meaningful life

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.

3 parts to this document

• Part 1:

– Understanding Matter

• Part 2:

– Using Matter

• Part 3:

– The Goal of life

Meaningful Life

UNDERSTANDING MATTER

Part 1

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.

WE COMPLAIN!

We live for success and then after living a whole life…

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.

Why such feelings surround us after living for 30-40-50 years?

Incidentally, the more we have…

The more dissatisfaction seem to arise.

Life appears to have burned away like a candle.

Its gone! We feel.

WHY?

We even start feeling that people at levels below us are more happier than us.

Why we begin to feel our success has given us only little?

• This happens because our life is driven by our desires, which in turn are related to matter.

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.

THEN WE CAN BE HAPPY.

We believe that if we can possess this matter, i.e. become successful…

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.

WHY?

After a while, success stops bringing happiness…

THE MATTER IS PERISHABLE

Reason:

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.

WE ARE UNHAPPY.

The moment matter perishes… we lose it… & then….

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.

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…

So, Is matter such a bad thing?

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

USING MATTER

Part 2

LET’S LEARN FROM 2 EXAMPLES:

How we create problems with matter?

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.

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.

MATTER IS NEEDED TO RUN THE WORLD.

Without matter there will be no world; no life.

BOTH ARE PERISHABLE.

Both, ‘the world’ and ‘this life’ themselves are matter.

IT MUST BE USED TO REACH THE GOAL OF LIFE. HOW?

Thus, the matter is very much needed for life, though…

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.

What is this GOAL?

We learn in Part 3

This is the end of Part 2

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

WHAT IS THE GOAL?

Part 3

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

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.

WHAT IS THIS NON-MATTER?

Now, If everything is matter…

There are different names used for this non-matter.

Swami Amartayananda call it ‘Peace’.

THE GOAL OF LIFE IS TO FIND THIS PEACE THAT IS NOT PERISHABLE.

PEACE IS A NON-MATTER.

We keep searching peace in matter, whereas…

HOW WE ACHIEVE IT?

So, if peace is a non-matter…

• 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).

• 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.

• Once achieved even 1%, this attitude leads to great joy that is not perishable by any force in the universe.

• Caution:

• This attitude is not achieved by merely learning theory, but through constant practice of the principle in everyday life.

• Thus, we must use matter to find this non-matter, just like the doctor did by treating the poor patient.

• 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.

A LIFE SPENT ON ROAD TO PEACE.

So, what is a meaningful life?

BY FOCUSING ON NON-MATTER.BY NON-ATTACHMENT TO MATTER.

& How meaningful life is achieved?

SUMMARY

If we focus on success through acquisition of matter

Successful Life

Meaningful Life

Are two opposing forces

BECAUSE MATTER WE ACQUIRE IS PERISHABLE.

There shall never be any permanent happiness

THIS STATE IS ACHIEVED THROUGH A CHANGE OF ATTITUDE.

Permanent happiness is in pursuance of non-matter.

ONE IS ABLE TO ACHIEVE PEACE THROUGH SAME ACTIONS OF LIFE.

Once attitude is directed towards non-matter.

Peace is the Goal of Life.A life spent in pursuance of peace is

meaningful life.

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

#QUOTE#SDM

‘If Goal is not clear,

the journey is meaningless’

– Swami Amartayananda

#QUOTE#SDM

‘Happiness is the cause of unhappiness &

we are not considering this at all.’

– Swami Amartayananda

#QUOTE#SDM

‘We keep searching peace running after happiness through success in matter, which is perishable.’

– Swami Amartayananda

#QUOTE#SDM

‘What we know is not sufficient,

we must practice as well.’

– Swami Amartayananda

End of Document