations, no longing, just work; work for the heck of working and nothing else. That the ideal way, do your duties without getting involved in them. Feel yourself as an individual, not as a relative to somebody. Respect the relations, but don’t get attached to them. Have it known to your inner conscience that no one on this earth is yours, and that you owe a duty towards all the individuals. Agreed that there are some people closer than others, but you should get to think beyond these shelled perspectives. Know your duty towards all the people around you, and keep working.
Hark Hark !! here's the lark..!
Hi to all,
This is your friend. Don’t know how to introduce “myself”. The “my” in me is getting weaker with time thus attenuating the “myself” to a shorter version…. just “self”. So, to a world where “my” comes before “self”, introducing the “self” is not as easy as it looks at the surface. Still, I would take a trial.
I am a face that would go unnoticed in a crowd. I am a face that would hardly impress you in the first rendezvous. I am a face that you would identify in a group photograph only after putting extra strain on our eyes. I am a face that you wouldn’t care to remember for long…..
This should suffice for the introduction, as only faces are introduced, not the person. To know the person, you need to delve deep into him, beyond the limits of a superficial hello or a phony introduction. And going by this definition, its impossible to know a person fully. But at the same time, this statement too holds true that it is not essential to know someone fully. So, why take the tortuous path? Why bother about the finer details when only name is enough? Just say a hi, a hello; help him, ask for help… and its over. After all that is what is required. The whole social networking aims at making our task easier by mutual coordination. And that can be achieved just by our names as our identity. Knowledge of the person becomes secondary.
I guess, by now I have convinced you that its not important to know who am I? I will go a step further and say that even the name is not required. And I do have the famous adage to support me..”whats in the name?” So, please stop bothering about the author’s identity and concentrate on the text.
So, what is it that differentiates “my” from “self” and also, both “my” and “self” from “myself”? The question is graver than it sounds. And to know the answer, we need to know all the three terms. “Self” denotes the soul. It represents the character a person bears and has nothing to do with the name. Contrarily, “my” is the pronoun that replaces the noun, which in itself is the name. So, “my” depicts the name while “self” is the person’s nature, his character, his inner identity. “my” makes him known to the world, while “self” is the inner enlightenment. “Self” is what we ought to know, while “my” is the way others will know us. Knowing “my” doesn’t need effort on the person’s part as it is endowed to him by the world whereas knowing “self” is one of the most tenacious jobs.
“My” stands for the ego that we carry with us. The hindi word “main” literally means “aham” or ego. All the streams of spirituality intend to cause diminution of this ego. The journey starts from “my” and has “self” us the ultimate goal. The whole process has just one objective – to lessen the “my” thus leading to the “self”.
We being mortal, have an innate trait to relate our self to our body. It’s me who gets happiness in merrier moments, its me who laments at opportunities missed, its me who suffers the spasms….. Is it the reality? Let us assume it to be true for a moment. Then, it will be me who will be burned after I die. And since burning would reduce me into ashes, nothing will be left. The complete “me” will vanish into nowhere. The whole existence would cease to exist. But I would still have a bit of place reserved to my name in some faraway nooks of the brains of few people. Just the way Shakespeare and Gandhi have. That brings us to a contradiction. Presence even after death. This fortifies the hypothesis that the trait of linking our body to our self has no essence.
Its not the body that defines us. Body is the veneer that the soul wraps itself with, before taking a lively form. All happiness and revulsions are limited to the body only. The body is given a name for ease of recognition, and that name leads to “my”. On the contrary,“self” or “soul” is beyond the horizons of pleasure and pain. “self” defies the boundaries of time while “my” has a very limited life span. Every “my” comes and lives and then dies, but the “self” stays forever.
Hence my friends, its worthless to attach “my” to our real selves. Although, living amidst so many creatures on this earth necessitates a formal attachment between “my” and “self”. But this linkage is too ephemeral. It stays only till the body remains. Once the body departs,”my” and “myself” cease to exist. What remains is the eternal “self” or the soul. So, let us live our lives to the fullest, but with the cognizance that its only our body that lives.
This is your friend. Don’t know how to introduce “myself”. The “my” in me is getting weaker with time thus attenuating the “myself” to a shorter version…. just “self”. So, to a world where “my” comes before “self”, introducing the “self” is not as easy as it looks at the surface. Still, I would take a trial.
I am a face that would go unnoticed in a crowd. I am a face that would hardly impress you in the first rendezvous. I am a face that you would identify in a group photograph only after putting extra strain on our eyes. I am a face that you wouldn’t care to remember for long…..
This should suffice for the introduction, as only faces are introduced, not the person. To know the person, you need to delve deep into him, beyond the limits of a superficial hello or a phony introduction. And going by this definition, its impossible to know a person fully. But at the same time, this statement too holds true that it is not essential to know someone fully. So, why take the tortuous path? Why bother about the finer details when only name is enough? Just say a hi, a hello; help him, ask for help… and its over. After all that is what is required. The whole social networking aims at making our task easier by mutual coordination. And that can be achieved just by our names as our identity. Knowledge of the person becomes secondary.
I guess, by now I have convinced you that its not important to know who am I? I will go a step further and say that even the name is not required. And I do have the famous adage to support me..”whats in the name?” So, please stop bothering about the author’s identity and concentrate on the text.
So, what is it that differentiates “my” from “self” and also, both “my” and “self” from “myself”? The question is graver than it sounds. And to know the answer, we need to know all the three terms. “Self” denotes the soul. It represents the character a person bears and has nothing to do with the name. Contrarily, “my” is the pronoun that replaces the noun, which in itself is the name. So, “my” depicts the name while “self” is the person’s nature, his character, his inner identity. “my” makes him known to the world, while “self” is the inner enlightenment. “Self” is what we ought to know, while “my” is the way others will know us. Knowing “my” doesn’t need effort on the person’s part as it is endowed to him by the world whereas knowing “self” is one of the most tenacious jobs.
“My” stands for the ego that we carry with us. The hindi word “main” literally means “aham” or ego. All the streams of spirituality intend to cause diminution of this ego. The journey starts from “my” and has “self” us the ultimate goal. The whole process has just one objective – to lessen the “my” thus leading to the “self”.
We being mortal, have an innate trait to relate our self to our body. It’s me who gets happiness in merrier moments, its me who laments at opportunities missed, its me who suffers the spasms….. Is it the reality? Let us assume it to be true for a moment. Then, it will be me who will be burned after I die. And since burning would reduce me into ashes, nothing will be left. The complete “me” will vanish into nowhere. The whole existence would cease to exist. But I would still have a bit of place reserved to my name in some faraway nooks of the brains of few people. Just the way Shakespeare and Gandhi have. That brings us to a contradiction. Presence even after death. This fortifies the hypothesis that the trait of linking our body to our self has no essence.
Its not the body that defines us. Body is the veneer that the soul wraps itself with, before taking a lively form. All happiness and revulsions are limited to the body only. The body is given a name for ease of recognition, and that name leads to “my”. On the contrary,“self” or “soul” is beyond the horizons of pleasure and pain. “self” defies the boundaries of time while “my” has a very limited life span. Every “my” comes and lives and then dies, but the “self” stays forever.
Hence my friends, its worthless to attach “my” to our real selves. Although, living amidst so many creatures on this earth necessitates a formal attachment between “my” and “self”. But this linkage is too ephemeral. It stays only till the body remains. Once the body departs,”my” and “myself” cease to exist. What remains is the eternal “self” or the soul. So, let us live our lives to the fullest, but with the cognizance that its only our body that lives.
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