Living Life With No Past Baggage
In the simplest form, it is reasonable to look at life as a series of relationships some momentary, some perpetual. However, the way we deal with these relationships is dependent entirely on the thought process through which we approach them. Our response to relationships is seldom on the basis of an appreciation of events as they present themselves to us from moment to moment; how we react is predominantly guided by a large corpus of memory, impressions and preconceived notions that we have accumulated about the moment on hand. In fact, most of us would find it difficult to face life without the strength of information on a possible approach that could be made applicable to it. After all, what strength do we have in standing up to the myriad challenges faced by us day after day if we do not have a large reserve of memory and experience to help us navigate them? Is it not our constant effort to gain more and more knowledge and experience, and do we not seek payback in the form of greater confidence and self-assurance? So our search for that stage is an ongoing one, for only then will we be in a position to deal with anything that life might present in an adequate, immediate and correct manner. There is, however, a fundamental flaw to this approach. The flaw lies in confusing functional knowledge with wisdom. We may have need for functional knowledge in dealing with the objective world. but can it ever help us respond to any situation presented by life? Every situation that we face, every choice that we make, should logically be the result ofa complete evaluation of the situation itself and is not in any way guided by a preconceived notion or a body of information possessed by us. In reality though, even the simple instance of a person greeting us is not dealt with by us-consciously or otherwise- without reference to the image of him stored in our memory. Is this necessary? Should memory, based as it is on experience, have such an overriding influence on our response as to render ineffective our capacity to meet life afresh, moment to moment? Why do we persistently deny ourselves the capacity to act in the moment and then be done with it? Once in a while, at the gut level, we have a feeling of inadequacy of the whole process, but what we do in response is to fall back upona book, a teacher, or an idea. This only perpetuates the process, since the approach is still related to the process of mind, knowledge and memory and has no correlation with the core of our being. And thus we continue meeting life in a non-integral, fragmented and inadequate manner. Instead, we should allow life to touch us in its entirety offering it no value judgment and no fixed notions. We can try to be like a mirror, in matters of life and the relationships it offers us. capable of truly reflecting the present without any reference to the past and any expectation for the future. Of course, we've heard all this before. One has heard all this before. The same sentiments have been expressed by philosophers like Kabir, Krishnamurti, and Nisargdatta Maharaj. One wants to, however, avoid the trap of comprehending the ultimate reality only at intellectual level, and through the process of the mind. Life can become a fulfilling experience if only we could live the experience. Only then we can feel the level of freedom, adequacy, and joy yielded by such moments.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Satyendra Kaushik r’s personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Satyendra Kaushik and Speaking Tree,Times of India
Living Life With No Past Baggage
In the simplest form, it is reasonable to look at life as a series of relationships some momentary, some perpetual. However, the way we deal with these relationships is dependent entirely on the thought process through which we approach them. Our response to relationships is seldom on the basis of an appreciation of events as they present themselves to us from moment to moment; how we react is predominantly guided by a large corpus of memory, impressions and preconceived notions that we have accumulated about the moment on hand. In fact, most of us would find it difficult to face life without the strength of information on a possible approach that could be made applicable to it. After all, what strength do we have in standing up to the myriad challenges faced by us day after day if we do not have a large reserve of memory and experience to help us navigate them? Is it not our constant effort to gain more and more knowledge and experience, and do we not seek payback in the form of greater confidence and self-assurance? So our search for that stage is an ongoing one, for only then will we be in a position to deal with anything that life might present in an adequate, immediate and correct manner. There is, however, a fundamental flaw to this approach. The flaw lies in confusing functional knowledge with wisdom. We may have need for functional knowledge in dealing with the objective world. but can it ever help us respond to any situation presented by life? Every situation that we face, every choice that we make, should logically be the result ofa complete evaluation of the situation itself and is not in any way guided by a preconceived notion or a body of information possessed by us. In reality though, even the simple instance of a person greeting us is not dealt with by us-consciously or otherwise- without reference to the image of him stored in our memory. Is this necessary? Should memory, based as it is on experience, have such an overriding influence on our response as to render ineffective our capacity to meet life afresh, moment to moment? Why do we persistently deny ourselves the capacity to act in the moment and then be done with it? Once in a while, at the gut level, we have a feeling of inadequacy of the whole process, but what we do in response is to fall back upona book, a teacher, or an idea. This only perpetuates the process, since the approach is still related to the process of mind, knowledge and memory and has no correlation with the core of our being. And thus we continue meeting life in a non-integral, fragmented and inadequate manner. Instead, we should allow life to touch us in its entirety offering it no value judgment and no fixed notions. We can try to be like a mirror, in matters of life and the relationships it offers us. capable of truly reflecting the present without any reference to the past and any expectation for the future. Of course, we've heard all this before. One has heard all this before. The same sentiments have been expressed by philosophers like Kabir, Krishnamurti, and Nisargdatta Maharaj. One wants to, however, avoid the trap of comprehending the ultimate reality only at intellectual level, and through the process of the mind. Life can become a fulfilling experience if only we could live the experience. Only then we can feel the level of freedom, adequacy, and joy yielded by such moments.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Satyendra Kaushik r’s personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Satyendra Kaushik and Speaking Tree,Times of India