Letter # 39: “The Meaning of Life? The Masters Speak.”

Albert Camus (1913 - 1960), a French existentialist philosopher, who died in a car accident, posed "the most urgent of questions". In his Myth of Sisyphus, he wrote, “I see many people die because they judge that life is not worth living. I see others paradoxically getting killed for the ideas or illusions that give them a reason for living (what is called a reason for living is also an excellent reason for dying). I therefore conclude that the meaning of life is the most urgent of questions.”
Who was Sisyphus? The father of Odysseus, Sisyphus was greedy and deceitful king in Greek mythology. He took pleasure in killing his guests to stay at the top. He was eventually sent to a region of Hell, known as Tartarus. His punishment was to roll a huge boulder uphill, only to watch it roll down again, and repeat this toil endlessly. Now, ask yourself, “Is this what I would want? Is the meaning of my life?” I can hear everyone say a resounding, "Nay."
Let’s look at the life of another king. When Maharaja Pariksit, an Emperor of ancient India, received warning that he would die in a week he did not lament; he went to seek spiritual enlightenment. He approached the sage named Sukadeva Gosvami and beseeched him, “You are the spiritual master of great saints and devotes. I am therefore begging you to show the way of perfection for all persons, and especially for one who is about to die. Please let me know what a man should hear, chant, remember and worship, and also what he should not do. Please explain all this to me.” Here is an emperor facing death. At the end of his life, none of his wealth, entourage, family or friends can provide any solace; so as a last resort he goes to a spiritual master. For the emperor’s benefit, and in the presence of a convention of sages, Sukadeva Gosvami recited from memory the entire contents of the holy Vedic scripture, the voluminous Srimad Bhagavatum, holding the audience in rapt attention for seven days. The sage spoke of matters ranging from the nature of the self to the origin of the universe. Voluminous though it might be, the essential message is encapsulated by Lord Krishna: “I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.” BG 10.8 The key word here is “engage”. Humans have choices in making up the “rules of engagement”, in formulating attitude and action. When we make the choice to accept that we are not just bodies and minds but spirit souls, and when we engage our attention in the Supreme Soul, which is more easily done by approaching a Master, as Maharaja Pariksit did, only then we will have the answer to Camus’ “most urgent of questions.”
Maharaja Pariksit had a week to think before his bodily death came; but most of like Camus have no warning of when bodily death will come, but it will come. Most of us are not philosophers, kings, emperors, sages or Masters. All we can do is listen to what they have experienced and said. If we don’t listen we could easily slip into the nasty habits of Sisyphus. If we do, we could attain solace like that of Maharaja Pariksit. So there is no better time than now to find solace by contemplating on the Supreme Soul, the Unity behind the Buddhist “neti-neti meditation”, the Name of the Supreme, or whatever you accept as your Higher Power.
Finally, if you would like to see some good tips on how to de-stress from figuring out the meaning of life, click this link: Chill


God Bless; Allah Hu Akbar; May The Forces Of The Universe Bring You Harmony; Hare Krishna; Radha-Swami; and Nanak Naam Chardi Kala Tere Bhane Sarbat Dha Bhalla.
I wish to express my gratitude for your comments, which inspire me to carry on writing. Please forgive my fallibilities in presenting this material. Also, feel free to send this message on to someone that you might think would like to receive it. If you do send it on, my only request of you is that you send it as it is, in its entirety, and to not alter or modify any of the text, references or authorship information. Thus you will help to give credit or liability to where they are properly due.
Jas Bhopal
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“Practicing goodwill makes for a good life."
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References: "The Holy Bible" Online version; "The Koran" (As translated by SV Mir Ahmed Ali 2005 ISBN 0-9761870-0-0); "The Bhagavad Gita As it Is" by Srila Prabhupada (ISBN 0-89213-268-X); "I Am That" Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj ISBN 0-89386-022-0; The Dhammapada ISBN-10:1-84483-344-5; The Sacred Sukhmani ISBN 81-7205-098-4; Wikipedia.