Culture

BE IN A MUSEUM WITH AN AUDIO GUIDE — OR A FOREST WITH A TORCH!

The choice between being in a museum with an audio guide or a forest with a torch symbolises two distinct philosophies or approaches to life.

The Museum aligns with the belief that understanding comes from others’ wisdom. It reflects the mindset of someone with emphatic traditional values.

Being in the Forest is not just an experience; it’s a thrilling adventure, an expedition into the unknown. The torch symbolises personal insight and intellect, guiding you through the ambiguity of the mysterious. It’s a quest for freedom, adventure, and the uncertain, a journey that promises excitement and discovery.

This choice between the Museum and the Forest reflects a more profound question: Do you prefer the comfort and simplicity of conventional knowledge, where everything is known and predictable, or the thrill and potential for growth that comes from exploring the unknown?

Life’s philosophy says — Is human existence merely for staying alive – or is it the quest to find something to live for?

 

Knowledge has two facets –

*Knowing about something that already exists or has existed – Like visiting a museum and seeing the displays in the curio boxes or picture frames.

* Seeking something virtual that needs to be discovered, deciphered or socially revealed – Like finding a way through a dense night forest with a torch.

 

Life is less about FINDING and more about SEEKING. You find it with your eyes and seek it with your mind and intellect. Seeking is about discovering new things and constantly questioning and challenging what we think we know.

While on a stormy trip to the Musee du Louvre in Paris, I suffered from the audio guide’s poor connectivity and tried to comprehend the massive creations in a bingo in half-French and half-English lingo. In the corner of a gigantic hall sat a young gentleman with canvases and colours vis-a-vis a massive Italian Renaissance painting he had researched for over a month.

To this day, I am perplexed—who was better? Me, running around with an audio guide merely filling slots visiting the cult museum, or that gentleman seeking something of a sixteenth-century relic?

 

Captain Cook, Columbus, Vasco de Gama – Robert Peary, Sir Edmund Hillary, Neil Armstrong, etc., were explorers and fanatic travellers who ventured into the dark and dense wilderness with the torch of hope and commitment to discovering the unknown. At the same time, we comforted ourselves in woollen quilts adulating and clapping to our heroes. Today, we read about the North Pole, Mt. Everest and the Moon and pat our backs for aspiring to learn about the unknown world. We owe this knowledge to a bunch of people who questioned the murky existence of the known world and introduced the ‘UNKNOWN’.

Imagine life as a museum. All events from childhood to adulthood occur as facts and physical realities as the museum exhibits. What can exhilarate you when you already know what is displayed in the ensuing curios, and your mentors act as an audio guide, helping you to sail through the waters? You eventually work like a programmed robot—

* Happy to earn money,

* Happy to be fed, and,

* Happy to raise a family – Is this the culmination of a rational life?

The big question is: Are you happy at the end of the day? Well, you may be physically satisfied, but are you soulfully contented?

 

Visualise life as a dense jungle surrounded by wild Flora and Fauna. Everything is obscure and mentally ambiguous. It would be best to burn the oil lamp of your mental capacity and pave the way for a better life. Eradicate the hanging poisonous ivy, confront the pervasive wild creatures and fill your belly with whatever is edible.

Such a life may be adverse and challenging but offers a unique sense of contentment and mental serenity. One holds a torch and toils to perfect life through solo efforts and energy. The ultimate joy of self-discovery is matchless and exquisite.

The quest is not just about searching but about finding meaning in everything. The hard work may only sometimes yield immediate results, but the journey matters. You may see nothing beneath the surface, or maybe there was nothing down there, but you did justice to your existence. You continue your quest until the hidden treasure is discovered somewhere.

“Each moment spent searching is also a moment spent finding.” PAULO COELHO.

 

Studying History and Geography about things that happened or exist is authentic only if you draw lessons about the occurrence of worthy or immoral acts and search for ways to improve the world’s present and future. It is worthless wasting time ogling at the 3000BC embalmed Mummy or straining neck at the restored Michelangelo’s roof paintings at the Sistine Chapel. It would be best to embalm today’s sagging Humanity and restore the wilting Societal Morals.

“Maybe you are searching among the branches for what only appears in the roots.” RUMI.

Yet, there is another aspect to human search and quest —

Holding the torch of supreme knowledge and finding yourself amongst the myriads of heads.

“Am I happy and sad looking at the other person, or do I need to dive into the abyss of my soul and seek out myself in the whirlpool?”

Searching for yourself is a lifelong journey of discovery. The horizons keep shifting, and the quest continues unabated. It is evolving by Design.

You lose all your misery once you find yourself. The irony is that we spend our entire lives searching for something that was always with us—something that just needed acknowledgement. “Whatever you are looking for is looking for you, too.”

 

The fragrance doesn’t come from the dried flowers in the Herbarium files – it exudes from the seasonal flora that grows after your toil and research.

Don’t search for meaning in life – look for meaning within your life. Seek to create your life— rather than to find yourself. Hunt for the person you have not yet become with a torch in your hand. Don’t become the formalised creepy fauna in a fancy jar in a museum. Your life is yours to create, shape, and find meaning in. Take control of your journey, and seek the person you aspire to be.

 

“Searching outside of you is SAMSARA (the world) – searching within you leads to NIRVANA.”

 

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4 Comments

  1. Dr Ashok Kumar Ojha says:

    Nicely scripted the narrative on “Be in a museum with an audio guide or be in a forest with a torch” …In both the cases, a path finder is required..Right from our Childhood to school days and thereafter during our college times, we needed some one to enlighten our path of success and growth..In earlier days, our parents were torch bearers for us..We used to follow their advices religiously..Then in school and college days, we were following the sermons of our respected teachers..As man fears to tread in dark, a ray of hope and guidance is of immense help to move on.At times, some decisions are taken at our self level..They may
    prove to be of great help but may also turn out to be counter productive..So it is better to listen to seniors and take decision accordingly..Our ancient history is full of anecdotes that reveal the truth of Guru-shishya parampara..Too good Anuj..

    1. Dr. Anuj says:

      Ashok Bhai how beautifully you have put up the subject using your intellect and logic. True we need guidance and inquisitiveness both in life to have a go. Both are needed at the right time.
      thanks for the brilliant analysis.
      regards

  2. Hi Doctor
    Brilliant and thoroughly engaging essay.
    Life is about seeing the visible and the invisible. That is the apara and the para vidya respectively.
    On a lighter note While seeing the visible many invisible things can also be seen. Like in the “Michelangelo’s roof paintings at the Sistine Chapel ” I could see the pain he must have gone through painting the ceiling with his neck bent backwards…I believe he was forced to do continously and finish it in a very short time in spite of poor health. And I noticed there the walls adorned with so much gold…what greed, all stolen from the enslaved countries.
    However you have beautifully expressed it as—
    “Life is less about FINDING and more about SEEKING. You find it with your eyes and seek with your mind and intellect.”
    Information and knowledge is just a fingertip away and your analogy of taking a torch along is to not just read but interact and transform oneself. This is indeed a way to fulfill a seekers dream. Erwin Schrodinger the father of Quantum Mechanics said that he was guided by the upnishads. This is the result of interacting with knowledge.
    Yes as you say it is also the way you can get on the journey to understand self.
    Your essay addresses the way to lead a good life. Being blind to ones own blindness is only sufferings, thank you for putting it here.

    Regards RG

    1. Dr. Anuj says:

      Hi RG
      I thoroughly enjoyed reading your take on the subject. Once again you have come out with such a brilliant analysis. Yes, life is surely more about seeking than finding. The inner journey commences when you start seeking the unknown engraved much inside you. Following the set goals may bring your overt happiness but by creating your own horizons, you enrich your soul.
      thank you so much for your appreciation.
      regards

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