A. R.. Natarajan - What is life for?

[Guest guest]

WHAT IS LIFE FOR?

 

taken fromMEDITATIONSThe Ramana Way,by A. R. NATARAJAN,Published by

Ramana Maharshi Centre for Learning, Bangalore, 2004(originally posted to NamoRamana group by saikali)

 

 

D: What is the purpose of life?Bhagavan: To seek to know the significance of life is itself theresult of good karma in past births. Those who do not seek suchknowledge are simply wasting their lives. (TALKS 558).Ramana straightaway turns the questioner's attention to theimportance of the quest for finding out the meaning of life. It isup to each one of us to work at it and find it out for ourselves.Experience is always for the individual and any explanations orstatements made by another can at best be only hearsay. Most peoplecarry on from day to day fully engrossed in the immediate, in theirjobs, professions, relatives, friends and entertainments. They arethe unfortunate ones, for, their lives are superficial, skin-deep,lost in pleasantries and trivialities. Apparently no event in lifehas stirred them to their depths. Nothing has moved them enoughemotionally to startle them into having a good look at the totalwaste of their lives. Generally it is sorrow which shakes one at thevery root and makes a person question the assumptions of his life.It was the shock of a chain of calamities, death of the husband anddeath of children in succession, which wrung the heart of Echammaland brought her to Ramana. The double tragedy of the death of bothhis son and daughter, who were drowned in the well of his own house,filled Narasimha Swami with renunciation and led him to Ramana.Likewise, the "recorder" of the "TALKS", Munagala Venkataramayya,turned to Ramana at a very critical period in his life. Subbaramayyasought consolation and guidance from Ramana perplexed at the deathof his infant child. It is true that sorrow makes one questioncherished values. Even our prayers are more intense at times ofdistress when events appear to be beyond us. But, one has to pauseand introspect whether it is wise to wait till the sorrow beckens tocontemplate on life's meaning and purpose. Should we be so dull-witted as to wait till doomsday?Time does not wait. It relentlessly ticks away. Everyone's life spanis determined at the time of one's birth itself. It is a product ofkarma. The body has to go through certain experiences, good, bad andindifferent. That done, death takes over. It is only in the case ofjnanis that the Lord of Death has to wait in attendance to find outwhether they are ready to cast off their bodies. For them the humangarb is only for the welfare of humnity and has no karmic cause. Forthe rest of us, when karma folds up life too ends. It is only inexceptional cases that extensions are granted by the Satguru'sgrace. We have the instance of Jagadiswara Sastri pressing hisdemand on Ramana and recovering from a fatal illness. We also havethe case of Ranga Iyer who managed to ward off fate by stickingCasabianca-like to Ramana's physical presence. It is also true thatin some instances the life span has been increased without theparticular person's knowledge, by the secret operation of Ramana'sgrace. Ramana told Rani of Baroda that everything is possible forthe omnipotent guru. However, it has to be remembered that suchchanges in the ordinary course of events are minimal and dependenton the extent of surrender to the guru. It is safe to regardexceptions and not to lay store by them. Death may therefore ringthe bell at any time, any minute, any second. Since one does notknow when exactly the operative karmic force would come to an end,one has to be ready for the call.The question is, "Ready for what?". Ready to explore the purpose oflife to its very depth and to find out what it is all about. It isbecause of this that Ramana says even the very desire to find outlife's purpose is the product of past good karma. Such is itsimportance. Here the past must be taken to mean not only actionspreceding the body's birth but also those which have been done tillsuch time as the questioning of life's intent starts.Again, the use of the expression "good karma" by Ramana has to bemeditated on. Altruistic actions for the society's well-being arecommonly regarded as good. One can understand this. But the problemis that, stealthily, the desire for recognition, for name and fame,would creep in to sully the motives. Therefore, the litmus test isreally the attitude of mind with which an action is performed. Thiscriterion in mind, action has to be classified as good and bad. Badaction is such which binds one more and more to sticking attachmentsand egocentric existence. On the other hand, good actions are thosewhich turn one Godward, which turn one inward. Ramana makes thisdistinction in the second and third verses of "Upadesa Saram".Action can lead us to more and more of it resulting in our inabilityto look beyond the nose, inability to stop and ponder about life'smeaning. The other type of action, which is done with the attitudethat it is an offering to God, leads one out of the dense forest ofkarma. Therefore, one who acts with the dominant idea that he is thearchitect of actions and their results reaps only the real tragedyof dying more ignorant than he was born. The doership idea is theundoing. Unless this is tackled by good karma one's goose is welland truly cooked.The significance of good karma, therefore, lies in the fact that itis a vacuum cleaner which cleanses the mind by sucking up the dustof negative and selfish thoughts. By purifying the mind it enablesone to be successful in self-enquiry leading to Self-knowledge. Oncethe mind turns inward, half the job is done. Instead of "wanderingwith the wandering mind", the wanderer is not only able to questionlife's purpose but is also able to find it out for himself.Sustained attention on the "I" keeps the inturned mind at thesource. Then and only then life is an opportunity, a blessing andnot a mere chronological interval. When the inner work started bygood karma and sustained by self-enquiry continues, the myth ofdoership vanishes in the fullness of existence.