Meaning of
Life: Ultimate Pinnacle of The Human Quest
By SADHU
VISHWAMURTIDAS
Ultimate Pinnacle of The Human Quest
What is life? This question has been discussed and debated by the
most sublime minds in each century. The answers they arrived at have
been varied. Here are a few examples.
"A life without introspection is not worth living,''
asserted Socrates around 400 BCE, while in the mid-1880s,
evolutionist Charles Darwin spoke of "survival of the fittest''.
"Crush the infamy!'' wrote French philosopher Voltaire in his
effort to forestall the omnipotent Roman Catholic Church in Europe
during the late 1700s. "Give me freedom or give me death,''
was the cry of the Americans during their freedom movement.
"We will fight till the last drop of blood of man and beast,''
said Winston Churchill to the British people at the onset of the
Second World War, and was told "Quit India'' in return by
Indians under Mahatma Gandhi's leadership.
"Because it is there,'' replied Edmund Hillary when asked
why he scaled Mount Everest. "In ten years, we will put a man on the
moon,'' promised John F Kennedy at the onset of his presidency.
"Make love, not war,'' exhorted the hippies of the 1960s.
The above are a fraction of the thousands of slogans, pledges,
oaths and mottos mankind has chanted across continents throughout
history. Whose ideology is 'correct'? Which maxim reflects the
highest, most lofty truths? Which slogan can bear the test of
eternity? Are there any peaks to ascend higher than Everest? Are
there any planets to voyage towards beyond the solar system? Are
there any worlds beyond ours? Are there any depths deeper than
oceans, beyond the heart's and the mind's?
Socrates was forced to drink hemlock, Darwin's theory has long
collapsed, the Roman Catholic Church has become more democratic, the
British have quit India, Hillary has scaled Everest, America has put
man on the moon, the hippies have made love. What next? A thousand
more slogans and goals? A thousand more efforts and journeys? A
thousand more struggles, undertakings and fantasies?
Technology will continue to flourish and man might eventually
succeed in harnessing all the resources of the universe. He might
even encounter intelligent life forms in other parts of the
universe, befriend them, and hopefully, strive for the common
benefit of both species. But achieving one goal after another,
realizing fantasy after fantasy, a thoughtful person finally asks:
�What is the end of this?' The heart experiences no peace in the
spinning maze of events that surround it. Mindless indulgence of
desires only brings with it frustration, anxiousness and regret.
Man searches for the zenith, yearning for a climactic, eternal
joy that seemingly evades his every advance and remains
tantalizingly out of reach. Where must man hunt if he wishes to
fulfill this aspiration, this alluring, unrelenting dream? The
outward search has gone on long enough. He must now turn and seek
within, in the very core of his existence, where lies the substratum
of consciousness which has made all materialistic pursuits and
enterprises possible.
The stream of consciousness we experience within ourselves
throughout our lives ties together all events of physical existence
like the silken string that holds together a necklace. In its
realization, man and woman will meet their journey's end, the Omega
point, a place of final rest and the dawn of a new existence in the
divine self and the beautiful, blissful Lord within. As Lord
Swaminarayan says in his Vachanamrutam sermons: "The human soul
perpetually peers outward towards mundane objects of the five
senses, but never looks inwards to see himself. Such a soul is the
most ignorant and wretched of all.''
Socrates wins.
The author is resident of Shree Swaminarayan Temple, Mumbai;
please see the website at:
www.swaminarayan.org
