Just before the lockdown a friend, who was visiting his parents, wanted eagerly to get back to his “family(wife and kid)” lest he get stuck in the lockdown and was encouraged by his loving parents to do so. The question that arose in my mind was when did the parents stop being family? What constitutes a family as a unit has gradually fragmented over the years to today’s position wherein a couple/single parents with their children (who choose to stay with them) are considered family. Soon we would see times wherein each individual stays separately and comes together with people for specific purposes but prefers living in his/her privacy. We are like small islands/icebergs in the vast sea of humanity and are getting even smaller by reducing the size of the islands to include “I, Me, Myself” and no longer is there any space for anyone else anymore. Look around you, it’s already happened or happening.
On the other hand, people are increasingly suffering from loneliness/depression brought in due to this island approach. People in developed nations seek professional help from therapists to deal with loneliness but in India even that is considered to be a taboo, so people simply suffer their loneliness in silence & when they cant deal with it even go to the extent of suicide. The crux of the problem is that no one wants to adjust and accommodate anymore so this intolerance is reflecting in this islanded existence…It’s amazing to see that people choose to suffer their loneliness by themselves rather than being simply more accommodative and reach out to other people who could also possibly be lonely. India has 1.3 Billion people and we have people suffering from loneliness – paradoxical? I call this phenomenon “collective loneliness” an oxymoron of sorts…People try to counter this loneliness by being active on social media but having 10000 connections over social media doesn’t help, having one good friend/family member does.
Yes the problem is well defined, but who is going to bell the cat? Unfortunately (or fortunately), the answer is “I, Me, Myself”. Dissolving the self obsession(with I, Me, Myself) is the only way out by either being more social, by being more accommodative/tolerant and investing in real relationships with family/relatives/friends, and/or turning inwards to find the Source(for the more spiritually oriented) that is common in everyone/everything.
The social path would keep you connected with people/causes and keep you away from loneliness, whilst the spiritual path would show you that you have made yourself an iceberg but in the end you are made up of the same water as the sea/icebergs around you and that you are never really alone since the Source is always in/with you. Both efforts are to dissolve the boundaries of “I, Me, Myself” to include a larger existence – the social approach includes as many people/causes as possible whereas the spiritual approach simply dissolves the boundaries & merges with the Sea…
Do you want to exist as an Iceberg (Island -Separated from everyone) or the Sea (Connected with everyone), the choice is yours…Dissolving the Icebergs(of I, Me, Myself) is the solution. On a lighter note, I wish that we could warm the globe with the warmth in our hearts instead of the rise in temperature, that would be a welcome global warming.
Bodhisattva 