OM!
When life takes us from Seeking to Searching!
Life is a constant seeking for happiness and contentment by all (no exceptionso) in the following fields:
- Securities (arthA)- wealth, property, better paying jobs, etc.
- Pleasures (kAmA)- luxury car, mansion, exotic vacations, expanded friend circle, etc.
- Religion (dharmA)- accumulating brownie points through worship, good deeds, etc. to take us to a Heaven after death
In the quest for preferably uninterrupted happiness through all transactions, all the time, everywhere and through everyone and everything we come in contact with, the early part of life frantically engages us in secular actions one after another mainly in the fields of pleasures and securities. As age and maturity catch up, some discerning peope start failing to see consistent happiness in material objects and relationships and slowly turn towards God and devotion, still seeking happiness there though! This shift now drives them to indulge in more sacred actions than secular like social service, pilgrimages, fasts and other austerities. Many don’t feel complete even after having sought Religion. They might have everything in life and yet continues an unexplained, nagging itch in the heart which wants something more. That itch may turn to questions– “Why do I seek relationships to make me feel loved, complete and happy?” “Why do I need the world(which includes situations, behaviour of people, etc.) to be a particular way for my happiness?” “Is this ever-changing physical body the real “I”?” “Why am I not comfortable with the idea of death and losing people I love?” “What is God?” “Is my purpose here just to eat, sleep and procreate or is there a greater meaning to all this?”
This seeking process doesn’t follow a specific linear order of progression for all but is an average blueprint for man’s general behavioural progress!