What is the purpose of life? Marrying someone we like, having kids, marrying them to the person they like, and helping them build a career they want? Going to social functions dressed beautifully in branded clothes as a piece to display the unique clothes designed by a designer? Reaching the top of an organisation with hard work? To become world-famous and build a huge fan following? To have a say in the society we live in, so that our words carry value?
Does any of the above make life fulfilling? No. What is the purpose of a tree? To give oxygen without the calculation as to who takes that. What is the purpose of a flower? To bloom and spread the nice smell around. What was the purpose behind the life of Buddha? To understand the truth and spread awareness about the same in society? The purpose of any and every life is to do "Swadharma", and while doing the "Swadharma", he will take from society whatever is necessary to function. The central theme is to use the body and mind to the best of their capability. The purpose of the car is to take us from one place to the other and not to accumulate fuel. Yes, in the process, it will consume fuel.
Then, what happens to most of us? Why do we get confined to "taking"? Why do we always beg when we go to the temples, mosques, and churches? Why do we always remain sad? Why do our demands never finish? It is because we have never experienced the "joy of Swadharma". The less we take joy in "Swadharma" and the more we are hollow from inside. The more we are hollow from inside, the more desperate we are to find "pleasure" in the outside world. That's why every time we encounter a situation wherein we do not get what we want, we become sad. We develop many desires within the domain of the known. The more we are sure that the fulfilment of these desires will make us happy, the more we become sad when we do not get what we desire. The same "I" is convinced that it is the fulfilment of that desire that will make us happy, and the same "I" tries to get over that desire. That's why it becomes almost impossible to get over the desires and understand reality.
That's what happens to most of us. We get confined inside a "box". The "box" of our mental stories, ideas, beliefs, ideologies, religion, culture and so on. This box is disconnected and isolated from the rest of the world. We keep looking for solutions inside our box throughout our lives; however, the solution comes from outside the box. We try to find solutions to our problems within the box. However, we fail to realise that the moment we get out of the box, the problem itself disappears and we are left with infinite possibilities to explore. How to handle darkness may be a big problem inside the well; however, the moment a person gets out of the well, life is full of sunlight, and there are infinite possibilities to explore.
Getting out of the "well" requires "awareness". "Awareness" about the place of the "well" in the cosmos. Once we are clear about the fact that the well is too small when compared to the cosmos, it no longer attracts us. We feel suffocated inside the well. As if we are wasting our lives in ignorance. The second thing that is required is faith in the universal consciousness. When we look at our lives and the lives of people around us with "open eyes", we get to notice how that "universal consciousness" is guiding them on the path of growth. We connect to love and compassion. We realise that all the people who have love and compassion are somehow connected to that universal consciousness. We feel connected to that. That connection fills us with love. Love fills us with confidence. We take that crucial step to get out of the well. Thus, awareness of the limitations of the well at a cosmic scale and awareness of that "inner connection" with universal consciousness fills us with love and compassion, which gives us the courage to step out of the well, and to explore life under the open sky where there is no darkness like the well. We no longer cry for failures and crises, while we look forward to explore infinite possibilities.
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