The Value of Life

It is a paradox of our times that we are flooded with information from every side but there is so little time for wisdom and true knowledge. We are busy with quantity and numbers, – whether on the cricket field or in our bank accounts, but we pay little time to reflect upon the quality of our life or to turn the money in our wallet and the success written on our visiting cards into ‘real’ values. Now, we are not suggesting, for one moment that money, success and informational knowledge are not important. But what we are trying to reflect upon and understand is ‘how’ to turn these things into ‘real’ value. For what we mean by this term is the real and lasting worth of our life.
There are things that are of temporary and moment value, there are things that are of lasting and abiding value and, there are things of eternal value. Very often we are unable to distinguish between these three leading to much confusion and avoidable suffering. And then we wonder why the very same thing that was means or supposed to give us happiness is causing so much suffering to us. But before we try to understand, let us see what these three levels of value are.

Let’s take an example, – the example of a rich and successful man. He has money in his pocket and a tag of high position on his visiting card. Because of these he is respected by people in his work place and by friends who seek to take advantage of his high position. Soon enough the man begins to mistake these things as an end in itself. Without even realizing he begins to seek ‘a high’ from these things as an addict from a drug. Greed and ambition begin to take the better of him until one day he lands up in the Coronary Care Unit or Cancer ward at a relatively young age. Or he finds himself alienated from his wife and children and true friends.

So what went wrong? If he carefully and sincerely looks within himself, he will discover to his discomfort, that in running the rat race to achieve things of momentary value, he did not pay attention to things of a more lasting value. He forgot to pay attention to his family, he forgot to pay attention to his health, he forgot to pay attention to many other small and sweet gifts of nature that make our life beautiful and happy, – such as, the simple joy of gazing at a flower in bloom, hearing a coil’s voice in summer, taking a quiet walk by a river-side or a pool, spending some time in nature with his family, giving time and attention to his children to educate them to become better citizens.

The result is what we see. We have money and comfort but no happiness and peace. We have insurance policies to ensure expensive medical care but no natural health and poor body resistance. We are surrounded by those who flatter us but not those who love us since we have slowly alienated them by our behavior. We begin to weigh everything in terms of its immediate utility and instant gratification and start seeking momentary thrills of the flesh and the palate. But soon there is satiety and we crave for more and more. Ever dissatisfied we move down a spiral of gloom and despair, disease and doubt, anxiety and fear.

But we could have taken another route, – the route of balance and moderation, giving at least as much importance to family and friends and other pursuits that help us progress and remain healthy as we did to money and ambition. Perhaps we thought, ignorantly like the murderous Ratnakar who later became Valmiki, the seer, that these things will bring happiness to my family and I can also buy health for them. We forgot that love and health cannot be brought. There is no price tag for these things and to acquire them we need to put in as much effort as we do now to satisfy our greed for money and position.

But there is more to our story of life. There is something else of an even greater value than health, happiness, family. It is something that is there with us before birth and will be with us after death. It accompanies us like a faithful friend and chases us like our own shadow. This thing of eternal value that we always carry with us is called in Indian thought as ‘Dharma’. Unfortunately dharma is poorly translated into English as Religion. But the word does not refer to any cult or sect or a particular religion, nor does it mean rituals etc. Dharma is the central Idea, the core Value, the very reason and principle value of our existence. Dharma is the great and solid foundation on which we build our life. That is why, the seers and sages of this great land, Bharata Varsha, chose to call it Sanatana Dharma, the eternal Law of Truth that none can escape from. It is Dharma that sets the wheel of creation moving and not our fanciful wishes, imaginations, hopes and planning. It applies equally to the rich and the poor, the strong and the weak, the king and the subject. It is the law of our own inner progress and evolution that carries us from life to life on the great sea of years. Dharma is the ship and if we do not care to build our ship well, we may well sink half way and feel defeated in the midst of our victory.

The ship of Dharma is built by our own hands. Our deeds, our thoughts, our feelings, our attitudes and motives, our will goes into the making of this ship. Therefore, the seers of Truth reveal to us what is the way to build a strong ship by showing us the path of Dharma; that is, the ideal way to live. They tell us that the core values of life are truth, honesty, courage, sincerity, nobility of temperament, generosity, kindness, compassion, charity, self-control, simplicity, beauty, wisdom, love. These things are of eternal value and if we have them or can acquire them, then the ship of our life will sail safely through every storm and we will emerge stronger and wiser with every trial.

But if we have neglected this side of our life, this spiritual and divine element then lasting peace and abiding happiness will always elude us. Therefore, it is worth the trouble to sit quietly for a few moments everyday and reflect whether, in the process of running blindly to win a coveted prize we are not neglecting and loosing upon this most important part of our living. If we are sincere and look at ourselves in a transparent mirror then we will have the answer and make the right choices. But if we fail to look into our souls then life and circumstances will compel us to look inside one day, hopefully, before it is too late.

To summarise, we may say that if money is lost, we can once again make it with our effort or cut down our desires to fit into our means. Besides, if we have given love and care to our family and friends they will be there to support us in a crisis. But if our relationships and our health suffers then money cannot buy it. Then it is only dharma, the strength of our inner being, our attitudes that can once again rebuild everything from scratch. That is why it is said that if money is lost then nothing is lost, if health and relationships are lost, then much is lost and, if dharma is lost then everything is lost.

Alok Pandey