Lt Col R K Langar
The title of this article is based on Hindu philosophy or the Vedanta philosophy. The four basic questions related to a human being are one, ‘who am I’ two ‘where have I come from in this world’, three ‘what is the purpose of my existence or what is my role’ and four ‘where do I go when I leave the world’. The answers to these four questions are discussed in subsequent paragraphs.
Who am I.
The three major ingredients of human being are body, mind and soul or Atma. Man is essentially an Atma a fraction of God or a ray of Supreme having mind and body. Soul or Atma is the highest component of man’s personality. Soul being the energy of God is not destroyed at the death of the body. As we change our worn out clothes with the new ones, similarly at death, the soul with the mind and senses leaves the worn out body and takes a new birth in another body till the soul is released from the cycle of birth and death or when the man attain liberation or God realization. In other words life does not end at death as life is a continuous process the Atma or soul going from one body to another till it gets liberated. The soul being a fragment of God has three inherent qualities which are truth, knowledge and bliss or Sat-Chit-Anand. The immediate answer to the question ‘who am I ‘ is that I am a soul having a body, mind and intellect and inside me there is truth, knowledge and bliss or never ending happiness which are lying latent in me and which I must manifest with self effort to become a complete man. The knowledge inside me is capable of making me a pure, lovable and a peaceful person who shall ever remain in a state of stability. When I recognize or manifest these qualities inside me, I do not have to look for happiness upon the outer conditions. ‘Who am I’ teaches me that I am a God like person not in the absolute sense but in relative sense. I must not only manifest God like qualities inside me but use them in my conduct. Hence every one must feel that he or she is potentially divine.
Where have I come from in this World
The very fact that you are born as a human being in this world is by itself a boon. It also means that the karmic load of your past lives has not yet been exhausted and you are given another opportunity to evolve yourself to a higher state of consciousness. In the past life you may have been a human being who had led a normal life not doing too good or too bad to any person. Or you may have come down from heaven where you stayed by virtue of doing good work for your own self and after the merit of good work is exhausted you are reborn in this world. Lastly you may have been cattle or a beast in the past life that has completed the effects of your bad karmas and now born as a human being. Under all these three conditions, your present life is deeply connected to your past deeds and now it is entirely upto you as to how you spend your present life to make or break yourself.
What is the purpose of my existence
Straight and simple purpose of my existence is God realization or Self realization so that you free yourself from the cycle of birth and death. With this purpose or goal of your life, you have to get yourself attached to God which means being detached to the world. You do not have to leave the worldly life and go to a jungle or forest to realize God. You have to live in the world without being affected by it. It is like sailing in a water of the river without allowing the water of the river to come inside the boat. It looks a tall task but this is the Dharma of every individual who is born in the world. You may not achieve total or absolute enlightenment but when you are on the right path, you shall be enlightened relatively.
Role or goal of human existence is to become reestablished in one’s true self or soul by the process of yoga. Human life is offered to us to that we may transform it completely and realize our spiritual freedom. We have to fill up the emptiness in us with the divine qualities which are inherent in us. This is what we call living at the spiritual level of our personality above the body mind complex. Once we become aware of our inner beauties, these outflow in our conduct and behavior. Not only that when we are complete from inside, the outer circumstances do not affect our inner state and we respond to them as per our choice and do not react to them.
Purpose of our life is to flow like a river nourishing all those who come in our contact. Keep the goal of life in view out enjoy every moment of the present without thinking about the past and worrying about future. True and everlasting happiness lies only in the present. Love, care, share and serve all since all of us are capable of doing it. Life is a school with a difference. In a normal school you are first taught and then tested for all you have been taught. But in the school of life you are first tested or you first face the problems of life and then you learn from the difficulties you face. Life is the best teacher and you are your own teacher as well as student. Life is like a ladder. If you act righteously and truthfully you go up the ladder and if you act unrightously with self interest you come down the ladder. It is very appropriately said that where there is righteousness in heart, there is beauty in character. If there is beauty in character there is goodness in your conduct. Bhagavad Gita says that the man of good conduct or the doer of good will not face any misery.
Now we come to answer the fourth question which says ‘where do I go when I leave the world’. There are a number of choices before you. If you want to go to heaven; you then worship God and not the Supreme. If you want to get reborn in the world then lead and unenlightened life doing nothing too bad or too good. But these two options are for non spiritual people. For spiritual persons there are good options. If you want instant liberation from the cycle of birth and death, then your entire life has to be Supreme God oriented. But this option is for those who have complete knowledge of yoga, who have spiritual wisdom, who are selfless workers, who love God and remember Him at all times or those who have Nishkam Bhakti of Supreme and for those who are ever meditative. Bhagavad Gita gives two paths, bright and dark paths which are meant for yogis and not ordinary persons. Right path is for those who are enlightened (not to the extent of those who are qualified for instant liberation). And on death such people go to Brahmlok the highest point in the space under the influence of Maya. They do not return to the world and stay there till the Brahmlok itself gets merge with the Supreme. In the dark path people go to the sphere of manes and return to the world when there merit is exhausted. There are the people who have done good works but with some self interest. Then for these who are on the path of enlightenment but could not complete their process of enlightenment, they are reborn in the world in prosperous families or in the families of yogi where they complete their process of enlightenment of get liberation. Lastly there is one more place when you can go and you must avoid is when you do Papkarma, you will be reborn in lower species of animals and insects. Once you understand the purpose of your existence you are not to be told which path you take to go to the place when your span of life is completed in this world.
Conclusion
When you discover that you are a soul or Atma which is an everlasting energy, the fear of death takes a back seat. Then you discover that real life is not based on some achievement or on some competition but life is to stand on your values. When you consider yourself as a body, you consider yourself as living from birth to death. But when you consider yourself you are an indestructible soul then you realize that problem of life are connected with the body and not soul. Things like jealousy, hatred, desire, anger and greed which are body mind connected donot bother you as you are living above them. This is not a simple task since it involves a change in your belief system from being body conscious to soul conscious. Yet nevertheless it is a fact that sooner you realize better it would be for you. Then you shall be ever knowledgeable, pure and peaceful, love full and happy which are the inherent qualities of the soul of which you are aware being soul conscious. This requires working on your inner self to manifest the inherent qualities of the soul to become a complete person remaining unaffected by outer circumstances. Then you well know without a trace of doubt as to Who am I, Who is Supreme God, what is your relationship with him and how to connect with him.
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