The riddle of the human being in the context of the universe in Buddhist text
Thangjam Sanjoo / Nonibala Waikhom *
A Buddhist Temple at Tamu in Myanmar :: Pix - WT
People hold mankind - a kind of animal with two hands, with two feet and imagination – to be the wisest and most powerful among all creatures living between heaven and earth. The interval between a person’s birth and death is called his or her lifespan, or life. Most people arepreoccupied with worldly concerns, meaning that their chief aims are as follows:
1. To drink when thirsty
2. To eat when hungry
3. To rest when tired
4. To play when bored and
5. To do as they wish or see fit
It does not occur to them to ask where they come from and where they go once they die; nor do they wonder about this worldas the great process in which all of them take part during those few decades representing their life spans.
1. Why are we compelled to enter this world?
2. Why must we also leave it behind?
3. Why don’t we know the present if we know the past?
4. Why do we believe to know the present if we know neither the past nor the future?
Incomprehensible as they may be, these questions should not be ignored because they are essential to our understanding of human life within the universe.
Mankind manifests in as many way as there are people in the world. Some are clever, while others may be dull; some have attained advanced knowledge and great reputation, while others have attained advanced sainthood, while the ways of numerous others have never change. This great diversity was not decreed by heaven, nor can be it considered tohave not beengenerated by people themselves.Certain schools of thought advance the view that human destiny is the result of heredity and the view and circumstances combined.
However, then we may ask why we do not see the continuity of exactly the same qualities from father to son. Why, in the case of an outstanding, evensaintly, father, is the son usually found to be quite ordinary, while the father of an outstanding son is, in most cases, merely average? What causes the differences in the qualities people possess, and why can they not be interchangeable.
Whether they are prosperous or destitute, gifted or average, people believe they are free to apply themselves by means of hard work, by means of power, or by cultivating connections with influential or talented individuals. Depending on their choices, some flourish and some wither. Do the outcomes depend on a supreme beings or creator: or are they caused by people themselves? The real question is whether they are self –induced.
Sentient beings, gregarious and noisy, by themselves all their lives competing with each other so they can buy more and better food, clothes, amusement, etc. Should someone ask them if they can think of any other purpose in life, they might turned speechless with amusement even those with ambition for saving the world and those and who hold themselves in high regard, ultimately have quite commonplace motivations. Thus, a further questions is whether this world is our only habitat or whether there is another settling place which is concerned with the more fundamental question of going or of returning.
The ten directions and the three periods – namely, the past, present and the future – are the devices we use to measure time and space and to make the future understandable and livable. Time and space are fused in the minds of human beings and thereby, constitute the world in which they live; but what, if any, is the true limit of the universe is the eternal great riddle.
In the plant kingdom, color and scent are often the means to attract insects and, thereby, promote pollination while fruit and seeds are flavorful in order to encourage dissemination. The insects of the forests display more frequently the forest’s colors, while aquatic inhabitants display the colors, patterns and textures reminiscent of water. Are all these phenomena premeditated and somehow controlled,and,if so, by whom? This, then, is the riddle of phenomena.
The human species has certain characteristics, and so does the universe. Are they related or not? Is the universe in some way responsible for the human species, and is the human species, in some way, duty – bound toward the universe? This then, is the riddle of the relationship of human beings and the universe.
* Thangjam Sanjoo Singh & Nonibala Waikhom wrote this article for The Sangai Express
Sanjoo Waikhom is a Lay Buddhist and a BJP’S State Executive Member, Kisan Morcha MP. He can be reached at thangjamsanjoo42(aT)gmail(dot)com
Nonibala Waikhom is a Lay Buddhist and Head Mistress of Blossom School. She can be reached at noniewh(aT)yahoo(dot)com
This article was posted on June 14, 2015.
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