Understanding the larger purpose of life
We often fail to understand the larger purpose of life. We need to explore new dimensions of ourselves and reach out to the larger world, in ways that are far more meaningful than what what we do at the moment.
Should we live only for making money? Well, this is exactly what hundreds of people think. The only purpose of life according to them, is to make maximum money for ourselves and our families. It is a shame that we do not see the larger purpose of life.
Our ancient philosophers and pundits have taught us many things. It should be realized that the larger purpose of life, as taught by them, is to have a much larger purpose of caring for others, by sticking to some values, and not worrying about what others think about some of our own customs.
For example, many men among Tamil Brahmins (which includes me) wear ear-rings in both our ears and do a huge amount of pooja. This gives us peace of mind and concentration. This helps us realize that we should not cheat others, that we should not tell lies, and so on. In our families, we are constantly reminded that even if go to the USA for employment, we should stick to our customs and to our dharma, as we call it.
Life is worth living, only when it becomes meaningful. Mere commercial attitudes will take us nowhere. These attitudes strike at the very fundamentals of human relationships, and make us so mechanical.
Today's younger generation is so much tuned to the Western culture that they do not understand the need for balance between the spiritual and commercial lives. It is up to us, the elders, to educate such people and help them understand that their attitudes will take them nowhere.
Similarly, when we think of making any meaningful contribution to society, we are so narrow minded. We do not hesitate to blow up even five thousand rupees in five star hotels, but are hesitate to do out bit to educate the children of our servant maids or drivers.
We often fail to understand that the capitalistic economy allows us to make hay while the sun shines. We make more money, but those at the bottom of the pyramid, do not even get the basic amenities. In big cities and even the tier two towns, their life is becoming miserable indeed.
We must understand life in full perspective. India can rightly claim to be the spiritual capital of the world. It does not mean that we should not make money, or encourage industry. We must indeed do all this. However, along with this, we need to make our lives far more meaningful by becoming what we now call in management jargon as "social entrepreneurs".
The idea is simple. Those with resources support skill formation among the under-educated or the illiterates. Once they are taught to make bread, or candles, or cakes or plastic baskets or some such items, they become independent, and come out of poverty. As the initiators of the entire exercise, we would not be making any money at all. But we would have helped so many people come out of the poverty line.
Such initiatives are often infectious. It is gratifying to note that an increasingly large number of MBA graduates, from even the most prestigious Indian Institutes of Management, have now said no to the best of Corporate Sector jobs, and are now doing something more worthwhile. They are taking up setting up of social enterprises as a sort of mission. Normally, they have enough to feed themselves for a long period of time, and hence do not bother about any temporary problems.
In the years to come, when the gulf between the rich and the poor is increasing so much, there are bound to be social tensions and thefts, robberies, murders for gain and so on, will continue to happen more often than ever before. We all need to wake up and take notice. We need to understand that "as long as it does not affect me, it is okay" kind of attitude, does no good to ourselves and to others as well.
Instead, if we think creatively, we can indeed understand the larger meaning of life. The books written by the famous philosopher, Mr Jiddu Krishnamurthy, teach us just this. Adi Sankaracharya, Ramakrishna Paramahansa, and such philosophers have taught to the entire world, what is meant by a larger purpose of life.
They have inspired thousands to think differently, and far beyond mere commercial considerations. In fact, Indian society is full of stories that support this kind of a thinking. Years ago, at a marriage hall, there was a huge fire in Tiruchirapalli, in Tami Nadu. The fire fighting personnel had a tough time at the venue, as many lives were lost. A group of Muslim men were going to the mosque in the vicinity of the marriage hall. They simply rushed to the venue, did all their best to put off the fires, and transported at least a few -- at their own cost -- to the nearby hospitals.
Those who were saved, had all the gratitude, and wanted to give them some money, in recognition. They flatly refused, saying that even Allah would not forgive them if they accepted money for whatever little they did, which, they said, was only their duty to the fellow countrymen.
We need to learn from such experiences. When the Tsunami hit the Tamil Nadu coast and caused extensive damage, thousands of volunteers turned up, and applied leave in their offices. This included IT professionals, even from IBM.
This is exactly what is called the larger purpose of life. If we take a big note of all such instances, we can indeed teach our children, and also remind ourselves that we have a long way to go, we have to do much more than what we are dong now, and we can indeed make a big difference, if only we think differently.
The fact remains that the larger purpose of life, demands only some introspection, some peace of mind, and some real effort. Once this is in place, the rest will follow -- automatically.
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