Who knows..??!!!

Its amazing that how simple choices in life can actually chisel the future of a person. Making a choice of going to a college and what college, what car to buy, what place to live in and with whom, even a simple choice of going to friends party may be life-changing. Its as if at each and every stage of life, no matter how simple and obvious it may seem, we have to make a choice and probably life might take a different route after that. Its like a switch-case statement in C++ (and other programming languages) where there are different possible options and with each option there exists different case; the difference being in real life we are not aware what statements are going to be executed in a particular case apriori.

With this in mind a person might start analyzing each and every small thing before he/she does something. There would exist such immense pressure to make a right choice always. But then arises two questions:

1] What is meant by right choice; how do we come to a conclusion that this is a bettern option

then other? We might be aware of all the immediate facts but what about something which is

not visible? How do we take into account those factors? More interestingly one might ask "Does

there exists a right choice?

2] Is it worth? Wasting so much of effort and brains on trying to analyze and predict things in

advance and then basing the decision on it. How do we predict stuff anyways ? Its just so hard

to analyze things and make a choice and then prove it to be correct one.

And probably things are already written..who knows? Possibly the whole story and screenplay has already been decided by a director called 'fate' and it takes care that things happen at right time. So does it make any sense in trying to think through stuff so vigorously to a point where we try to figure out things which are not even written yet. While doing so who knows what are we missing on.? Mabbe we are missing all the enjoyment that could have been derived without knowing everything. Perhaps that is the reason that we cannot know what will happen in the future.

I would say keeping it simple is the best available option but the irony is that it is the most difficult part as far as humans are concerned. We just like to mix so many things and make it so complicated that it becomes just so difficult to disentangle different wires from them. As per me going with the moment,taking into account all the obvious things, enjoying the present to the fullest, without worrying what will happen next and not restricting OURSELVES (theres a reason behind it being capital) by self-imposed bindings is the way to go. And this is the most difficult task for me as well; on the bright side, however, I can at least identify the problem and what remains is to work on it.

What is it about..temporary or permanent

They say that happiness comes from within. So if that is the case then is man truly a social animal. Do we really need someone to be with us to be fine. Can a person be happy by himself without any outside factors. And truly if happiness and peace, which kind of goes together, comes from within then what are we looking for outside of us in different people and in different places.
By observations, people are happy after they successfully drive a car for the first time, we are happy when we get a nice lucrative job, we feel happy when we help someone and so many other things. Similarly we feel sad when something wrong happens or something bad happens. But the thing is that none of it is eternal. With time both of those emotions start fading. The next thing that comes to mind is whether there exists an enlightened permanent state wherein you grow beyond these temporary emotions.
I would say we are made self-sufficient to the point where we don’t really need something, someone or some particular lifestyle in life to be happy. We end up spending our whole life running after some materialistic dream. There are two possible outcomes: either we fulfill it or we don’t. If we do it we are elated and if we don’t we are sad. But to think of it is any of these states permanent. Probably not. Both of those emotions are just an instant reaction to a realization which crops from fulfillment of a materialistic dream or otherwise. As the source, even that state is temporary.
Probably the key is to identify that it’s all within instead of looking for happiness outside; in different places or people. To get to a state of permanent peace we probably have to know ourselves and identify what we are actually longing for. And after identifying our ultimate goal, go for it.
But the difficult part is to get over so many distractions that are placed for us. How do you get over the feeling of having fun with your friends or getting married or the satisfaction that you get by fulfilling your parents’ dreams. The question to ask is: Do we have to do that? Do we have to get over these things to get to permanent steady and happy state. I am not sure. But the logic says that to get to a permanent state of peace and no confusion, we probably shouldn’t be affected by temporary things. Once we reach a point where the things from outside don’t affect us we can enjoy those materialistic things again and this time with no sense of attachment. But the thing that remains is: would we care about them once we reach that state.

Lots of questions. I guess asking questions is at least a nice start towards getting to a clear and big picture.

Next level

Over the course of lifetime, a realization has struck me: Its only when its lost or about to get lost that we start valuing the thing. Its like when a magnet is stuck to the piece of iron, when you try to detach them you feel the maximum resistance. What is it that keeps us from appreciatng the stuff when we have it or put in other words what is it that fear of loss does to us that we suddenly realise that the thing that was there was precious. Fear..?

But if it is fear then what is it about.? I guess its fear of what change it is going to bring to the life. We get so attached to some stuff that dont imagine life without that. Sub-consciously it is always there with you. But one fine day when one realises that it is gone, we are scared 'coz the circumstances have changed. And since we always try to resist the change, we try to get that back but after a while its gone completely. For a while the mind stops thinking. Mabbe after a lot of efforts and pain the we get over it. However, there is still no garuntee that this wont happen again.

So the whole point is should a person get attached to anything. All the pain and happiness, cold and warmth, comforts and misery and everything is temporary. So why get attached to them. Mabbe it would help if we get attached to eternal 'Self' or Creator. As it is said 'one has to tolerate the dualities of life like happiness and sorrow and by doing this one can become free from anxieties regarding loss and gain.

This probably is the thing that will take us to next level where we can enjoy stuff in a detached manner.

Freedom bounded by Practicality

Things almost always seem so complicated even though at the base of it, it might be so simple and striaght-forward to understand. Its so simple to do what you like but then all the pressures that we carry around makes it difficult. For example: Someone might like wearing fashionable/sexy clothes but he/she cannot because of cultural or religious or probably some social restrictions. Someone might like to travel the world but he/she cannot because as per others, there are always things to do. Someone would want to fall in love but he/she might be restricted by cultural and religious boundaries. To think of it, all these sound and seem so simple. You wanna wear clothes of your choice, go do it; you wanna travel, go do it; you are falling in love, let go of yourself ,fall into it and enjoy it. But again all we think of is how the things are gonna be after we do that. What if someone finds out, what if some other things go wrong and the one that hate I the most what if its not practical. Where did this word originate from..?? Who decides what is practical and relative to what..? Is carrying all the pressure along with you and acting under those pressures practical..? Is not doing what you want to do only because it violates some religious or cultural condition practical..?? Is not doing what your heart says practical..?

So to think of it..is being practical really practical..? What is more important: living life as you wish and derive happiness and enlightenment or living life practically and just die like everyone else leaving your dreams unfullfilled.

I understand that some things are just beyond human control but what about things that are within our control but we just dont do it because its not suited to our society or family or culture or religion. But arent these institutions there to help you develop and grow as human. To get a human close to absolute truth..? If all these institutions are just binding you from exploring the life, then what use are they of..?

Its good to have some form of order. But till what point should you control someone. To think of it are we even free.? Do we enjoy and live life freely..? Do we do what our heart wants freely..? Sometimes I feel all these are just restricting humans from reaching to one's own self and Supreme Personality of Creator. Mabbe 'Free' is more of a precise adjective for heart and 'Practical' is more to brain. But what is a balancing point between them wherein none of them is hampering the other. Right now I can certainly say Practicality beats Freedom. When are we gonna grow over this word PRACTICAL and do what we want to do FREEly..? Really a question to ponder upon