What are we seeking?

Every day we rise in the morning and with that starts the circus we have put ourselves into. Flurry of activities to be done occupy the mind. Ticking of the clock keeps reminding us what has to be done and what to be skipped.

We are just living like a sophisticated designed animal that can express widely but has forgotten that aspect inconveniently. Expressions are not the exercises our minds used to emerge into anymore; it’s just the exasperated anguish of our hearts and mind.

It brings me to this central question which has occupied my mind ever since I have started thinking where will I collide eventually.  What am I seeking?

All the religious scriptures offer a rather common view of divinity is the final destination. Material ideas of a place called Heaven. Am I running day in day out to reach a place I have no idea about?

Religions have made God a very expensive commodity that is not available unless the prescribed rituals are followed or certain acts are orchestrated. Is that the ultimate culmination of the purpose of life?

Money, Success, Position, Power they seldom satiate our constant need to move on. These are just benchmarks of the process. Does this process have an end? Do we really know what are we really seeking?

We are exactly same like the Deer running in the forest trying to find the Kasturi which is in its own belly. We are trying to find ourselves. The process we seldom realize is the upliftment of the self. We lack at introspection. The idea of even sitting alone doing nothing gives us a squirm. We are so busy doing other things that our own self is neglected.

Gym and playing games is a very healthy practice for our bodies. Do we exercise our brain, intellect and thoughts equally? Do we really bother what forms our thought process, why do we take positions that we take.

Today the world is really a very small global village with communications. But, humans are far away from themselves to be close to others.

The popular term “Mid Life Crisis” is nothing but a position where you feel satisfied with what you have achieved as off now, but when you look back you feel was it worth all the sacrifice? Was this my goal when I did start with life? Is this what I want to die doing?

Let’s give a little time to ourselves to realize what we need. If you really can answer what you are seeking, you will understand the purpose of life is bettering yourself to better the environment.        

Penny Wise Pound Foolish

India prides itself that it has the maximum percentage of youth population. It is a cutting edge we feel we have over the aged population of China. Well I have my severe doubts.

By the looks of the very talented youngsters we have all we should be is worried.

The choices made by the urban youngsters are baffling. These choices have given us our TV shows where thousands go to get insulted and abused by a pair of tonsured heads, who feel they are the elected Chief Justices of India (in other jobs, they get laughed at in horrible movies). 10 years these baldies have lived off by the grace of our jobless studs.

The activity of staying fit is actually a living rage of ballooning biceps and clean shaven chests. Each of these gym addicts, walk with an air of being Sylvester Stallone. Their IQ is inversely proportional to the increasing inches of body mass.

On the other hand, Indian Military Services are facing a problem of not enough QUALITY youngsters to be trained and deputed as Officers. 

The latest Scheme named behind a man who died working intently for the nation is an added advantage for the rural youth to keep warming benches. Since the introduction of this mega vote puller scheme, Labor shortages are reported from all the industrial states.

The genuinely sharp brained offspring of Mother India have very well realized that if they have to be utilized, they need a foreign land and better living conditions. India is busy accommodating Reservations on behest of Politicians to keep them in chair.

To top all of this chaos is a man who in my opinion is fed up but can't even quit his job for either of the two reasons, He cannot even dictate terms of his resignation or love of the nation to save it from a candidate who is aiming to run the country without even the experience of running a home with a wife.

All the journalists, on one hand are busy condemning a man running a State like a Multi Million Dollar Enterprise of having Communal Tendencies, whereas totally mute and in worst cases supportive of a man, lost time and again to be the Prime Minister of the Country whose Educational Qualifications are like the cryptic Mona Lisa smile.

But as they say India has always come around on Jugaad, we are sure we will keep pulling it off.

When You Meet God

You were on your way home when you died.


It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, but fatal nonetheless. You left behind a wife and two children. It was a painless death. The EMTs tried their best to save you, but to no avail. Your body was so utterly shattered you were better off, trust me.


And that's when you met me.


"What... what happened?" You asked. "Where am I?"


"You died," I said, matter-of-factly. No point mincing words.


"There was a... a truck and it was skidding..."


"Yup." I said.


"I... I died?"


"Yup. But don't feel bad about it. Everyone dies." I said.


You looked around. There was nothingness. Just you and me. "What is this place?" You asked. "Is this the afterlife?"


"More or less," I said.


"Are you god?" You asked.


"Yup." I replied. "I'm God."


"My kids... my wife," you said.


"What about them?"


"Will they be alright?"


"That's what I like to see," I said. "You just died and your main concern is your family. That's good stuff right there."


You looked at me with fascination. To you, I didn't look like God. I just looked like some man. Some vague authority figure. More of a a grammar school teacher than the almighty.


"Don't worry," I said. "They'll be fine. Your kids will remember you as perfect in every way. They didn't have time to grow contempt for you. Your wife will cry on the outside, but will be secretly relieved." "To be fair, your marriage was falling apart. If it's any consolation, she'll feel very guilty for feeling relieved."


"Oh," you said. "So what happens now? Do I go to heaven or hell or something?"


"Neither," I said. "You'll be reincarnated."


"Ah," you said. "So the Hindus were right."


"All the religions are right in their own way," I said. "Walk with me."


You followed along as we strolled in the void. "Where are we going?"


"Nowhere in particular," I said. "It's just nice to walk while we talk."


"So what's the point, then?" You asked. "When I get reborn, I'll just be a blank slate, right? A baby. So all my experiences and everything I did in this life won't matter?"


"Not so!" I said. "You have within you all the knowledge and experiences of all your past lives. You just don't remember them right now."


I stopped walking and took you by the shoulders. "Your soul is more magnificent, beautiful, and gigantic than you can possibly imagine. A human mind can only contain a tiny fraction of what you are. It's like sticking your finger in a glass of water to see if it's hot or cold. You put a tiny part of yourself into the vessel, and when you bring it back out, you've gained all the experiences it had."


"You've been a human for the last 34 years, so you haven't stretched out yet and felt the rest of your immense consciousness. If we hung out here for longer, you'd start remembering everything. But there's no point doing that between each life."


"How many times have I been reincarnated then?"


"Oh, lots. Lots and lots. And into lots of different lives." I said. "This time around you'll be a Chinese peasant girl in 540 A.D."


"Wait, what?" You stammered. "You're sending me back in time?"


"Well, I guess technically. Time, as you know it, only exists in your universe. Things are different where I come from."


"Where you come from?" You pondered.


"Oh, sure!" I explained. "I come from somewhere. Somewhere else. And there's others like me. I know you'll want to know what it's like there but you honestly won't understand."


"Oh." You said, a little let down. "But wait, if I get reincarnated to other places in time, could I have interacted with myself at some point?"


"Sure. Happens all the time. And with both lives only aware of their own timespan, you don't even know its happening."


"So what's the point of it all?"


"Seriously?" I asked. "Seriously? You're asking me for the meaning of life? Isn't that a little stereotypical?"


"Well, it's a reasonable question." You persisted.


I looked in your eye. "The meaning of life, the reason I made this whole universe, is for you to mature."


"You mean mankind? You want us to mature?"


"No. Just you. I made this whole universe for you. With each new life you grow and mature, and become a larger and greater intellect."


"Just me? What about everyone else?"


"There is no one else," I said. "In this universe, there's just you, and me."


You stared blankly at me. "But all the people on Earth..."


"All you. Different incarnations of you."


"Wait. I'm everyone!?"


"Now you're getting it." I said, with a congratulatory slap on the back.


"I'm every human who ever lived?"


"Or who will ever live, yes."


"I'm Abraham Lincoln?"


"And you're John Wilkes Booth." I added.


"I'm Hitler?" You said, appalled.


"And you're the millions he killed."


"I'm Jesus?"


"And you're everyone who followed him."


You fell silent.


"Every time you victimized someone," I said, "You were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you've done, you've done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, experienced by you."


"Why?" You asked me. "Why do all this?"


"Because someday, you will become like me. Because that's what you are. You're one of my kind. You're my child."


"Whoa." You said, incredulous. "You mean I'm a god?"


"No. Not yet. You're a fetus You're still growing. Once you've lived every human life throughout all time, you will have grown enough to be born." 


"So the whole universe," you said. "It's just..."


"An egg of sorts." I answered. "Now it's time for you to move on to your next life."


And I sent you on your way.

Flying in the Face of Fear

Have you ever had a brilliant idea that made you feel really excited? Were you were so ready to run with it and it could have changed or enhance your life greatly. It could have been anything from an invention, a house move, starting your own business, a change in career or you may have wanted to go back into education, to learn about something you enjoy – as oppose to have to do. Then, as quick as a flash, all those great ideas came to a grinding halt!

The inspirational glow you felt, as you dipped your toe into the exciting world of “I want to do this! This is amazing!” quickly turned into self-doubt, as you climb back in to your warm, cosy cocoon in retreat.

All those enthused feelings of happiness, excitement and motivation simply disappeared into the big black hole marked “I should have done that!”

The niggles in the back of your mind, full of; “what if”, “I can’t”, “I’m not ready”, “I’m not qualified”, “I don’t have the funds”, and so on, go racing round your mind, telling you that you cannot do it because, because, because……

We can all, very quickly, talk ourselves out of absolutely anything and everything. When those feel good moments have passed, we end up listening to our negative thoughts, which drag us down and hold us back. We then beat ourselves up for not taking that leap of inspirational faith and, in the end; we cease all action and go back to our regular day-to-day routine.

This is what can be described as the reverse butterfly effect.

Just to explain, the butterfly effect theories that even the smallest change can have a chaotic effect on something else. This theory has been at the centre of many physics debates, along with the closely related chaos theory, and string theory – where a single atom can affect another, seemingly unrelated, atom.

If we take this idea and translate it into our own lives, the reverse butterfly effect is doing nothing to affect nothing. Yet, if we had just made that big push and continued on the path of inspired action, we could have created a chain reaction. Simply put, if we had just stretched our wings that little bit further we could have created a multitude of positive outcomes.

However, sometimes our seemingly inspired actions are born from a lack of knowledge or confidence. There is a misconceived perception in our minds that we need to put ourselves through a series of education and learning. It makes us feel ready, credible and qualified to tackle our personal, ideal world of creativity, work and/or business. The belief that we need to collect certificates, diplomas, degrees etc. acts as a security blanket, making us feel ready to fulfill our life goals. Nevertheless, this is just another delay tactic.

Cynics, no doubt, would question this notion, given that many people become very successful after their studies. However, by putting off doing what we really want to do right now, delaying our hearts desires, as we don’t feel ready, equipped or qualified, and never realizing our goals, through lack of confidence and fear, all leads to disappointment and, in turn, resentment.

The fact is we can never stop learning. We learn through articles and books, through TV programmes and movies. It shapes our thoughts, beliefs, values and we learn invaluable skills and knowledge through every life experience. That is a qualification in itself.

Research, conducted by the University College of London, shows that when we have high level of feel good chemicals in our bodies, we are able to make decisions much faster, by going with gut instincts, relating to how it makes us feel emotionally. Moreover, in order to create those chemicals you need to do something that motivates and excites you. Furthermore, by combining other “happy chemical” triggers into the equation, such as certain feel good foods and activities; we can create cataclysmic and inspired choices to change your life. Therefore, you can quite literally perpetuate yourself into a happy, successful state through inspired action.

Let me throw another, potentially freedom-inducing, theory into the equation.

Let us say we are living a virtual life, much like a video game. We have infinite power and control over the “game of life” and we have the ability to choose several different scenarios, settings and experiences. If we are living the parallel life then perhaps I am not actually writing this, as my true self is in fact on a warm sandy beach in the tropics, and I am controlling this occurrence from under a palm tree. However, as you are also in the tropics on a 50 ft yacht your other self is relaying this article back to you. So, as you are not here, I am elsewhere, and this may not actually be happening, I could in fact choose to write (and this is debatable) all kinds of wackiness!

If, at this specific moment in time, we are living our lives in several parallel universes, we could be running alongside our “other lives”, experiencing different things, all at the same time. Moreover, our multiple, simultaneous lives could be our trusty back-up parachute, so if we do go off course we could, in theory, leap-frog to another.

If it were true, would that “reality” give you more abandon, freedom and flexibility?

In any case, it is better to look back on life and say “I can’t believe I did that” than to look back and say “I wish I did that!” So, perhaps it’s best to give in to our inspired thoughts and feelings and just go for it – as they occur to give us the right, individual and unique life experiences. And, just like a video game, we are all equipped, ready to do anything and can achieve our life goals – If only we had the courage and whole-hearted belief in ourselves.

If the delicate little butterfly can break free, fly into the big wide world and cause a spot of chaos then why can’t you?