Today, we interacted with some kids on fears, ambitions, and dreams. It was very nice interacting with the kids. However, I am really surprised at the premium this society has given to "becoming" something or the other. Even to the extent that the kids feel that if there are no ambitions in our lives, then we will end up wasting our lives. They justify fear as a motivator to achieve their targets and fulfill their ambitions.
Probably, the root cause of the problem lies in our lost sense of "being". We have forgotten what we are. We have evolved as a human being after millions of years of evolution. It's not a small effort to survive despite being surrounded by dinosaurs and many other dangerous animals in the wild. We human beings have been able to do so. Somewhere we have lost the deep connection with our roots and behave like a frog in the well, who is aware of very limited reality. Our ambitions are also limited due to our limited exposure to life inside the well. We develop communities in order to feel secure but the very same societies are making us feel quite insecure. The very same societies judge everybody around in terms of achievements: in terms of money and power.
Probably, the entire purpose of the formation of these communities was to make the lives of people living in the communities comfortable and safe so that they could explore and create. Logically, the moment our basic needs are taken care of, we should be inclined to explore life in different ways such as the exploration of different aspects of nature through Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Oceanology, or Quantum Physics, or the Study of the Cosmos. We can also explore human beings, animals, and birds. In fact, we can explore different arts such as music, painting, and sculpture. We can also explore nature through sports by testing human capacities. All these explorations make us grow. We learn different aspects of nature and in fact, we expand the limits of our body and mind.
Why do we sell our freedom and growth for our ambitions? We want to become doctors and engineers in order to earn money. There is no problem with the ambitions to become something or the other so long these ambitions are limited to provide us strength like the roots of the tree inside the soil. If the tree lacks strong roots, it will be uprooted by the wind and storms. However, strengthening the roots in itself can not be the purpose of life. It has to be to come out of the soil. Similarly, the life of human beings can not be confined to the fulfillment of ambitions. Ambitions can at best play a supportive role by providing us the resources and skill sets to explore and create.
We feel insecure due to our disconnection from our "being". We have been obsessed with our fears and ambitions since our childhood and that is the reason why we do not have the time and energy to examine what we really are. The more we get disconnected from the "being" the more we become fearful. The more we become fearful, the more we focus on "becoming" since we feel that by "becoming", we will be able to get rid of fears. I have seen so many people running from one to the other position. Powerful to more powerful and still more powerful. The more and more powers they gain and more they become fragile and vulnerable for the simple reason that the more they get the powers, the more difficult it is for them to imagine a life without these powers. They know for sure that they will retire at a certain age. In order to overcome their insecurities, they want such assignments that will prolong their stay in the service and they become quite weak in the process and start acting like beggars and manipulators. truly speaking, power makes us weaker. It was Gandhi who dared to leave everything and that was the reason why he could shake the strongest of the empire at that time.
Any person who connects to his "being" understands and appreciates the wonders of nature that exist inside his body and mind. He knows that the divine has created all beings with very minimum needs. Human civilization of date ensures the fulfillment of all our needs with very minimum effort. The rest is greed which has no limit and one can waste the whole of one's life in greed and may still die greedy. In fact, the more we get, the more greedy we become. The more we achieve the more is our hunger for achievements. It is because of the simple reason that we compare with our peers and as we achieve, our group and society change and we are surrounded by bigger achievers and again feel like achieving more.
Somebody will say that what is wrong with the hunger for achievements. That is what makes us. This hunger for achievement motivates us to make more and more efforts. There is no doubt about that but whatever efforts we make inside the well, we remain inside the well. The real fun is in exploring in the open sky. Yes, ambitions are helpful to the extent of supporting us so long as we are inside the well. The moment we come outside the well, the needs get completely redefined. The need for money is minimized because one gets the wisdom to discriminate between need and greed. The concept of social approval becomes meaningless. Once a person comes out of the well, why would he seek the validation of people inside the well? One realizes the futility of powers since power is nothing but the appreciation of the ignorant. The moment one realizes the reality, one knows that there is only one director and the rest are just playing their own scripts. The need for pleasures and comforts is also minimized since one knows the relative insignificance of these comforts and pleasures when compared to divine bliss.
Some would say that without the motivation to achieve something, one will become dull and dumb. In fact, it is the opposite. The moment one realizes the futility of money, power, comforts, and pleasures, which attracted him a lot while being inside the well, one just explores nature. One explores the open sky and creates. An artist creates new art forms like paintings, sculptures, dance forms, and music. A scientist discovers and invents new theories. An industrialist sets up factories to manufacture different products to explore the world of creating different articles. One gets established in the "being" realizes one's potential and explores the world in different possible ways. He does not need anything, rather he explores the world out of that completeness of the "being".
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