THE MEANING OF LIFE
I have summarized the whole of the Tamil Saiva Siddhanta aka Saivism about which I
have written quite extensively both in English and Tamil.
1. First of all we are INTENTIONAL and our sense of happiness is related to our intentionallity ( Tolkaapiyam : ellaa uyirkkum inbam enpatu taantaam meevaRRaakum:for all creatures happiness is related to their own desires). But here we notice that there is what can be called a hierarchical structure - one level on intentionality having as its Deep Structure another and so forth. So as we pursue our life with a particular intentionallity, there comes a moment where that intention drops off as having no more meaning and something else crops up and gets hold of the soul- a kind of conversion from within. Economic pursuits suddenly become meaningless and the person, even old , gives up all and takes up courses in the universities and so forth. In this dynamics of intentionallity change, there comes a point where attaining Moksa appears as the most eaningful, the intention founding the whole life becomes attaining it. It is at this point that a person becomes a Mumuksu, as they say. And since there is no other intentions as the Deep Structure, this is also the Fundamental Intentionallity.
This process may not always take place within one life span -- over and above biological evolution there is MENTAL or cultural evolution. Living experiencing and LEARNING in all these, matures a person so that he evolves into the Mumuksu at a certain lease of life.
2. Now this ties with Karma and which is seen both that which determines the evolutionary changes as well as the ethical development. In Saiva Siddhanta, ethics is linked with the evolutionary mechanism ALREADY there in the world. All anmas are already on their way towards BEING, the Home (viidu) and each action they do either moves them closer to BEING or away from Him. When an action is done so that the anma moves well within the Way, then it is led to feel that what it has done is GOOD, the PuNNiyam. When the action is such the anma by doing it, FALLS from the Way, then it is given to feel that it has done something evil, the Paavam with pains along with it. In this way BEING by His very presence and the magnetic pull He exerts already guides the anmas towards development and growth where pain serves to avoid and pleasure serves to adhere and move ahead.
3. But why the FALL and the anma becoming the SINNER? Well over and above BEING, there is this ANTI-BEING, the Malam, the Dark Killing Energy ( the mythical Yama, Saitan and so forth) which also exerts a pull on the anmas and not without some success. Evil is done when an action comes to be with the dominance of aaNavam, the Malam and which increases its hold on the anma bringing about deaths of various kinds- psychic, cognitive, bodily and so forth.
4. Now there is suffering in the real world only because his real world is permeated with this Malam and its derivative Karma and Maayaai. There is also the Mantra World, the mythical heavenly world but actually which is also the REAL but purified of the Malam etc. We enjoy happiness when we live in this world ( populated by the divine forces) and suffer with pains and so forth when we live in the impure world where there is malam as well. If this is a cave, then the heavenly life is life in the open, under the vast sky. Another metaphor is the hill- the ordinary life is like the life at the bottom - crowded and noisy while the heavenly life is life at the peak ( Muruka and Siva and so forth reside there!)
5.. The quality of suffering changes as we move upwards towards the PEAK and in the limit life becomes wholly blissful. The meaning of suffering is to indicate that we have yet to move, yet to develop and so forth. Suffering is a blessing, because it lets us know our spiritual immaturity, metaphysical ignorance and hence the need to tear ourselves away from the current way of life and forge something more spiritual and so forth. We become "converted" only because of sufferings and in that also helped along so that we become closer to becoming the Mumuksu and so forth.
6. This dynamics is ALREADY there as the objective features of the world and therefore common to all. When we tear ourselves away from the kind of thinking that curtail our freedom of thought and become FREE, we can also see the WAY ( the Canmaarkkam) already within one's understanding! And also the Civanjanam !
Ullaganar
( Editing and re-paragraphing by his student )
( photo courtesy of www.pixabay.com with thanks )
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