I have always pondered over this quintessential question that has troubled mighty brains over the ages: The Life-death cycle.I have debated different permutations and combinations of life-death explanations with several people. This was what I did once again during the weekend with my Uncle. The essence of what we discussed is written below. Many of the things were quite new and surprising to me.
A human mind has a lot of desires. All actions, aspirations, dreams and thoughts are based on desires. These desires include desires of the mind as well as the heart. The ability to think and reason out is also born out of the passion of achieving your wishes. Until you satisfy them, the mind will not cease.
Further, fulfilled or achieved desires or dreams lead to other desires and dreams. For an example, a man on a bicycle wants a car. A man on a car wants the latest feature upgrades on his vehicle. With one leading to another, the human mind travels expanses searching for means to accomplish the wishes. Sometimes the mind is not able to fulfill them because of several reasons like old age, dubiousness of the desire, impracticality and so on. In this case the human soul, (This by the way is not your mind or intellect. Intellect itself is a non-entity) tries to find another body in which these desires are likely to be achieved.
Let us forget the soul jumping part, I found it a little too fantastic and Uncle also did not have enough reasons to back it up. The point is, once you start controlling your desires then the mind and soul slowly realize that they are one. This also leads you to the revelation that you are truly your Creator. In other words you realize the outside world is only Maya or an illusion created by you and you alone can control your destiny. You would also realize there is life beyond just desires and aspirations. You will be able to enjoy true happiness.
Though I might not fully agree to a few things, it is one of most reasonable explanation I have found for life and death.
Further, fulfilled or achieved desires or dreams lead to other desires and dreams. For an example, a man on a bicycle wants a car. A man on a car wants the latest feature upgrades on his vehicle. With one leading to another, the human mind travels expanses searching for means to accomplish the wishes. Sometimes the mind is not able to fulfill them because of several reasons like old age, dubiousness of the desire, impracticality and so on. In this case the human soul, (This by the way is not your mind or intellect. Intellect itself is a non-entity) tries to find another body in which these desires are likely to be achieved.
Let us forget the soul jumping part, I found it a little too fantastic and Uncle also did not have enough reasons to back it up. The point is, once you start controlling your desires then the mind and soul slowly realize that they are one. This also leads you to the revelation that you are truly your Creator. In other words you realize the outside world is only Maya or an illusion created by you and you alone can control your destiny. You would also realize there is life beyond just desires and aspirations. You will be able to enjoy true happiness.
Though I might not fully agree to a few things, it is one of most reasonable explanation I have found for life and death.
4 comments:
life-death cycle - driven by unsatisfied desires. It could be one explanation. But just one explanation. And not backed up by any sort of proof.
So will it be wise to risk the one life(real one which runs now - whose existence we are certain about), by trying to control our desires, leaving them all unfulfilled, not enjoying the happiness attained by fulfilling the desires?
Live our life in the best possible way, trying to fulfil as may desires as possible, and helping others fulfil theirs..
Unni, there is a lot of difference between consciously controlling desires and forcefully repressing them. You control the desires which you feel are not really needed. That way you don’t have anything to lose. For instance, you control the desire to smoke because you know it is injurious.
Repressing or bottling up desires is different. That makes you frustrated. I hope you got the difference.
"desires which you feel are not really needed" - so its subjective. isn't it? those things which you may feel that are not really needed may not be so for me, or someone else. So who sets the standards, on what is a needed desire or not.
And about smoking - here also we can look at it 2 ways. i have talked to people who smoke. they say that they are enjoying it. they like what they get from smoking. they prefer to enjoy it now, live with it now, and may be die a 20 years early. OR as you say, we can control it, knowing that it is injurious to health, and live for long (of which also we are also not sure about). it depends on what a person wants from life.
You have answered the questions yourself. Who sets the standards? 'it depends on what a person wants from life'. There you go, It is you who sets the standards.
One more thing, you dont control the desire to smoke ONLY because you want to live long. Living long could be one among several reasons as to why you want to control it.
You sound like controlling desires is a bad thing and ppl become unhappy because of it. Thats is definetely not the truth.
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