Importance of Living
I had to write this. Although aware of the fact that I will have to update all this on my computer to publish it in my blog, I'm here sitting with a pen and a pad (Thursday, 21 Apr 2005, around 10 PM, Mumbai).
Was just reading the book - The Importance of Living - by Lin Yutang. Just as an anecdote, when a friend of mine saw this book on my shelf, she wondered aloud whether I was thinking of committing suicide to have bought this book to change my thinking! Anyway, continuing with the unofficial review, this book is not in anyway related to dissuading anyone from committing suicide, but presents a general view of life, and how different people, with their different backgrounds, think about life.
It is funny how people form different views and philosophies on life. The author has initially provided a Chinese view on life, saying “a Chinese philosopher is one who dreams with one eye open, who views life with lone and sweet irony, who mixes his cynicism with a kindly tolerance, and who alternately wakes up from life’s dream, and nods again, feeing more alive when he is dreaming than when he is awake, thereby investing his waking life with a dream-world quality.” I guess the author has taken an example of a Chinese philosopher to present the Chinese view of life, as the philosopher is supposedly the one who thinks about the higher purpose of life, or at least tries to understand the meaning of life.
Continuing with the view, the author adds, “he sees with one eye closed and with one eye opened the futility of much that goes around him and of his own endeavors, but barely retains enough sense of reality to determine to go through with it.” Reading this sentence immediately made me flash back to the moment when I had thought on similar lines, when I felt that so much that is going on in this world is so useless, and futile, including so many things that I myself was doing. Yet, the thought was not strong enough to lure me on the path of what is generally termed as ‘renunciation’. Maybe their worth lies in their futility, and making people realize the same. Even writing these lines, or even writing the blog…does it have any objective? What purpose is it fulfilling?
“He is seldom disillusioned because he has not illusions”…what a revelation! A statement could not have been simpler than this, yet, in all probability, difficult to act upon. For, distinguishing between ‘illusion’ and ‘reality’ is what most of us cannot do. “And seldom disappointed because he never had any extravagant hopes. In this way, his spirit is emancipated.” The logic is really simple. If you do not have any hopes (which is far different from being in a hope-less situation), you will never be disappointed. But again the irony lies in the fact that a person full of hopes and dreams is considered as a dreamer, or an idealist, but to imagine a person without ANY hopes or dreams is also highly impractical! Maybe the key is to strike a balance somewhere…
But is it really possible for ANYONE in this world to escape the temptations of life? Temptations could be anything ranging from food to sex to fame to wealth to achievement to even wisdom. Even the desire for wisdom is a desire in itself. It’s also said that a person who seeks enlightenment shall not find it, but the day the seeking ends, he shall be enlightened. But then, why are the temptations presented, if they deter one from the right path? And anyone would agree with the fact that without the temptations, life would be so very dull!
“Amidst the hustle and bustle of American life there is a great deal of wistfulness, of the divine desire to lie on a plot of grass under tall beautiful trees on an idle afternoon and just do nothing.” What an exquisite selection of words! Such a desire could indeed be termed ‘divine’, as it can be found at the core of each and every person on earth! “People are not doing it, perhaps, because they are ashamed of the word ‘loafing’, in a world where everybody is doing something, but somehow, as sure as I know he is also an animal, he likes sometimes to have his muscles relaxed, to stretch on the sand, or to lie still with one leg comfortably curled up and one arm placed below his head as pillow.”
Well, even reading these lines could make anyone feel relaxed, and at peace. Even sitting on the bed and writing all this is making ME feel relaxed (maybe that’s the objective of writing a blog!).
Continuing with the first statement I made in the third paragraph (It is funny how people form different views and philosophies on life), the author has devised a formula for wisdom (yeah!). Quoting directly from the book, the formula was derived in the following manner –
Reality – Dreams = Animal Being
Reality + Dreams = A Heart-ache (usually called Idealist)
Reality + Humor = Realism
Reality – Humor = Fanaticism
Dreams + Humor = Fantasy
Reality + Dreams + Humor = Wisdom
Was thinking where I would fit in…maybe I would come close to the fifth, with a very small dose of reality. But words like illusion, reality, and wisdom are interpreted in various ways by different people. All trying to find the meaning of life itself, they derive certain ‘formulas’, which they feel comfortable with and are happy with their findings. But does the search end there? Or is there more? If there is more, there is a possibility of people staying put in their comfort zones, without even realizing that this is not what they were searching for, but is a mere ‘illusion’. Or maybe they do realize, but do not have enough courage to come out and move on. Looking at it differently, do they need to come out at all?
All this makes me feel that these theories and philosophies are nothing but mere consolations, and nowhere related to the actual reality or truth, if I may use the word. Concepts like 'striking a balance between good and bad', or like 'setbacks are required to push one forward’, are just consolations. The author in this book has given an example of clay, calling it ‘the clay of humanity’. “The clay of humanity is made soft and pliable by the water of idealism, but the stuff that holds it together is after all the clay itself. Real progress is possible by a proper mixture of the two ingredients (I could call it opposites) of idealism and realism, so that the clay is kept in the ideal pliable condition, half moist & half dry, not hardened & unmanageable, nor dissolving into mud.”
Was just reading the book - The Importance of Living - by Lin Yutang. Just as an anecdote, when a friend of mine saw this book on my shelf, she wondered aloud whether I was thinking of committing suicide to have bought this book to change my thinking! Anyway, continuing with the unofficial review, this book is not in anyway related to dissuading anyone from committing suicide, but presents a general view of life, and how different people, with their different backgrounds, think about life.
It is funny how people form different views and philosophies on life. The author has initially provided a Chinese view on life, saying “a Chinese philosopher is one who dreams with one eye open, who views life with lone and sweet irony, who mixes his cynicism with a kindly tolerance, and who alternately wakes up from life’s dream, and nods again, feeing more alive when he is dreaming than when he is awake, thereby investing his waking life with a dream-world quality.” I guess the author has taken an example of a Chinese philosopher to present the Chinese view of life, as the philosopher is supposedly the one who thinks about the higher purpose of life, or at least tries to understand the meaning of life.
Continuing with the view, the author adds, “he sees with one eye closed and with one eye opened the futility of much that goes around him and of his own endeavors, but barely retains enough sense of reality to determine to go through with it.” Reading this sentence immediately made me flash back to the moment when I had thought on similar lines, when I felt that so much that is going on in this world is so useless, and futile, including so many things that I myself was doing. Yet, the thought was not strong enough to lure me on the path of what is generally termed as ‘renunciation’. Maybe their worth lies in their futility, and making people realize the same. Even writing these lines, or even writing the blog…does it have any objective? What purpose is it fulfilling?
“He is seldom disillusioned because he has not illusions”…what a revelation! A statement could not have been simpler than this, yet, in all probability, difficult to act upon. For, distinguishing between ‘illusion’ and ‘reality’ is what most of us cannot do. “And seldom disappointed because he never had any extravagant hopes. In this way, his spirit is emancipated.” The logic is really simple. If you do not have any hopes (which is far different from being in a hope-less situation), you will never be disappointed. But again the irony lies in the fact that a person full of hopes and dreams is considered as a dreamer, or an idealist, but to imagine a person without ANY hopes or dreams is also highly impractical! Maybe the key is to strike a balance somewhere…
But is it really possible for ANYONE in this world to escape the temptations of life? Temptations could be anything ranging from food to sex to fame to wealth to achievement to even wisdom. Even the desire for wisdom is a desire in itself. It’s also said that a person who seeks enlightenment shall not find it, but the day the seeking ends, he shall be enlightened. But then, why are the temptations presented, if they deter one from the right path? And anyone would agree with the fact that without the temptations, life would be so very dull!
“Amidst the hustle and bustle of American life there is a great deal of wistfulness, of the divine desire to lie on a plot of grass under tall beautiful trees on an idle afternoon and just do nothing.” What an exquisite selection of words! Such a desire could indeed be termed ‘divine’, as it can be found at the core of each and every person on earth! “People are not doing it, perhaps, because they are ashamed of the word ‘loafing’, in a world where everybody is doing something, but somehow, as sure as I know he is also an animal, he likes sometimes to have his muscles relaxed, to stretch on the sand, or to lie still with one leg comfortably curled up and one arm placed below his head as pillow.”
Well, even reading these lines could make anyone feel relaxed, and at peace. Even sitting on the bed and writing all this is making ME feel relaxed (maybe that’s the objective of writing a blog!).
Continuing with the first statement I made in the third paragraph (It is funny how people form different views and philosophies on life), the author has devised a formula for wisdom (yeah!). Quoting directly from the book, the formula was derived in the following manner –
Reality – Dreams = Animal Being
Reality + Dreams = A Heart-ache (usually called Idealist)
Reality + Humor = Realism
Reality – Humor = Fanaticism
Dreams + Humor = Fantasy
Reality + Dreams + Humor = Wisdom
Was thinking where I would fit in…maybe I would come close to the fifth, with a very small dose of reality. But words like illusion, reality, and wisdom are interpreted in various ways by different people. All trying to find the meaning of life itself, they derive certain ‘formulas’, which they feel comfortable with and are happy with their findings. But does the search end there? Or is there more? If there is more, there is a possibility of people staying put in their comfort zones, without even realizing that this is not what they were searching for, but is a mere ‘illusion’. Or maybe they do realize, but do not have enough courage to come out and move on. Looking at it differently, do they need to come out at all?
All this makes me feel that these theories and philosophies are nothing but mere consolations, and nowhere related to the actual reality or truth, if I may use the word. Concepts like 'striking a balance between good and bad', or like 'setbacks are required to push one forward’, are just consolations. The author in this book has given an example of clay, calling it ‘the clay of humanity’. “The clay of humanity is made soft and pliable by the water of idealism, but the stuff that holds it together is after all the clay itself. Real progress is possible by a proper mixture of the two ingredients (I could call it opposites) of idealism and realism, so that the clay is kept in the ideal pliable condition, half moist & half dry, not hardened & unmanageable, nor dissolving into mud.”
posted by Dhananjay Kulkarni @ 12:39 PM
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