Life is transient. People go through cycles, aging through different experiences and gaining in wisdom and knowledge. It is when I think of death or hear of it that I realize just how fragile we are. Our time on Earth is a mere blip in the grand scheme of things. Despite the fact that life feels like it lasts a lifetime, which it obviously does, and that a lifetime feels like the longest span of time, we are not truly here for ever. Maybe its a spiritual thing as well - I mean, I kind of think our spirit and soul live on far after our physical shell has expired, but the point is, we are constantly changing. Life is dynamic and in motion. With every breath we take, we breathe in an idea or something that changes us.
I especially like the idea of how ephemeral our MINDS are. Not just our physical body which is easy to see changes in. But we can be totally consumed by a mere thought and that can alter our entire disposition, our entire purpose, our entire direction and journey and pilgrimage. The more we open ourselves and our minds to new ideas, the more we think and learn, the more we change and grow. Certain ideas can take hold and possess us, and certain ones can have the barest influence. The fact is though, we are so malleable, so fragile, both physically and mentally. I think that's what makes life beautiful. That it is not stagnant and boring and repetitious. Unless you stick in your own bubble and stay stagnant of course.
The other thing that struck me is how Siddhartha had so many different selves make up his cohesive self. I often wonder if that is possible. How does one with so many passions and interests figure out what exactly it is you ought to do in life? It took me ages to figure out what I wanted to do, what journey I wanted to take (I'm pretty certain I'll still be trying to figure it out when I'm old and wrinkly) because there are just so many possible paths to go on. How do you pinpoint who exactly you are when there are so many options on who you could be? But that's probably why we change so much. Because we can choose who to become through our different experiences. We might as well take a billion different paths, wander, get lost, fail, succeed, discover beauty and fear on our search towards Om.
Life is a lot of learning, and learning is a lot of experience, and experience is a lot about just letting go and trying it all.
The Ephemeral Theater proposal in China is a temporary structure.
archicentral.com
"He saw people living for themselves, saw them acheive an infinite amount for themselves, saw them travel, wage war, suffer an infinite amount, and endure an infinite amount. He could love them for it, and he saw life and that which is alive - the indestructible Brahman - in each of their passions and actions." (121)
Through that free fall, we discover passion. Humans live with passion, as Siddhartha has discovered - it makes us live life with purpose. I honestly think that passion is what makes us who we are. I don't believe that you need to choose something to do and then try to be passionate about it. I think you should discover what you're passionate about, and then choose to do that in your life. Through our failures and success, we find out what we do for the sake of doing.
This reminds me of a statistic I read on BBC several years ago. I'm not sure how accurately you can gauge the "happiness" of a nation, but one year, Bangladesh was listed as the happiest country in the world. I remember being absolutely baffled. It's a third world country! It's dirty and smelly and crowded and poverty is literally everywhere you turn. But that doesn't mean its not beautiful. I'm still not sure if the statistic was true. But it doesn't really matter. When I thought about it, I realized just how much joy there was. We're a happy people. Despite the pain of poverty and the fact that the country is amongst the poorest and most corrupt in the world, the point is that people try. People remember to enjoy the simple pleasures of life; there is SO MUCH poetry just on the beauty of rainfall. There is art and literature about mango groves and rice paddies, and the romance of drifting along the moving river with your soulmate. People are so full of vibrancy and color and spice and love and a ready willingness to gather together and party that it isn't hard to believe that this truly is a joyful nation.
Its all about the passion. Even if you are a simple ferryman.
We should all strive to do everything with passion!
beliefequalspossibility.com
No comments:
Post a Comment