True grit is living and facing our mortality and being aware of both at the same time.
As it has happened many times before, one fine morning we are reminded of our mortality yet again, but this time there is a twist – it decides to stay. Unlike a meteor that flashes momentary through the night sky, on this eventful day, the awareness of mortality settles down on the cavass of our consciousness.
From that day on, the awareness of mortality becomes a constant companion wanting attention.
With the awareness that someday this show will come to an end, doubts about us living with purpose also start to raise their head. Perhaps, the confluence of the two is the beginning of the existential crises some of us face.
Being able to live a purposeful life, while at the same time, also being aware of our mortality is the rarest gift of grace one can have. For those, who have not been blessed with this gift may wonder how a purposeful, and an equanimous living, while being aware of mortality, is even possible?
For some of us, the overarching question of living with purpose, or just living, while facing our mortality becomes a central theme. What would allow for mortality and living to exist in harmony? What will make it possible to pursue and plan goals that might as well be beyond our personal event horizon?
How to plant a honeysuckle with the possibility that next spring we may not be around to see it bloom? The reason for doubt could just be as mundane as the possibility of moving to warmer climate and leaving our present home behind.
It is important to recognize that having such goals is essential for us to have a sense of meaning and purpose. They help us get out of bed in the morning. They provide something to look forward to. They are the propellants that steer the spaceship that is us drifting in the empty vastness of the universe.
For our own well-being and sanity, we need to have or to cultivate skill to find the answer to question – what would allow to bring living and mortality into a harmonious coexistence, and thereby, world bring back the sense of purpose? Perhaps the skill we need is to find the right framework for living that makes for a happy marriage between two opposites.
As we have evolved, the necessity of providing the glue between living and our awareness of mortality has led to countless inventions.
Out there, there are plethora of frameworks for living – lose our capacity for consciousness and thinking in mind numbing activities; join a religion and believe in a life beyond, preferably in heaven, to mention a few.
But the catch is that we need is a framework that works for us. What if the popular frameworks that are out there do not feel authentic, or do not provide a sense of fulfillment?
They do not feel authentic because those frameworks are not congruent to our innate nature and who we are. Perhaps, when we visited temples long ago, we did not feel emotions of reverence that others seem to get touched with. Perhaps we have not been interested in watching TV or keeping up with trials and tribulations of the rich or famous.
If that is the case then we are forced to search for alternate frameworks, or possibly, construct a framework for living that brings a sense of harmony between who we are, what we do, how we live, and our awareness that one day the curtains will come down and this act will be over.
It is also important that the framework we construct should not shroud the awareness of mortality, and in fact, should make mortality an integral part of it. A framework that shrouds mortality, and encourages us to lose its awareness, is no different than the popular frameworks that already exist.
The point is that for some of us having an equanimous life equates to constructing or finding the appropriate framework for living that fits contours of our personal consciousness.
Living with this framework we hope to have a life of serenity and purpose and learn to live with the tension that is born out of an interplay between being aware that everything around us is impermanent and that we need to live and a are able to accept the fact and be a functional individual.
To find the framework, would it not be good to have an algorithm that we can use and put together a basic foundation and build from there? After all, although worth the effort, not all of us want to spend years in a Zen Monastery like Leonard Cohen did, or listen to 400+ episodes of “The One You Feed” podcast, which by the way, is highly recommended, and would be an excellent use of our time.
Is there such an algorithm that we can use?
Ciao.
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Summary:
- On one innocuous day, the awareness of mortality decides to stay.
- With that, also come doubts about the prospect of living with purpose.
- It is important to recognize that having purpose and goals is exceedingly important.
- How can we bring mortality and living in harmony so we can regain the sense of purpose?
- The solution is to find the framework for living that works for us.
- Living with this this framework we can hope to find a life of serenity and purpose and learn to rein in the tension that is born out of an interplay between mortality and the need to live and be a functional individual.
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