The One.

The Matrix. A good movie. What do you understand when you watch it? Do you see an action movie? Do you see love? Are you confused, and don't understand anything that happens there? Or, do you see it as a pathetic sham? All okay. But, it is only one thing - a movie that talks about getting out of our shells, facing reality, and understanding our true potential as humans.

The concept of "the one" is explored in the movie. The movie looks in detail into the concept of how one person can lead a set of people (and by a set, I mean a lot) to freedom. Anyone come to mind? He leads people, and people follow him. He believes in things, and people believe in him. The One struggles through his life, involved in continuing battles with an entity that finally frees everyone, including himself, in the concluding part of the third movie of the franchise.

This gives rise to one question - is every one of us so dependent and reliant on someone else to help us lead our lives? After all, what is "leading our lives"? Does it not mean to be in control of thoughts, speech and actions, and be in control of how "we" live? People are called leaders when they lead another group of people to success in something. Now, apply this to "leading your life". Does it not mean you are leading your own self to be good and perfect at everything you do and as you are? That is key.

"Everything around us is an illusion" is a cliche. But, why is it the most spoken phrase? It is because we are in a constant state of fear - fear of everything. The fear is induced in our lives by everything around us, and the fear only grows. Fear of losing things we own, fear of losing people we love, fear of losing our homes, fear of losing food, fear of losing this, that and everything. That fear is what allows us to be misled. That fear is what makes us think so far ahead into the future that makes the present a blurry experience. Do we really want this?

Overcoming fear is the first step in "leading" your life. If you are afraid, you will not be able to take decisions. You will not be able to function properly. Is this going to help?

After all, if you look back, you are afraid of one thing - fear of losing what you have. Do we really own anything? Did we bring anything with us and take anything with us when our time's up?

This moment is all you have. Now. This instant. Is it possible that something can happen immediately after? Yes. That's the truth. Knowing and accepting the truth - that's what is hard. That we will all die, may be today, may be tomorrow, may be in the future. But, it will happen. That is one truth.

Being afraid of something that might happen can also be looked at in an alternative way - being happy that something might not happen. This is similar to another cliche, "the optimist views a glass filled half with water as half full, while a pessimist sees it as half empty". Pessimism should not find way into our lives. It is going to suck the life out of us.

Coming back to the "One". In the end, it really is very simple. The one is you. The one is me. The one stands for every single living entity. We have to guide ourselves to the truth. We have to grow beyond fear. We have to grow beyond anger, hatred, jealousy, and enemity. Help yourself live a life free from fear. Guide yourself to experience the truth. Learn to understand that this moment is what you have. "Now" is when you have to live.

It is all in the mind. Believe in your beautiful mind. Believe in the abilities of your mind. Believe that you can do anything you want - don't wait for approvals or acceptance by someone else. Just believe. It is amazing what the mind allows you to do, if you make it your friend and allow it to know itself better. Lead yourself to understand the value of your life, and of the life of everyone around you.

Life is beautiful. Live it peacefully. Smile, help others smile. Believe and help others believe.

You are the one.

  

  

The God in all of us

God. An entity that many of us believe in, and many of us don't believe in. An entity many of us believe to be the cause, the overseer, of everything in this world. An entity many of us blame for everything that happens - mind you, most people often end up blaming God for every bad thing that happens, but, never once get the feeling to thank for the good things. Abstract things - no satisfactory discussions, no satisfactory explanations. Often ends up leading you to wonder if there is one such entity.
Well, this is a concept that has come to be believed from ages, passed on from generations to generations. There are always a minority of the people who gather the courage to question the existence of such a singular entity, and are often disregarded and branded by the others. If you ask me, everyone has a right to their opinion. Everyone has a right to question - to reason, to understand deeply the truth behind such an entity. But, that's a topic of discussion for another day.

Why am I writing about this? Well, this is not an article where I preach about God. This is not an article where I "spread" God's messages (as some people claim to do). This is just an attempt at expressing my opinion about something we can do to make the world better.

I don't know why the concept of God began in the human civilization. But, here's what I think it should mean. People ask a question - "have you seen God?"

I will tell you - I have. I have seen God, in the trees around us, in the variety of plants, the beautiful flowers, the magnificient phenomenon of planets and their quests, in the microscopic animals that may be on the ground or in the human bodies, in the macroscopic animals, and the most beautiful and variety of species in that, and finally, in us. Humans. We have the capacity to think beyond our wildest imaginations, the abilities to create the most wonderful things in the world, the abilities to be the best people we can be, and the ability to do anything we set our minds to. We have the ability to become scientists trying to find the Higgs Boson (nick-named the "God" particle) to explain the origins of the universe, we have the abilities to put people in orbits around the earth, send probes to other planets, and other galaxies, and what not.

The best of all - we have the abilities to save lives. We have the abilities to protect each other from harm. We have the abilities to help each other in times of trouble. We have the abilities to respect each other's lives, and live our own to the best of our abilities.

And, this to me, is where we can all see God - in each other, and in everything we see around us. Why not just start with this?

It is always about what we can do from this point forward - for, there's nothing we can do about what has already happened, and what we do now decides what will happen next. We must begin today.

I am not saying leave everything, and focus on one entity called God. I am not emphasizing on one religion or belief or faith. If you are believing in something (even if you do not believe in the concept of God, or in any other such faith, it is your choice), then, please continue. I won't ask you to do anything about your current beliefs or faiths or religions.

But, one thing I will ask, is for everyone reading this to be a little more respectful of the people around you. No matter how high or how low in the so called "social" ladder they may be, just be a little more respectful. Once again, I am not saying that you are not respectful. I am only saying that you could be a little more respectful. Respectful of their abilities, of their beliefs, of their rights to just exist on this planet. Bow to a person, you are only bowing to the supreme entity in him - that causes him to live, to continue to exist, and to be human.

We may not all be the same. We may not all share the same thoughts. But, to co-exist, we need each other. We just need to realize this. We cannot go around hating each other, or stabbing each other behind our backs. We need to be better. We just need to understand that we're all the same, and it is we collectively that form the world.

I'm just asking to recognize the God in all of us. And, that's all we need to go beyond today, and make the world a happy place. It is our responsibility, and is the least we can do for having been alive for as long as we are.

Live happily, and spread happiness.
 
 
 
   

A world of fear.

Look around you. What do you see? A world filled with deception, anger, manipulation, and inevitably, fear. Although a few times, we also get to see a world filled with hope, unity, opportunity, and collective happiness.

Why do I write this today? Well, there is a lot of effort being put by agencies (countries, groups, etc.) to ensure that the world lives under fear, and that through our fear, we will give up everything and everyone we hold dear to the ones considered authority. Benjamin Franklin once said,

"They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

What choice do we have when all we are being told and all we are allowed to do is under the condition of having to give up essential liberty? What choice do the future generations have if this is a world we are going to leave behind for them? What future can we imagine for humanity if this is the way it is right now?

If our minds are conditioned well enough over a couple of generations to accept lack of essential and personal liberty, will the future generations even know what liberty means? This is a scary future to perceive.

Every now and then I dream of a future where we all live in a happy world. This world is not driven by fear, but by a sincere and collective effort to establish happiness. Not driven by a need to survive, but by an effort to ensure that the truth survives.

If we live through this age of uncertainty, and have the privilege to see a new world, I only hope that we get to see one with opportunity, unity and collective happiness.

It is not an unachievable future. Just one that needs all of us to put our collective minds and hearts into envisioning and creating it. One that requires us to pursue truth in all deeds, pursue honesty in all actions, and pursue kindness and compassion towards all living things with whom we share this magnificent world.

We have been given an incredible opportunity to exist within this universe. One can only hope that we actually make our lives worth this opportunity. 

The past-present-future conundrum.

Living in the present. Something we all aspire to achieve. We try to do everything in our power to make ourselves able to live in the present, don't we? I mean, we work hard, save up, try to buy things that we want, etc. These things don't always seem to help with living in the present.

We strive to achieve control in all situations - including the ones where we want and try desperately to live in the present. Yet, our mind is typically lost either in thinking about the days past or yet to come. It is a very interesting conundrum.

One of the most important reasons for our dissatisfaction is our illusion of control over everything. With an illusion of control, an illusion of power, an illusion of success, we recursively apply infinite boundaries and restrictions on our abilities to think, create and realize. Our ability to think and understand lies within. Our ability to think and create lies within. Our ability to realize the magnificent beauty of the universe lies within. Yet, all we crave for, are meaningless, tangible inadequacies. Artifacts that add no value to our soul, while suffocating it with our efforts to acquire.

Tangible things we look for in the world are only means to accomplish various things in our life; including spiritual pursuits. Nothing more, nothing less. Only means to something.

Our problems begin with us attaching meaning to everything in life - including artifacts we acquire. Instead of simply looking at them as things that assist us with what we do, our perception - "this is my item" - leads us to attach incredible, and often unnecessary, meaning to such tangible artifacts.

When every artifact in our possession has some meaning attached to them, it is natural for us to have trouble giving them up. This, unfortunately, also implies that we have trouble moving on because we end up spending an unnecessary amount of time thinking about artifacts that have meaning.

We also have the "this is mine" attachment towards other people, animals, and even to memories. This of course, forms the core reason why we have social connections and why we have such societal structures.

With everything - people, artifacts, memories - linked in an amazing manner, we are reminded of our past (and related actions) when we carry on living, for nearly each activity has a related instance in our past, and of the future when we get busy planning to make our existence just a little more better.

This leaves us with little to no time for living in the present. Living in the now, as it is sometimes referred to, requires us to think or spend our energy thinking about the current moment. Nothing beyond or nothing prior. Can we live like this? Yes, it is possible. Would it cause us to be labeled/branded by others? Of course, as it is always the case.

I guess the place to start is to think about living in a manner that does not affect others directly, and that does not hurt others as we do so. The links described earlier in this article makes it incredibly challenging to live in the present in a way that does not affect others - but, it is not impossible.

We have to begin by acknowledging our past actions - they are the reasons why we are the way we are today. There is nothing we can do to change them. We also have to acknowledge that right now we are in the moment which can change our lives for the better. The power to change is in our mind. We have to acknowledge this ability.

The future, well, is something we cannot control. The same links described in this article have the ability to change the future in a manner totally beyond our control. Think about this example scenario - you are in charge of an activity and you have paid attention to every little detail. But on the day before the activity there is a power outage and the generators ran out after a day. Was that in your control? No.

Once we acknowledge our past actions, we have to proceed to acknowledge that our future is beyond our control. The consequences of our current actions could be something small or catastrophic - but these are beyond our control. We have to acknowledge that it is not pure control, but merely an illusion of control, which is not valuable. It holds us back in our lives, because we measure each moment by our ability to control it. Valuable energy wasted.

When we have acknowledged both these, we begin to sense a bit of freedom in thoughts. The chance to think a bit more about today, about this moment. So, although we are able to acknowledge the past and plan for the future, we begin to live in the present.

It is not a straightforward process - not an easy one. It takes time and energy. It takes conscious effort on our part. Slowly, but steadily, we begin to live in the present; finding a solution to our past-present-future conundrum.

What should motivate us, though, is the possibility to live in a manner that does not harm others, and gives us hope for a happy and peaceful future.
 
 
   

The truth.

We are all in the pursuit of the truth at a very subtle level. Our pursuits might be at different levels, in different forms, but we all do it. We all yearn to understand our purpose in life. Many a time, we struggle to come to terms with what we do and sometimes get a feeling that we are meant for something else.

Well, we are meant to realize the truth. The truth that informs us about our similarity in diversity. The truth that binds us all together. The truth that enables us to look beyond labels and appearances, into the collective consciousness. The truth that sets us free.

The world today, more than ever, requires us to look beyond what we have merely accepted as the truth, and to question and fully understand it. This is, perhaps, our only way to create a better tomorrow. A happier tomorrow. A peaceful tomorrow.

As we continue our journey through this life, we can only hope that we can be led from the untruth to the truth, from darkness to light, and from death to immortality.

अस्तोमा सद्गमय |
तमसोमा ज्योतिर्गमय |
मृत्योर्मा अमृतम्गमय ||