It’s a miracle of life that this planet supports a variety of living beings. Out of that human beings are pretty unique as we plan for our future, reproduce consciously to propagate our species and are in an ever-expanding race with ourselves to conquer more of this planet. Somehow, we define this as ‘living’. This living over a point of time becomes that insatiable urge to be better, faster and soar higher. Moments like these are the times, when we can sit down and question all we were doing (or is it not doing?). We will do that today.
Let’s start with a story. There was a king once and he lived in a faraway land. He was chronically depressed, despite the wealth and his military conquests. Every new war and a piece of land gave him some joy but it was only short lived. The joy disappeared the moment he set his foot on that land knowing now that piece of earth belongs to him. By mid 40’s, he lost his meaning of life. His wise ministers decided to find a remedy. After consultations with the wisest in and around the kingdom, they found the solution – the king will feel happy the day he wears the shirt of a man who is happy.
Though ridiculous it was at first, they all went in search of that shirt. They visited almost everybody – rich, poor, wise, unwise, beautiful, ugly- they couldn’t find any. When they were about to give up, they found a perfectly happy man walking with contentment on the road. They all rushed towards him with excitement but alas it was too shocking for them to be believed. The happy man was happy without wearing a shirt!
This land was born a certain way. It contained people who were seekers. They were the people who looked deep within them to find answers to life’s pressing questions. That’s why Prince Siddhartha left his palace and his young family (563 BCE – 483 BCE) to seek enlightenment. He struggled for many years to become Gowthama the Buddha.
Emperor Chandragupta Maurya (321-298 BCE), a mighty powerful king and the grandfather of Emperor Ashoka, after all his conquest, decided to renounce everything and walked all the way to Sharavanabelagola in southern Karnataka as a monk. He begged for his food in his last days and finally fasted to death as per the Jain tradition of ‘sallekhana’. Emperor Ashoka a few years later also took a dramatic change in his approach post the Kalinga war that he fought.
What are we doing now?
Most of us have become wheels in the chariot of life. We spin it to the extent possible and try to always be in action. We don’t stop with our fine degrees; we press harder to get more. Don’t stop with one house to live and die, we need more. This concept of ‘more & more’ have pushed us into the cycle of greed and expectations. We have become addicted to buying now and we believe that will give us more happiness.
More clothes, more books, more cell phones and finally more misery which comes for free with all of those purchases. We believe we live and confuse breathing and staying alive to be living. But how do we live – without giving a hoot about how others live. Using more of the resources that the planet has given to us. By generating wealth for seven generations so that our children shouldn’t suffer.
Is it the way to go?
The Law of Dhamma, Buddha’s message is very clear now more than ever. Anything we do that is not in moderation will bring pain and misery. More wealth will bring pain like less wealth. Likewise, one can apply it for other things as well. This generation where all of us are prone to excess like the American generation of yesteryears, is going to create a world that will take everybody down along with it.
The last few years are the worst for humanity in terms of the gap between rich and poor. As per the Oxfam’s latest study, ‘Time to Care’, the richest 1% of India holds four times the wealth of the poorest 70% of the population. Is this alarming? One section of our population just keeps accumulating mercilessly whereas the other side is wondering what colour of the ration card they should switch over to now?
For the people who are in the top 1% or in the top 10% now, what kind a country are their children going to inhabit in the future? It’s the same country, where the bottom 30% or so would be struggling to make their ends meet. Will that be a happy sight when they go in a car with windows rolled up and sitting on a wealth for which they never sweated, whereas from the windows they can see the other’s suffering.
There is no fixed solution to this - it’s like the king’s shirt. One option is to live our live very consciously always, at least from now. To be considerate and meaningful to our other cohabitants of our planet. In times like these to donate generously to the people without means and to support the government when we are able to.
To stop our ‘sense of action’ for now and keeping all our thoughts about – when to restart our factory, our company and to keep the cash register ringing again- at bay. For a time to think all of the people who are suffering with a genuine sense and to think of helping them. The truism of life is this – we were born with nothing and will die with nothing.
When the emperor Ashoka was in his deathbed, he was giving everything possible to the Buddhist sangha. His ministers denied him access to the state treasury. When he tried doing that with his personal wealth that too was forbidden. Finally, just before he died, history says, the only possession he had was one half of a ‘myrobalan’ fruit and he generously and gratefully offered that to the sangha as his final donation.
Let’s do that today as we are not going to take anything with us ‘tomorrow’.
The author is a former IPS officer. Views expressed are personal.
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