3. The Lives we live

Imagine a person who comes to a new town for a job. He finds a rented house to live in. He works very hard, but spends all his time, effort and hard earned money in needlessly decorating and splurging on that rented house which he will have to vacate one day soon.

What would you call such a person? - Foolish?

Yet how different are we from him. We too live in a rented body, but we spend all our lives trying to cater to its demands and tastes, and waste this precious opportunity called life. 

Stop and observe this life you live.

We are too busy living life, running from one end to another.  Its been like this since we were born. As children we ran after toys and candies; as youth we run after our images, personalities, the opposite sex; as grown ups we chase work and family; once the family comes in place, our chase for money and necessities doubles, we then run around for our children, their education, their jobs, their marriages; till old age catches up - then we run after our health.  And one day when we least expect it, it all comes to a sudden end.  

To what end is such a life lived?

Why do we live?

What is life?

What power governs and controls the various forms of intelligence obviously present in nature?

What is this higher power or Who is God?

Who are you?

The Hindu scriptures refer to a power called Maya, an intelligent force that keeps us in a state of delusion. Using its allies of the mind and ego, maya keeps us in delusion by feeding us with desires and passions, chasing which we exhaust all our energies, all our lives; and thus forget seeking our truth.

Many people live under the notion that we live only once and so we ought to enjoy life, enjoy the freedom we have, and so they live a life pursuing pleasures thinking they wont be held accountable for what they do. 

If we just use common intelligence to gauge all life around us, we will find adequate proof that what we do, has consequences. In science it is stated as "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction." In spirituality it is known as the Law of karma "What you sow, so shall you reap." Every aspect of your life from the minutest to the biggest is a result of this karmic law from the past

This world is a spiritual gymnasium, a spiritual university. We think we live in freedom but we don't realise that we are imprisoned 24x7 by the demands of the body, imprisoned by our ceaseless thoughts, imprisoned by our desires,  imprisoned by food and water for which man even resorts to the worst kind of violence; imprisoned by air, water and sunlight without which we cannot survive, imprisoned by the atmosphere and gravity restricting our options to travel out anywhere. 

So how and why do we take life for granted?

Not all men do. Many are seeking answers. 

It is said that in the beginning of civilization, the wise men of the west and east began looking for answers. The wise men of the west were keen to understand the world without and so began looking outside of themselves - searching and analyzing nature around them. Thus they excelled in Science.

The wise men of the east sought to understand themselves first before they could understand the world, so they delved within themselves to search their mind and soul. Thus the east excelled in Spirituality.

 

Man is not just the body, he is also the mind and soul. As long as he pursues the needs of the body, neglecting the needs of the mind and soul, so long he will never be happy. The ideal formula to live life to the fullest then is to balance the teachings of the east and west and cater harmoniously to the body, mind and soul.

Many live lives like biological robots. That is an insult to our Divine nature. Some may ask “Is our nature really Divine? How do I know that?”  In the answer to that question lies the very secret of our cause of existence.

The purpose of our lives is not merely to indulge in senses and desires, but to understand our true reality as souls, as waves of the Divine Ocean; as children of God!

"We are not human beings seeking divine experience,

We are divine beings undergoing human experience."

: Sri Paramahansa Yogananda.