Do you ever feel like you're made up of multiple layers? Each layer as vivid and real as the next. Like so many of these abstract concepts, it’s easy to understand but hard to explain. It's like there's several different me's inside of me. The closest (and most cliched) example I can give is of Russian ‘Matryoshka’ dolls...the ones where you open one up to find another, smaller replica inside, and so on so forth ad infinitum.
And the different me's take turns to come up to the surface. While there's one on the outside, interacting with the world, imparting his wisdom to the poor sodden souls who have the misfortune of stumbling across him, the others sit inside fretting, fuming and generally building up steam, until one of them finally breaks through and has his moment in the limelight. Kind of like how the cute little alien breaks out of Sigourney Weaver and trashes around...but a lot less visual.
For instance, it’s the travel aficionado part of me who's currently on the surface. All he thinks about is travel; he spends his spare time at office browsing through travel photos and blogs and spends his time at home chalking out routes on maps. And this guy's been hogging the limelight for more than his fair share of time...so he's starting to get a bit on my nerves and I've been giving serious thought to giving him the pink slip and letting somebody else out for a change.
And this is precisely what I did during my latest trip to Hyderabad. I was loitering around vacantly at home, doing nothing in particular when my eye happened to catch a little booklet of Krishnamurthy. For lack of anything better to do, picked it up and started to leaf through it, and it proved to be just the wake-up call that the philosopher in me needed. We had some good times, he and I, in the older days when we spent many a happy moment contemplating the meaning of life and such, but he's tended to become a bit more dormant in recent times. In fact I have reason to believe he’s taken a long leave of absence, as have most of the other me's, unable to withstand the continuous onslaught of Traveler Me.
Well, Philosopher Me's back with a vengeance now. Unpacked his bags, rolled up the shutters and firmly set up shop. And I couldn't be happier about it. Always nice to have a change of scenery.
Well anyways, I must admit I haven't really read too much of Krishnamurthy, but what I did read I've enjoyed...and been able to relate to, for the most part. Ditto with Kahlil Gibran. Makes for a good change from guys like, say, Robin Sharma, who impart wonderful words of wisdom like "think of your mind as a green meadow and your thoughts as beautiful flowers inside it...if you can do that you'll find everlasting happiness"
What got the old grey cells into a bit of a tizzy this time, though, was Krishnamurthy's take on reincarnation. He seems to adamantly refuse to give a simple yes or no answer to whether reincarnation really exists, but from what I understood, refers to reincarnation as a concept that arose because of our need to take our thoughts and personalities with us beyond the grave. And that's bang on, me thinks.
If you've ever asked someone what is it that actually reincarnates, the answer you'd most likely get is that the body perishes after death, but the soul moves on to inhabit the next body that's waiting in line to be born. Or sometimes, that the soul has a bit of a vacation in heaven before being born again. And if the person on the receiving end of your question happens to be a Bollywood director, you'd even be rewarded with a nice visual of a candle flame dropping down from the heavens into Waheeda Rahman's womb, and a child subsequently being born with a 'taveez' around his neck, who then invariably grows up to become Shahrukh Khan and then proceeds to run around the ruins of palaces with his fair maiden in tow.
And what most of the religious types would say, in effect, is that by doing such and such in life, you work towards giving your soul a permanent vacation, so it continues to bask in the heavens and the assembly line of birth and death continues without your soul being part of the proceedings.
But if you think about it, none of that makes too much sense. What is it exactly that you are made up of? Flesh and bone, obviously, and then there's the thoughts, the personalities and the characteristics that define you. What Krishnamurthy refers to as "the me, the mine, the ego and the personality". In effect, the Philosopher Me, the Traveler Me and the hundred other Me's I was referring to at the start. So when I die, does my soul actually bundle up all these hundred Me's and deposit them into some other chap who just happens to choose that moment to be born? So that you have another me, or at least a part of me that continues to walk the earth after I've died? Sounds a lot like I'm trying to be immortal, doesn't it?
And I guess that's maybe what reincarnation boils down to finally. Humanity's quest for immortality. We think about all the wonderful things that we do throughout life, the difference we make to the world and to those around us, that there's so much of stuff going on inside of us, and we somehow cannot face the fact that all of this will be snuffed out like the proverbial candle once we’ve signed up for an audience with the grim reaper. And so, we have this convenient theory that all that dies is the flesh while the 'real' you...namely your thoughts and personalities and so forth, continues to exist after you die. Very comforting, indeed!
But for the sake of argument, lets say that your soul is not just your mental make-up, or a carrier of your mental make-up. Lets say that your mental make-up is as physical, as temporary as your body, and that you have another, third entity called the soul that resides in you, apart from your body and your personality. So when you die, everything that you know to be 'you', in essence, dies and the soul moves on, to start life afresh, to make new beginnings with no connection to the life gone by. Well, maybe its true, but it seems like an awful waste of time to me. What purpose does the poor soul achieve by jumping from body to body when everything it is withers off and dies every hundred years or so? And what does the darn thing actually do in a body, given that everything that goes on in flesh and mind is not related to it? And besides, this contradicts the theory of earning that permanent vacation for your soul by doing such and such...because everything you do is part of your personality and dies with you anyways!
Another thought that pops up at this point…no doubt the byproduct of a brilliant but underutilized mind…what happens when you tie up science-fiction (the believable sort) with philosophy? Just as you're thrashing around in your death throes, lets say a mad scientist comes along, grabs a handful of your DNA and creates a clone in double-quick time. So what does your soul do then? Does it decide to reincarnate with the good stuff, so you have Clone Me and Reincarnated Me both walking the earth? And to stretch this train of thought further, lets say yet another, even madder scientist happens to stroll past your house, and this guy makes off with your brain and conducts a brain transplant. So although the flesh dies, your thoughts, memories and personalities remain intact in another body. So what happens to reincarnation then? Where does your existing soul go and how do these two new me's get their souls? Do they each get a third-party soul? If they do, are they then part me and part someone else? Numerous they are, the permutations and combinations!
So do I think the whole concept of reincarnation is balderdash? Well, not exactly. I like to keep an open mind, but, to quote yet another clichéd saying, not so open that my brains fall out. Just because I don’t believe in something, doesn’t mean it isn’t there. It’s quite possible (even probable, actually) that I'm just a lowly dull individual plodding the earth, who with his fairly limited brain activity is unable to comprehend the higher truths of life. So if some brilliant chap comes along who can make some sense of this whole business, I'm all ears. Me and my soul, both.
But until then...a firm policy of hedonism is what does for me. And the fact that also it’s the most convenient policy to follow is just sheer coincidence. As Krishnamurthy, in another gem of wisdom, when asked if he believes in reincarnation, says, "I don't believe". Period. No point wasting your time believing in this, that or the other, contemplating eternal truths and all that. There’s really enough to deal with in this life, without wasting your time doing stuff that ensures you’re not born a dung-beetle in the next.
Err...unless of course, you're like me and choose to waste that precious time writing irrelevant blogs with weighty titles instead!!
And the different me's take turns to come up to the surface. While there's one on the outside, interacting with the world, imparting his wisdom to the poor sodden souls who have the misfortune of stumbling across him, the others sit inside fretting, fuming and generally building up steam, until one of them finally breaks through and has his moment in the limelight. Kind of like how the cute little alien breaks out of Sigourney Weaver and trashes around...but a lot less visual.
For instance, it’s the travel aficionado part of me who's currently on the surface. All he thinks about is travel; he spends his spare time at office browsing through travel photos and blogs and spends his time at home chalking out routes on maps. And this guy's been hogging the limelight for more than his fair share of time...so he's starting to get a bit on my nerves and I've been giving serious thought to giving him the pink slip and letting somebody else out for a change.
And this is precisely what I did during my latest trip to Hyderabad. I was loitering around vacantly at home, doing nothing in particular when my eye happened to catch a little booklet of Krishnamurthy. For lack of anything better to do, picked it up and started to leaf through it, and it proved to be just the wake-up call that the philosopher in me needed. We had some good times, he and I, in the older days when we spent many a happy moment contemplating the meaning of life and such, but he's tended to become a bit more dormant in recent times. In fact I have reason to believe he’s taken a long leave of absence, as have most of the other me's, unable to withstand the continuous onslaught of Traveler Me.
Well, Philosopher Me's back with a vengeance now. Unpacked his bags, rolled up the shutters and firmly set up shop. And I couldn't be happier about it. Always nice to have a change of scenery.
Well anyways, I must admit I haven't really read too much of Krishnamurthy, but what I did read I've enjoyed...and been able to relate to, for the most part. Ditto with Kahlil Gibran. Makes for a good change from guys like, say, Robin Sharma, who impart wonderful words of wisdom like "think of your mind as a green meadow and your thoughts as beautiful flowers inside it...if you can do that you'll find everlasting happiness"
What got the old grey cells into a bit of a tizzy this time, though, was Krishnamurthy's take on reincarnation. He seems to adamantly refuse to give a simple yes or no answer to whether reincarnation really exists, but from what I understood, refers to reincarnation as a concept that arose because of our need to take our thoughts and personalities with us beyond the grave. And that's bang on, me thinks.
If you've ever asked someone what is it that actually reincarnates, the answer you'd most likely get is that the body perishes after death, but the soul moves on to inhabit the next body that's waiting in line to be born. Or sometimes, that the soul has a bit of a vacation in heaven before being born again. And if the person on the receiving end of your question happens to be a Bollywood director, you'd even be rewarded with a nice visual of a candle flame dropping down from the heavens into Waheeda Rahman's womb, and a child subsequently being born with a 'taveez' around his neck, who then invariably grows up to become Shahrukh Khan and then proceeds to run around the ruins of palaces with his fair maiden in tow.
And what most of the religious types would say, in effect, is that by doing such and such in life, you work towards giving your soul a permanent vacation, so it continues to bask in the heavens and the assembly line of birth and death continues without your soul being part of the proceedings.
But if you think about it, none of that makes too much sense. What is it exactly that you are made up of? Flesh and bone, obviously, and then there's the thoughts, the personalities and the characteristics that define you. What Krishnamurthy refers to as "the me, the mine, the ego and the personality". In effect, the Philosopher Me, the Traveler Me and the hundred other Me's I was referring to at the start. So when I die, does my soul actually bundle up all these hundred Me's and deposit them into some other chap who just happens to choose that moment to be born? So that you have another me, or at least a part of me that continues to walk the earth after I've died? Sounds a lot like I'm trying to be immortal, doesn't it?
And I guess that's maybe what reincarnation boils down to finally. Humanity's quest for immortality. We think about all the wonderful things that we do throughout life, the difference we make to the world and to those around us, that there's so much of stuff going on inside of us, and we somehow cannot face the fact that all of this will be snuffed out like the proverbial candle once we’ve signed up for an audience with the grim reaper. And so, we have this convenient theory that all that dies is the flesh while the 'real' you...namely your thoughts and personalities and so forth, continues to exist after you die. Very comforting, indeed!
But for the sake of argument, lets say that your soul is not just your mental make-up, or a carrier of your mental make-up. Lets say that your mental make-up is as physical, as temporary as your body, and that you have another, third entity called the soul that resides in you, apart from your body and your personality. So when you die, everything that you know to be 'you', in essence, dies and the soul moves on, to start life afresh, to make new beginnings with no connection to the life gone by. Well, maybe its true, but it seems like an awful waste of time to me. What purpose does the poor soul achieve by jumping from body to body when everything it is withers off and dies every hundred years or so? And what does the darn thing actually do in a body, given that everything that goes on in flesh and mind is not related to it? And besides, this contradicts the theory of earning that permanent vacation for your soul by doing such and such...because everything you do is part of your personality and dies with you anyways!
Another thought that pops up at this point…no doubt the byproduct of a brilliant but underutilized mind…what happens when you tie up science-fiction (the believable sort) with philosophy? Just as you're thrashing around in your death throes, lets say a mad scientist comes along, grabs a handful of your DNA and creates a clone in double-quick time. So what does your soul do then? Does it decide to reincarnate with the good stuff, so you have Clone Me and Reincarnated Me both walking the earth? And to stretch this train of thought further, lets say yet another, even madder scientist happens to stroll past your house, and this guy makes off with your brain and conducts a brain transplant. So although the flesh dies, your thoughts, memories and personalities remain intact in another body. So what happens to reincarnation then? Where does your existing soul go and how do these two new me's get their souls? Do they each get a third-party soul? If they do, are they then part me and part someone else? Numerous they are, the permutations and combinations!
So do I think the whole concept of reincarnation is balderdash? Well, not exactly. I like to keep an open mind, but, to quote yet another clichéd saying, not so open that my brains fall out. Just because I don’t believe in something, doesn’t mean it isn’t there. It’s quite possible (even probable, actually) that I'm just a lowly dull individual plodding the earth, who with his fairly limited brain activity is unable to comprehend the higher truths of life. So if some brilliant chap comes along who can make some sense of this whole business, I'm all ears. Me and my soul, both.
But until then...a firm policy of hedonism is what does for me. And the fact that also it’s the most convenient policy to follow is just sheer coincidence. As Krishnamurthy, in another gem of wisdom, when asked if he believes in reincarnation, says, "I don't believe". Period. No point wasting your time believing in this, that or the other, contemplating eternal truths and all that. There’s really enough to deal with in this life, without wasting your time doing stuff that ensures you’re not born a dung-beetle in the next.
Err...unless of course, you're like me and choose to waste that precious time writing irrelevant blogs with weighty titles instead!!
Comments
Your post is rather long.. so I'm gonna return to read it patiently :)... but I just felt compelled to drop in and say a quick hi!
Cheers..
I have been debating about this issue too.. and most of the time my conclusions end up to be your disclaimer..
My primary sources quote, “You are a Hindu and that too a Brahmin, how could you not believe?” I have two questions... one: what is being a Hindu, two: what is being a Brahmin? Some others, “Well, you don’t know enough.” Now I could say that may be true….
Also why is this thought process restricted only to us? Well, lets talk about crocodiles? Raises eyebrows? Well, I guess we humans are simply self obsessed..