Do You Have What It Takes?
We all like nice things. Who would deny that they do? In fact most of our lives had been spent chasing after nice things and avoiding not nice things. Quite incessantly. Is it wrong? No. Is it unbeneficial? Yes. Not in the way we would consider from the conventional sense of gain and loss or happy or sad. But from the bigger perspective of what life is all about. What we know as life is the moment-to-moment experience of contentment or seeking. Most of which is a restless search to be happy or to basically survive, for the majority of people. But is that what we are here in this world for?
Perhaps if you are not interested in finding out, you may be resigned to settling with at least a mediocre notion of a purpose. One that the average person on the street will shrug their shoulders and assume is what everybody else thinks or feels too when asked. One that is at least positively meaningful or which you naturally gravitate towards, out of a convenient habit or what we may call a passion. From there, unconsciously, it drives our every thought, speech and action throughout the span of a lifetime. Then at our death bed, we summed up regretfully how much of our life had been truly worth living for. By then, it is too late, for most.
On a smaller scale, or closer to the true reality of existence, each moment is a lifetime in itself. Every moment is either one of contentment or seeking. Every moment is to think, speak or act. Every moment is for us to ask what is the purpose. Yet, we do not. Instead, we trudge along into the deep waters and sink or swim depending on what survival skills we have acquired up until then. And survival is always about seeking what we need, from a place of lack moving towards one of adequacy.
In survival mode, every moment we are thinking less of ourselves. We think we are inferior as compared to others, or at a time before the present. Even when we feel we are good enough with positive thoughts of hope for the future, it is still coming from a state of insufficiency. Because it is not at peace with what already is. In reality, every moment is simply just for us to be. However, seldom are we truly content and more so when the external conditions are challenging or not to our ideals. We may be inclined to think, speak or act as a reaction to each moment. What peace can be found in such a restless mind?
Beginning to see the long dark tunnel we had been in is ironically the first step towards light. When we do not yet understand darkness, we may not appreciate the beauty of light. Embarking on a journey of self discovery is the true purpose of our existence. Without a wise and clear direction to steer us through this tunnel, we may never know what is at the end of it. This journey begins at the mind and learning to understand its nature is the glimmer of brightness that leads one out of the tunnel.
Not seeing where everlasting peace lies, we mistakenly assume the brief pleasant experiences in our daily life as peace and happiness. But that is like turning back at the halfway point after climbing up a hill thinking that the limited view is as good as it gets, without ever discovering the unlimited view at the peak. Does that sound like something that we do regularly when the going gets tough? One may never reach the end of the tunnel eventhough the first few steps had been taken. Confidence, patience and determination are some of the crucial qualities needed for this journey. Do you have what it takes? Otherwise, can you afford not to?
In light,
Khan Hui Yee
26 Sep 2023