Hinduism describes life as a journey to realize the fundamental truth about oneself.
It is tied with the concepts of
- Karma – (action)
- Kama – (desires, ambitions, goals)
- Samsara – (domestication, the continuous cycle of births and re-births)
- Mokhsha (liberation)
Let’s say you are standing in a bus stand with fellow passengers. There are infinite number of buses and infinite number of passengers, everything is continuously moving.
Now you wonder – which bus I should take?
Someone tells you –
Take that red bus.
You ask –
Why? Why the red bus? Why not the yellow one?
That elderly guy tells you –
Just do as I say. You will later know why I told you to take the Red bus.
You board the red bus and receive a standing ovation from fellow passengers – this signifies your birth.
Next, you are given a seat next to the driver – this signifies your childhood.
Next, you are told to collect tickets from other passengers – this signifies Brahmacharya, the phase of learning.
Next, you are told to stand up and vacate the seat for someone else – this signifies the phase of service or Karma.
Next, you are told to accompany someone next to that window seat – this signifies the phase of sansara, domestication phase.
Finally, you are told to vacate the bus. You vacate the bus and find yourself standing in that same bus stand and that elderly guy waving hands to you.
You approach him and ask –
The journey is complete. Now tell me why did you ask me to board the red bus and not the yellow one.
That elderly guy tells you to follow him to the workshop. You enter the workshop and find that there was no Red bus. Neither was there a Yellow bus. All the vehicles are colorless and they are painted just before the journey so that passengers figure out their own reasons for boarding the bus.
You see, my objective is to convince people to board a bus. Someone likes red, he chooses the red bus. Someone likes green, he goes for the green one. In reality, all the vehicles are the same thing and they go through the same route and arrive at the same destination. The objective is not the bus. The objective is the realization the passengers has once he finishes the journey.
In the same fashion, life is not the objective. The objective is the realization you have in your heart when its all over. The feeling and realization of fundamental truth about oneself once the journey is over.