A few days ago I came across a question on a Quora “What’s the point in living if everyone dies?”
I was a little taken aback at this question and I was wondering as to why would someone post a question like that. It felt that it was portraying negativity all through. And as usual we put our smart hats on as we wanted to come up with a clever answer and this was what we wrote
” Einstein lived, Einstein died…Gandhi lived, Gandhi died…Lincoln lived, Lincoln died…but Einsteiness never died…Gandhism never died…Lincolness never died :)”
LEGACY
Yes! At one end, we are talking about a legacy! But none of these guys were looking at a legacy when they were doing it. I am sure Gandhi was not looking at leaving behind a legacy when he professed and lived the idea of non violence. He was not even looking at being hailed a hero if I may go to that extent of imagination. For him, I guess life was simple, he knew his calling, he knew what he felt was right and he stood up for it.
So did Lincoln and Einstein and the many other names we get to listen. It has been years since they have passed on but even today, they are in our minds and in our lives cos they have made it so much worthwhile.
DOES IT HAVE TO BE ONLY LEGACY?
I am not saying that we have to make a big achievement to call it a considerable life. I believe that our life is a great opportunity and we have so much in each of us which defines us. We can try and answer the questions of futility or look at the larger picture. One of the reasons I was taken aback at this question was a wonder as to what answer it is looking at. None of the possible answers even came up with an actionable result. So, was it a mere question to challenge our brains or intellect or was it a genuine call for help? I still wonder though.
WHAT IF THINGS ARE TEMPORARY?
Sorry for the digression, coming back to the topic, what i we knew that it was all temporary – what would it make you do?
– Do all the wrong things so that you would never be caught?
– Listen to all the primary and fundamental unabashed desires and find a way to realize them?
– Indulge in all crimes and a beautiful desire of living in a self created world?
or
CAN IT BE USED FOR OUR ADVANTAGE?
– Live beyond the fears you have and look at life in a broader way?
– If things are temporary, so are failures and a little embarrassment.
– We have those dreams which we can strive and achieve and make a difference
– The passions which we have defined and our desire to make them happen.
– And so much more…
The point is, it need not be that bad a thing when it is all considered temporary. A couple of month back we wrote a similar post – “What if it was all temporary?” which might be able to answer a few questions on these lines.
So.. coming back to the real question now – What is the point in living if everyone dies? Well if someone is really on a quest to find an answer for this, then perhaps there is no point at all.
THE VERDICT
Or there is another way of looking at LIFE, as if you don’t have to care or worry about the wrongs in life and live it free from remorse and find a way to cherish every moment so that life embraces you in all forms of beauty and vigour and passion. Or you can feel bad about how temporary things are, give it all up and be a monk. Either of them is a good choice and can probably answer this one question. Frankly speaking I would prefer the former cos it is easier.
What about you? ;)
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Actually this thought haunts me sometimes ..and I don’t want to have a very long life….what would I do with days only if I can’t enjoy the life to the fullest with my near and dear ones ?…I would rather prefer a moderate span full of happiness :-) the depth matters more to me ..not the length..
BTW , your take has philosophy in it..real sense..so I think I’m a bit off-topic.. :-P
I am very much with you on this Maniparna, we never know how long the span is but the choice is about making it worthwhile, it is about those breaths which make it all the more special :)..
He he, I think I am getting into the philosophical groove of late.. Thus spake Vinay Nagaraju :P :D
I’ve great reverence toward philosophers… :-D
:).. Same here, they’ve always opened us up to the new thoughts and ideas..
Saints have said that we are given a life especially a human one to strive for the most coveted salvation-the freedom from the life & death cycle- but natives like us easily forget this foremost goal and having mesmerized by the mundane world keep on striving for material goals.
Too simple to say but too difficult to imbibe. :(
True Avadhoot, even I find the philosophies a little hard to follow. I firmly believe that we should be looking at an imperfect life with a lot of mistakes and trying to figure our way out every now and then .. The concept of life and death to me is too large and too metaphysical which I am not sure I understand. But something that makes me feel is that the presence and the reasons behind those questions. I agree it is a great feel to be in an intellectual mode sometimes but I would also love to see where and how these questions lead us :) ..
Thank you for the thoughts Avadhoot, appreciate them :)_
Wow ! lovely read again.” Life is a box of chocolates, u never know what you’re gonna get.” :-D
Thank you Ruchi :) .. Those are really kind words.
Very true, box of chocolates indeed :) .. I’m always trying to look for the Lindts of late ;)
I would rather answer this one by saying, the point is to live while we can when we know it is going to end one day for sure. And in that case, why not live it the way we want to!
True vinodoni, that says it all. The point is in living every experience at its fullest :)
Another good blog post Vinay. After reading this I started thinking so many things. You will be surprised to know but then the same question came into my mind when I read the newspaper yesterday. There was a building collapsed in Delhi, and the news was of two family heads, who unfortunately lost their wife and babies life in the incident.
I was just worried about all the injured and dead people of the incident, but then I was thinking about why God saved these two people’s life?
Thank you Alok :).
That’s nice to hear, looks like we are hitting a frequency of thought on the note scale :). It surely is a saddening affair to see so many things making lives challenging, that too when those issues are the ones which could be resolved by simple actions.
I think that is a very interesting way of looking at it Alok, even I lose myself in train of thoughts when I hear something like this and it is a situation where I really can say nothing. It always seems that it is beyond me to comprehend what it is and then try to bring it to the normalcy and figure out the best way to look at things.
These thoughts often haunt my mind..but as far as I am concerned I want to live my life to fullest and the most that concerns me is die healthy and abrupt death…a thought provoking poat indeed .
Every time I visit your blog I read something worth to read :) You are also creating a legacy dude . :)
-Nitin