Our Strategy professor, Dr. Vivek Suneja, is a very philosophical & spiritual person. He combines everything from Quantum Physics to Chanakya Niti, Descartes to Buddhism, Free Market Economics to Bhagwad Geeta and gives a different perspective for us to look at things. In his last lecture of course, he gave us a test:-
Frame any question of your own and answer it.
(He gave an optional question for those finding it difficult to frame a question).
We had only 15-20 mins to frame question and answer. This was my question & answer:
(I took a photo of my answer sheet :p )
What is difference between Life and Existence?
We are all given life, we did not ask for it. Humans usually value more what they 'earn'. If you work hard to earn a loaf of bread, you are more likely to value it than if you were given it without asking. But life we get without 'earning' (even if you believe in Karma, its not like we actually remember how we 'earned' this life :p ). Is that the reason why most of us waste it or don't value it enough? We while away our life lost in the things we see and feel. We experience life through senses given to us. But why is it that we get lost in the senses itself? Its addictive. The smell of flowers, the sight of things we love, the touch of our sexual partner, the aroma of home made food . . we get addicted to all these sensory stimulus.
But is it wrong to get lost in these senses? Nothing wrong maybe from one perspective. But my mind begs to differ. In my perspective, that's mere existence. The senses are a tool to be used for aid, they are not the core of life itself. The senses give the ability to feel, like in most organisms. Its only when we feel something that we believe in our own physical existence. That's how we distinguish between a dream and reality - by pinching ourselves. Hence, living just in senses is only physical existence. Its not what is Life.
But does our life rely only on senses? Its said that a unique trait which humans have that most of other species don't is - Imagination. We can imagine and see things despite closing eyes. Hear, talk, listen, smell, taste . . feel . . all in the mind. So do we even need the senses to feel those experiences which reassure us of our existence? Or can we do without them and live in the mind? So are we really lost in our senses or our mind most of the time? Mind I guess, for I am still lost in the taste of the dairy milk chocolate I had a while back.
If we are a slave to our mind, we acknowledge the identity of our mind as separate from 'ourselves'. We are not the same as our mind. The senses feel, the mind thinks. So are we controlled by our thoughts? Are they 'our' thoughts? I can't voluntarily command my thoughts the way I control my hands and legs. If we have no control over origin of thoughts, where do they come from? I'm not sure too. But if the mind plays by its rules and we can't control it or the thoughts, then is a life lived in the mind (and for the mind), truly a life? Mind is an infinite canvass- an illusion which astonishes us with the images it conjures up.
So, living by senses only is mere existence in physical world; living by thoughts is mere existence in virtual world. And most of us live our life with a mixture of these two.
We mostly, merely exist.
The true experience of life . . living . . is in the absolute. The omnipresent energy/ consciousness. Living is 'Here and Now.' Beyond space-time.
Frame any question of your own and answer it.
(He gave an optional question for those finding it difficult to frame a question).
We had only 15-20 mins to frame question and answer. This was my question & answer:
(I took a photo of my answer sheet :p )
What is difference between Life and Existence?
We are all given life, we did not ask for it. Humans usually value more what they 'earn'. If you work hard to earn a loaf of bread, you are more likely to value it than if you were given it without asking. But life we get without 'earning' (even if you believe in Karma, its not like we actually remember how we 'earned' this life :p ). Is that the reason why most of us waste it or don't value it enough? We while away our life lost in the things we see and feel. We experience life through senses given to us. But why is it that we get lost in the senses itself? Its addictive. The smell of flowers, the sight of things we love, the touch of our sexual partner, the aroma of home made food . . we get addicted to all these sensory stimulus.
But is it wrong to get lost in these senses? Nothing wrong maybe from one perspective. But my mind begs to differ. In my perspective, that's mere existence. The senses are a tool to be used for aid, they are not the core of life itself. The senses give the ability to feel, like in most organisms. Its only when we feel something that we believe in our own physical existence. That's how we distinguish between a dream and reality - by pinching ourselves. Hence, living just in senses is only physical existence. Its not what is Life.
But does our life rely only on senses? Its said that a unique trait which humans have that most of other species don't is - Imagination. We can imagine and see things despite closing eyes. Hear, talk, listen, smell, taste . . feel . . all in the mind. So do we even need the senses to feel those experiences which reassure us of our existence? Or can we do without them and live in the mind? So are we really lost in our senses or our mind most of the time? Mind I guess, for I am still lost in the taste of the dairy milk chocolate I had a while back.
If we are a slave to our mind, we acknowledge the identity of our mind as separate from 'ourselves'. We are not the same as our mind. The senses feel, the mind thinks. So are we controlled by our thoughts? Are they 'our' thoughts? I can't voluntarily command my thoughts the way I control my hands and legs. If we have no control over origin of thoughts, where do they come from? I'm not sure too. But if the mind plays by its rules and we can't control it or the thoughts, then is a life lived in the mind (and for the mind), truly a life? Mind is an infinite canvass- an illusion which astonishes us with the images it conjures up.
So, living by senses only is mere existence in physical world; living by thoughts is mere existence in virtual world. And most of us live our life with a mixture of these two.
We mostly, merely exist.
The true experience of life . . living . . is in the absolute. The omnipresent energy/ consciousness. Living is 'Here and Now.' Beyond space-time.
