All the human beings constantly struggle for the sake of happiness and get entangled in the process, in some crisis. Everyone struggles for freedom and gets caught in some form bondage. They strive for name and fame but humiliation lies somewhere in the wait to pounce on them unawares. The attempt to evade death continues, but the fear of death doesn’t recede. Right from birth till the curtain of death is drawn, man is swept through the current of life by the conflicting waves of laughter and tears, victory and defeat. He sometimes becomes as hopeless as a fly caught in spider’s web. None can escape these conflicting forces, neither the peasant in the countryside nor the eminent statesman in the capital, neither the owner if a palace or a monastery nor the occupant of a cottage or a cave. Is that all there to life? why then has man made a compromise with his state? why does he remain satisfied with his limitation? why does he constantly try to escape from these shackles? why should imperfect man forever contemplate the image of a perfect man? The truth is this: Man is not truly mortal, not truly bonded, not truly imperfect. Because of ingrained ignorance he believes that he is mortal, bonded and incomplete, but his inner spirit resists this constantly. Without shedding his ignorance, he cannot see the inner truth. His struggle is, thus, unending until he realizes his real nature.
With the heat of the sun, the water of the sea turns into vapour, forms itself into clouds and rises to the heights of the Himalayas. The true nature of these particles of vapour is the sea itself. and they constantly strive to get back to their true source, the ocean. Hence they are so unsteady till the reach their real state , their true home of the ocean, they continue to float and wander. Every living being, which has been displaced from its source of perpetual happiness has an indomitable urge to attain true happiness and to remain constantly in this real state of being. Hence the struggle for this attainment goes on and the human being is constantly restless. He seeks happiness in wife and children, in wealth and other worldly matters. It is with the desire for the attainment of happiness than man engages himself in various acts that lead him into good or evil. His attempts, however, are not guided by complete knowledge. Partial knowledge or ignorance leads him into confusion, doubt and misery. When he attains true knowledge, the individual becomes free from bondage, attains perfection and experiences perfect bliss.
All our social, political and economic reforms are intended to provide for food, clothing and shelter and thus remove obstacles in the path of physical existence. but there is another struggle thats going on for the maintenance of ego. Man has not yet learnt the art of disburdening himself of this struggle. the ‘ego’ tries to main its identity, its superiority - in the family background where it is born, in its working environment, in the midst of friends and colleagues, in other forms of social relationships. We can imagine the maze of problems that can arise from this struggle. Existentialist writers show a great skill in depicting this struggles most impressively and movingly.Bertrand Russel remarks in his book “The conquest for happiness”: “what people mean by struggle of life is really struggle for success. What people fear when they engage in the struggle is not that they will fail to get their breakfast next morning, but they fail to outshine their neighbours.”
According to views of wester thinkers, efforts made by man to maintain and preserve the ‘ego’ is one of the unavoidable existential necessities. In the view of Kierkegaard, the father if existentialism, all experiences that man can gain come through the narrow passage of the ‘ego’. he summarizes the features if human life in four words: individuality, contradiction, choice and bread. He goes in to explain the struggle of the ego. Just as man cannot perch on his own shoulder, he cannot transcend the four limitations referred to above. The word “individuality” encompasses the limitations of the person who is caught in the current of forces like various impulses, interests, actions, reactions, influences and protests in the context of pressures emanating from time, place, environment and tradition. The quality of life of an indivisual depends on the occupation of profession he has chosen and his attitude. but is he really free in this? He feels that nothing is impossible for him. But when he goes a few steps forward, he finds unsurmountable barriers around him. He realizes that he is helpless. He realizes that his life is like a tree without roots, a house without foundation, boat without a rudder. death engulfs everything in a fraction of a moment. However, even in a midst of these contradictions he sometimes sees principle of unity or reconciliation….
In India, thousands of years ago, our sees had found answers to existential problems from the highest level of spiritual consciousness….
Th true spiritual exercise consists of effort to reach the high state of consciousness. recitation of mantras, worship, meditation, selfless service are steps leading to this high state of consciousness. ‘Realization of self is religion, the struggle to transcend the limitation of the senses is religion’ - These statements of swami Vivekananda give us a true idea about our goal and the means to reach it.
- Swami Jagadatmananda
This article which i saw in one of the magazines was very moving. It was somewhat puzzling at the same time it made me question myself. So i had to publish it. Looking forward to read more about the existentialist theories by Bertrand Russel and Kierkegaard.
