morninggyaan
I loved the Islamic perspective of life and after life. Thank you for that.
Your probably are aware of this, but I'm sharing it here anyway, since this is an interpretation and Hindu philosophy is just a bunch of stories, subject to alot of varied interpretations.
Life is a cycle. It happens on repeat mode till you learn from all your mistakes and merge with the cosmos (the Universe). They are essentially nature worshippers, so the ultimate aim is to merge into the central soul, which a huge gaping burst of maybe the Sun, the trees, the mountains, or a tiny meteorite which is the central Bank of purity. Within the time that you consciously remember (it's like the time that you are awake. Imagine that all your lives are many brief periods of awakening and sleep) you can live it in three different ways: karma yoga, bhakti yoga, gyaan yoga.
So you can choose to live a life of work being worship, prayer being worship or knowledge being worship. All three are paths to achieving the final union with the Cosmos. If you choose neither, you will come back into the cycle in a different pair of clothes, till you learn from those mistakes. If you choose one, you have a better chance of merging with the cosmos. But the important thing is, it says that you can't dodge anything by escapism. Which means, if it's your duty to be a warrior, you can't put down your arms and say you choose peace. It is your duty to fight the war. (Arjun in the battlefield, when he refused to fight his cousins). And on closer introspection, we realise that Arjun is the Ego, all his cousins and his brothers are various aspects of our own mind. Yudhishtir is our conscience, bhishma is our prejudice etc.
So essentially, this entire war is a battle fought in our own minds, against all the normal human failings and fallacies that we harbour within us, and lead our lives. So the fact that we are born, means we are a work in progress. Our role is to conquer our own minds, achieve a stillness such that we can glide into the ocean and meet the horizon. We can do that through worship, work or knowledge.
For myself, I'm not so intelligent that I can achieve it through knowledge.it will take me several lifetimes to read every book on philosophy, in every culture. I am aware of my limitations. I don't have the patience to renounce and worship in a temple. I am too restless for that. But I have a tremendous ability for service. And so I have chosen the path of service to livingkind, as my path: every living being that walks this planet. Man, or other species. Will I achieve moksh? Will I merge with the divine? I doubt it, but I can try. And till then, i live each day with kindness, humour, carefreeness, and optimism because I'm just so blessed to be born with the abilities I have. I have won the lottery of life. I saw the garbage cleaner today, he was sitting inside the huge dumpster sorting the garbage. What a lottery of birth! I could have been him, he could have been me. And so I'm grateful for where I am, and live within the principles of philosophy to make a difference. Am I vegetarian? I eat everything, including beef. (I believe it's nature.) Do I go to temples? I prefer not to be groped in the crowds. Do i perform rituals? Almost never, unless it's to keep parents/ in laws happy. But do I consciously do seva? Yes, till my last breath.
As for my fellow "Hindus" who call themselves that, and spew hate and exclusion: who have performed unimaginable atrocities on their own "fellow" hindus (Dalits: the horrible outfall of a hideous internal racism), who continue to wage war against other religions. Who cheat people, who operate unindicated cases, who steal, who rape, who murder (even worse so, in the name of religion), they will meet their rightful punishment. In their next lives, they will be born in dumpsters, with deformities, they will have miseries beyond what a soul can bare, till they learn the cycle of love and peace and tolerance, because essentially, that is the basis of philosophy.
The Guest turns to look at PPD. He is fast asleep. She nudges him with her big toe. "Wake up!" "But you said it's sleep, and cycles of awakening?" he sputtered. "Shoosh! That doesn't mean you sleep while I'm talking," she admonished. "But you were going on and on and on....." he trailed off.
Chalo. Chai?
Ps: I will come and write on the mud on your grave. "OB. Philosopher, eternal student of life. Soul sister."
The rain will wash it off, but I will smile thinking of it.