meaningful life

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Meaningful Life What is it? How to achieve it? This slideshow created from lecture delivered by Swami Amartayananda on 2 nd February 2015 at RamKrishna Misson, Khar, Mumbai, INDIA.

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Page 1: 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.

Page 2: Meaningful Life

3 parts to this document

• Part 1:

– Understanding Matter

• Part 2:

– Using Matter

• Part 3:

– The Goal of life

Meaningful Life

Page 3: Meaningful Life

UNDERSTANDING MATTER

Part 1

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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.

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WE COMPLAIN!

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

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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.

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

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Incidentally, the more we have…

The more dissatisfaction seem to arise.

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Life appears to have burned away like a candle.

Its gone! We feel.

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WHY?

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

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

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

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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.

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THEN WE CAN BE HAPPY.

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

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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.

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WHY?

After a while, success stops bringing happiness…

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THE MATTER IS PERISHABLE

Reason:

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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.

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WE ARE UNHAPPY.

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

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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.

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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…

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So, Is matter such a bad thing?

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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

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USING MATTER

Part 2

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LET’S LEARN FROM 2 EXAMPLES:

How we create problems with matter?

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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.

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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.

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MATTER IS NEEDED TO RUN THE WORLD.

Without matter there will be no world; no life.

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BOTH ARE PERISHABLE.

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

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

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

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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.

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What is this GOAL?

We learn in Part 3

This is the end of Part 2

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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

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WHAT IS THE GOAL?

Part 3

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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

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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.

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WHAT IS THIS NON-MATTER?

Now, If everything is matter…

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There are different names used for this non-matter.

Swami Amartayananda call it ‘Peace’.

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

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PEACE IS A NON-MATTER.

We keep searching peace in matter, whereas…

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HOW WE ACHIEVE IT?

So, if peace is a non-matter…

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• 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).

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• 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.

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

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• Caution:

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

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

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• 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.

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A LIFE SPENT ON ROAD TO PEACE.

So, what is a meaningful life?

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

& How meaningful life is achieved?

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SUMMARY

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If we focus on success through acquisition of matter

Successful Life

Meaningful Life

Are two opposing forces

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BECAUSE MATTER WE ACQUIRE IS PERISHABLE.

There shall never be any permanent happiness

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THIS STATE IS ACHIEVED THROUGH A CHANGE OF ATTITUDE.

Permanent happiness is in pursuance of non-matter.

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

Once attitude is directed towards non-matter.

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

meaningful life.

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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

Page 57: Meaningful Life

#QUOTE#SDM

‘If Goal is not clear,

the journey is meaningless’

– Swami Amartayananda

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#QUOTE#SDM

‘Happiness is the cause of unhappiness &

we are not considering this at all.’

– Swami Amartayananda

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#QUOTE#SDM

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

– Swami Amartayananda

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#QUOTE#SDM

‘What we know is not sufficient,

we must practice as well.’

– Swami Amartayananda

End of Document