Abhishek Raina
Human condition is one of perpetual suffering; it is one pain after another. If one were to look closely, human condition is to go from painful situation to another, with are underlying suffering present all the time. All the happiness that we see, it isn’t happiness it is an attempt to hide the pain.
If one were to see answers, the most important question perhaps is what is life, why there is what we call existence, why do we live and similar other versions, the core of the existing crisis. The answer of this question is not an easy one, but in all practically the sole purpose of life is to avoid and reduce pain. Everything done every step taken is to ensure the source. It’s not that we seek happiness, but that we avoid pain.
Life is not complicated, is the sense that it’s fairly easy if one is able to come to terms to its ways. If one is to give in and understand that pain is the driving principle, once shall realize how futile is the pursuit of happiness. There is no such thing as happiness, not in itself, there only is temporary absence of pain. If our can understand this, one would realize that to feel bad or get hurt or feel left out or feel left behind as are can’t find the happiness as one feels others have found is an illusion, the others are thinking the same, trying to avoid pain by thinking that they can pursue and get happiness. One of the major life events where I see this unfold most is how we take up relationships. One might definitely believe that for such an important thing it should be the present and future happiness that must drive the decision. Everyone wants to get into a relationship but most can’t get into one with people they want to get into one with. Reasons for it are forced and false perceptions and beliefs, these reasons are somehow wired in a way that not getting involved with these peoples whom they admire will avoid their pain further down the live. It’s not that this will give them more happiness, it is that it will avoid them pain. The issue here is though that most of these people avoid the perceived long term pain, of which they have no evidence by getting into a lot of pain in the immediate aftermath. The fact there is, that by taking a decision, they are neither getting happiness now and nor will they get the same in the future. At both instances, it is the pain that is dictating the decision making process and decision are not even taken rationally.
Human condition is the same for everything we do. Most of us are nothing. We don’t matter, in the conventional sense. But even those who you think matter and perhaps more than others, they are battling the same crisis all the time. The ones who do matter are the ones who have come to understand that they don’t. They matter because they matter to themselves.
One vary weird phenemonon that I have come to witness and I am sure almost everyone has experienced it how the world perceives you and how important you think it is that they think of you in a particular way. Everyone wants to look intelligent appear intellectually superior and look physically attracted to the opposite sex not bothering if one actually is any of those or is that perceived to be. The image is the shadow matters more than the actual object. It is similar to the pain – happiness principal, the pain here is the actual object and the image is the happiness. One is only worried about but people think and perceived rather than what one is and what actually believes. All such actions are false and fraud. They can surely be harmless but they are false and fraud nonetheless. Just like pursuit of happiness is.
What then is the purpose of existence? It is to do what one wants and accept the true motivation behind it. It covers with one conditions, any act which is done by fulfilling the above two conditions and what I call the ‘true self state’ would never deprived anyone else of their own true self state . This would mean that if one wants to commit a theft , even though i.e. what one wants and what one is aware they are committing it knowing it is theft and has no qualities about it, it would still be wrong as the victim of the theft here is being deprived of their true self. When you marry same over your parents wants you to and not same one you want to, you are not being your true self and with fact you are a part of the false and fraud self of your parents. When you decided to participate or adopt a way just because it is going to liberate you from any pain that is there is you mind infact it shall only race too many doubts and with it bring a storm of mental trauma, you are not being true to yourself. The true self of an individual, is an extremely personal and private state. I can be true and I might hurt people but that is because of the untrue expectations from me and not my acts. I shall not say thank you where someone helps me and if that person feels bad about it. It is mostly because of the motivation as not to help but to register that one is helping. If we were to accept each other is the true selves of each other, we should see how beautiful each individual is.