The way to a truer self, of a conscious living

...the mind has to be consulted in its own growth. The idea of hammering the child into the shape desired by the parent or teacher is a barbarous and ignorant superstition.                       

 - Sri Aurobindo

Conversation 2

"What is our aim in life? Is it to earn fame, money and power? Has our intellect reduced this beautiful life to a game, which gives us these three fruits? What is a truer goal or aim to our life? Can we not grow out of these animal instincts and think of truly genuine goals, which are higher than these? Or are we too involved playing this game that we have no awareness of a life beyond these basic needs?"

"Well, I think you pretty much answered your own question. Yes, what we do everyday is to work hard to accumulate all of these three things, money, fame and power. And they are interlinked. The more money one has, the more power, the more fame. Who has the time and energy to listen to anything that you are saying? Most of them would call you crazy."

"I know. I have experienced that. However, if I feel very strongly that we are on a wrong path, I should say it. If somebody listens to me, he or she may at least start to think. And I am sure, I am not the only one who feels this way in the world. There have been many spiritual people who have said this, lived a life devoid of the three rewards. There are many people who live life for life's sake. But, still a lot of people are blindly going about their routine without thinking. I feel very strongly that they are addicted to the game. They are also constantly comparing themselves with other people who are slightly better at playing the same game. This comparison makes them insecure, jealous etc. So they start playing the game even harder."

 "Not everybody is playing the game. There are many people who are in the game because they wish to earn a livelihood. And they find that this is the only way to do so. They are sincerely participating to stay alive. They know pretty well that they are not good enough to compete with the better ones. They have accepted their place in the game. What do you think about them?"

"Sure. Generalizing is a bad idea. Everybody is not the same. There are many people who do not even belong here, they have already realized the limitation of the game and are in a way realized souls. My concern is about the others who are involved in the game, either knowing very well that they should not be participating or not being aware that they are indeed playing the game. Some people accept that they cannot compete, so they start preparing their children to achieve what they could not. Isn't that unjust? Isn't a child an independent soul? Why should a parent thrust something on an independent soul, so forcefully?"

"But children need direction. How will they know what to do in life? If the parent does not provide the necessary direction, the child would probably just waste the time that is at hand and not learn anything. Of course, the amount of force that a parent applies to the child in order to provide that direction is debatable."

"Do you sincerely believe that the child becomes what the parent aspires or desires? This is hardly the case. Yes, I do understand that the parent requires to guide a child in its early years. But once the child grows up and becomes self aware, is the direction needed? Did we all become what our parents wanted us to be? Or we found our own path? Often we blame children when they do not perform. However are we providing them with proper environment to grow up? Is it justified to send them to a school which is more of a jail? Would you at this age spend your time in a school that does not give you choices or freedom? Aren't we justifying the school setup because we do not have solutions for the schooling problem? We keep quiet telling ourselves that this is the best that we have and that everybody is doing this. What a dire submission? We are succumbing to a power that dictates us as to how the life of our children has to be?"

"I agree. The schools are a compromise. But then, as you say, we do not have too many options, do we?"

"The options can emerge once we agree that the current system is bad. Or we demand the system to change, to accommodate a saner practice. It took me quite a bit of convincing to make you see what I am saying. You are so close to me, yet it is so difficult. Imagine me trying to say the same thing to strangers. I will be exhausted, probably shouted down upon. But in my heart, I know the world is changing and the children are demanding better lives. I hope that the force of that collective demand will change our ways soon."