Karma Cola

I borrowed the title from a book I once saw in a bookstore. I do not know what that one was about, but this title seemed to fit this post perfectly.

I have often spent time thinking on selflessness. I have not been able to arrive at a conclusion. Does selflessness actually exist at all? Do not get the idea that I am writing this out of frustration and anger. However, a part of my mind is always thinking about this, or at least along these lines.

Now, what does ‘selfless’ or ‘unselfish’ mean? According to the WordWeb, selflessness or altruism is the quality of unselfish concern for the welfare of others; or, acting with less concern for yourself than for the success of the joint activity. Basically, without the effort doing you good, or helping you in any way whatsoever. However, my point is that I personally do not believe that such a thing exists. Or, maybe it does, but hasn’t come to my notice yet. Even the ‘genuine’ acts of kindness or benignity are done for the person’s own self.

Let us for instance take the very clichéd act of helping someone poor – giving money or something to a beggar, or a poor little kid on the road. Why should, and why would anyone do that, unless, he is gaining in some manner out of it. Especially in a country like ours – where there are numerous Gods and ‘Avatars’, and where the concept of ‘Karma’ prevails – things like these are certainly done to earn ‘punya’, because of the philosophy that karma or a person’s actions are what determine his destiny in his next life. Are the beggars by the road asking for your help? No. They are selling ‘punya’ to you in exchange of what you give them. Even in the simplest of thought processes, and if you are not too much into the concept of karma and stuff, you are probably doing it to get the satisfaction of helping somebody. You are getting some returns out of the act. Okay, even if you are giving the money to make the beggar go away coz he is bothering you, then too, you are getting freedom, relief or peace of mind. Quite often, people do this to show other people around them how generous and kind they are.

Alright, let’s switch to another topic. The beggar thing is a little external. Let us look at the mother-child relationship, which has always been looked up to, and respected. Why does a mother love her child? Because that is her own flesh and blood or a symbol of a cherished relationship or because he’s her own child…..I can go on using other terms to explain this, but I guess you’ve got a basic idea of what I’m trying to say. Does she love any other child in the whole world as much as she does her own? I’m not trying to degrade this ‘pure’ relationship, nor do I intend to offend anybody. This is just an expression of my mind – no reference to any particular person.

Most people love children. Why? Because little kids are a pleasure to watch, cute and cuddly, relax your stressed mind, bring a smile to your face. So, they are giving you something you are interested in getting, right? But, do you love all the children like a mother does her own? No, because they are not your own children.

Au fond, I just think that selflessness is a concept born of the human mind. It just does not exist in the world that I reside in.

However, this post, and might be some other posts of mine too have been thought about in too much depth, and sound philosophical too. Of course, I believe in what I have written, but generally, I too prefer to take things on their face value. That way you get more satisfaction and bliss out of life. Whenever you go in too deep analyzing and rationalizing the littlest things in life, you end up feeling unsatiated. The smallest things in life can give you oodles of happiness. Let us not frighten the mirth away. It is after all a wonderful feeling to bring a smile on someone’s face. I have a list on my bedroom wall, which is entitled “The Best Things in Life”. I will post it here too.

A friend once said – you choose to be intelligent, or you choose to be happy! Haha!!! What do you choose to be?

Regards,
Me