HAPPY LIFE
What is a happy life ? Savants and sages fill the pages with their wisdom. Basic needs have necessarily to be fulfilled . Can you talk philosophy to an empty stomach . Never. Either it falls on deaf years or invites the wrath of the victims. Poverty is not an ideal. Neither is it a virtue in itself. A society hosting starving individuals is heartless. A great Tamil Poet thundered , " தனியொருவருக்கு உணவிலையெனின சகத்தினை அழிப்போம " ( Even if a single person has no food , we shall destroy the entire world ) . The next need is shelter. Millions of homeless are a reality even in certain developed countries, not to speak of developing and under developed countries. Once these essential needs are satisfied , we have the mood and energy to speak of higher things. In that stage you can say , " Man does not live by bread alone ". Yes there are more wonderful things in life than mere survival. Every person has a potential for tremendous growth in areas in which he / she is interested . If such people struggle for basic needs, it is a great loss to society. Full potential of a personality is to be manifested. One should have a feeling that his/her life is not wasted. Hence the need for " Education ". Is it all ? No . You can have everything in life. But if you don't have that one thing , life is futile. What is that ? LOVE. I do not mean only love between man and woman or family members. A love that encompasses everything . Your society , the whole world, the world of plants and animals, the earth and the entire universe . Sounds too utopian ? I am in complete agreement with Bertrand Russell who says in his remarkable book , " Conquest of Happiness " - " A happy life is that which is guided by knowledge and inspired by love." Love means our planet will survive and it will not be destroyed by man made activities inspired by greed and hate.
What is a happy life ? Savants and sages fill the pages with their wisdom. Basic needs have necessarily to be fulfilled . Can you talk philosophy to an empty stomach . Never. Either it falls on deaf years or invites the wrath of the victims. Poverty is not an ideal. Neither is it a virtue in itself. A society hosting starving individuals is heartless. A great Tamil Poet thundered , " தனியொருவருக்கு உணவிலையெனின சகத்தினை அழிப்போம " ( Even if a single person has no food , we shall destroy the entire world ) . The next need is shelter. Millions of homeless are a reality even in certain developed countries, not to speak of developing and under developed countries. Once these essential needs are satisfied , we have the mood and energy to speak of higher things. In that stage you can say , " Man does not live by bread alone ". Yes there are more wonderful things in life than mere survival. Every person has a potential for tremendous growth in areas in which he / she is interested . If such people struggle for basic needs, it is a great loss to society. Full potential of a personality is to be manifested. One should have a feeling that his/her life is not wasted. Hence the need for " Education ". Is it all ? No . You can have everything in life. But if you don't have that one thing , life is futile. What is that ? LOVE. I do not mean only love between man and woman or family members. A love that encompasses everything . Your society , the whole world, the world of plants and animals, the earth and the entire universe . Sounds too utopian ? I am in complete agreement with Bertrand Russell who says in his remarkable book , " Conquest of Happiness " - " A happy life is that which is guided by knowledge and inspired by love." Love means our planet will survive and it will not be destroyed by man made activities inspired by greed and hate.
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