Tamizh 2.0: 08 Zenith (எவரது வாழ்விலும் ஏற்றமாவது…)

What is considered as reaching the pinnacle, the zenith in ones life? What is happiness and success? These simple questions are the most intriguing ones, which trouble both the philosophers and the common man alike, with no right or wrong answers. Because, all these are in ones’ point of view and it is very dynamic.

Not only the point of view keeps changing, but also, the wants and needs and thereby, what is true one moment need not be at the next. Human, is that animal which is very difficult to satisfy. He is always in search for betterment. A person that is hungry searches for food. Once the hunger is satiated, he wants to have some money for the next meal, once he gets some, he wants more, then a good life, then some jewelry (materials), then a small hut for himself, that grows to a small house and then to a bungalow, then an even better life for the next generation, then, then, then… leading him deeper into the vicious circle. Is there an end to this?

As a poet once said, in this journey of life, the hungry searches for food; the unemployed for some employment, even a thief looked for an opportunity for a bigger heist. There is this continuous search in life, a search for the betterment. It is this search that ensures that Life Flows and not Stagnates. However, when this search breaks its banks, man becomes lost in this circle.

Why does man go on this search for betterment? If it is to gain happiness, what is happiness? If it is success, what is success? These questions will once again lead us into the same vicious circle and back to square one. There seems to be no end to this, in the materialistic world. To break away from this materialistic circle of life, one needs to look inwards. Then, they would realize that, as said in Bhagavad Gita, success and happiness is very ephemeral and is nothing but an illusion, a Maya.

I’m reminded of the story of the last wishes of Alexander the Great. On his death bed, Alexander summoned his army generals and told them his three ultimate wishes:

1. The best doctors should carry his coffin… to demonstrate that in the face of death, even the best doctors in the world have no power to heal…
2. The wealth he has accumulated (money, gold, precious stones) should be scattered along the procession to the cemetery… so that everybody sees that material wealth acquired on this earth, will stay on earth and it could not give him a new lease of life…
3. His hands should be let loose, so they hang outside the coffin for all to see.. so that people understand that we come to this world empty handed and we leave this world empty handed after the most precious treasure of all is exhausted, and that is TIME, as it is limited.

When we give someone our time, we actually give a portion of our life that we will never take back.

One of the things that have helped me better myself (not achieve the zenith, as that is an never ending journey) is meditation. Meditation has helped with understanding that all are equal and attain balance and a higher level of tolerance.

As what Antoine de St Éxupery, says in his masterpiece “The Little Prince”,

• The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart.
• It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.

In conclusion, we can clearly see that success and happiness lies in the present, the innumerable precious moments that makes this journey called life, wonderful. I can very convincingly say:

• Happiness is when you are able to help another living being – doesn’t have to stop with just humans. The magnitude of help is always measured from the point of view of the recipient. What might be immaterial for one, might be Godly for another, at which point they would reach the Zenith
• When your heart cries out for someone that is no way related to you, when you heart longs for peace for everyone, at that point you reach the Zenith.
• When you stand up for someone when there is injustice, no matter who they are or what heir beliefs are, you reach the Zenith.
• When you receive the blessing from unknown people, you reach the Zenith.
• When every single person, starts treating every other person and each situation with a touch of Humanity, we can proudly say, we have reached the Zenith.