Is Illumination an Illusion?

In the darkest of the jungles, I found myself

Caught unaware, like a butcher's turkey.

Scathing darkness, hostile companionship

Everything seemed to play a havoc on me.

Unafraid, I trudged along, with an unflinching belief

Of finding a route, and out of this obnoxious scheming.

Antagonized as I hit dead ends, thought of nothing but

Of starting all over again, not withstanding any suffering.

Contours I trod on, met unfavorable ends incessantly

My immortal faith was being conquered by disillusion.

Futility of the efforts, stood naked and stared in my face

Success I thought, was a figment of my imagination.

Drained I was! Submission to fate - an only option left

When suddenly, shimmer at a distance caught my eye.

Rejuvenated I felt, I pounced enthusiastically towards it.

I shrieked, "Ah! It was an illusion", I saw the light die.

I wish I was a baby!

Our minds were malleable and empty as babies. There were no ethics, principles, ego, responsibilities, concern for reputation, philosophies that we were forced to live with. We were naked. Naked in thought. It was probably the naivest definition of freedom known to us.

As babies we followed our id - our basic desires. We peed wherever we liked. We laughed, we cried at our own whim. We never scrutinized our actions under the lens of ethics or morality. We never worried about any impairment of our reputation if we cried/ peed incessantly. We were not punished for sleeping late and for being disobedient. People loved us and kissed us for being naughty. We had no responsibilities, but we were the bosses. We were the most privileged member of our family. We never perplexed ourselves with abstract questions about nature and God. At best, we were just interested in knowing how far the stars and Moon are and who lives there. Back then, money had no significance, struggle for money was stupid. Studying was difficult, it seemed like an inconsequential activity we engaged ourselves in, killing our play time and TV time. Academic degrees were waste. Sports was the way to go. All were friends, no enemies.

We grew older. We reached high school. We were naked before. It was somehow shameful to be naked at this age. We clothed ourselves with some amounts of ethics, principles. We started talking in terms of ethical and unethical. Ethical was good, unethical was bad. Gods were ethical, demons were unethical. Politicians were ethical, criminals were unethical. We wanted to be ethical. We also developed principles. Family, friends and schools were among our limited sources. We must be punctual. We must respect elders. We must be disciplined. We must be kind and humble. All these principles had a great fan following. Undoubtedly, we wanted to be principled. This stage provided us a skeleton for distinguishing between entities and activities in future. We were being prepared for the future.

Slowly and steadily time ticked by. We crossed stages after stages. One day we found ourselves to be adults.  Adult life is a challenge. We find ourselves clothed with responsibilities, concerns and philosophies. We have families to look after. Companies to take care of. Stress levels have risen. Parties have become infrequent. Solitude is what one starts craving for. Life has become more demanding. It seems to be a cyclical loop till you take a retirement. We have started pondering on the basic meaning of life more than ever before. We more often than not think about the futility of our actions. We let out a sigh,"I wish I could be a child again!"

But we must understand that life is not just about our desires. It is not as simple as an individual's desire. On a Venn diagram if you plot more than 7 billion sets than the intersection is what one must aim at. Well, primary question that comes to the mind is whether intersection actually exists? Life is about survival and progress at the same time. Survival is impossible without innovation. So is progress. I wish to lead a happy life but so does the entire mankind. In such a case, rules and regulations are very essential. Fair distribution of opportunities and rewards is essential. A framework is required to which we must adhere to with a goal of maximizing our own happiness. This framework has to be firmly rooted in ethics, principles, ego, responsibilities, concern for reputation and philosophies. They form the cornerstones of such a framework.

Adults have the necessary knowledge and discipline to drive human progress. They have the responsibility of the entire mankind. They are the torch-bearers. What you give today is what your posterity will receive tomorrow! We are here because someone in the past did it for us. You were not expected to turn into a crybaby when your turn comes to deliver. At best, we can term that desire to be just a wishful thinking.