Some time back, as I was reminiscing (for no obvious reason) about the SAP functions in April; the one thing that I distinctly recalled was Raju’s 3 yr old child enjoying himself, thoroughly.
While, it is difficult to imagine, anyone not enjoying, on an occasion like this, the child’s happiness as compared to other elders, was at another level; it can only be described as “total bliss”. Which brought forth the question… what is it that makes the child’s happiness different from us adults? The usual facile explanations such as its innocence, child being divinity itself etc were far from being adequately satisfactory.
Then strangely, a thought came to mind, which said “ignorance”; this was surely bizarre, and I quite forgot the whole thing. Then suddenly there was this surprise!!…an article by Osho in TOI talked about “knowledge” being one of the greatest impediments to happiness!!!
Nothing pleases a maverick, more, than such profound theories!! The thought processes were back in earnest. And again surprise of surprises!!! A brief info about Ganesh’s BITS Pilani Batch mate making it to the elite 8 selected from Pune for the “Lead India” campaign triggered some excellent exchange of views, prompting me to pen my thoughts…. Madhuri’s and Umashankars encouraging responses were perfect for sitting down & start…..So, here I go…..
Let’s get back to Raju’s child. The child knew nothing except that, which it saw in front of him; the goodies, the bright lit open hall, the thrill of stealing an ice-cream- scoop, etc. It’s not unusual to see children excitedly talking about drowning 5 cokes or some such thing, in such functions. All of them exemplify the paradigm of ignorance being the basic ingredient for “bliss”.
Contrast this with us adults; we know that the ice-cream would screw the throat, the heavy stuff will result in a bad stomach, etc and the end result? We rarely are able to enjoy anything resembling “bliss”.
Let’s take mythology, Duryodhana, the ignorant, when playing the dice game to win the throne, must have been in ecstasy. In contrast, the knowledgeable, Kunti asks the Lord, to give her only “difficulties” so that she can remember Him always!
All of which begs the question; does it really then boil down, to not growing up from stealing ice-cream scoops stage,just so that one is in perpetual “bliss”? Surely it is nobody’s case, that foregoing of bliss is a price one has to pay for evolution; it’s simply absurd. Then how does one co-relate ignorance & bliss, and simultaneously provide for one’s evolution?
One is familiar with TV serials which go on thru one’s life time. This has a cast of characters, who are all, assigned a role. A good performance is hailed as one virtually getting under the character and actually living the role.
So with real life, we are all expected to live our roles assigned to us; and just like one cannot judge a person by the role he is playing in a serial, in real life also, we have no means to really know/judge anyone as either good or otherwise. In other words we are all ignorant and admitting it is a first step to realization of happiness.
Quite contrary to what has been earlier said, it is Kunti, who by her total surrender to the lord, indirectly admitting her ignorance, who is perhaps happier, than Duryodhana who thinks he knows what is good for him. The “karmanyeva adhikarasthe” piece from the lord, probably says this “just perform/live your role, and I will give you Bliss”. Happiness/Bliss is generally a by-product of other activities and is not achieved by conscious pursuit is a quote from Aldus Huxley
Isn’t it a great irony, that a modern day purely commercial multinational’s credo- “just do it” echoes this profound message?
And incidentally, the Sanskrit word “Mudra” (a sign) means to “draw forth delight or pleasure”. One of the mudras namely the “Chin Mudra” is formed by the joining the tips of the forefinger (the individual soul) and the thumb, which represents the Universal Soul. And when you do that what do you get? A “Shoonya” which represents absolute knowledge/Bliss.( Chin Mudra is also called Gyan Mudra).
Surprisingly, “shoonya also represents total ignorance……Perhaps ultimate bliss/Gyan is nothing but Shoonya/ignorance.
Sublime or ridiculous….. You decide……. Vichu
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