P K MAM
Life is not only human prerogative; it belongs to the whole universe. There is life in insects, birds, animals & plants; in the sea, on land. In fact, all around us are in different dimensions of life. Why one is insect and someone is a bird is a mystery. The theory of Karma and dear fate butts in. In a normal life cycle, one who is born has to die after aging. Degeneration of body cells takes place automatically after attaining some age and thereafter, whatsoever , rich nutritional and healthy diet the individual takes, it merely adds to his age by few years more , but cannot altogether stop his death. In the evolutionary history of all living species through various geological time scales, eradication of livings invertebrate, vertebrates has taken place. Ferocious dinosaurs in cretaceous time are extinct but arthropods like Trilobites (three lobed form of marine species found in Cambrian lived and is one of the oldest invertebrate that thrived on earth). All these are guided by natural process of evolution. The concept of living for eternity is ingrained in human mind as a desire for inertia and tendency to continue in the same state–with a false concept to remain forever alive as if nothing can destroy his existence. This false impression is in all living organisms but humans at higher level of understanding are more active nourishing themselves, take immunity enhancing medications to remain fit. Human’s adaptability with environments and for that matter all living beings are adapting to prolong their survival.
All deaths are premature in the sense that no one is ever ready for his death. The life we live is partial and perishable. We are inwardly driven by a need to survive or assert ourselves over, to say as death ‘thou shall die’. That given, human beings, to the extent they are tinged with the thirst for immortality, cannot and should not die like animals. The challenge is to live in Sync with immortality even amidst this flow. The great thing empowering truth is that this is possible. The extremely valuable human life is attained only through the grace of God, at the end of many births, as per scriptures. The human life has a higher and noble purpose and the destiny of human being is to move higher up in the cosmic order to reach perfection, to realize permanent and supreme bliss in the realm of God. The invaluable time allotted to this life should not be wasted in indulging in the perishable, impermanent enjoyments of the world.
Humans are intelligent, superior living beings and aspire to know the reality of their existence and utilise their brain power to make themselves fit to dream for living for eternity and utilise all energies to unravel the hidden Nature’s secrets in all domains in scientific researches, astronomical studies and study of planetary systems, then indulge in study of Black holes, study of origin of earth (Big Bang theory) and many more fields of scientific exploration. Life span has shown a remarkable rise in the last 4 decades. There is a price to pay for every blessing; aging brings with it numerous challenges. YET, man has even been doing research on prolonging the life spans with aspiration to prolong life, with an aim to live for eternity. Life is as uncertain as a drop of water on a lotus leaf. We can say in this mad race of competition, stresses and unforseen circumstances, we are just like toys of clay in hands of Nature’s play of forces. In fact, world is facing a legion of humongous issues like poverty, ecological imbalance, disparity, pandemic and global under nourishment – all the more strange! Even during our uncertain life, we are consumed by disease, sorrow and arrogance. When a worm can take care of its survival pretty well, why should those gifted with basic intelligence not easily address the survival issue by a small part of life energies? The rest should be focused on your inner well being enabling you to live a joyously exuberant life. It is time for every individual to sit and mull over the uncertainties that abound our lives and find solution to them. Fear grows in the darkness of the mind. It vanishes with the light of knowledge like the morning mist. Arrogance and fear of failure are two enemies to be beware of. Fear will not let you start and arrogance will ensure you have fall. Cessation of fear is the beginning of being. Even after all these tremendous efforts of humans there are limitations to our efforts and hardly can stop our death. The man is dependable on natural forces and surrounding influences for his survival and longevity which is in the spiritual domains and lead us to believe in our Karmic cycles in our life spans. Human being bestowed with all knowledge to distinguish between good or bad doings should do good for all planetary species and preserve environment for better and harmonious living for all to lead a peaceful and balanced life. Need to learn to love ourselves. If you dislike you and wish to be like someone else, you will never be like someone. You will never be content. You would not be happy. Everybody has a different path, a different journey. Life is all about discovering and following your own path, but need a lot of courage so that you upgrade your feelings and thoughts. When mind expands to accommodate the higher, you get disengaged from the lower. You grow into a towering personality, independent of the world. Ultimately, you take that giant leap into the realm of the Infinite. True hope gives the confidence that nothing is ever really lost, and that following the deprivation, for a natural and divine law a greater gift will come. Our sages have divided our life span of hundred years in four segments of twenty five years each. These are called Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaspratha, Sanyas. While each step of the individual’s journey along the path of realisation is a preparation for the succeeding stage, in the dharmic tradition the quest does not end with Self actualization but goes beyond into the transcendence of Moksha, a state of being which is totally free of all earthly constraints and compulsions. To reach a level of higher self the Seeker has to gather the aptitude, ability, caliber with a stern determination through spiritual practices, concentration, meditation (may seek guidance of a preceptor) which enhance our inner consciousness, awareness and alertness for betterment of self and others devoid of any attachment. The second most important aspect of human existence is service that invokes unabated desire to serve humanity with pure consciousness to achieve the target in a selfless manner. According to Ramakrishna Paramhansa to such a Yogi salvation is not the final and only goal of life. Perceiving that human life is beset with sorrow, he embarks on a mission to eradicate ignorance that envelopes his mortal frame. He helps the Jiva to raise above all sense identifications and reunite with him. Here, the off quoted aphorism in Kashmiri, one has to cross 3 phases in his journey of life a) Pathoon (budding child who brings destiny earmarked due to his karmic earnings ) b) Poorun (it is his struggle to do job with sincere efforts and with less attachments/ desires but to fulfill his obligations as per his standing in society and lastly towards the end phase) c) Aand Watun (Wish everything to be peaceful ,serene,and ultimately thank God for fulfilling his life’s journey of Karmic cycle under his abode of graciousness and submission. Ultimately, one steers the boat of his life by the grace bestowed by Karma, known as ‘Dass Darun Havailhyat’ (Pre-Ordained Indebtedness). In sum, the span of life lived in harmony with Nature– with Sat Chit Ananda (Truth, Consciousness, Bliss ) – state is more useful than living a long life so called life of eternity where we get negativity by our Karmic doings in the defined life span as per our destiny or Karmic doings in life period. Happy Shravan Purnima.
