Monday, July 25, 2011

Virtue - Defying definition

Virtue denotes moral excellence according to the dictionary meaning. But can virtue be defined? We normally consider acts of honesty, kindness, humility, compassion as virtue. But on closer observation we find that virtues cannot be so easily defined.

In fact nothing is more nebulous than virtue. Every act that we perform cannot be viewed in isolation. We need to take a holistic view of the act - the situation, the circumstances, the cause and the consequences of the act before classifying the act as being morally excellent or not.

A naive definition of truth is generally understood to be a simple statement of a fact. This is what we as kids learn. However as we grow older we learn that sometimes we need tact rather than direct statement of facts - hence we sugar coat the truth. Other times we may have to tell a white lie where we withhold a certain part of the fact when we know that mere telling of the fact can cause greater harm than good. This brings to mind the anecdote in which a sage on being asked by bandits with murderous intentions whether he saw a man flee in a particular direction simply states the fact, resulting in the man being caught and killed. The sage could have told a white lie in this situation. In these situations truth which is pure and the highest virtue cannot be the simple statement of fact.

Another situation that can be considered is when a corporate needs to retrench a part of the workforce. For the employees affected by this move it does appear cruel. But in the eyes of the CEO such a move is necessary for long term health of the organization. In these situations again virtue cannot be easily defined. On the one hand it resulted in people losing jobs and earning capacity at least temporarily, while on the other hand it prevents further decay in the organization.

Was Robin Hood, who stole from the rich, to give to the poor justified in his act? While it may appear that Robin Hood was stealing on the other hand he was using the stolen wealth to help the poor. With this view can virtue be defined as an act in which the ends are noble, though the means are not? Or does virtue necessitate that both the means and the ends be morally justifiable.

The reality is virtue is relative in many ways and really needs to be viewed in totality. We can think of virtue as any act that provides the greatest good for the greatest number or the greatest good for the greatest time. In many ways the Hindu concept of dharma is closest to this view.

In fact at the highest realm of virtue, one virtue is really indistinguishable from another, Hence if we look at virtue as an act that produces the most beneficial consequence then truth, kindness, non-violence and compassion all merge together becoming virtually distinguishable.
Hence virtue at the highest level cannot be easily defined and is in reality an amalgam of many virtues.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Dissecting Desire

Desire, we are often told, is the root of all misery. But what is the root of desire? Is there something behind desire that makes us crave for certain things?

We may have desire for wealth, material possessions, an office promotion or fame. Is there a common denominator behind desire?

Whenever we want something we are usually prompted by thoughts of increased happiness, more satisfaction etc. For e.g. the reason most of us desire wealth is because we think that more wealth implies more happiness. To a large extent the thoughts of an increase in our happiness quotient is the result of our memory. We can easily recall our experiences when we have a pleasant experience because of more money. So in many cases the cause behind our desire is the memory that tells us that when we achieve the object of desire we will be happier. Our memory is based on past experiences of similar events. So our experience coupled with the pleasurable recollection of the experience is one of the causes of desire. Another factor behind desire is the thought of an increased comfort that will be ours when we get what we desire.

However another of the causes of our desire is an imagined future. For example when we crave for fame, power or a promotion at office we usually imagine that when we achieve that power or fame we will also win the esteem of our friends and relatives. To some extent the motivation for the need for an increase in the self-esteem in the eyes of others is driven by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in which esteem is the second most important need of mankind below the need for self-actualization. This feeling of an imagined increase in one’s value in the eyes of others is a powerful driver for a lot of our desires.

Hence the root of desire is either the lure of pleasure, the promise of more comfort or an increase in one’s esteem in the eyes of others.

Whatever the drivers are for our desire it is difficult to get rid of desire. Without the exercise of powerful restraint we really cannot suppress desire.

Repressing desire will only result in conflict and will usually result in a losing battle. The more judicious approach is to sublimate the desire we have for wealth, power or fame.

In my opinion, it is not wrong to desire more wealth, power or fame as long as one utilizes what one gets also for the benefit of others.

Clearly if the desire of wealth, recognition or power is not merely selfish but is also used for the benefit of society at large then it makes very good sense to go after what one desires.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

The Center of Happiness

To most of us happiness depends on us getting that raise, a promotion, acquiring some material things or achieving recognition and respect etc. In all these cases the center of our happiness is our own petty self. Our happiness or lack of it is dependent on our own self-centered view of the world.

We expect some external event to happen which results in our happiness. We hold our happiness hostage to the occurrence the external event. We are in a way helpless as we are dependent on events happening to make us happy.

Why can’t we shift the center of our happiness from being centered on oneself to being centered on others?

This requires a radical shift in our mind set.

Can we change our world view such that we strive to make other happy in anyway? Can we make others happy by alleviating their suffering of others? Can we derive our own satisfaction and consequent happiness from this effort?

We can help others monetarily, mentally or morally.

That is the key? Why do we have to hold our happiness slave to some external event because our joy is centered on our self? Why cannot we move this center to the world around us and derive joy by making others happy.

If we are able to look beyond our own self-centered view of the world, to a more encompassing view of society at large, then the happiness that we gain by making others happy will be more enduring and more long lasting.

The other important fact is that we are in control of our actions in making others happy. We don’t have to feel helpless in waiting for some things to happen in our lives. We can proactively work towards help others and centering our happiness in our service for others.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Causes of suffering

Suffering and misery are inevitable in life. While we cannot wish away our suffering it is definitely worthwhile to understand some of the causes behind our suffering.

The causes of misery are either in our past, in our present or in an imagined future.

Painful Past: Quite a few people suffer from this sort of misery. These people look back at their past lives and keep wishing that it had occurred in a different way. They are not able to come to terms with their failures, their sorrows and their indiscretions of the past. It really does not make sense to moan a painful past. What has happened has happened and we need to get over it. There is no sense in tying oneself into knots about the past which cannot be changed. We just need to get over it and move on in life.

Imagined Future: Then there are others who wish for a rosy future and fret and fume in the present. They sincerely hope for something in their future - a promotion, getting through some exam or acquiring some material possession. They are so are wound up in all their fantasies that they find the present drab and hence suffer. They live in an imagined world and fail to see reality as it is. It does not make sense to spoil the present based on an imagined future

Unbearable Present: The third type of suffering happens in the present. The causes behind this kind of suffering are many.

Conflict with our world view: This is the most common type of suffering that we face in the present i.e. we expect the world to behave in a certain way but people act in a completely different way. We expect our friends, our spouses, our colleagues to treat us with certain sensitivity. When this does not happen we feel utterly miserable.

Ego: This is another root cause of our misery. We tend have a certain opinion of ourselves. In some it may even border on vanity. When somebody treats us with disdain or insults us we feel utterly hurt and our ego is crushed. This can cause a lot of undue suffering.

Desire: This is the third cause of suffering in the present. We want many things in our life. We want money, wealth, recognition and respect. When our desires are not met we suffer.

While there is no easy way out of our suffering, becoming aware of the causes of our misery enables us to handle our lives better. As we learn the root causes we can devote our attention to the causes and eradicate them.

In this way we can at least strive for a more peaceful existence.

Directing Mental energy

Thought in action utilizes energy. All kinds of mental activity require mental energy to be performed. All mental activity, whether it is for creating, analyzing, getting worked up or being jealous requires energy.

Since any activity that involves the mind requires energy it is important that we direct our mind into only towards fruitful and beneficial activities.

Whenever we get angry against someone, get irritated or frustrated we expend a lot of mental energy. When we spend a lot of time just getting worked we will feel exhausted after some time. There will be times where we repeatedly relive some situation and keep getting angrier and angrier. We will dwell on some cyclical thought which will enervate us. The energy that is spent in our irritations, frustrations or anger serves no purpose. This will only make us feel drained of energy.

On the other hand if we spend time directing our thoughts towards fruitful activities then the mental energy that we expend will give us some useful result. For example we could direct our thoughts to solving our immediate problems or in learning some new skill that will help us in our personal or professional life. Alternatively we could focus on planning for our future and taking necessary steps so that our path in the future is smooth.

This is judicious use of our mental energy.

But the problem with most of us is that we fritter away our mental energies in petty disagreements, in hate games, in irritations and anger. We do not realize that this sort of mental activity is a waste of our mental resources and will only makes us feel drained after some time.

If you feel angry about something or someone try to see the futility of it and get rid of it as soon as you can. Do not prolong this feeling. Re-focus your mind on some other useful activity.

Expending energy in wasteful activity like anger, frustration or irritation is equivalent to banging your head against a wall. It serves no useful purpose and we will only tend to feel tired.

So we must learn to avoid any sort of mental activity that serves no useful purpose and direct our mental energies towards creative and problem solving effort.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Delusions

Human beings are the only creatures who are capable of completely deceiving themselves. Our mind can create a web of lies and so completely fool us that we will not know what is right and what is wrong.

Take for example the mindless bomb blasts in Mumbai today. What can one think of the perpetrators of such a cruel act. What must be going through the minds of these people.

Clearly these terrorists must harbor a lot of hatred for all mankind in general. How can they justify the loss of lives. I am certain that they must be justifying their deeds by thinking that to achieve their goal they have to sacrifice lives. They must be rationalizing their actis by arguing with themselves and completely fooling themselves of what is right or what is wrong,

What propels them to commit such acts? Do they think of lives lost, the people injured? Do they realize that they will be putting a lot of people in pain. Do they choose to ignore all of this and subjugate all human suffering to their cause whatever it might be.

Are the terrorists incapable of feeling or is their mind so warped that they cannot comprehend tenderness and love.

They must be utilizing their reason for all the wrong purposes.

When people do not pursue their lives by following true north principles of love, compassion, kindness are bound to be led astray by their mind.

The mind can become the vessel for dialbolical deeds accompanied by thoughts justifying and reasoning the devilish act.

The mind of these terrorists must be devoid of any possible human trait.

May they wake up to good sense and truth. May these people see the innocent smile a child. May they realize the joy of happiness gained by making others happy.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Imagination - Friend or Foe?

Our imagination can either behave as our friend or our foe. This depends on how we use this powerful faculty that has been bestowed on us. Our imagination can provide great service to us if we employ it properly, alternatively it can also be our greatest enemy.

Our imagination enables us to think creatively. We are able to visualize many things over and above they really are because of the faculty of our imagination. Some of the greatest works of art, music and literature are the products of fertile imagination. The eternal works of Shakespeare, Kalidasa, Mozart or a Vinci are the results of vivid imagination. Imagination if used properly can help us create, visualize and solve difficult problems. In these aspects our imagination is our greatest ally, helping us transcend ordinary realms of mortals and helps us to leave behind a lasting legacy.

But our imagination can also be our greatest enemy if we let our mind run loose. Sometimes when we are faced with problems in life our imagination starts running wild. We start to imagine all sorts of problems. We see disasters where there is none. We get overly stressed because we lose control of our minds and our imagination makes our lives a virtual nightmare.

The other side of this coin when our imagination can work against us is when we assume our own greatness where there is none. There are times where we assume that people are either praising us or criticizing us. Our imagination takes over our normal cool and reasoned approach and concocts a situation that is totally untrue. There are many times we start to assume things and attributing meaning to chance remarks because our imagination makes us do so. These are situation we have to be careful against. In these situations our imagination is our enemy and we have to step back and reason out logically any assumptions or conclusions we make.

Hence our imagination can be our ally or our worst enemy. We must know not only how to utilize our imagination but also when to utilize it. That is the most important lesson of all.