I was lying down on my bed in contemplation after an easy day at work. Looking back at all the time that I have spent thinking and trying to find out what I really want from life. Every time I think abt it, I reach and touch a lot of stupid high level concepts, reach some conclusions and then forget it forever.
So this time I decided to try a different approach. I thought to myself that I will write down whatever comes to my mind just for the heck of it and to keep a track of where all I reached. The result was pretty good and I liked it. The most important thing was you spend more time with each thought piece. Contemplate it further and further for the correct direction. And an additional advantage was that I knew where all I went thinking, the conclusion can better be remember later because I have written it down never to forget. The rational of the conclusions are also recorded for revisit.
While personally I liked it, I thought I should put it up on the blog to may be help others on the similar path. Though I don’t share most of my writings, thought of making an exception this time around.. Let he who knows how to read ….read and understand the meaning heavy words just for the punch line..lol…so here it goes word by word of my thought process diary…..
Nov 16th 2010
• What do I want in life?
Comfortable living
Happiness and peace and joy and satisfaction
Knowing the purpose of life
Ability to fulfill the known purpose of life
• What is the one most important thing in the above list?
Happiness, peace, joy and satisfaction. Because If I have these all the time, I don’t mind being born again for not having fulfilled my life purpose in previous life.
• Next most important thing in my life?
Knowing the purpose of my life. This is important as we just can’t always afford to waste time if there is a purpose in life at all.
o Why should there be a purpose in life? Life need not be the effect as we perceive but the cause itself. Can it not?
In this case, there is no need of a creator to give life, but life itself becomes the creator. Normal question like where did life come from is a parallel to where did God come from!!!! If there is nothing beyond life, life is the ultimate thing. It is like saying there is nothing beyond God.
About life
Life comes as it wishes, where ever it wishes, as long as it wishes and leaves as it wishes. Everyone knows it and loves it so dear, yet no one really knows it good enough!!!!!
So if life has so much of power as in the previous sentence, why can’t it take form in the inanimate objects? Also life requires support of other living beings to take form in it’s new existence and to sustain in there!!!!
• Whom do I want to be if I was to choose a person from history or imagination?
Christ
Bilgates
Buddha
Pele
Gandhi
God
Bernard Shaw
Mozart
Einstein
Newton
Pope
Mother Teresa
• Choose 3 of the above and then choose one from the 3.
Buddha, Christ and Mozart .
Buddha shall be the ideal role model for me.
• Why not Christ over Buddha?
Christ went through all the suffering and at last on the cross uttered the words of disappointment before death. Sounds like he himself felt that he failed or was not sure at the end. Too difficult to reach the level of tolerance to pain as Christ. Don’t want the pain in whatever form.
• Why not Mozart over Buddha?
Inner peace
• How do I know Buddha had inner peace?
Don’t know for sure. But if what he said and his disciples said is true, Buddha had inner peace and that is why he is the most soughed out role model for me.
So my ultimate aim in life is to become like Buddha and posses the below listed qualities that I attribute to attaining it.
• Have inner peace irrespective of the external conditions of pain or pleasure etc
• Should know what to do and what not to do at all times
• Shall have the perfect vision of the way forward at all times without fail
This is what I want in life and this is why I want it!!!
Now these qualities are attributed to Enlightenment and hence that should be something that I am seeking!!
Enlightenment comes to the one it chooses. One can do all the practices in the world for life long and still not attain enlightenment. On the other hand, one can be without having done anything special as practice and yet meet with enlightenment.
Lets take these as two cases
Case 1 : Does everything yet not enlightened even at death bed
Sacrificed every enjoyment and never got to indulge in anything
Almost failed to live life due to quest of enlightenment
Yet there was no guaranty of enlightenment
Case 2: Did nothing special to attain the result
Sacrificed nothing
Lived life to the fullest
Enlightenment was attained as a bonus
Even if there was no enlightenment, at least the person lived a good life
Case 1 also gets the result sometime, but there is no guaranty. But there is too much to risk as the entire life can get wasted in the quest and we are not sure of a 2nd life that we may get to live.
Hence case 2 should be more logical approach to take as there is no risk associated.
Hence path to be taken
1. Enjoy today’s life to the fullest
2. Be cautious and observant about tomorrow
3. Never let your tomorrow limit your today’s fun unless it brings perceivable pain like bad health, bad fortune etc due to misjudgment or vengeance from a hurt person, punishment from authorities etc.
4. Keep an open mind and do not stop searching for the bonus (enlightenment), but always without sacrificing anything major in life.
5. As much as possible, make the journey to enlightenment a joyful celebration and a happy one for your and people around you instead of a miserable one.
6. Never fall for things that you can’t directly experience at any point in the journey (empty promises like heaven after death or enlightenment by lifelong sacrifice or devotion or attempt etc should be kept away) -- The life you have in your hand is more important and more valuable than a better life that you may or may not get after death!!!!
As a rule of thumb in spiritual journey, if anyone promise a return for some kind of devotion, attempt etc, always ask for experience first and devotion later!!!! There is no such thing as “your today’s devotion bringing you experience tomorrow”. In other words in spiritual journey,” don’t hesitate to ask for result before payment”.
The above approach ensures: -
• No one steals from you your life in completeness that is given to you as a gift by the God almighty (if exist).
• No one leads you astray in the name of God and future heaven and after life. If God is powerful enough to create you, he is powerful enough to guide you to the right direction without the help of any mediators and prophets. He created you and so do not need to test you to know you better as he knows exactly what you are made of and you are just the way how he wanted you to be. You are not a mistake; you are a planned person if there is God. He does not need to know you through test of life as perceived, but we need to know him better.
• Let each man be observant and be his own teacher by following these guidelines
And in a situation where God does not exist (if anyone believes this), you still haven’t lost anything as you can live your full life happily by following this approach.
So this time I decided to try a different approach. I thought to myself that I will write down whatever comes to my mind just for the heck of it and to keep a track of where all I reached. The result was pretty good and I liked it. The most important thing was you spend more time with each thought piece. Contemplate it further and further for the correct direction. And an additional advantage was that I knew where all I went thinking, the conclusion can better be remember later because I have written it down never to forget. The rational of the conclusions are also recorded for revisit.
While personally I liked it, I thought I should put it up on the blog to may be help others on the similar path. Though I don’t share most of my writings, thought of making an exception this time around.. Let he who knows how to read ….read and understand the meaning heavy words just for the punch line..lol…so here it goes word by word of my thought process diary…..
Nov 16th 2010
• What do I want in life?
Comfortable living
Happiness and peace and joy and satisfaction
Knowing the purpose of life
Ability to fulfill the known purpose of life
• What is the one most important thing in the above list?
Happiness, peace, joy and satisfaction. Because If I have these all the time, I don’t mind being born again for not having fulfilled my life purpose in previous life.
• Next most important thing in my life?
Knowing the purpose of my life. This is important as we just can’t always afford to waste time if there is a purpose in life at all.
o Why should there be a purpose in life? Life need not be the effect as we perceive but the cause itself. Can it not?
In this case, there is no need of a creator to give life, but life itself becomes the creator. Normal question like where did life come from is a parallel to where did God come from!!!! If there is nothing beyond life, life is the ultimate thing. It is like saying there is nothing beyond God.
About life
Life comes as it wishes, where ever it wishes, as long as it wishes and leaves as it wishes. Everyone knows it and loves it so dear, yet no one really knows it good enough!!!!!
So if life has so much of power as in the previous sentence, why can’t it take form in the inanimate objects? Also life requires support of other living beings to take form in it’s new existence and to sustain in there!!!!
• Whom do I want to be if I was to choose a person from history or imagination?
Christ
Bilgates
Buddha
Pele
Gandhi
God
Bernard Shaw
Mozart
Einstein
Newton
Pope
Mother Teresa
• Choose 3 of the above and then choose one from the 3.
Buddha, Christ and Mozart .
Buddha shall be the ideal role model for me.
• Why not Christ over Buddha?
Christ went through all the suffering and at last on the cross uttered the words of disappointment before death. Sounds like he himself felt that he failed or was not sure at the end. Too difficult to reach the level of tolerance to pain as Christ. Don’t want the pain in whatever form.
• Why not Mozart over Buddha?
Inner peace
• How do I know Buddha had inner peace?
Don’t know for sure. But if what he said and his disciples said is true, Buddha had inner peace and that is why he is the most soughed out role model for me.
So my ultimate aim in life is to become like Buddha and posses the below listed qualities that I attribute to attaining it.
• Have inner peace irrespective of the external conditions of pain or pleasure etc
• Should know what to do and what not to do at all times
• Shall have the perfect vision of the way forward at all times without fail
This is what I want in life and this is why I want it!!!
Now these qualities are attributed to Enlightenment and hence that should be something that I am seeking!!
Enlightenment comes to the one it chooses. One can do all the practices in the world for life long and still not attain enlightenment. On the other hand, one can be without having done anything special as practice and yet meet with enlightenment.
Lets take these as two cases
Case 1 : Does everything yet not enlightened even at death bed
Sacrificed every enjoyment and never got to indulge in anything
Almost failed to live life due to quest of enlightenment
Yet there was no guaranty of enlightenment
Case 2: Did nothing special to attain the result
Sacrificed nothing
Lived life to the fullest
Enlightenment was attained as a bonus
Even if there was no enlightenment, at least the person lived a good life
Case 1 also gets the result sometime, but there is no guaranty. But there is too much to risk as the entire life can get wasted in the quest and we are not sure of a 2nd life that we may get to live.
Hence case 2 should be more logical approach to take as there is no risk associated.
Hence path to be taken
1. Enjoy today’s life to the fullest
2. Be cautious and observant about tomorrow
3. Never let your tomorrow limit your today’s fun unless it brings perceivable pain like bad health, bad fortune etc due to misjudgment or vengeance from a hurt person, punishment from authorities etc.
4. Keep an open mind and do not stop searching for the bonus (enlightenment), but always without sacrificing anything major in life.
5. As much as possible, make the journey to enlightenment a joyful celebration and a happy one for your and people around you instead of a miserable one.
6. Never fall for things that you can’t directly experience at any point in the journey (empty promises like heaven after death or enlightenment by lifelong sacrifice or devotion or attempt etc should be kept away) -- The life you have in your hand is more important and more valuable than a better life that you may or may not get after death!!!!
As a rule of thumb in spiritual journey, if anyone promise a return for some kind of devotion, attempt etc, always ask for experience first and devotion later!!!! There is no such thing as “your today’s devotion bringing you experience tomorrow”. In other words in spiritual journey,” don’t hesitate to ask for result before payment”.
The above approach ensures: -
• No one steals from you your life in completeness that is given to you as a gift by the God almighty (if exist).
• No one leads you astray in the name of God and future heaven and after life. If God is powerful enough to create you, he is powerful enough to guide you to the right direction without the help of any mediators and prophets. He created you and so do not need to test you to know you better as he knows exactly what you are made of and you are just the way how he wanted you to be. You are not a mistake; you are a planned person if there is God. He does not need to know you through test of life as perceived, but we need to know him better.
• Let each man be observant and be his own teacher by following these guidelines
And in a situation where God does not exist (if anyone believes this), you still haven’t lost anything as you can live your full life happily by following this approach.
