Mantra of true happiness: "Be Yourself"

Recently I saw the Indian (Hindi) film '3 Idiots'. I must say it helped me greatly in crystallizing my thinking about life. The message of the film is "Be Yourself". The message is the same as what Ayn Rand says in her book Fountainhead. But here it says you do not have to be almost inhuman to be yourself, which is true. Aamir Khan's character in 3 Idiots is gentle, caring and warm-hearted. Howard Roark in Fountainhead was cold and unintentionally almost inhuman.

A great Greek philosopher (I forget. Plato, Aristotle or Socrates?) had said centuries ago, "Know Thyself". It is the same thing. You can be yourself once you know yourself.

It is a simple mantra of life. But sadly, rarely understood. Man (or woman) was made by God to be unique. Each one of them different with their own special qualities. I guess God wanted man (woman) to be unique. To fulfil himself (herself) to the fullest.

When we look at the world around us that is hardly happening.

Each one of us are out to suppress others. To take advantage of others. It is referred to commonly as "growing up". The justification? Darwin's Law. Survival of the fittest. Man is an animal. So we got to pull and push others to make space for ourselves. Misguide others. Con others so that you benefit.

We are all so absorbed with surviving that instead of trying to know ourselves, we devote our energies in finding others' weaknesses. So that we can exploit it. When we observe the other person's strength we stay silent. We silently envy. And try to belittle it.

All this happens because of fear. We are scared. We are afraid and we want to survive. If we don't do nasty things to others, we will not survive. Man is an animal, after all, isn't he?

Instead of all that we should have been devoting our energies in trying to know ourselves better. Our inner voice. Our inner urges. We feel happy when we listen to it. To do what it tells us to do. That is the true happiness. The mantra of living a perfect life.

What I say sounds Utopian. But we can make a start.

We can try and understand ourselves better. And try and be that as far as possible.

It is hard. Everyone around you is as scared as you are. And conniving to run you down. Be it be your parents, brothers, sisters, friends, spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend, relatives, colleagues, everyone. They intrude into your space and do not let you grow. They hinder you when you try to be yourself.

You can make a start by dropping out of the rat race. Stop scheming to deride others. Scheming against others. Running others down may make you feel good, less fearful for some time, but it is unproductive. Shoo off others when they invade your space by all means, but stop scheming and running down others if they are not hurting you. That would be a good start.

It is funny that our family and friends rarely love us for what we are. More often then not they love our weaknesses. That is a lever they have over us. So the moment we try to be more of what our heart tell us to be, they feel threatened and discourage us. Or break off the relationship.

This is where the teachings of Bhagwat Gita helps. It says do your Karma and disregard everything else. The Karma is what your duty is. What your inner voice, your inner urges tell you to do. Your true calling. Your work that makes you happy. Work should be like play. Choose work that you love. Not because it will pay you more. The work that reflects your true potential, your true self, your capacity. Emphasise on fulfilling your true potential. That is fruitful. It is the real journey towards Knowing Yourself and Being Yourself. Do not be swayed by emotions and sentiments. These are just different avatars of fear.

And the next time your friend, a family member or even a stranger asks for some advice, remember the mantra, Be Yourself before you open your mouth. They will love you for that. Because truth is always beautiful. And that is how the Be Yourself movement will spread.

And the beauty of this mantra is that by following it, you can expand your own space endlessly without intruding or grabbing someone else's space.

It will be goodbye to Charles Darwin.