Meaningful Life
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Transcript of Meaningful Life
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Meaningful LifeWhat is it?
How to achieve it?
This slideshow created from lecture delivered by Swami Amartayanandaon 2nd February 2015 at RamKrishna Misson, Khar, Mumbai, INDIA.
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3 parts to this document
• Part 1:
– Understanding Matter
• Part 2:
– Using Matter
• Part 3:
– The Goal of life
Meaningful Life
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UNDERSTANDING MATTER
Part 1
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How we live our life?
• We are born
• We grow
• Get educated
• Gain qualifications & then…
• Work to be successful.
• Success to most of us mean acquiring things like name, fame, fortune, etc.
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WE COMPLAIN!
We live for success and then after living a whole life…
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What complains we make?
• We feel dissatisfied with life.
• We experience discontentment towards outcomes of life.
• We feel we struggled so much yet we got so little.
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Why such feelings surround us after living for 30-40-50 years?
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Incidentally, the more we have…
The more dissatisfaction seem to arise.
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Life appears to have burned away like a candle.
Its gone! We feel.
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WHY?
We even start feeling that people at levels below us are more happier than us.
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Why we begin to feel our success has given us only little?
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• This happens because our life is driven by our desires, which in turn are related to matter.
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What is Matter?We ourselves, our
beloved, our family, our friends,
all the people of the world.
This earth, moon, stars, sun & the
universe
Things we wish to possess – car,
house, clothes, gadgets, etc.
Our qualifications, degrees,
certificates, awards, etc.
Matter
Matter is everything around us.
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THEN WE CAN BE HAPPY.
We believe that if we can possess this matter, i.e. become successful…
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But in reality…
• The more matter we possess, more miserable we become.
• All happiness gets turned into unhappiness.
• And as desires enhance, happiness stops coming from achievements.
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WHY?
After a while, success stops bringing happiness…
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THE MATTER IS PERISHABLE
Reason:
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All matter is perishable…
• The cars, the gadgets, the houses.
• We the people, our friends, I, you, us.
• This universe, this earth, the sun & the moon.
• Our qualifications, degrees, awards & rewards.
Every form of matter is perishable.
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WE ARE UNHAPPY.
The moment matter perishes… we lose it… & then….
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Some examples:
• We can’t buy our dream car/house: disappointment arises.
• Husband dies, wife is miserable.
• Old age comes, people feel disheartened.
Matter Perishes &
We unhappy.
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Thus, the truth
• While we try catch success through acquisition of matter, what we get instead are sufferings.
• Chase for matter bring us only miseries.
In our foolishness…
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So, Is matter such a bad thing?
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A QUESTION?
Now if matter is so bad, why it exists in the first place?
This we understand in Part 2This is the END OF PART 1
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USING MATTER
Part 2
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LET’S LEARN FROM 2 EXAMPLES:
How we create problems with matter?
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Example 1:• Suppose we have to travel
from point X to point Y.
• We may have 4 options:– Go anyway available
– Go by bus/train
– Go by car
– Go by a luxury car
• If we say we will go only by a luxury car, we have created the problem with matter.
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Example 2: • A Doctor gets a rich patient who can afford every treatment.
• The doctor senses opportunity and decides to charge this patient three times the actual cost of the treatment.
• A problem has been created.
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MATTER IS NEEDED TO RUN THE WORLD.
Without matter there will be no world; no life.
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BOTH ARE PERISHABLE.
Both, ‘the world’ and ‘this life’ themselves are matter.
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IT MUST BE USED TO REACH THE GOAL OF LIFE. HOW?
Thus, the matter is very much needed for life, though…
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An Example:
• A Doctor gets a poor patient.
• Still, the doctor gives the patient as much time as is needed for the treatment.
• This way the doctor has used matter (qualification) to achieve the GOAL.
Matter being used to reach the GOAL.
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What is this GOAL?
We learn in Part 3
This is the end of Part 2
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A revision• We chase matter, that’s
perishable.
• When matter perishes we become unhappy.
• But matter is needed for life.
• Thus, the trick is to use matter for achieving the GOAL.
Part 1 & Part 2
Meaningful Life
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WHAT IS THE GOAL?
Part 3
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Two Truths:
• The Goal is same for all
• The Path is same for all
• Everyone must go from point ‘x’ to point ‘y’.
• There is no escape for anyone in this rule.
Re: Goal of life
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What is point ‘x’?
• Our present state of searching permanent happiness running after matter that is perishable.
What is point ‘y’?
• The GOAL of life, the place of permanent happiness that is NOT focused on matter.
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WHAT IS THIS NON-MATTER?
Now, If everything is matter…
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There are different names used for this non-matter.
Swami Amartayananda call it ‘Peace’.
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THE GOAL OF LIFE IS TO FIND THIS PEACE THAT IS NOT PERISHABLE.
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PEACE IS A NON-MATTER.
We keep searching peace in matter, whereas…
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HOW WE ACHIEVE IT?
So, if peace is a non-matter…
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• Just like in the example of the doctor who treated the poor patient with as much dedication.
• By that action the doctor fulfilled his responsibility.
• He used matter (his qualification) to find the non-matter (peace).
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• It is through change of our attitude that we are able to shift our focus from matter to non-matter.
• So instead of focusing on success in acquiring matter, we begin focusing on attainment of peace.
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• Once achieved even 1%, this attitude leads to great joy that is not perishable by any force in the universe.
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• Caution:
• This attitude is not achieved by merely learning theory, but through constant practice of the principle in everyday life.
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• Thus, we must use matter to find this non-matter, just like the doctor did by treating the poor patient.
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• Swami Amartayanandasays:
• There is no harm in making money, provided we never touch it.
• Instead use it to service others.
• This attitude he says is the road to peace.
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A LIFE SPENT ON ROAD TO PEACE.
So, what is a meaningful life?
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BY FOCUSING ON NON-MATTER.BY NON-ATTACHMENT TO MATTER.
& How meaningful life is achieved?
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SUMMARY
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If we focus on success through acquisition of matter
Successful Life
Meaningful Life
Are two opposing forces
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BECAUSE MATTER WE ACQUIRE IS PERISHABLE.
There shall never be any permanent happiness
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THIS STATE IS ACHIEVED THROUGH A CHANGE OF ATTITUDE.
Permanent happiness is in pursuance of non-matter.
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ONE IS ABLE TO ACHIEVE PEACE THROUGH SAME ACTIONS OF LIFE.
Once attitude is directed towards non-matter.
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Peace is the Goal of Life.A life spent in pursuance of peace is
meaningful life.
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Swami Amartayanandais a distinguished senior monk of RamKrishnaOrder.
He is also our revered teacher.
Swami ji prescribes SDM methodology for life:
Satsang
Disciplined Life
Meditation
This presentation created by: Puneet Srivastava, a student of Swami Amartayananda since 2001
Photo courtesy:Dr. Amit Dixit
© 2015
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#QUOTE#SDM
‘If Goal is not clear,
the journey is meaningless’
– Swami Amartayananda
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#QUOTE#SDM
‘Happiness is the cause of unhappiness &
we are not considering this at all.’
– Swami Amartayananda
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#QUOTE#SDM
‘We keep searching peace running after happiness through success in matter, which is perishable.’
– Swami Amartayananda
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#QUOTE#SDM
‘What we know is not sufficient,
we must practice as well.’
– Swami Amartayananda
End of Document