The Tragic Drama

In my blog 50: Are you a cog in the machine? I talked about the screwed system, but not very deeply. In this blog, I’ll not only go deep into what the problem is but into “why does it continue to exist?” and through it, try to understand our responsibilities in trying to solve it.

The current system of students going to educational institutions for the sole intention of making money after is definitely screwed. Students choose a college based on how good the campus selection is and how many students get employed after being through that college. And then there is another side of the coin, the employers naturally are not interested in your grades but your skills, but still, the degree is necessary, why? And since you are a fresher, they’ll squeeze you to the max. for the tiny fees they pay you.

Why is it screwed?
Because people in it aren’t living happily and not living the life of fulfillment. Whether it be a college student or a fresher (employee), they’ll not have time to do the vital things in their life. You ask them to meditate, practice an art form, write in a journal, practice yoga, or do something they love for at least a few hours a day (because anyway, they’ve chosen not to do that throughout the day), they’ll say they have no time. For the decision they should have made based on how the process will be, they chose it based on the final result. And that is always a plan to fail. Here, fail at living, they fail at living a life of fulfillment. That’s just the beginning.

What next?
If you ask a primary school student what next? Or what do you want to become? They may reply with some grand plans or highly set ambitions. If you ask a college student the same, they might say all they need now is a job and to make money. If you ask the same to a fresher, they might say they’re looking to jump from the current job or they might say they’ll start their own startup after so and so months or years but have no idea what it is, or even worse, even though they’re not able to live life to the fullest, they’ll say “This job is putting money on the table, I’ll do it for another x years and then enjoy my life”.

Why is the time frame of their thinking reducing? Why is there a decrease in their hunger, and the intensity of their passion to go after their ambitions? Or if not both, why have they forgotten their mortality and that they might be too late to begin the lap of “enjoying life”?

Having no clue about the future is not the problem. Having no clue of the present is.

Why do people become so less capable of reflecting and analyzing their own situation and what they are experiencing within? To be more accurate, why do people choose not to reflect?

One must ask themselves this: What’s your purpose? Your goal cannot be your purpose. A purpose is the higher calling. To simplify what is a purpose, you can look at it as so, How do you like to serve humanity till your last breath? Your purpose lies in that line of work. Whatever you’re currently working on, just think about what’s next. You think this way,
because this will clarify who you are, and what makes your life fulfilled right ‘now’ and forever.

Suppose let’s say you’ve set a goal for yourself to become a professor and teach microbiology, digital electronics, or any other subject for that matter. Becoming a professor cannot be your purpose. It is just a gateway, and hence it is just a goal. And by the way, what do you teach if you do not have experience in the field you like to teach? Presentation of any data or information is not teaching.

Forget the Future
And obviously, how can one’s future be great, when in the present, they’ve focused their attention and energies very least now on the essentials? How can they enjoy their life in the future, when they’ve not cared for their health now and when they’ve not cared to know the key aspects of a fulfilled life are and when they’ve subdued their creative self for years and when they know very less about money and mainly that it is just a means to freedom, not a purpose of life.

Why does the system continue to exist?
It’s linked like a chain. The system is continuing to exist mainly because of the lack of courage in youths. And the lack of courage is due to the lack of clarity and competence in their prime age.

In other words, by the time they realize that they are being forcefully pushed into the system, which has nothing they imagined their life to be, they’ll start seeking their passion, realizing doing what they love is one of the keys to happiness.

However, Passion is not something to be discovered, it is to be built over time with continuous effort and feedback. Hence, it takes a lot of time. But all this time, they’ve spent their time and energies on what society told them was valuable, not what their gut told them would lead to their life of fulfillment.

And to be successful in one’s passionate line of work is an entirely different story and a big ask. It will take years for one to be successful at what one loves to do. But the youths do not have that kind of time at their prime age, at least they believe they do not have time because by then, society will be sitting over their heads to ask where and how and how much money they’re earning.

And when the youth become parents, they fuel this vicious cycle even more. They’ll suggest their kids make more money by taking a secure job and working hard so that they can enjoy more freedom. It sounds as though it is the right thing to do, but is it?

And speaking of right things, Dharma is within us. The question is, are you listening? If you are cheating yourself throughout the entirety of your life, how does it belong to righteousness?

Again, as stated above, it’s mainly due to the lack of clarity and competence that all this drama exists. And when youths choose to and move towards awareness, this screwed system will eventually cease to exist.

By knowing all these, the responsibilities of parents, teachers, and students/youths can be clearly understood. And through this blog, I urge you to reflect on your responsibilities as a teacher, parent, and/or as a youth.

Thank You,
Sanath Kumar Naibhi