I was just wondering why there is so much khat-pat between Devi Lakshmi and Saraswati. The most intelligent people in this world are not so well off, whereas street-smart people build large industries and hold powerful positions. Probably, it all depends on society's aspirations. In a society where the sole aspiration of the people is to earn money and accumulate wealth, wise people look stupid. When Astavakra goes to the wise sabha of Raja Janak, people, including Janak, laugh due to the many curves in his body. Then Astavakra gives them back, saying that if they can't see the self's existence beyond the body, they have no right to be called wise. Then they all realise their mistake, and Astavakra teaches them the nature of reality, which is contained in the Astavakra Geeta.
I sometimes wonder why so many people get so satisfied with money. If we analyse the lives of people around us, most people have spent 70-80% of their energies just to earn a living. They get a job and soon enter into the cycle of 99. Why do the higher things, such as searching for the meaning of life, understanding the nature of reality, diving deep into the unconscious mind to unravel its mysteries, travelling to unknown places, meeting people and understanding their psyches, etc., not attract them? Why would people like Einstein devote their entire lives to understanding the mysteries of the cosmos, and why will many people like us look at the stars and galaxies in the sky every day and yet remain so sure that we just have to earn a few bucks and enjoy our lives? Why would that money look more attractive than unravelling the secrets of nature? Why are so few of us willing to make an effort to understand the "larger"?
It is because we are so sure of whatever "limited" we know. Life is all about having a good job, earning money, having fun, having kids, marrying them, and dying as a winner, having achieved all the targets. That's what most of us believe to be the meaning of life. Since most of us believe it to be the meaning of life, Bollywood movies mostly end with marriage; most family celebrations are also tied to such achievements, and people are generally appreciated and feel elated upon achieving these goals. That's why there is a constant reinforcement of the "limited" perspective. That's why it is quite difficult to see a different perspective. At a party, when a loud DJ is playing, and everybody is dancing to the tune, almost everybody gets mesmerised, and we somehow start dancing automatically. It's difficult to meditate in such a place. It's difficult to play the sitar or the veena.
I faced this problem long ago. I used to go to weddings and birthday functions. I realised that people will turn on loud music and try to talk to each other in loud voice. I wondered whether they want to talk or enjoy. If they want to talk, why don't they turn the volume down? If they want to dance, why do they pretend to talk? Even if they talk, that's too shallow. How are you? Kya chal raha hai? As if one is reading the Facebook profile. Then, a political debate would start, in which everybody is equally convinced of their uninformed views. Then, some discussions around corruption would start. People would say that corruption is a big menace, and then in the same breath would murmur about the dowry in crores taken by the family of the groom, and their body language would reveal that they envy that. Then they would proudly say that their child got a government job as a clerk, leaving a highly paid job at some MNC. Little observation was more than sufficient to see through the lies and pretensions. I decided long back not to attend all these functions. That gives a lot of time to read, write, and contemplate on the true nature of reality.
Why do people keep wasting time in the routine? I don't think anyone feels fulfilled after wasting time on mindless gossip. I think that there is only one reason why all this rubbish continues. We have probably developed a firm belief that we are not free and have to abide by social norms, however unreasonable they may be. Even if we feel tired and exhausted after those mindless discussions, we have to be part of them. Probably, we have never loved ourselves enough to muster the courage to fight this waste of time. Probably, we have very low self-esteem, and that's why we have given people around us the right to waste our time. We have probably never contemplated the meaning of life. We did not understand the value of pure water and now pay for it by buying bottled water. Similarly, we do not understand the value of pure air, and soon in future will pay a price to buy bottles of oxygen. We have not understood the value of time and pay the price by living a life full of stress and frustration, and we die unfulfilled. With a little attention, we can see this. Falling is easy; it takes strength to rise.
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