Chapter 5
Why Search for
a Meaning for Life?
Now, I think all the imponderables of human society can be
condensed to this particular question. For, mankind’s foray with
knowledge, by now, have succeeded in offering a satisfactory answer
to almost all the other ones. And also, having been coming across
fresh insights, while shaping many and varied answers since long,
only a few facets of life is still remaining unanswered. Hence the
original question regarding the nature and constitution of life has
taken a turn to the abstract, as, one seeking the ultimate aim in
life. Or, this is one of the odd questions that remains to be
answered, having understood much about the nature and constitution
of everything else.
Ease of Re-definition Leads to the Spiritual
There are already many answers, each of those giving a fresh meaning to life. Also, every new one turns out to be a little more abstract than all the earlier ones. Many more are in the making, again of course, of the same vein.
But I think this question is not a difficult one to solve, and the clear answer is the desire to have a comfortable life, whether it is in this world, elsewhere, or both. However, it is impossible to have a life that is generally at ease and comfort, since at least one facet of it will be leaving us, more or less perpetually, in dismay. What do we do? We constantly redefine life, and to overcome the limits of a language or its vocabulary, we let the same words taking fresh meanings, and at will. Which is not possible in the material domain, where meanings can’t change arbitrarily. Hence humans embraced spirituality, which makes it easy to accord whatever meaning one may find fit, wherever. (In fact the particular dismay mentioned above, which is a part of all forms of life, is the theme of my book, The Unsure Male)
But, over the ages, the real reason for us to invent spirituality got lost in the brilliance it created, and kept mankind enthralled for long years, I think. Or it became a container word to accommodate the words that failed to make an instant connection with something easily perceivable. And since human life would have been progressing dynamically, fresh landscapes, new experiences, and changing situations added quite a bit of roughage, which we have been successfully connecting to one another, humans being an imaginative species, managing to make a grand spiritual domain. We now deal with it in the most intelligent manner that can ensure its survival for ever, and with the best of health. Define it as something beyond human comprehension.
As a result of all this, one can say, each and every one of us leads a life fitting to one’s own definition, which for convenience, we have come to adopt from our parents. And, I am sure, an answer appropriate for the redefined one is on the tip of every tongue, for, nobody loses an opportunity to pontificate on such matters. Except that all those answers suggest quite complex and time consuming observances, ceremonies and other imponderables that can hamper one from seeking other pleasurable experiences that would have been occurring in the natural scheme of things. Won’t there be a short cut to it, which perhaps can save us from such a loss?