WHO AM I?

Who am I? Who are you? Who is he? Where from I, you and he/she came? Where are we going? Where are we leading?

These are the eternal questions bothering everybody and there comes a time in everybody’s life when one tries to seek answers, partially or fully? Should everybody wait for the natural way to wait for such time to come to the realization or make immediate earnest efforts to recognize the “self’ and find the universal truth? I think it would be too dangerous for the humanity to wait in natural way and not act earnestly.

Ultimately what we are made of? Our bodies are made of flesh, bones, blood derived from the earthen elements. We take birth through a process of reproduction in mothers’ womb. All human beings come in the world through the same process. They also go back from the world through the identical process of decay and deaths. It is a different matter how our bodies are treated and extinguished after death. The processes of birth and death are universal. Nobody can claim that we come to and go back from the world in different ways. When these two end points between the start and end of life are identical for everybody, irrespective of caste, colour, creed, race and nationality, then from where the differences appear between the two end points. The difference is definitely there and it is more dominant. The difference is an acquired one, the difference is an assumed one, and the difference is an imposed one. I say, I am a Hindu because I am borne in a Hindu family. Other may say he/she is a Muslim as he/she is borne in a Muslim family, another may say that he/she is a Christian due to birth in a Christian family. As we grow, we also acquire other faith, traits, habits, mood swings, likes and dislike and other behavioral patterns. We live, behave and carry our lives generally on the basis of these acquired faith, traits, habits & practices. But, above the realm of this acquired identity, we are, in essence, the same natural beings we call it human beings.

When in essence, we are “same”, we have the same natural rights and same natural responsibilities; “live and let live”. No one has right to snatch anybody’s life whatsoever the reasons may be.  Nobody can have any justification to kill other human being whatsoever the reasons may be. We are also conscious to the reality that the same blood flows in our bodies and bodies of others. If we suffer from some disease, we go to a doctor who can treat us, on whom we have faith. We have faith in him/her whosoever he/she may be. Do we bother whether the doctor is a Hindu, Muslim or Christian?  Never! He treats you, me and everybody in the same way and all we benefit from the treatment. And when our body needs blood during treatment or surgery, do we buy the blood asking for a Hindu, Muslim or Christian labeled Blood? Never! If one asks such a silly question, he/she will immediately be labeled as a stupid.

Similarly, in the matter of religion, we believe in different faiths and philosophies. Like when we go to a doctor, we have certain faith in him to treat us. Likewise, in case of religion, it is an acquired one either by birth or by reposing faith in certain way of life or philosophies. We believe in certain supreme power, a supreme force, name it God, Allah or Christ, Krishna, Buddha or whatever. The common thread is the faith on the Supreme Being.  Our faith may be we believe in none. However, whatsoever greater or lesser one’s faith might be, it is again an acquired faith and is definitely not above the basic essence of “oneness” among the humanity. Therefore, the concept of “live and let live” emerges from this oneness and I believe is the basis of all world religions.

Then why the acquired faiths, traits and habits become so dominant in ones’ life that we forget our basic essence, our basic origin?  Why the differences acquired during the process of our growing assume such a larger force that we forget the oneness between humanities, between races, religions and nationalities and act so foolishly to kill each other and carry out mass murders of innocent people. Mumbai, Paris, New York and other innumerable terror acts proves that we are not realizing the grave threat to humanity. Such acts sometime may lead to wiping out the entire race or communities? Today, the world possesses lethal weapons of mass killing and it will not be a surprise that eventually, the same can be used to annihilate the entire life from the planet earth. Then who will live and who will dominate?

That is the reason it is very imperative and important to know who we are, where we are going and where we are leading others. The world needs to make immediate earnest efforts to recognize the “self’ behind each one of us and realize oneness amongst us. Then and then only we can act wisely and arrest the growing madness. Then and then only we can adopt the philosophy of “live and let live”. The world needs to act immediately otherwise, it would be too late, too late and too dangerous for the humanity.