I have always said that it is essential to know the truth in order to have a completely fulfilling life.
I have earlier written about the ultimate truth and the highest reality of our existence. In this article I will give a list of some of the essential truths. Without having thoroughly realized each one of them one’s development can not be complete. How one realizes these truths would (and should) depend on one’s own course in the truth-seeking journey. The reader is not to accept them merely because I am listing them here.
Here goes the list —
To realize that there is no God is the most important thing if one is to start the truth-seeking journey. Because when there’s God, naturally there’s no need for us to seek any truth. I think in my case “no God” was the first of the BIG realizations I have had.
Note that I am talking about the God of the theism. The one propagated by the religions. The one people pray to and ask wishes from. There’s no such God. It’s the biggest delusion humankind is suffering from. The universe is completely on its own.
Once one realizes that there’s no Cosmic Daddy (God) who has intentionally created the existence, it should not be difficult to also realize that without such Creator, the possibility of any purpose behind the existence no more remains. However, it took quite a lot of time for me understand this.
The reason for that is, even after being sure that there is no God, I looked up to Nature as a God-like entity and believed that Nature had purpose for what it was doing. This followed from my knowledge of evolution and natural selection, and natural laws which seemed to be happening for a purpose. So I believed the existence had some purpose and meaning intrinsic to it. What that meaning/purpose was, was only known to Nature, and we can all be perfectly happy as long as (or if) we lived according to Nature’s wish.
Turned out, my knowledge and observation both were very limited and naïve back then. All the order we see in the universe is best explained as “order-in-chaos”. The universe at large is random and chaotic. There’s no sign of any meaning and purpose. There couldn’t be one, simply because Nature is not a thinking entity.
So, the existence is intrinsically without any meaning and purpose. All the meaning and purpose is human construct.
Of course, when there’s no meaning and purpose behind the existence, there can’t be anything right or wrong in absolute sense. Just like meaning and purposes are created by humans, so is right and wrong. What serves our purposes we call that right, and vice versa. For example, humanity’s common purpose of life is collective welfare, then what leads to the welfare is right and what thwarts the welfare is wrong. This is translated into a solid concept called morality.
Morality is a human concept. The existence is intrinsically amoral. To understand more on this read my three-part series called Nihilism, Morality and Enlightened Living. (Part 1, part 2, part 3)
Everyone in the world has one’s own ego (self), and is primarily living for oneself alone. This one can understand just by observing oneself.
Whatever you do, you do it because it gratifies your ego. You make friends with those who make “you” feel special. You love someone because that fulfills “your” needs. Think deeply. You won’t accept someone’s friendship just because that person wants to be friends with you, will you? You will see whether “you” like him/her as a friend. You won’t accept any romantic proposal. You will see whether “you” like that person. It’s always about “your” own needs.
Now just think, if you have your own ego to gratify, so does everyone else. In fact, right, everyone is living primarily for oneself alone. Only when the needs and purposes of two persons are aligned they can be in any relationship, and then they get an illusory feeling that they are there for each other. It’s a good feeling. And nothing’s wrong with it. But we are acknowledging the truth here. No one in the world is truly there for anyone else. That simply can’t be, in a strict sense. Aloneness is the reality.
Romantic love provides the second biggest delusion after God, to almost every human being. That delusion is soul-mate. Whenever one is deeply in romantic love with someone, one feels that this is the only perfect person for one, and they are meant for each-other; that they are soul-mates and will live forever together. I repeat, “every time” you are in deep romantic love (that is, in the attachment stage) you will feel this. That itself is enough of evidence that it can’t be true. What is it then?
The magic experienced in romantic love is a result of certain brain chemistry, the purpose of which is to induce reproduction and mating. Since the human offspring would require care from the parents, it is important that the parents remain stuck with each other at least till the child gets through its infancy. That’s the reason for everything that one feels in romantic love.
There’s no such thing as soul-mates. Besides, since there’s no involvement of reason (rational choice) in selecting a partner in romantic love, it almost never turns out the way one wishes (under its effect).
I think anyone with even an average level of intelligence should know this one. This life is the only period you exist as “you”. I mean, I am Darshan only till I am alive in this body-mind form. Once I die, there’s no more Darshan. There’s not even a “soul” of Darshan which would go to heaven or hell, or any place else. It’s simply over.
This pretty much covers the biggest delusions a typical human being suffers from. It is very important to realize these truths, amongst others not discussed above, in order to assume a healthy perspective towards life.
I have earlier written about the ultimate truth and the highest reality of our existence. In this article I will give a list of some of the essential truths. Without having thoroughly realized each one of them one’s development can not be complete. How one realizes these truths would (and should) depend on one’s own course in the truth-seeking journey. The reader is not to accept them merely because I am listing them here.
Here goes the list —
No God
To realize that there is no God is the most important thing if one is to start the truth-seeking journey. Because when there’s God, naturally there’s no need for us to seek any truth. I think in my case “no God” was the first of the BIG realizations I have had.
Note that I am talking about the God of the theism. The one propagated by the religions. The one people pray to and ask wishes from. There’s no such God. It’s the biggest delusion humankind is suffering from. The universe is completely on its own.
No intrinsic meaning and purpose
Once one realizes that there’s no Cosmic Daddy (God) who has intentionally created the existence, it should not be difficult to also realize that without such Creator, the possibility of any purpose behind the existence no more remains. However, it took quite a lot of time for me understand this.
The reason for that is, even after being sure that there is no God, I looked up to Nature as a God-like entity and believed that Nature had purpose for what it was doing. This followed from my knowledge of evolution and natural selection, and natural laws which seemed to be happening for a purpose. So I believed the existence had some purpose and meaning intrinsic to it. What that meaning/purpose was, was only known to Nature, and we can all be perfectly happy as long as (or if) we lived according to Nature’s wish.
Turned out, my knowledge and observation both were very limited and naïve back then. All the order we see in the universe is best explained as “order-in-chaos”. The universe at large is random and chaotic. There’s no sign of any meaning and purpose. There couldn’t be one, simply because Nature is not a thinking entity.
So, the existence is intrinsically without any meaning and purpose. All the meaning and purpose is human construct.
No right and wrong, amorality
Of course, when there’s no meaning and purpose behind the existence, there can’t be anything right or wrong in absolute sense. Just like meaning and purposes are created by humans, so is right and wrong. What serves our purposes we call that right, and vice versa. For example, humanity’s common purpose of life is collective welfare, then what leads to the welfare is right and what thwarts the welfare is wrong. This is translated into a solid concept called morality.
Morality is a human concept. The existence is intrinsically amoral. To understand more on this read my three-part series called Nihilism, Morality and Enlightened Living. (Part 1, part 2, part 3)
Individual ego (self), aloneness
Everyone in the world has one’s own ego (self), and is primarily living for oneself alone. This one can understand just by observing oneself.
Whatever you do, you do it because it gratifies your ego. You make friends with those who make “you” feel special. You love someone because that fulfills “your” needs. Think deeply. You won’t accept someone’s friendship just because that person wants to be friends with you, will you? You will see whether “you” like him/her as a friend. You won’t accept any romantic proposal. You will see whether “you” like that person. It’s always about “your” own needs.
Now just think, if you have your own ego to gratify, so does everyone else. In fact, right, everyone is living primarily for oneself alone. Only when the needs and purposes of two persons are aligned they can be in any relationship, and then they get an illusory feeling that they are there for each other. It’s a good feeling. And nothing’s wrong with it. But we are acknowledging the truth here. No one in the world is truly there for anyone else. That simply can’t be, in a strict sense. Aloneness is the reality.
No soul-mate
Romantic love provides the second biggest delusion after God, to almost every human being. That delusion is soul-mate. Whenever one is deeply in romantic love with someone, one feels that this is the only perfect person for one, and they are meant for each-other; that they are soul-mates and will live forever together. I repeat, “every time” you are in deep romantic love (that is, in the attachment stage) you will feel this. That itself is enough of evidence that it can’t be true. What is it then?
The magic experienced in romantic love is a result of certain brain chemistry, the purpose of which is to induce reproduction and mating. Since the human offspring would require care from the parents, it is important that the parents remain stuck with each other at least till the child gets through its infancy. That’s the reason for everything that one feels in romantic love.
There’s no such thing as soul-mates. Besides, since there’s no involvement of reason (rational choice) in selecting a partner in romantic love, it almost never turns out the way one wishes (under its effect).
No afterlife, no heaven and hell
I think anyone with even an average level of intelligence should know this one. This life is the only period you exist as “you”. I mean, I am Darshan only till I am alive in this body-mind form. Once I die, there’s no more Darshan. There’s not even a “soul” of Darshan which would go to heaven or hell, or any place else. It’s simply over.
This pretty much covers the biggest delusions a typical human being suffers from. It is very important to realize these truths, amongst others not discussed above, in order to assume a healthy perspective towards life.
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