Hi! I’M Susan

It was another one of those boring business dinners that Susan had to attend with her husband. Alan was a busy executive, working with a big business house. He had a job wherein he had to entertain and interact with the who’s-who of the city every other day. His wife Susan sat pretty on the couch; her perfectly manicured hands holding a glass of wine. She glanced at the composed looking lady sitting next to her. Evidently neither of them had company. Susan decided to start a conversation.

Susan: Hi! I’m Susan. I was wondering if we have met before. Who are you?
Other lady: Hello! I’m Leela. It’s nice to meet you, Susan.
Susan: Nice to meet you too. Where do you come from?
Leela: I am from Mumbai. We are on a sight seeing tour.
Susan: Really, where are you going?
Leela: We are going to Ranthambore, to see the wild life sanctuary.
Susan: What do you do in life?
Leela: I’m an interior designer.
Susan: That sounds interesting. Do you enjoy what you do?
Leela: Oh! I love it. My heart and soul are in it. I believe in what I do. I love my job.
Susan: You’re lucky. What is your aim in life?
Leela: I want to be recognized as the best interior designer of India.
Susan: It’s great to have an aim. Do you work towards your aim?
Leela: Well I have to. That’s the only way I’ll get there.
Susan: Wow! How long are you here?
Leela: We plan to leave early tomorrow morning.

The hostess came by to announce dinner and the conversation came to an end. This is the very usual sort of conversation we tend to strike with strangers at social gatherings. Strangely, do we ever pause to ask the same questions to ourselves? Let’s look at Susan’s questions.
1. Who are you?
2. Where do you come from?
3. Where are you going?
4. What do you do in life?
5. Do you enjoy what you do?
6. What is your aim in life?
7. Do you work towards your aim?
8. How long are you here?

Funny, isn’t it? How curious we are to know about others. But do we want to know who we are? If we replace ‘you’ with ‘I’ in these questions, what do they become?
1. Who am I?
2. Where do I come from?
3. Where am I going?
4. What do I do in life?
5. Do I enjoy what I do?
6. What is my aim in life?
7. Do I work towards my aim?
8. How long am I here?

Do we really know why we are here; what our aim is; do we work towards it? This is the difference between humans on one hand and all other forms of life on the other. They have only existence, in the sense that they can not introspect. They can not set a goal in life. They do not know the purpose of life. But humans have been gifted with the power of thought and discrimination. Baba tells us that the very purpose of life is to live a life with a purpose.

Human life is a precious gift from God wherein we have the opportunity to ask ourselves these questions and find out for ourselves what we are born for, where we came from and where we are to go after we die. Today, man is eager to collect facts and figures about the outer world, he is eager to search outside. But if only we were to look within, we would find all the answers.

Bhagwan Baba has put it very beautifully. Don’t surf the internet. Surf the inner net.