In search of the real meaning of life

In search of the real meaning of life

Bhagavad Gita bagi Orang Modern: Menyelami Misteri Kehidupan
(Bhagavad Gita for Modern People: An Attempt to Understand the
Mystery of Life);
By Anand Krishna;
Published by Gramedia Pustaka Utama, Jakarta, 1998;
xiv + 380 pp

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Forgetting who he really is, modern man has
burned his hands in his self-made fire. The modern world is
marked with crises of humanity and the environment. These have
often been discussed the world over and man has a better
awareness of his surroundings since many of these crises have
been brought about not simply by material reasons but rather
owing to man's view of nature.

The modern world's spiritual horizon is practically a void. It
exists, but the modern man, to borrow a term from perennial
philosophy, "lives in the margin of a circle of existence". As
the modern man sees everything only from the viewpoint at his
existential margin, and not from "his own spiritual center," he
forgets who he really is.

Indeed, what he is doing now, namely giving attention to the
world and the existence beyond himself, gives him a knowledge
about the material world which, quantitatively, is amazing, but,
qualitatively, in connection with an understanding of himself, is
shallow.

The modern world turns out to be unable to provide man with
all his necessities, especially his spiritual needs because it is
a world governed by secular, materialistic and mechanistic
values. Man finally feels modernism is a process of
dehumanization. Man is all the more ignored as a human being,
while modernism has led to a number of ills creeping into
civilization.

As the problems of the modern man become more acute, man
realizes that he has to return to forsaken spiritual values. The
interest in the mystic-spiritual world is not concerned only with
Eastern spiritualism, as one of the latest phenomena in religious
affairs nowadays, but also with a search for Western spiritualism
itself.

The author Anand Krishna, who runs the Anand Ashram spiritual
center in Jakarta, wishes to remind us through the above book
that the revival of spiritualism in the 20th century reflects
what society needs as the waves of industrialization and
technology roll on.

Born in 1956 in Solo, Central Java, of Indian descent, Anand
explores the tendency of the introduction of the Eastern
perspective, particularly mysticism, in the way Westerners look
at their problems and solve them.

In the case of knowledge, there are now models called
"liberating knowledge". In the same way, power, political or
managerial problems are understood through a process called
"politics that does not kill."

The same tendency is also found in the art of healing with the
introduction of nonmedical practices, such as natural healing
through Indian meditation or the use of Chinese traditional
medicine. Therefore, man has begun to understand that his
happiness and sorrow also depends on whether or not he can link
himself with the center of the Self (called The Higher
Consciousness). There is a grand design in this center, through
which man can comprehend cosmic awareness.

Through Bhagavad Gita, Anand, diagnosed with leukemia in 1991,
invites us to enjoy this life. Bhagavad means "noble" and Gita,
"a song". So Bhagavad Gita is a noble song. The reader is invited
to try to understand life and at the same time enjoy every
experience.

Don't forget that everything beautiful in this life is
rhythmical, urges the author. Listen to the sound of water and
the wind -- observe the rhythm. Our life can also be rhythmical
if we can dive into the sea of life, for which one will need only
a little amount of courage.

In order to learn to swim we must get into the water. Having a
good grasp of the swimming theory will not enable us to swim.
Bhagavad Gita invites us to dive into the sea of life. Of course
this is not without risk. There are huge, wild fish ready to eat
us up, but the author reminds us there are also pearls and
gemstones. Be watchful all the time but get rid of your
apprehension. Just find a way to protect yourself from any
attack.

Any handful of pearls that we can get from this sea of life
should change the quality of our life and make it more rhythmical
and more noble. In addition to everything else, Bhagavad Gita
will bring us the realization that studies on traditional power
are assuming greater significance in the revival of religiousness
and wider appreciation of the spiritual dimension in various
economic and political activities toward the third millennium.

In this book Anand makes an analogy between stories about the
legendary characters of Arjuna, Khrisna, and the Baratayudha,
with events in our struggle through life.

Wherever we are, the Song of the Guru will enlighten us with
new ways of looking at things so that we may lead this life
without anxiety until the Great Mystery, pulling at everything,
gathers us in its embrace.

-- Eni Nur Husniyati

The reviewer is a graduate of the School of Daawah (missionary
studies) at the State Islamic Institute of Sunan Kalijaga in
Yogyakarta.