I wrote this sometime in 2008. Now as I look back being older and (hopefully) wiser, the words still ring true to me. So thought I'd share it on my blog
These are my personal thoughts and I dont wish to impose on or warp your own belief or ideas in anyway. Please do feel free to write back to me with your thoughts, criticisms. Here we go..
In my years of living, I have made the unassuming observation that our race, (homo sapiens, human beings, mankind, call it whatever you will), is one of what i would like to call "legacy creatures".
Whilst pondering on that, I choose to substantiate the meaning of this terminology. We believe in the creation of objects and systems that are larger than life. That will go on and endure as our legacy far longer than the length of our own mortal lifetimes. Illustrations to this account can be drawn from the very beginning of our civilization: the pyramids that our pharoahs constructed, the Taj mahal, the eiffel tower, the birth of communism (russia, cuba, et al.) and capitalism (the mighty US of A), the Quit India Movement, the concept of "ahimsa", the wars fought over racial supremacy (the failed attempt of the nazis to establist the aryan race). We are all part of legacy systems in some way or the other. They might be positive or negative, but we are part of it nevertheless. At a more biological level this can be seen from the very fact that we procreate. We believe in a lineage that we call our own and wish to preserve. For this reason society looks down upon inter-caste, inter-religion marriages. As also we look down upon the "forced" conversion of faith that is such a topic of political debate these days. We do all this and more for legacy. In a way, we look at life's purpose as the creation of legacy! (to take the liberty of extending an extreme metaphor)
But what is the purpose of life in reality? We all seem to be part of a bigger plan where we would like to believe that we play a crucial role. But are we aware of the purpose that this plan stands for? Is it the creation of wealth? Is it the furtherance of our civilization's technological conquests? Is it simply to spread love and humanity or is it, to preserve nature?
No, I believe, that in the end, Life is about the pursuit of happiness. A lot of people would agree. This answers a lot of questions. It explains why people do what they do, its because they think that it will make them happy, right? But then, why isnt everybody happy?
Well, there is another crucial link to this purpose. Life is about the pursuit of personal happiness, without infringing upon other people's right to happiness.
This might seem awfully simple, but it fits the bill and explains every situation that we apply it to.
If for a second, we all would forget about creating legacies that would out last our lifetimes and instead focus on achieving happiness for ourself within our lifetimes without hurting others in the bargain, then I believe that would the single most significant event in the history of our planet.
Hence I present my thought for today: Grow bigger than being part of the plan, Be the plan!
