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What's the point in living, when we're all eventually gonna die?

The Crimson Universe

Active Member
We all know the world is constantly changing and that nothing lasts forever and yet i see people all around me, getting along with their daily life as if there's nothing wrong.
Not once do they think that they're all gonna die (i.e. their vessels or sheaths gonna die).
Not once do they think that they'll have to leave behind all the material things which are now in their possession.
They keep on buying new things to make their life more comfortable and pleasurable, they marry and reproduce as if their sons and daughters will live forever with them on this planet.
Why don't people wake up and strive for Liberation / Nirvana / Moksha instead?
 

George-ananda

Advaita Vedanta, Theosophy, Spiritualism
Premium Member
So, why do you think infinite Consciousness/Brahman/God chose to create the universe and experience finite consciousness? The answer is: to experience what it cannot experience as the infinite.

As an Advaita Vedanta believer, I do all the normal things from the perspective that it is just for the joy of temporary experiencing. Also experiencing the joy of growing from limited consciousness to cosmic consciousness.

That's the point in living!
 

Orbit

I'm a planet
We all know the world is constantly changing and that nothing lasts forever and yet i see people all around me, getting along with their daily life as if there's nothing wrong.
Not once do they think that they're all gonna die (i.e. their vessels or sheaths gonna die).
Not once do they think that they'll have to leave behind all the material things which are now in their possession.
They keep on buying new things to make their life more comfortable and pleasurable, they marry and reproduce as if their sons and daughters will live forever with them on this planet.
Why don't people wake up and strive for Liberation / Nirvana / Moksha instead?

Christians believe in an afterlife, and many Eastern religions believe in reincarnation, so it really doesn't "end" for them with death. That's probably why.
 

Left Coast

This Is Water
Staff member
Premium Member
We all know the world is constantly changing and that nothing lasts forever and yet i see people all around me, getting along with their daily life as if there's nothing wrong.
Not once do they think that they're all gonna die (i.e. their vessels or sheaths gonna die).
Not once do they think that they'll have to leave behind all the material things which are now in their possession.
They keep on buying new things to make their life more comfortable and pleasurable, they marry and reproduce as if their sons and daughters will live forever with them on this planet.
Why don't people wake up and strive for Liberation / Nirvana / Moksha instead?

They do so because it's natural/instinctual to do so. Having children and buying new things is not inherently problematic, from my perspective. The problem is addiction/attachment to those things, as though they are permanent.
 

stvdv

Veteran Member
We all know the world is constantly changing and that nothing lasts forever and yet i see people all around me, getting along with their daily life as if there's nothing wrong.
Not once do they think that they're all gonna die (i.e. their vessels or sheaths gonna die).
Not once do they think that they'll have to leave behind all the material things which are now in their possession.
They keep on buying new things to make their life more comfortable and pleasurable, they marry and reproduce as if their sons and daughters will live forever with them on this planet.
I know why. In Hinduism is a wonderful story. One of the Gods wanted to go to earth and experience being a pig. Being alone as a big was not much fun, so he found his lady pig, and together they had lots of fun, so much so, that coincidentally suddenly 3 small pigs came into existence. Now father pig was busy, taking care of wife pig and little pigs. Little pigs became big pigs, found lady pigs, and old father pig was playing and rolling in the mud with it's "son's little pigs"

He got so used to pig life, that he totally forgot who he really was. That's our ordeal too. Forgetting who we are, we keep playing in the mud of sense gratification. Maya is mysterious, even the Gods can fall down, how much more difficult it will be to escape for us with all our desires

Why don't people wake up and strive for Liberation / Nirvana / Moksha instead?
Ultimately we do not Love ourselves. IF you really love yourself, you do every second the best you can; Nirvana, Moksha, Liberation. Though simple, not easy
@stvdvRF
 
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SalixIncendium

अहं ब्रह्मास्मि
Staff member
Premium Member
We all know the world is constantly changing and that nothing lasts forever and yet i see people all around me, getting along with their daily life as if there's nothing wrong.
Not once do they think that they're all gonna die (i.e. their vessels or sheaths gonna die).
Not once do they think that they'll have to leave behind all the material things which are now in their possession.
They keep on buying new things to make their life more comfortable and pleasurable, they marry and reproduce as if their sons and daughters will live forever with them on this planet.
Why don't people wake up and strive for Liberation / Nirvana / Moksha instead?

And this is Maya.
 

shivsomashekhar

Well-Known Member
We all know the world is constantly changing and that nothing lasts forever and yet i see people all around me, getting along with their daily life as if there's nothing wrong.
Not once do they think that they're all gonna die (i.e. their vessels or sheaths gonna die).
Not once do they think that they'll have to leave behind all the material things which are now in their possession.
They keep on buying new things to make their life more comfortable and pleasurable, they marry and reproduce as if their sons and daughters will live forever with them on this planet.
Why don't people wake up and strive for Liberation / Nirvana / Moksha instead?

I don't think anyone believes they (or their kids) will live forever. It is about living their lives as best as they can.

Liberation/Nirvana/Moksha is an Advaita thing. Only a fraction of the population are Advaitins and most of them too want Moksha in the future and not now.

For now, they are more interested in saving for retirement, staying healthy and in the welfare of their children. Moksha can wait. In that sense, they are no different from non-Advaitins.
 

ajay0

Well-Known Member
We all know the world is constantly changing and that nothing lasts forever and yet i see people all around me, getting along with their daily life as if there's nothing wrong.
Not once do they think that they're all gonna die (i.e. their vessels or sheaths gonna die).
Not once do they think that they'll have to leave behind all the material things which are now in their possession.
They keep on buying new things to make their life more comfortable and pleasurable, they marry and reproduce as if their sons and daughters will live forever with them on this planet.
Why don't people wake up and strive for Liberation / Nirvana / Moksha instead?

People at present are conditioned to find pleasure in consumerism and external objects, rather than the Self within. Marketing and advertising actually injects desires within the unconscious, sometimes even for things which we don't really need.

Vivekananda stated that all objective pleasures results in pain and misery in the long run , and an ounce of pleasure brings with it a pound of pain.

Most people are not aware of the Self and its inherent blissfulness within them, superior to all sense-pleasures. If they get a hint of it, they would at least develop an interest for it.

But at present most people does not have a hint of it, though more and more people are now becoming knowledgeable of the Self within, throughout the world.
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
We all know the world is constantly changing and that nothing lasts forever and yet i see people all around me, getting along with their daily life as if there's nothing wrong.
Not once do they think that they're all gonna die (i.e. their vessels or sheaths gonna die).
Not once do they think that they'll have to leave behind all the material things which are now in their possession.
They keep on buying new things to make their life more comfortable and pleasurable, they marry and reproduce as if their sons and daughters will live forever with them on this planet.
Why don't people wake up and strive for Liberation / Nirvana / Moksha instead?
I'd just prefer to get through this life rather then spend it all on worrying about what comes next.
 

The Crimson Universe

Active Member
Vivekananda stated that all objective pleasures results in pain and misery in the long run , and an ounce of pleasure brings with it a pound of pain.
Most people are not aware of the Self and its inherent blissfulness within them, superior to all sense-pleasures. If they get a hint of it, they would at least develop an interest for it.

That is so true. I was myself a hedonistic man in my youth. Couldn't live without gratifying my senses, lol, but now after all these years, i realize that i was a fool to run after pleasures and that it brought nothing but pain in my life.
I wish more and more people would wake up from this dream called material life and seek the knowledge of Brahman.
 

Shantanu

Well-Known Member
We all know the world is constantly changing and that nothing lasts forever and yet i see people all around me, getting along with their daily life as if there's nothing wrong.
Not once do they think that they're all gonna die (i.e. their vessels or sheaths gonna die).
Not once do they think that they'll have to leave behind all the material things which are now in their possession.
They keep on buying new things to make their life more comfortable and pleasurable, they marry and reproduce as if their sons and daughters will live forever with them on this planet.
Why don't people wake up and strive for Liberation / Nirvana / Moksha instead?
It is possible to have material liberation as well as spiritual liberation, that is by taking part in Creation, immersing oneself in one's nonchalant, sponateous and unpremeditated actions: that is what moksha/nirvana/liberation is for me, for my mind is perennially at ease and is peaceful that I have done the right thing in sticking to the path of truth as the mind elevates itself to it. What else do you mean by those terms on other hand. We cannot do without material possessions if we wish to live in comfort and enjoy life, but moderation means that the material and spiritual quest of liberation is held in balance, in the rajasic mould of consciousness. No one in his right mind will wish to go for spiritual moksha in the ashram for that negates the whole purpose of Creation for a theist that I am.

You could therefore make the assumption that only atheists seek mukti/liberation/moksha/nirvana in the seclusion away from society in their own minds

What do you say about this line of thinking?
 

Shantanu

Well-Known Member
They do so because it's natural/instinctual to do so. Having children and buying new things is not inherently problematic, from my perspective. The problem is addiction/attachment to those things, as though they are permanent.
Attachment is the single worst attribute that prevents spiritual upliftment, have no beliefs, aims, targets, strategies, missions, karma, dharma, (duties and righteous actions), etc and free your mind into total stillness to rid the mind of the debris of the past moment and start afresh on a rebirth. This is becuase the imminent reality, the durable reality and the permanent reality (death for an individual) are all transitory, impermanent, unpredictable and uncertain, so that there is no point in worrying about those possiblities. Sacrifice them all to declutter the mind for calmess and equanimity and non-judgmental outlook and live for the present moment. This is what I have learnt knowing that God does exist as a Creator and it is all preordained and preorchestrated what happens in the universe yet we have the free will to conduct ourselves as we consider appropriate.
I rarely buy things for myself except cigarettes and ink cartridges for the printer but I do shopping for my wife, will assemble the furniture that she buys, just not interested in shopping and accumulating stuff in the house, except the Diaries that I have written for a record of my thoughts and experiences which is part of the satya-advaita yoga that I lived through much of my adult life until I found or realised Vishista Advaita Vedanta, and called myself a Vishista Advaitist.
 

Shantanu

Well-Known Member
,
I'm sorry, i don't quite follow you. What do you mean by "it is possible to have liberation by taking part in creation"?
It is what karma is, karma is the essence of Bhagavad Gita: do your work and do not look for the rewards of that work: then you will get mukti that is liberation from work alone, but do not do so with any ulterior movtives: just follow the leads as they come and traverse the path to your pre-destiny: see if your predestiny represents total liberation from material problems of coping with the nuances of life so do not escape the samasara in a sanayass (Abbey) and take part in Nature by minimising your needs from Nature and surviving on what Nature is providing you with in terms of food, clothing, shelter and family comforts; this way you are already spiritually liberated not restricted by thoughts about God or demons in your head that give you mental illnesses of paranoid schizophrenia, delusions, depressions anxieites, mood swings for total calm and peace of mind, even bliss or what you call nirvana. This is what Vishista Advaita does to a person. He is also materially liberated if he has followed the path of navigating the material life in total symbiosis with other creatures of Creation. So one is spiritually and materially liberated. The two are linked in Vishista Advaita Vedanta, each reinforcing the other, and it allows one to live to normal life within a household doing all the things that normal people do.

If one is nonchalant, spontaneous and unpremeditated in one's actions what more liberation does one crave for or target. Craving and targetting are objectives and attachments destroy the liberated Supermind that is fully aware.
 
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