Guide to a Purposeful Life

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

Thakur Shailendra Nath

For a peaceful and fulfilling life, we must activate our intellect to keep the external attractions at bay, withdraw and stay centred much like that tortoise withdrawing its limbs. In the hare and tortoise race, tortoise wins the race. This story has deep spiritual significance and each of immense learning value. After all life too is race in which all of us have to participate. The human mind is like hare, -fast, Swift, impulsive. It creates mental agitations. The ongoing rumbling of thoughts saps us of our psychic energy, living us feeling exhausted. Depending upon individual psyche, it may lead to disgusting, disappointment and even depression to extend that a person may feel defeated in life much like the hair lost the race, with the attributes of a of hair, one is most likely to lose in the lives race. On the other hand, with the tortoise like attributes, one can aspire to be a winner. Tortoise has a hard shell that keeps it protected. The human intellect is like that shell. Because of its logical and objective thinking, it keeps away from temptations of the materialistic world and taking emotional decisions. Our senses are powerful enough to push towards external attractions leading to misery and sorrow.

Even a small creature of this universe has a strong desire to rise higher and higher. Growth and development are the requirements of this age. Everybody wants to grow at a higher speed. A three years old child wants to get rid of his tricycle and ride a bicycle, a graduate wants to become the CEO, the startup wants to become a unicorn and so on. If there is one word that is anathema to contemporary aspirations in ambitions it is limits. Nobody likes being told that they have limits. Mother telling her young child that a bicycle might be a big for him right now would have many detectors. Someone out rightly says that she is ruining the child's future by imposing limits on him. Similarly, someone telling their boss that the new plan for expansion is impractical would be seen as an impediment to the company's growth plans. Everyone wants to be limitless; soaring and ever expanding. Many would argue that if the universe is limitless and expanding why should we not be so? The universe is expanding but it is in that state simply a cluster of gases. Living breathing humans are more than gases zooming through the nothingness. Limits are an essential quality of our beingness. For instance, the human eye can only see light wavelengths from 380 to 700 nm. Even here our eyes have a structural blind spot where we can't see anything. Similarly we cannot hear what bats and whales can. Man is neither the fastest being on earth nor the longest or strongest. We hate the idea that we have limits or that we are limited in any way. Because having limits has become something of a buzzkill. If there is a limit to the amount of money we have it is seen as a limit to our relevance in the world. If there is a limit to the amount of power we have we see ourselves as weak and open to attack. Perhaps limits on pursuit of wealth were intended to assure that wealth did not impede happiness. Similarly limits on power were designed to stop from autocracy and dictatorial tendencies. We push our buddies day in a day out in gyms with various protein shakes and powders, growth hormones and steroids. This disavowal of limits is the root cause of the recent tragic deaths of young actors who were apparently physically fit but their hearts gave away under the constant strain of pushing the bodies limits. The sun is limitless but on Earth it is limited by night. Limits are the natural order of things. It does not bind when we live with our limits, our life enjoys the sense of balance and harmony and becomes truly beautiful. It has been said, "Atitrushana na kartavya, trushna naev parityajaeth shancha shaneschaha bhautakvyam svayam vittammuparijatmaha" -Avoid extreme yearning but not avoid desire itself; learn to enjoy all that you have earned in moderation.