This scalar electromagnetic energy is also called "prana" or "Chi" and is the source of life. The minute the prana goes from the body- we are just a piece of flesh, ready to disintegrate. And the prana then takes another body and we live our lives with all our insecurities, fears, small pleasures, attachments and passion, till the next cycle. We go through our lives with so much interest, seriousness and attachment - while knowing fully well that it has no permanence or even any serious value.
Is there a purpose in life? Why are we so serious? Why do we grieve at death? Why do we celebrate birth? Why do small problems imbalance us, why do we get angry, why do we feel sad, why do we feel happy at small pleasures, what is the meaning of spiritual, mental, physical attempts, why, why, why?????? Are we like the roadside dogs who chase the cars worthlessly and get tired? And when the next car comes, we run along with it till we get tired and so on.
Sometimes I know the answers and sometimes these questions deluge me. Let me confess that while I have some clue to the meaning of existence and how to live it - many-a-times I question myself about the veracity of my answers. There are people who are self-assured and go through life confident and sure - I am not one of them. My introspection and reflections - some of which I share here, many-a-times lead me to disattachment (vairagya) and I sit alone and weep with the feeling of being lost in the maze of questions. Most of the times, I have been fortunate to find answers to my specific questions during the next meditational trance. Anyway, let me get off that mood.
So, what is the purpose of life? Let me give a simplistic, cheeky and playful description:
"I think we are players inside an extraordinary and complex self-sustaining and self-operating computer game, with terrific graphics all in 3D or holographs. There are set rules and principles for the players eg. law of gravity, thermodynamic laws etc. The five elements that make everything is represented in the layout with the sun, solar system, seas, wind, earth etc. This set with the holographic graphics and rules can be called illusion or "Maya".
Every player has some characteristics - physical (annamaya kosha), bio energy (pranamaya), attitude and behavior (manomaya) knowledge (vijnanamaya) and spiritual (anandamaya kosha). While plants have limited locomotive After the player leaves his form (body), he can take another form (after a period of time ) with the same characteristics that he left in the earlier avatar. Like in a sophisticated and complex computer game, there are multiple options and each related to the movement of the various components - the maya parts and the other players.
What is stage 8? What are the other stages?
In hindu worldview, we are in a frequency world called (8) Bhur- loka. There are higher frequency worlds and lower ones. The higher ones are called (9) Bhuvar - loka (10) Svar - loka (11) Mahar loka (12) Jana Loka (13) Tapa loka and the highest (14) Satya loka. The lower worlds are (7) Atala loka, (6) Vitala loka (5) Sutala loka (4) Talatala loka (3) Mahatala loka (2) Rasatala loka with the lowest one being (1) Patala loka.
May i suggest a book that directly deals with these questions.
ReplyDelete"Man's search for meaning" By Viktor Frankl
Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Between 1942 and 1945 Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Based on his own experience and the experiences of others he treated later in his practice, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose. Frankl's theory-known as logotherapy, from the Greek word logos ("meaning")-holds that our primary drive in life is not pleasure, as Freud maintained, but the discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful.
At the time of Frankl's death in 1997, Man's Search for Meaning had sold more than 10 million copies in twenty-four languages.
I understand and empathise with your dilemma many a times having faced similar anguish. Those with a fair amount of study on the empirical data available and also through personal experiences can vouch for and unfold the mystery of the'what' of existence. But that is not enough. What I am plagued by is the 'why' of this computer game as you call it. Paramahansa Yogananda says emphatically in one of his books that he spoke with God on the purpose of existence. God replied (paraphrasing) "I made it all for your entertainment. Why do you take it so seriously"?
ReplyDeleteOh but we arent feeling entertained. .especially because the way back to the source is so difficult. Having not come of our own accord and the option of a way out via meditation and increasing energy levels to the next stage, for Heaven knows how many births, seems quite unfair, simply put. Does that make God or Nature, Spirit, whatever you may call it unfair?
Apparently No. Since we were advised to follow a set of laws , of cause and effect which we overlooked, hence we suffer. There are many of us who want to escape the clutches of this mortal existence with its ephemeral joys and deceitful trappings. We have to follow the road that gets us out of this maze. The answer lies in the mind itself and in life itself. We cannot get free of our past karma on another level but the earthly life. So lets get on with our meditation..waiting to read the last page of the book where the mystery will be finally revealed.
Mayank.. loved the analogy of the computer game and its characters, No disputing the similarity.
@Abhijit- thx, will try and read that book.
ReplyDelete@Kaveetaa - excellent comments. I dont know whether the game is to entertain us or the creator. Can we see through the game- is the issue.
I guess we have to remind ourselves, if required, very minute of the day to see through this game, checking ourselves constantly for reactions that come as a result of attachment, which is the basis of our misery. Let us try and join Him at his play. Like they say, if you cant beat em join em :)
ReplyDeletePracticing detachment with rationalization of emotions seems to me worthy pursuit for those seeking evolvement...(it includes me.....)
ReplyDeleteAs for past and future life? Forget it...and live this life happily and meaningfully....