So here I am sitting in a bar in San Diego, having dinner alone. Ultimate fighting championship (UFC) is playing on the only big screen TV that adorns this place. This is only the second or maybe the third time in my life that I am eating dinner all by myself in a public place. So to hide my loneliness I brought my laptop and a book that I have just started reading called Buddha by Deepak Chopra The violence on TV and the dim lighting has filled this place with such darkness that it is difficult for me to read Buddha. Hence, I am going to use the little light that my laptop screen is reflecting to reflect upon the part of the book that I have read so far.
Buddha is a story of Siddhartha a divine child who was born in a royal family of king Suddhodana and his queen Maya. It was prophesied that that Siddhartha would become the greatest ruler ever and rule the four corners of this world. However, if Siddhartha every got exposed to grief sorrow and suffering he would become ruler of his soul and become a great sage an ascetic who would be totally disconnected from the material world. After hearing this, Suddhodana with the help of his advisor Cankhi, devised a plan to shield Siddhartha from any sorrow or grief. So anyone who was sick crippled or old was driven out of the kingdom and four big walls were constructed around the palace to screen Siddhartha from the outside world. Siddhartha would be confined inside the four walls for the early part of his life. Suddhodana thought that shielding Siddharth from pain and suffering of the real world would lead him to his real destiny as the ruler of this world
Suddhodanas plan bore some early success as young 18 year old Siddharth was crowned the future king, and that’s the book so far. I have been wondering though if just like Siddhartha we all have the four walls around us. Walls formed by expectations of our parents, elders, loved ones, teachers and the society that we live in. Our parents and elders are trying to live their unfulfilled dreams through us. Our teachers see us as yet another branch of their legacy. Our loved ones want to make us their possession and the society wants to stamp its authority all over our existence. Many decisions that we take are made within the confines of these walls. We are asked to become doctors or engineers anything less would be the end o the world. We are told to marry within our caste, sect, religion and color or be prepared to face the wrath of the society or of god himself. Success is defined by the amount of money we make or by the car we drive or by the neighborhood we live in. It makes me wonder if we are running towards a goal that’s not really our own or living somebody else’s dream and calling it our own.
Have you ever wondered where your life would be if without these four walls? I have and the answer scares me.
Thank you for visiting a small piece of my mind, I hope you found it just like yours.
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5 comments:
Hmm.. well that is very thought provocative...
Maybe I am living my Dad's dream! But you know what I dont know what I would end up with otherwise. Kids/teenagers are easily influenced by parents/teachers-but most importantly by peers. Most of the times kids don't know what they actually want- or if they do know most of times its something that is influenced by peers- (which may not be good).
So whether there are 4 walls or not we would be influenced by someone-atleast at that young age....and slowly as we grow older, we realise where our true passion lies- and then sway away to it- And you know what its never too late to make the changes:)
as some wise person said:P
"The only thing standing between what you have and what you want is you"
Nice blog!
D
“I don’t know what I would end up with other wise" That’s exactly how I feel too. I think even if I dint have the four walls of expectations I would be exactly where I am right now. And that’s what scares me a lot!!!! How deeply are these expectations engrained in us that we can’t even comprehend an alternate path in life?
And I also agree that it’s never too late to change. But why change if you are happy where you are?
I think these four walls are sometime s important. At a tender age, it is important for some guidance in choosing things you would like.
i feel i am the living embodiments of the four walls...because I chose to be defined by them, like most of us, middle class, children of 'decent' folks...that is food for thought himya, and now that i have all the time to think i do it almost rigorously :)
nice blog though
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