LIFE HAS BECOME A BURDEN?

BREATH AND BURDEN: A NEW THOUGHT

As per the Biblical account, God shaped Adam out of the dust of the earth (matter) and breathed into him. Thus he became a living person.

Scientists, I know, will ridicule this account. I have no problem with that. The fact that the discipline of knowledge one pursues cannot cope with an aspect of reality is no proof that it doesn't exist.

What do I get out of this account? Well, a very useful insight regarding life. Here it is...

Life has two aspects, at the very least: the material dimension and the Life Principle (Or, in secular language, the vital force or impulsion).

Matter cannot breathe by itself; else, God didn't have to breathe life into it. Matter, by itself, does not constitute life. (This is not quite the same as saying that matter is lifeless. I don't say it is.)

Also, matter and the breath of God are not one, or harmonious, in an immediate sense (Ultimately everything is related; for God created everything.) So, matter resists the breath principle, or the vital impetus.

This resistance is felt by us as the BURDEN OF LIFE.

This can be understood in terms of a physical analogy. When we are young, we don't feel our bodies as a burden. In fact, we remain unaware of the body. But when we grow old, the situation changes. Why? Because our capacity to breathe -our vital capacity, as doctors put it- declines. It is not that the body becomes heavier, it is that the vital force in us gets feebler.

This constitutes the burden of old age. (So, please do a lot of aerobic exercises.)

This is the physical truth. This also mirrors a spiritual truth. Spiritually, God is the breath of life. God and life are inseparable, indistinguishable. We the body to which God is the breath. When there is an imbalance between the two, we feel that the burden of life increases. We age spiritually.

What is the way out? The way out is to re-plug ourselves into the Being of God, or the Cosmic Vital Principle, if you like.

Leave alone spirituality and the supernatural dimension. Let me offer you my practical experience. When I sit down to write, and even as I make progress in writing, I become increasingly unaware of my physical aches and pain, my mental exhaustion. I become like a battery plugged in for re-charging. I begin to experience pure joy. That is why I am addicted to writing, which is to be an experience similar to praying.

If this is true of one's intellectual life; it has to be true of one's spiritual life as well.

You can argue, and insist, that spiritual life is a myth. That's your choice and I respect that. But my experiences convince me to the contrary. Give it a thought; and cast it aside only after giving it a good enough try.

It would work wonders; who knows?

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