Yes. Perfect awareness about the existence sure gets fulfillment in life. But wait. The question is a bit tricky.
Everyone who is going into truth-seeking (or spiritual development) has his own idea of fulfillment, which invariably is something like this: Fulfillment is when life gives you everything you want. Everybody wants endless happiness, no suffering, good relationships, great friends, success at work etc in life. People think that this developmental journey will enable them achieve all this; or at least fill their life with unending happiness. Life will become super-easy, struggle free, where no complaints remain. That’s fulfillment.
Well, the only right thing above is that no complaint about life remains; the rest is not quite true.
Fulfillment happens in two ways, if you think about it. 1) When you get what you expect and desire, you are fulfilled; and 2) When you don’t expect or desire anything more than what life gives you, you automatically become fulfilled! Fulfillment coming through truth-seeking and awareness is essentially of the latter kind.
An aware person knows that he can’t play life, life plays him. Struggle and suffering are intrinsic to the design of the existence. There’s no end to it. Fulfillment is when one understands this and accepts life as it is, and settles on flowing with life’s current instead of building up futile expectations of struggle-free or “blissful” life.
I am not saying that truth-seeking won’t ease the life. Sure, understanding the causes of human suffering, and knowing how everything in the world works makes it considerably easy for the aware person to navigate in the world. But even he has to bear life’s unavoidable suffering. Conquering life is impossible.
That doesn’t mean a “developed” person won’t dream, or set any goals, or “live”. The difference between a spiritually developed person and an ordinary person is of the underlying awareness; and not necessarily of actions. He also will have desires and expectations in life as a driving force; but with the same actions and same results as everybody else, a spiritually developed person will still be fulfilled with life.
Everyone who is going into truth-seeking (or spiritual development) has his own idea of fulfillment, which invariably is something like this: Fulfillment is when life gives you everything you want. Everybody wants endless happiness, no suffering, good relationships, great friends, success at work etc in life. People think that this developmental journey will enable them achieve all this; or at least fill their life with unending happiness. Life will become super-easy, struggle free, where no complaints remain. That’s fulfillment.
Well, the only right thing above is that no complaint about life remains; the rest is not quite true.
Fulfillment happens in two ways, if you think about it. 1) When you get what you expect and desire, you are fulfilled; and 2) When you don’t expect or desire anything more than what life gives you, you automatically become fulfilled! Fulfillment coming through truth-seeking and awareness is essentially of the latter kind.
An aware person knows that he can’t play life, life plays him. Struggle and suffering are intrinsic to the design of the existence. There’s no end to it. Fulfillment is when one understands this and accepts life as it is, and settles on flowing with life’s current instead of building up futile expectations of struggle-free or “blissful” life.
I am not saying that truth-seeking won’t ease the life. Sure, understanding the causes of human suffering, and knowing how everything in the world works makes it considerably easy for the aware person to navigate in the world. But even he has to bear life’s unavoidable suffering. Conquering life is impossible.
That doesn’t mean a “developed” person won’t dream, or set any goals, or “live”. The difference between a spiritually developed person and an ordinary person is of the underlying awareness; and not necessarily of actions. He also will have desires and expectations in life as a driving force; but with the same actions and same results as everybody else, a spiritually developed person will still be fulfilled with life.
Great post. Makes a lot of good points!
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