Unfoldment of Life

Little do we know what happens next day and life goes on in a mysterious way. For some people, it is just a monotonous life, the first day's experience only repeated day after day. For others, everyday is a new day and a new experience. 'Who gets what?', is a mystery. However, The Bhagavad-Gita classifies all jivas under three categories of gunatraya vibhaga- rajas, tamas and sattva and finally advises one has to transcend these qualities/guna. Further, all the jivas have come from soil/food and governed by the quality of food. The food we eat decide the quality of life we live. It is also said that it is better to adhere to clean habits and good quality food (sattvic) and not to eat rajasic (hot and spicy) or tamasic (cold and stale) food. The ultimate goal of life is redemption of jiva from repeated births and deaths; the shackle of karma should be cut asunder and the jiva should revert to its pure state of shuddha sattva.  Those who live a clean life will be able to enjoy life better; "pigs are happy in the mire", they say! Many people do not know what is enjoyment. Enjoyment is not just indulging in sensuous life or, for that matter, being busy in social life. Every thought, action and resolve will accumulate karmic particles and act as seed for next several births and deaths. Hence one should be wise enough to use this life for a greater purpose, i.e, redemption of the embodied soul.  

   Sometimes, it is difficult to understand how some, so called, great or attained people lived! There was one Swamiji who had an ashram near Hosur near Bengaluru. He was a IBM scientist, earned well, traveled widely and finally remained a bachelor practicing yoga (pranayama) japa and dhyana. He was clad in the traditional swami's saffron dress wearing Rudrakshi beads. He was very unhappy the way people lived in USA and other Western countries misusing yoga to make money. He met almost all great swamijis, well known philosophers and was not happy as could be seen from his life and autobiography. However, a question persists? Are we here to advise others or correct other people? Are these scriptures meant for reading and imparting the same to others or to practice what is said and attain liberation? 
   There are some instances where fate plays cruel. A person had a family, earned well, and was happy. Suddenly, one day while driving with his wife and seven children met with an accident and the entire family was gone! Although he was driving safe behind a dumper little did he know that another dumper from behind crashed into his car and was thrown out of the driving seat and all his family members died. Later, a person came and got some signatures and left. He came to know that he had taken all the money and left for the USA. This man lives hoping for death to come! Similar are the two other cases where suddenly death snatched and left their family high and dry. Is there any plausible explanation to all these?    

   One thing is made very clear here. We all are born alone and die alone. We all get co-passengers on and along our journey and we get entangled  and suffer. We are lost in wilderness. Although scriptures like the 'Yoga-Vashishtha', 'Ashtavakra Samhita', 'Avadhuta Gita' warn us us we do not pay heed to them.We neither know where we come from nor do we know the path of return journey. Most of us do not know what we are doing here and what is expected of us and what for are we here! Thus, we spend our short period of life of, say, a hundred years without any knowledge or purpose. One is lucky if a Guru comes his way and guides him; of course, why should somebody take pity on us and guide us? Moreover, our ego comes in the way of accepting somebody as superior and a guru! Thus we suffer.