Some Eternal Questions.

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Enquiry is the key to knowledge and knowledge leads to freedom and bliss.The whole mass of human knowledge is the result of various questions raised by the human mind in various fields of knowledge through ages.Hence we find that the Upanishads are replete with questions.

 

The idea everywhere is that unsolicited advice is never welcome,it will never be received.As long as Arjuna went on describing the ill effects of war and just refused to fight Sri Krishna only chided him and asked him to arise,

relinquishing unmanliness unbecoming of a warrior.It was only when Arjuna in due humility asked a specific question about his immediate duty Sri Krishna

embarked upon the Divine Discourse.

 

It will be observed by a careful perusal of the few events in which some of the questions figured,that the teacher had been rather careful and even apparently reluctant in answering.Yama for example tried to dissuade Nachiketas from asking the question.He even tempted him to give it up.Sri Krishna also wanted

to answer till Arjuna was in the right receptive and humble mood.It is also interesting to note that although Sri Ramakrishna had promptly and elaborately answered Narendra's question"Sir,have you seen God?" he did not do so on many occasions.Once when a person asked him whether he had realized God instead of a simple reply he said "What shall I say?One can only give a hint".

 

What do we conclude from all this?It is evident from the above that in the event of asking a question the questioner,the question,and the person to whom it is asked must be exemplary.While the various instances from Upanishads,Purans and history show the high quality of the questioner,question and the answerer there could also be certain ridiculous situations where such an ideal combination might be absent.Apart from the competence and the receptive attitude of the questioner,the question too shuld be exemplary.There could be various types of questions.Even children during their growing period pester their parents with innumerable questions which though sincere enquiries of inquistive minds,can be often difficult to answer.However as those children grow,they themselves get the answers.

 

Then there could be foolish questions which we can leave out of consideration.

 

The discoveries in the realm of physical sciences and humanities also occur becoz of questions.Newton had asked the question "why does the apple fall?"

and had discovered the law of gravitation.In the realm of philosophical inquiry

there are certain questions which can't be answered.According to the Buddha

questions about the ultimate nature of the world,its infinitude or eternity,about soul and its relation with the body, about the future existence are irrelevant and therefore he never bothered to answer them.He avoided all sophistry.

This brings us to the vital question 'is there a God?'.If so can he be seen?What happens after death?What is the cause of the suffering and what is the way out?- these are certain eternal questions which have challenged humanity

from time immemorial and will continue to challenge it for ages to come.

 

Although their verbal answers can be found in scriptures and in the teachings of those who have found the answers,they still continue to confound us.The reason is that these can't be taken verbatim and everyone has to search for the answer himself/herself.The answers to such questions are not like discoveries in the realms of science where they have a cumulative effect.

Newton discovered the law of gravitation for the whole humanity and for the rest of the future.But this cannot be said about the answers to the vital questions of life.Mere intellectual answers have no meaning with regard to these questions of life and death.One cannot see God by mere intellectual knowledge of the fact that God is, and can be seen only by intense yearning.Nor can one get rid of suffering by merely knowing that it is caused by desire and ignorance.Each one has to dive deep and search for the true answers from within oneself.Unless we actually feel the truth of these statements ,the questions will continue to remain questions.The process of deep,sincere search for the answers to the eternal questions of life is what is meant by spiritual practice and not by simply accumulating intellectual knowledge which at best can make one a genius.

 

Hare Krishna,

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