Our Transient Life Of Birth, Growth, Decline And Death Deserves Higher Purpose By Dr. Jagessar Das

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What are we to learn from our transient life? There is birth, growth, decline and death. We can plot it on a graph. We start at birth, lets say at zero age, and we grow into adulthood, reach a peak, perhaps in the twenties, and then our life begins to decline. There is an upward slope and then a downward slope until the end of our life. Nobody can stop that. It is the law of nature. Every birth must be followed by a death. This does not apply only to human beings, but to every living being, including mosquitoes, worms and trees. They will all grow to a peak and then gradually decline, decay and die.

The world is in transition. We are all in transition. Being in this transition, we have to achieve certain things. We know from our common sense, and from the teachings of all the scriptures, what we ought to be doing. We ought to be good human beings; be good to ourselves and to others; be humble, kind, loving, generous, and do good for all the people, and do not think in a selfish way of ourselves.

The late President John F. Kennedy gave us a very powerful thought: “Ask not what America can do for you; ask what you can do for America.” It is not asking what God can do for you; it is asking what you can do for God. God has given us life and placed us in this world, so what are we going to do to thank God for the gift of life? But having this beautiful gift of life, we spoil it with our desires, passions, greed, ego, etc. These are the things that are destroying us. Kabir Saheb sang in one of his bhajans, “jhini jhini jhini bini chadariya…. God has made this body very delicately using the five elements, and the spinning wheel of the chakras. He made it in nine months and brought it forth. But foolish people do not know its secret and soil it through their life.” So it is incumbent on us to keep our life pure if we are to reap spiritual benefits.

When we realize that there is death, it must be an instruction to us that we are also heading that way, and we do not know when it is going to happen. Kabir Saheb said that we do not know if death will strike us at home or in some foreign land. So let us take stock of ourselves. Examine our priorities, attitudes, behavior, desires, hang-ups, value systems and inclinations. Just examine them and see if we can be better tomorrow than we are today. If we can be better tomorrow than we are today, in terms of behavior, growth, understanding, and wisdom then, indeed, we are growing towards God. If not, then we are either stagnant or going backwards. I am sure that life is meant for unfoldment, not for stagnation or regression. Furthermore it is meant for enlightenment. So let us seek to follow the path of life to enlightenment.

Dr. Jagessar Das can be reached at [email protected]