Telos of life - in a dragon scroll
To understand the secret of life, you first need to watch the movie kung fu panda. In the first movie which always is the best in a series, there is a scene about a dragon scroll. An ancient secret of kung fu master's which holds the power to ultimate Non defeatable dragon warrior. So, everyone Wish that they had the power in the scroll, Villans and heroes alike. And after a big battle between two parties, they get the dragon scroll and open it to see what is inside. And guess what. It is empty. Some practical joke of some ancient master who wanted them to believe that there is power. This made me wonder just like the kung fu panda. What if this is true. What if the telos of life is to understand that the dragon scrolls or the ultimate truth about telos (meaning) of life is an empty one.
What is the telos (meaning) of life?
This is the greatest philosophical question which was asked and attempted to answer since the history of philosophy. Meaning of life, is a great place to start. Isn't it. There are many and more arguments about this. Simply put following are great thoughts from the past, great philosophical minds.
Now look at the following, taken from wiki. And all these questions seek the same answer although they are asked in slightly different various forms.
What is the meaning of life? What's it all about? Who are we?
Why are we here? What are we here for?
What is the origin of life?
What is the nature of life? What is the nature of reality?
What is the purpose of life? What is the purpose of one's life?
What is the significance of life?
What is meaningful and valuable in life?
What is the value of life?
What is the reason to live? What are we living for?
I have been in search of meaning of life, just like you. Just like thousands of others. With mindfulness as a tool, I have trying to observe the waves of the beach of mind. To see a pattern. To see any clue about the telos of life. So, far, I haven't found anything. And that is where the wisdom of Kung Fu Panda comes in. Maybe there is no Telos of life after all. Maybe after all the battle, I might find an empty scroll. But the problem is unless I get hold of the Dragon scroll of life and look into myself, I would never see that, the scroll is empty. I cannot believe on what someone else is saying as, they may be wrong. It is necessary to see the emptiness myself.
Oh, you may wonder these are my own words. These are my imagination, and there is no credibility to what I say. This is just a speak of a delusional mind. So, here I would write about following story from the book, Plato and Platypus Walk into a bar. And see the similarity to yourself. Of course you would not understand why the Dragon scroll is empty, if you are just at the beginning of your mindfulness practice. However, deeper you go into the chaos of mind, you would understand more and more, the stupidity that beholds in everyday life, so you begin to doubt the sanity of most of so-called human stories.
Telos of life - in a teacup.
A seeker has heard that the wisest guru in all of India lives atop India’s highest mountain. So, the seeker treks over hill and Delhi until he reaches the high mountain. It’s incredibly steep,
and more than once he slips and falls. By the time he reaches the top, he is full of cuts and bruises, but there is the guru, sitting cross-legged in front of his cave.
“O, wise guru,” the seeker says, “I have come to you to ask what the secret of life is.”
“Ah, yes, the secret of life,” the guru says. “The secret of life is a teacup.”
“A teacup? I came all the way up here to find the meaning of life, and you tell me it’s a teacup!”
The guru shrugs. “So maybe it isn’t a teacup.”
So, the message is, it may be found anywhere. Like this blog claims as it is, happiness may be found in a floating leaf, a buzzing bee or a little soft wind tossing your hair. It may be not the happiness you get from the cravings, when they are satisfied, but fulfilment, which is inevitable when the truth in a teacup is understood. Which is there in this exact moment. Let us drink a cup of coffee mindfully today.
Sometimes I wish to be a coffee.
Just to be valued a few bucks.
Just to be cared for a few minutes
Just to be held to spend few moments.
Just to make it a little warm
On a chilling day Like this.
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