From darkness to light

Thanks to the increasing age, or the silent call of the inevitable death, or simply due to a philosophical disposition or a life-shattering incident; almost every person atleast once in his life asks himself the question, "What is the purpose of my life?"

All religions, philosophies, greatest thinkers of all time have tried to answer this. Some say its salvation, some say its realization or nirvana, yet others claim it to be simply maximum enjoyment by maximum number of means and yet others claim it to be obtaining maximum money, power and fame. What does any of this hold for us on a day-to-day basis? How does it help us in making daily decisions, both small and big, about how we talk with people, how we deal with those around us and finally how we lead our life in general. Any of the above might serve as a guiding principle for those whose sole aim is to achieve the purpose as stated above, but what does it do for all others, who are still confused, still searching?

The contention of this blog is, although we might still be searching at the global level to find the purpose of our life, on a daily basis, we can still do little things in a directed way. We can strive for 'light' on a daily basis, whether we are doing as simple a thing as buying a vegetable or trying to talk someone on the phone? A little smile, a slightest nod of acknowledgement, a sweet word can do a lot to spread happiness in daily life.

The ideal is to not even hurt anyone in thoughts. People often take thoughts very lightly. They think that it suffices to have an emotion on the face, no matter whats in the heart. Often times this might be the prudent thing to do, but it is also true that thoughts shape our mental character. A constant flow of negative thoughts, even if they are for a right reason, spread negativity around the person. It is said that if a person has a good thought, and dies before acting or conveying the thought, that single moment he has that idea also works for the overall development of the world. One needs to act to curb the negativity, to reduce the bitterness and try to spread love and positivity around themselves. The idea is to not simply display positive attitude and a lack of any negative feeling towards anyone, but to actually feel it inside. Fake affection, care or concern might help soothe some wounds sometimes, but a true feeling of love, even temporary, can go a long in building a relationship and actually helping a person.
Someone like a Buddha or a Christ was capable of such a thing. They knew who was going to kill them, when and how, but still had absolutely no malice for anyone. This love, this positivity is the real 'light' of life.

One needs to find this light in the heart. True, one cannot be the Buddha or Christ, but THAT should be the ideal, there should not be a compromise in THAT. Absolutely no malice, no jealousy, no anger, no hatred, that is the goal. This does not mean one should not do stern things when they are right, but they should be done in a detached fashion, like Arjuna was able to kill his kin for the right thing. One might have any of the lofty ideals listed above as a global view of life, but in our daily life we can ask ourselves, 'Is my act, speech or thought spreading love and good will, is it going to help a person, and is this coming from me with a feeling of selfishness or selflessness? That is the light we need to spread, only that light will remove all the darkness and misery in the world.

Asato Ma Sad Gamaya
Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya
Mrityor Ma Amritam Gamaya
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.


Lead us from Untruth to truth, from darkness to light, from death to Immortality. Om, peace, peace, peace.