Wise Man says...

" HEYAM DUKKHAM ANAGATAM "
A short conversation on Life and its Meaning

Wise Man: In existentialism, the individual's starting point is characterized by what has been called "the existential attitude", or a sense of disorientation and confusion in the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world.

Camus, like many others, rejected the existentialist label, and considered his works to be concerned with facing the absurd. In the titular book, Camus uses the analogy of the Greek myth of Sisyphus to demonstrate the futility of existence. In the myth, Sisyphus is condemned for eternity to roll a rock up a hill, but when he reaches the summit, the rock will roll to the bottom again. Camus believes that this existence is pointless but that Sisyphus ultimately finds meaning and purpose in his task, simply by continually applying himself to it. The first half of the book contains an extended rebuttal of what Camus took to be existentialist philosophy in the works of Kierkegaard, Shestov, Heidegger, and Jaspers.

Me: I guess i will have to read the book to make sense how Sisyphus finds meaning in the pointless task. May be, the best solution for humanity is a resignation to life's meaninglessness and in this situation try to have all the fun and follow all the passions that one has... since there is nothing better to do anyway.

Wise Man: That is escapism or evading looking further and harder! Existentialism is a  philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one's acts.

You are blessed with  (or condemned to?) Freedom and can not escape the consequences of your choices. Realizing the existential crisis is the first half of the story but having woken up to the reality of it, it just is not possible to sleep walk through life, if you want to do so.

Me: Yes, we cant sleepwalk through life... and we have to bear the consequences of our acts (and thoughts), as well as that of others' acts & thoughts, whether we are connected to them or not.. A person can lose his life/become handicapped in an accident with a complete stranger for no fault of his... So, we dont really have as much Freedom as we wud like to believe we have... this world is such an interconnected grid of cause-effects... in which i have control over only a part... 


So, may be, ignorance is bliss. Existential questions does nobody any good.... it is without end, these questions... and, those who have them... have no choice but to suffer.

Wise Man: Yes, you bring out the "absurd" kernel of life, which says that there is absolutely no rationale, and cause and effect chain stops at the boundary between objective inanimate world and, sensing, feeling, world of living beings.  Freedom, you may look at it as a curse , yet you can not opt for desirable (?) bondage of  ignorance. Knowledge, awareness of one's situation and even conviction about the "absurdity'" is a cross and you have to bear it ! I totally agree...

So one Indian thought is " The best you can do is to minimize the sorrow that has not befallen yet !

" HEYAM DUKKHAM ANAGATAM "

HEYAM  = worthy of avoiding
DUKKHAM = Sorrow
ANAGATAM = That which has not arrived yet

{ Thanks for this opprtunity to exercise those cells and memory locations and thoughts which are endangerd species ! }

Me: Absolutely, i am your student! Thanks...

***

End Note: Camus concludes "one must imagine Sisyphus happy" as "The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man's heart."

More on Sisyphus here.