The Difficulty of Being Human
I want to share a small observation. Lately, as I read the news or watch people talk, I get this sinking feeling that it’s become increasingly difficult to be human in today’s times. Most people I meet hate Monday and look forward to the weekend with feverish anticipation. The citizens of Ayodhya did not wait for Sri Rama with as much fervor as most people wait for the long weekend.
This scenario is best summarized by an incident narrated by Swami Sarvapriyananda of the Vedanta Society New York. He describes the story of a youngster from a small town in India. The boy’s parents were from a small lower-middle-class family who worked hard to get him into IIT. He then studied in the US and worked on Wall Street. He confessed that now he feels empty. He said he earned more money in a month than his father had in his lifetime. He made millions of dollars for his company, but none of that was fulfilling. When he asked his parents what he should do next, they shrugged and said they had done everything they could and didn’t know the answer to his question. He said it was only after coming to the Vedanta society and reading books by Swami Vivekananda that he got a sense of a higher purpose in life. Lastly, he asked Swami Sarvapriyananda why we did not teach this in our schools or colleges.
The life of human beings today is an eternal race. Imagine being told you have to start running. You ask someone how long. They push you to keep running. You spend years running without knowing why you are doing so and gradually forget that you can stop or opt out anytime. The crazy race of capitalism has driven everyone to define goals and metrics that seem logical but hollow.
Do you know that almost 100 years ago, a prominent economist, John Maynard Keynes, predicted that by 2030, the workweek should only be 15 hours due to improvements in productivity and technology. However, today, despite a multifold leap in productivity and technology, we are working longer hours than ever before. Many economists call this the “fundamental economic problem” because human beings seem to have infinite desires, but there aren’t enough resources to satisfy them. As a result, everything is, by definition, scarce.
But was it always this way? We find some fascinating answers in a book called Work: A Deep History, from the Stone Age to the Age of Robots. The author, James Suzman, a social anthropologist, states that we work much harder than our hunter-gatherer ancestors. He describes how when an anthropologist studies a hunter-gatherer tribe that is present even today, he came to a stunning conclusion.
We found a tribe that only spent 30 hours a week hunting and doing chores. The rest of the time, they made music, socialized, gossiped, and relaxed. They didn’t spend all their time working to satisfy their infinite desires. In fact, their desires weren’t infinite at all; they were limited, and easy to satisfy.
Why did I start by saying it seems increasingly difficult to be human in today’s times? We went from the hunter-gatherer era and 30-hour work weeks to an agrarian economy. Life was hard, especially when water and soil were not conducive to agriculture, but humans persisted. Life was supposed to become easier when machines were introduced in agriculture, but humans were now working in factories and mines. Before you could get comfortable with that, more machines made it to factory floors, and humans were expected to be more intelligent than machines. Gradually, the knowledge and services economy emerged, and humans thrived on creative tasks. The introduction of generative AI means that the last bastion of human creativity will likely fall in a few years. This would not be so worrying if the transition was appropriately managed. Human beings were not born to deliver value to stakeholders. They did not inhabit this planet to work most of their lives to have a roof on their heads and put food on the table.
The challenge is that we have conditioned most people to believe that their self-worth is deeply correlated to their job. Hence, we have a natural tendency to want to compete with the machine. When machines made better cars than us, we took solace from the fact that we are sentient and creative human beings, and machines can only follow a prescribed pathway. However, with Artificial General Intelligence on the horizon, that comfort blanket will be ripped from us. What do we do then? When we can no longer continue to expand outwards, the only place we have to go is inwards.
The Guide to the Journey Inwards
Sanatana Dharma always understood that every individual is different. Hence, it prescribed multiple ways in which human beings could explore their inner worlds.
Advaita Vedanta
Advaita Vedanta makes a very bold claim. It states that you are looking for infinite consciousness, also called God or Brahman, and you can find it in the here and the now if you know how to look. Here are a few statements you can find across different Upanishads. These are called “maha vakyas” of great sentences.
- Ayam Atma Bramha — This self is absolute — Mandukya Upanishad
- Aham Bhramasmi — I am absolute
- Pragyanam Brahmha — If you understood the awareness you feel now, that is absolute.
- Tat-Vam-Asi — I am that.
They all mean that you are already the Brahman (consciousness), but you are unaware.
Here is a beautiful video where my guru Om Swami explains how you can experience the truth of Advaita Vedanta in your life. When you listen to him, you realize the power of the words of a true master.
If you ever enjoyed the Star Wars franchise, do read about the influence of the Advaita Vedanta Philosophy on its creators.
Bhakti
Advaita Vedanta is not for everyone. Some people just love singing the glories of the lord and melting in love for the divine. Such people have tasted the bliss of Bhakti. It is also arduous because it requires complete surrender and unshakeable faith.
Faith is the heart’s wisdom. It’s what your mind can’t grasp, but your heart knows. Give it a place in your life, and you’ll fly with a thousand wings. Higher and swifter. Across the seas, beyond the skies.
It is the truest love you can ever witness because a real bhakta has only one desire. They want to merge with the object of their devotion. He is a beautiful video by my guru Om Swami on the various stages in Bhakti.
Mantra Sadhana
My guru Om Swami wrote a fantastic book on the ancient science of Mantras. Here is a beautiful paragraph from it.
A mantrin believes that in the vast universe, there is a divine entity that can assume a form and that form can bestow upon me siddhis or protection. The firm belief that the divine form is my savior and can help me navigate through the choppy ocean of life to reach the shore is the foundation of bhakti. To be totally in love with God (or your deity) and to exercise complete self-surrender towards your object of worship is bhakti.
Nirguna Bhakti
The wonderful Kabir was one of the biggest proponents of Nirguna Bhakti. In this method, you worship the divine in its purest formless nature. Here is a beautiful song that explains the beautiful essence of Nirguna bhakti.
Summary
It’s truly difficult to be human in today’s world. We identify ourselves with our job titles, which may change rapidly. The infinite desires that haunt us never allow us to pursue the journey inward. Sanatana Dharma enables you to try different approaches and choose one that works best for you.
