Buddhism is based on the precinct that by design life blossoms on the context of the schema of suffering - "Dukkha". Ostensively it might appear to be pessimistic outlook. But going deeper into understanding this model, one starts appreciating the pragmatic dimension of the philosophy. Left to itself life or any of its manifestations cannot escape the possibility of a failure mode. Accepting that aspect ingrained in the fabric of reality, establishes a person in the stance of taking as-is what life has to offer, and then working towards making things better. Having given one's whole self in making things better (or achieving ones goal), the person is fully aware that everything might go haywire, and she might have to start all over again. A person is not vexed at suffering, as she realizes that by design life occurs out of the womb of "Dukkha", and the foundation is of suffering. Any point of time, the real nature can show up. Having such awareness makes it possible for the person never to ask a question like, "Why me?". At the same time, it prepares the person to better equip herself to face any possible failure mode that might inevitably appear. This attitude is at the source of impeccability of human creation.
In the context of society, by definition, a professional is a person who has a special training and know-how to solve a specific problem, which ordinary members of the society do not have. A doctor, an engineer, a management professional, an architect, etc - all are trained to solve specific problems, or create something which common man is not able to.
Bringing the concept of Dukkha of Buddhism into the anthropological context, a professional is a person who is paid by the society to alleviate a particular form of Dukkha from the society. The doctor is paid to cure the disease, and engineer is paid to solve engineering challenges, a management professional is paid to manage an organization, its mission and vision.
The important thing to be aware is that professionals are relevant till there are Dukkha's to be solved. If there are no diseased, a doctor loses her relevance in the society. Similarly if an engineering project does not have an apparent in-solvable problem, engineers are irrelevant to the society. If an initiative of a business organization is not faced with a complex problem, the existence of a management professional ceases to exist.
It is dis-heartening to see professionals vexed with problems at hand. It is something like a doctor saying, "What the heck! So many diseases exist. Those nut-headed people! They do not know how to take care of themselves!". It is not only about being aware that purpose of being alive for a professional is solving issues (Dukkha), but there is another grander essence of being a professional.
It is the responsibility of the professional to keep the society insulated with the reality of Dukkha. It might be either building a robust, safe and error-free Flight Management System, or doing a research in life science inventing a new drug. That is pretty interesting, honorable and significant task at hand, for which every professional should be grateful, and proud at the same time.
Another interesting aspect of being a professional is aspect of compassion. When a client at the psychoanalyst's office shouts at her and rebukes her, she does not retaliate immediately being defensive. She does not judge the client as grouchy. Rather she starts thinking of the root cause of such a behavior, having a problem solving stance. When a true engineer faces a problem in a system, the immediate thing that starts running in her head is what are the possible issues the system might be facing, and how to solve them. She does not think of the meanness of the user or the in-competency of the other developer who might have introduced the problem in the system.
Same thing applies to other professionals at their work. Most of the time stresses are caused when a person gets vexed with a problem, expecting that the problem should not have surfaced in the first place. There is an un-conscious belief that someone else is the cause of the problem. Utilizing the concept of Buddhism, accepting Dukkha as inevitable, and the ultimate truth, it relieves the person from anxiety and stress. The person is able to take a problem solving stance, making the world a better place to live in.
This applies to all the aspects of life. Both personal and professional. There is an urgent need for humanity to understand that the phrase - "They live happily every after" is the biggest hoax ever created by humanity. There is nothing like this in life in its most basic and real form. Then, is it not possible to create a life of celebration, meaning, fulfillment, elegance and wellbeing? Yes it is possible. Only through continuous action, vision, knowledge and working to alleviate the inevitable Dukkha, with a problem solving stance - Living life to the fullest.
______________________________________________
Copy Right © All rights reserved - Samrat Kar
No comments:
Post a Comment