Thursday, October 22, 2009

Vantage points and perspectives


A documentary on Hulu - http://www.hulu.com/watch/103661/cosmic-journeys-how-large-is-the-universe- got me thinking about how the scientific discoveries can be aligned with philosophical perspectives to get a different vantage point in our daily life. We get up in the morning and start our daily chores, go about with our business but we hardly take a moment to see where all this is approaching. Now I use "approaching" rather than "going" only because with every cognitively intact action, we are "approaching" a goal in our life- it has a feel good tone to it. So here is a thought- "Where do we- as a person or an individual or an entity- stand in this grand schema of life?" There are several philosophies out there explaining to us why we exist and provide a reason for our existence. However, this is the one that I like the most.


Imagine this if you can- outside of us, we have this world that is cosily placed in the laps of Mother Earth. She, on a larger scale, is floating around with other planets, who as a group constitute one of the several solar systems in our Milky way galaxy. Now I dont have to tell you that Milky way is one of the galaxies in our closest proximity of space with the nearest intergalactic region about 60 million light years away (seems like I just did). Moving "out", the universe continues to expand and proliferate at unimaginable proportions which in turn is only an infinitesimally small part of the actual universe! (Let's not even get into the concept of multiverse and the mesh of string theory).


On the inside, there is a world that is similar to the one outside. Within us, we house organs, muscles, ligaments, cartilages, and bones which are made up of different types of cells. Each cell is supplied by blood vessels which amazes me because every cell in the body is within 1/10th of a mm of a supplying blood vessel (Don't quote me on the number!). Peering microscopically, we end up looking all the way upto the atoms that make the molecules which make these cells. But now we even know that there is more to atoms that just protons and neutrons and electrons. In short- the world within us is expanding as well- we just dont know how much it is capable of expanding.


So that leads us to the ultimate, million-dollar question- Who are we?


We are nothing more than a boundary that seperates the outside from the inside. The "I" is exactly that- a line seperating the ever expansive cosmos outside and the explorable microcosm inside. So next time you feel that you feel that your ego is causing trouble within- think for a moment that you are nothing but a line that seperates two worlds that are functioning without you even controlling them one tiny bit. Seems depressing isn't it? But there is more to it than the structural boundary that we as beings create- there is meaning to this boundary and that my friends is the meaning of life.


My best friend's father Dr.Vidyadhar Oke, has always been a "spiritual" guide to me and I have been fortunate to get some really cool perspectives on life through him. While watching this documentary, I was reminded of one of his perspectives of life- according to him- the meaning of life does not lie in the word "life"- it lies in the word "meaning". In an effort to understand the "why" of life, we forget to focus on the "what" of life. The Self is an abstract concept because you wouldn't call just your hand "you". I wouldn't look at my foot and say "Oh that's Amit" or look at my eye and say "Yep, that's me". Because they are a part of me- they have a meaning in their presence. The foot walks, the eye sees and so on. Its their utility that makes them what they are and when everyone does what they are supposed to, they form what is then considered "You". So find your utility in this world and you will know how you fit into it. In this massive body of whatever the heck it is, our effort should be directed towards understanding what purpose it is that we serve in this grand scheme of chaos.


And to help us along, we have been blessed with simple pleasures of life- a cup of hot chocolate on a chilly winter morning.


Find your purpose and you shall find yourself.


Until later.

1 comments:

AVOke said...

But THE question is, utility for whom? Being useful to ourselves, others, or still someone else?

At least these days, people (including most of us) are only trying to help ourselves and no one else.
And surprisingly, the more we help 'our self' and forget about being useful to others, the more we get lost...

One simple personal example; do'u know when I am the most happiest? When i am feeding my dogs!
Why? Because that's the ONLY one time I am NOT thinking about myself, that too without any effort.

Ironically, the more you want to find 'yourself', the more you have to forget yourself! :S

Cant explain in words, just start forgetting about yourself and DO things FOR someone other than you, for e.g.
1) Start feeding some animals. ( dogs, cats, fish, bird, even lizards will do!)
2) Play with a child, and i mean RUN with him/her, there is nothing more satisfying than that!
3) Help your neighbour carry her bags up the stairs.
4) Talk with an old dude, ask him/her about their childhood, ask them to tell THEIR stories. (Let me tell you, some of them are the coolest ppl you will ever meet!)

Once you do things like these, you will see how easy it is to forget yourself, and find yourself again..

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