Is there a God or gods? This is a very difficult question for some. People never seem to question something bigger than the self until, in many cases, it is too late to form a final belief – life providing unexpected intrusions, a quickly occurring finality, for example. I feel, as a sensitive being, however, it is impossible not to question the “why.” Why for everything – for the bugs, the bees, the butterflies, for me, for that matter – just why? There is no empirical (1) answer to this existential question.
Why are you so angry?
Recently on my way to prayer, I was passed by two racing buses. “I didn’t quite catch that, what did you say?” Yes, it is true – two buses were “jockeying for position” down one of our city’s busy thoroughfares. It was a brilliant morning in the process of segueing into an even more beautiful day. The sun was out and, for November, the weather was temperate and comfortable. It was not the kind of morning that promoted frustration and anger. Walking and reflecting were being beckoned, not a call for misplaced justice and one-upmanship. What would produce such vexation, such hostility? The answer – the self — it is me that creates my perception of the world, not the other way round. I have come to observe, however, in my years on this earth that few people know this reality and even less believe it — why?
Thoughts on freedom
Why does it matter and why should I care? The quick and concise answer is, it doesn’t and you shouldn’t. We are, of course, referring to life itself – normally, my life. There is no intrinsic, God-given creed that obligates the individual to care, about anything for that matter. These are learned phenomena that come along with the realization, at some point, that we are free to do whatever we want to do in this existence. One of the great dilemmas we confront when we face this realization, rather sadly, is that we have already obligated ourselves to certain things — to a certain lifestyle. We have by this time placed the chains and shackles on ourselves. We have “a job,” we are in a serious relationship or we are married, we have created other life, we have children, etc. To view it from another perspective, these are the “givens,” (1) that make the fight for me, for my mission in life, worthwhile. I recently spoke with a very large group of young people. When I expressed the idea that each of us is free to discover or uncover that, potentially, raging fire that smolders inside each of us, I was met with the proverbial “stony silence.”
Voyages: a wedding – the return
I awaken early to prepare for my departure. Nothing is ready! This should produce an angst-ridden panic. There is, however, little to assemble – the sojourn to the wedding being so short. My mind begins to wander. What does it take to find your chosen other? What is it — the incomprehensible cosmos, pure unbridled luck or the facility of the Internet? Wait, it is obviously the romantic in me! It should be real, and yet practical, love. Any, initially intense, relationship that endures must be based on this particular emotion. I am convinced that this is the truth. Now to be fair, there are many forms of marriage – some opportunistic, some arranged, some cerebral and, of course, some physical.
Voyages: a wedding – the event
It is the day of the magnificent fete: we are ready! That grand thrust of humanity – the shoes to be polished, the black bowties retrieved, the pressed shirts presented, the elegant gowns displayed and the shawls admired (let us not forget the shawls) — is transmogrified from a stunning disorder into an alluring elegance. How does this occur? No one seems to know, but it just does – the miraculous comes to pass. Have you ever remarked on this? Few participants ever present themselves looking disheveled.
Voyages: a wedding – the journey
Life is filled with traditions. And, even though our civilization, at present, seems to be “an enigma wrapped in a riddle,” (1) to paraphrase Winston Churchill, time moves on. I am off to a wedding. Like any transition, it must include great travel and adventure prior to the event itself. It does: being far across land and sea. At first, we must endure the ubiquitous process of “security.” Now I am convinced that this overall procedure has taken on a life of its own. When I transit from one hermetically sealed space, an airport, to another hermetically sealed space, (2) another airport, it defies logic why a person would have to be searched on departure and upon arrival — but in many cases, this is what happens.
Our quality of life
“Quality of life” is a term so ubiquitous and oft used that it has become banal. The question to be asked is: What does the phrase truly mean or entail? Are we speaking of material well-being or spiritual enlightenment? Are we living the ultimate American Dream or are we ensconced in the upper reaches of Bhutan: the self-described happiest country on Earth? (1) These questions are fraught with as many new questions as they are filled with antiquated answers. Obviously, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Are we capable of making ourselves “World Citizens” (2) or must we choose between civilizations and countries?
My social responsibility
I always find that it is great fun to deal with people, young souls in particular – they are diverse and multi-faceted – distressed and joyous. Recently, I had the chance to experience several people who were truly morose – everything was despicable and life was a nuisance at best. One was slightly older and the other was of school age. I used to dismiss these sorts of people and just “move on.” I would simply tell myself “Who has the time to deal with a curmudgeon?” That is the point, of course — no one does! They continue to exist in a world that is devoid of human kindness and thoughtfulness. They are putting “up a wall” and stopping the goodness of human interaction flow over their emotional parapet. I have decided that I am no longer going to give these people “a pass.” (1)
Stand in the sunlight
When do I get my silence, that little piece of space that is only mine and allows me to reflect? There are so, so many things that I truly do not understand. These occur to such an extent that I could believe that this life is but an illusion: a dream within a dream. When we watch the “news,” we are continually exposed to unbelievable violence and anguish. Yet in my life, I have experienced none of it. Am I merely lucky or is this but a created vector, a falsehood which attempts to move me in a certain way of thinking? I have come to contemplate thoughts like these as the years flash by. An example: as we know from the media, the world is quite literally “coming unglued.” There is unheard of violence on the streets and society is descending into anarchy, in the worst sense of the word. Yet two weeks ago, I went to a wedding and sat at a table with a local businessman. He had just opened a factory in a “violent” part of the world. I asked him about the security of his person and that of his employees. He looked at me in a quite flummoxed way. “I would never invest in a dangerous country; that country is fine. Why?” Now, who should I believe: the mass communications industry or this man?
The danger of the vanity of the body
As I age chronologically, I am reminded of what an Indian doctor once told me in Calcutta. “The body is like an old Mercedes Benz, sir – replace the tires, clean the headlights and change the oil, and it will run for over 500,000 kilometers.” What he meant by this, of course, is that the corporeal being carries me throughout a, potentially long, life: keep it healthy with prescient and intelligent practices – good nutrition, regular exercise, etc — and it will run for a long time.