Life is worth living only when shared

By P Raja

What is man, or for that matter, woman? The human body undergoes change every minute, every second, without our knowledge. We know that the body is present on Earth for a short span of time.

We walk towards death unknowingly, and death walks towards us clandestinely. About the meeting point, God only knows, for it is said in Indic mythology that Brahma writes the newborn’s fate on its forehead.

You can also feel his hand when you furrow your forehead and touch the formed wrinkles. How true was the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen of ‘Literary Fairy Tales’ fame when he said, “Every man’s life is a fairy tale written by God’s fingers.”

We have only one life, and it is very short. Why waste it on things we don’t truly need? Shaiv Siddhant talks of the three impurities that affect our body: ego, karm, and illusion.

These three impurities constitute a human being. A deer that mistakes a mirage for a water source, rushes towards it only to feel disappointed. So do we, when we mistake wealth as our refuge. Danger awaits those who get attached to material objects.

Paambaatti, the most outspoken Tamil Siddha, sang: “Of what use are the spongy mattress, the flowery bed and the cosy sheets when you are moved to the burial ground? Dance O Snake and aver that the fragrance of turmeric paste will vanish only to give rise to the stench of burning flesh,” (verse 45).

He simply means to say that only the ignorant make much ado about things of the illusory world. In another stanza, he gives a memorable solution to the problem: “What are these hoarders of gold going to take away with them when the Lord of Death summons them?

Deathless are those who wield control over the mind and concentrate on the Supreme Being,” (verse 44).

Life is like a bubble in water… What we must keep in mind is the impermanence of the body. If that is the case, we should be worthy of the life given to us by the Supreme. Life has meaning, and it is worth living because life is short.

When we change our outlook, everything else changes. Before we change the world, we must change ourselves. Life becomes meaningless if we don’t create an impact.

A Tamil folktale teaches us the art of living. A sadhu was moving with his disciples from a hamlet to a nearby village. The scorching sun was blistering their feet, and so they took shelter under a huge banyan tree.

Standing under the shade of the tree, the disciples started cursing the ball of fire in the sky. The Sadhu advised them to think differently.

He said, “How fortunate we are to find a bushy banyan tree in this heat? Trees live for the good of others. But people find pleasure in splintering them. We don’t have to find fault with the sun. He is, after all, doing his duty. Instead, we should appreciate the tree that stands exposed to the sun, rain, and inclement weather. We should salute the tree that provides us with shade, expecting nothing in return. No tree lives for itself but for everyone. Our life is really worth living only when shared.”

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