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Panchadashi Lesson - F0109: Why are we here?

Panchadashi
Module - F
Unit - F01
Lesson - F0109: Answer to the question "Why are we here?"
By Raja Subramaniyan

We are here to enjoy life. Joyful Living is the only purpose of being here. The white cloth by itself is not interesting or appealing. The same cloth with a beautiful picture consisting of gutter and river appears to be wonderful. Similarly, ONE by itself cannot provide nor have any experience. The universe with all its ups and downs is superimposed on ONE to make it interesting and entertaining.

It is stated in the Scriptures that ONE decided to become many and the mere wish has brought about this universe.

We are not different from ONE. We are the ONE.

ONE without the body and mind cannot have any experience.

We perceive the world and perceive it to be different.

On the face of it, there is an observer and the observed. However, in reality there is only one. The observer is the observed.

We are the observer (ONE). The observed universe (which includes our body/ mind complex) is an illusion. The universe is superimposed on us by us using our inherent power of illusion for the purpose of our entertainment.

The universe does not exist for real. It is an illusion just like dream. In the dream the whole world, exist in our mind. The dream objects appear to be real in the dream. As long as, we are dreaming it is difficult to accept that they are not real. However, once we wakeup we become aware that the world that appeared to be real in the dream is just an illusion. In the same way, the universe, which is perceived by our five sense organs, is an illusion, which we will realize when we are awakened to the absolute reality, ONE.

During deep sleep, we do not experience anything because we exist without the superimposed illusion, namely the world, which includes our mind. In contrast, when we dream, the physical world is absent to us but our mind is active. Therefore, using our mind we experience the dream world, created by its inherent power.

The dream experience may be pleasant or unpleasant. Since the dream events do not have any impact on our real life, we can enjoy the dream irrespective of its content. Similarly, since the events in the world do not affect our absolute reality, we can enjoy our life irrespective of its content.

Without this knowledge, we are being caught in the unreality and suffer.

Example: A bee comes to a flower to enjoy the honey. However, it is stuck and it suffers.

Similarly we are attached to the unreal world and do not enjoy life. Along with the happiness, we go through various negative emotions like fear, anxiety and such due to our attachment.

Therefore, we need to understand the big picture that we are the only reality and the entire universe is an illusion superimposed on us. If we do that, we will not be attracted to or attached to the unreal objects of the world and we can have a joyful living.

However, in order to comprehend this big picture one has to have sufficient mental maturity. Such matured mind is not common among most of the human beings. They have to work for gaining the required level of mental maturity.

Therefore while the main objective of all the human beings is to live joyfully, most of them need to work for gaining mental maturity so that they can understand the big picture. Therefore, for them the immediate objective in life is gaining mental maturity.

Mental maturity is gained through work. People in general, work for material prosperity. They do gain intelligence in this pursuit but such intelligence does not lead to mental maturity directly. When they realize that they are chasing a mirage - seeking joyful living through material prosperity - they will start working without focusing on the results. When they do this, their mind will become matured enough to receive the knowledge.

Serious pursuit of knowledge will give them the vision to see the big picture and as a result, they will reach the destination of joyful living.

Statement 15: We are here to live life joyfully.

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