you might get shocked to
hear that nobody owns anything as the fact that everyone in the world owns
something and they are either gratified with what they have or sadden by not
having what they wish. But this is not implied when I said, “Nothing is owned
by anyone.” Let me say this point
metaphorically.
When you are in the
forest, you might see different plants and animals as you live in, besides you
probably make some new weapons to protect yourself from external threat and
some tools to build a hut. Having some tools made with your creativity and
building a small hut to keep yourself protected can never change the nature of
forest, nor are something other than the forest itself. Interpretation of your mind might claim those
weapons and hut as your own, but the fact is you have only made some changes in
the forest for your own survival and nothing is brought from outside nor you
can take along when you leave the forest.
The irony is people
mistakenly believe that what is there in the forest and things you can get from
the forest are owned by you, including your experience and information. The fact
is we are visitors in the forest just for a century, maximally.
In this universe, we all
sentient being have created nothing new nor have ever taken anything away from
here. We have only known more about the universe as we live on and nothing more
than that.
Moreover, we, human, have learned
to adapt ourselves in this universe and given meanings to the sound our body
can make, the language. It is not something other than tools you have made with
those materials available in the forest. Since we have given meaning only to
those sounds that this body can make, our body is just the forest to our mind.
If we claimed it as our own then we should have brought it when we step into
this universe and also we should be able to take it when we leave.
Metaphorically, People living
in the eastern part of the forest make tools differently from the people in the
west. But those tools are nothing new to the forest as they are simply
modification of what was already there. Similarly the differences in the
culture, faith, traditions and language are only because of the suitability in
the respective areas and both of them are made for our own existence. We have named or label countless things and
have been claiming them as the best or better than others.
Unfortunately these human
labeled aspects are now becoming the root causes of greater problems because the
skills and ways of living that eastern people have learned to adapt in their
area as western people in the west are now very much compared with each other
after globalization. Despite the fact of
differences in the ways of living in the different parts of the forest are left
far behind and we human are, with our greed and lust, trying to overlap each other,
even at the cost of human lives. Besides there are
different rules and regulation formulated under so called faith or culture and
the saddest thing is every human, including a new born baby, has been so much
conditioned by the environment to follow one.
Let’s give thought on some
of the main terms that are frequently used by His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama,
“Universal Responsibility, Human Family and the Earth, our only home. These
terms have certain force to make you think about where and who we really are.
Just for clarification, I am not really propagating the His Holiness religious
ideology. But, since we have already given meaning not only to the sounds that
we can make but also used different shapes of drawing to denote those sounds,
letter, we have facilitated ourselves to get to the other part of the forest in
spite of being physically in own area. So these mentioned terms can be
perceived through different angels accordingly to one’s familiarity to the
script and sounds. As far as my understanding of these terms is concerned, His
Holiness the Dalai Lama is trying to teach the reality of our own nature and
the surrounding environment. I believe that no matter how far we have reached
in the field of technology and scientific exploration, the truth of being
inter-dependent not only between humans but also with nature can never be
changed. The easiest example should be the five elements as very little changes
in their balance can bring drastic changes in our lives. What if they became
unusable one day???
In conclusion, realizing
the truth of being a part of the forest and indispensability of the forest for
our own existence, we should accordingly bring changes in ourselves step by
step. Doing such will not be grateful to others but for self as cleaning and
maintaining our own house will never be an altruistic or philanthropic act to
be appreciated. That is just as simple as that.
