Ask Questions that Matter....

Questioning is the greatest pre-occupation of a human-being. We ask questions all the time. Yes, all the time. But what are the questions we ask?? 

Whats up? How are you? How's everything? Why me? When will you back? What's the plan? What next? What happened? What will I get? How to....cook pasta?? and so on...

But do the answers to these questions really matter at all? 

Nothing is wrong with these questions by themselves. But it is so strange that we spend our entire lifetimes in just seeking answers to these and such other insignificant enquiries.... Queries, whose answers make absolutely no difference to us. 

Bhaja Govindam urges us to ask better and more sensible questions. 

Instead of "How are you?" ask "Who am I?"

Instead of "What's the plan?" ask "Where is my purpose?"

Instead of "What next?" ask "What's my source?"

Change what you ask yourself. When you change your questions, you find your answers. 

Have you ever thought that we are often asking questions that we do not even want to know the answers to? Otherwise, do I really want to know who the neighbours' daughter ran away with, or what my friend has planned for his holidays, or how much a cousin earns, or even how a couple met each other, or what the top actress wore for an Award function, or which song belongs to which movie, or what the cricket score is? No. None of us are really dying to know any of this. Yet, most of us die with just these or similar other questions....Is it not sad? 

But what are we desperately asking through all these questions? THINK. 

Actually, we are all searching only few basic answers. 

WHY AM I NOT FEELING COMPLETE? WHAT'S MISSING? WHAT AM I LOOKING FOR?  WHERE IS TRUE HAPPINESS? HOW TO FIND PEACE? WHAT'S WRONG? WHY AM I HERE? WHAT IS MY PURPOSE? WHY AM I DOING ANYTHING THAT I AM DOING? 

All these answers lie in the womb of only one fundamental question: WHO AM I?  

Not knowing who am i leaves a permanent intriguing empty feeling within each of us. And we fill this void within us with stupid meaningless questions and their answers, just so that these vital questions of life do not haunt us. 

Most people spend their lifetimes without ever asking the most vital questions of their lives. 

But, those who do, they are called "Seekers". 

These are not questions that we are encouraged to ask...Nobody wants us to ask these questions because nobody really has the answers...And nobody has the heart to tell us to turn within and find our own answers within. Instead our questions are snubbed, snapped and killed till they silently sign away in the dark corners of our hearts...

As children when we ask these questions, we are told not to trouble our elders. 

As youth when we ask these questions, we are told not to waste time. 

As adults when we ask these questions, we are told something is wrong with us. 

As seniors when we ask these questions, we are told it doesn't matter any more!

Can you imagine what a colossal loss this can be? Life after life, we live without ever finding the answer to our most vital questions, without even knowing our own self, without finding lasting peace no matter what, without any higher purpose, without any meaningful answers... Don't let this happen to  yourself please. ASK. Ask questions that matter...

Inquisitiveness or the spirit of enquiry, also called Jignyasa, is is the life-blood of a seeker. It is the beginning of our spiritual journey. 

Every discovery has hidden itself behind a question. When Newton asked "Why does the apple fall?", Gravity was discovered. When Gandhi asked "Why are we slaves?", freedom was discovered. When Arjuna asked "What is Dharma?", Geeta was discovered. When Narendra asked "Have you seen God?", Vivekananda was discovered. When Meera asked "Who will be my husband?", Krishna was discovered. When Ramana asked "Who am I?", Truth was discovered. 

What are you asking today? 

Don't pick up others' questions. Discover your own. It has to be the question to the answers YOU seek. It has to be the questions which make YOU think. It has to be the questions for which you can go over the Oceans, walk across the mountains, give up your ego, surrender to a Guru, and drop everything and everyone you love. It has to be the question that doesn't let you sleep at night. It has to be the question that lingers on in your mind like a heavy hangover. It has to be the question that kindles your life. It has to be the question you can spend your whole life finding the answer to...

When you find your question, your story is defined. When you find your question, your life unfolds. When you find your question, you become a Seeker. 

What is your question? THINK.

Quote: 

"The day I start questioning the validity of my pursuits, I become a seeker."

- Swami Chinmayananda

Practice: 

1) Make a book where you write every question that ever occurs to you. Even if it is a silly question, write it down. Don't ask the answers to anyone yet. Keep writing for 90 days. After 90 days, review your questions. You will find a pattern. You will discover a few questions that have consistently surfaced again and again, that have been the substratum of every other question you asked. Those are probably the questions you are looking out answers for! Discover your questions. 

2) Stop asking IMMATERIAL questions. Just stop. If it doesn't matter, you don't need to know it. Just do not ask anything that is trivial, meaningless, insignificant. Don't ask any question that you don't think will even bother you after 10 days. If it won't bother you then, why be bothered by it now? 

When we turn your inquisitiveness away from the outside-world, it turns within. TRY. 

TODAY'S REFLECTION IS BASED ON BHAJA GOVINDAM VERSE 23.