Siddhartha Gauthama, the prince of KapilaVastu, has always been a fascinating figure for me. He left everything material in life in his fascinating young life to seek ultimate enlightenment.
His father, the king of KapilaVastu, wanted Siddhartha to grow in prosperity without knowing any pain, misery or obstacles in life. The prince wasn’t allowed to leave the palace for many years. One fine day, all of a sudden, he accidentally came out of the palace and saw his subjects living life through poverty, diseases, hunger and miseries of no account. The shocked prince at the moment decided to leave his palace in search of the roots of all miseries.
Whether that was a myth or a real one, the story carried a holy message. I do not know whether the prince followed his passion or not. Was it for enlightenment or an act of selflessness? Maybe, he was keen to escape the real world and find out the reasons for all pains in life. It doesn’t matter to me. I consider all Purana and Itihasa as storehouses of tales, which rarely unravel stories of reality. Every fiction gives us short-time energy and inspires us to live in a better way. I would rather say the story of Siddhartha comes to me as a great force for introspection. He left everything behind freeing himself from the burden of luxury for a cause at one moment in life.
I want to break my shackles too and let myself free and weightless from material influences. The thrill of Siddhartha living life by leaving everything behind has fascinated me. I wish I could take such a call in life. Very hard, still do not know whether this is possible, a fullness out of nothingness. The path may be materially tough or spiritually easy, but it is interesting. Believe it is a call…the feel is amazing. I am sure, it may be the time to explore the selflessness, the meaning or meaninglessness of life.
Everyone is thirsty for money. Humans spew greed in every breath. It is a dangerous obsession, yet it is a fact that modern humans own this. For them, life is a race to mint money. They enjoy fake respect and boast about it in gatherings. At the same time, they are a part of a backbiting group. Humans are hilarious creatures on earth. They feel like they are in heaven while sitting on a mountain of money earned with heavy stress and high pressure. Where is the joy in such earning stress? I don’t see anything great in it, but a fuss.
Humans do everything for meeting self-interests, even though they act as if doing it for no self-interest. I always think, why do we wait for a good result from everything we do? A reciprocation of all good doings makes life fruitful. A fruitful life is a life with fullness. Sadly, no one understands that. No money can make us reach the fullness of life.
A person like me would love to mirror Gautama Siddhartha within. He had an overwhelming desire to get away from all the shackles of life and walk into the world of enlightenment. Thoughts about him may resolve the sadness most people face. It may ultimately be a burden on our process of earnings. You may think I have become insane. It is bitter but true. Anything you get in life comes with liability. It may come early or later. What holds us back may be our wealth, responsibilities, relations, and regrets that we earned in our life. No one is in a position to leave everything behind, even if they really want to. We have become prisoners of the social conventions that we follow for untold years.
It was quite surprising for me when I came to terms with the thought that the only animal in the world who likes to live in a self-lock and pretends to be happy is the human being. Humans struggle to live instead of finding a simple way to live. To show that we are obedient and up to the line, we follow numerous rules. We don’t know how to live our life, which makes us seek dictations and blessings of spiritual gurus and godmen. We are ready to kill so many animals to please God.
I imagine myself living like a free bird. That is a much more happy life. Can’t human beings also be so? Gipsy and wanderers were happier. But the shackles of social conventions do not allow humans to be free like free birds.
It was about four years ago I sat seriously for writing and vowed never to write about myself. I continue it and wish to carry on. That prevents me from unbundling many thoughts.
In the early days, like everyone, I too was keen to find a place in society, and earn more money and position. Later, I realised that we have built a wall with no bricks around our social structure. We fill our social concept with stories, myths and gossip giving little space for the so-called reality. Our social order leaves us no room for any natural relationship. It has set an unwritten convention within which one has to live. The fundamental of human relationships is interdependence, which is missing in real life because of our self-curtailment. My driving force to live another day is the unstoppable desire to fly high like a free bird that finds its nestle everywhere. However, I understand the difficulty of being unburdened by the legacy of life that we have built around us with many hardships. That is why Sidhartha continues to be a legend and a unique prince, worth a tale and remains enviable.
