Life
simply is. There is really no
objective to Life; there are no goals to be achieved, no responsibilities to be
fulfilled. Nothing. You are born. You live. You die. Period. This is the truth –
so simple, so uncomplicated. It is only society that brings in expectations of
goals and outcomes, and labels of success and failure or joy and sorrow. You
take away the social denominators from Life – starting with money – and
suddenly Life simply is.
The other day, we were sitting at a
coffee shop. I was thinking of something I had seen on Facebook, I was looking
up from my phone and I was smiling – staring blankly into space. A friend
walked up and tapped me on my shoulder and asked, “Wow! What are you thinking deeply
about? What next creative idea are you pulling out of your hat?” I replied, “Hardly…No
creative idea or such…I am just in the moment, enjoying it, savoring it.”
Our friend, and his wife who was with
him, were hardly able to comprehend what I meant. They smiled and waved their
goodbyes and walked away. I can understand what they must have been thinking
about – “how can anyone not be doing anything?” And they are not alone. I
believe the whole of humanity thinks this way and so is missing this beautiful
opportunity to just be in the moment – because everyone is trying to become
someone, by trying to do something or the other.
I am not saying you must not work or that
you must not earn money or that you must not raise a family. But don’t get so
caught in earning-a-living that you miss the opportunity to live itself. Look
at nature around you. The trees, the birds, the flowers, the river, the ocean,
all of them simply are. They have no concept of time nor do they have any
targets or goals to achieve. It is only man who has time-bound goals in focus.
Nothing wrong with that. But if the same goals start haunting you, when they
make your Life miserable, then you have a problem. Earning money is not a problem.
But complaining or worrying that you are not having enough is a problem.
Working is not a problem. But feeling stressed out over your work is a problem.
Having a family is not a problem. But sweating over the behavior of your family
members is a problem.
Osho, the Master illustrates this point
with the example of a rose and a hundred-rupee note. “Life is not a logical
process. It is poetry, it is a lovesong -- without any meaning, yet it is
utterly beautiful. In fact, when something has a meaning, it can't be beautiful
– it is utilitarian. The rose is beautiful because it has no utility at all. Its
sheer being is enough; it need not have any other significance. But a hundred-rupee note
has no beauty; it has utility, it has meaning, it is a means to some end.”
The nub is this: to live your Life fully,
celebrate each moment. Simply be. Drop this urge to constantly try and become
this or that. Don’t try to desperately make a meaning out of your Life. Meaning
is a social requirement. Life doesn’t care about any meanings. So, why don’t
you also live your Life for what it is, as it is? Don’t seek meanings. Don’t get
keyed up. Don’t complain. Be alive, be with
your Life – as is!
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