WASTE NO MORE TIME TALKING ABOUT GREAT SOULS AND HOW THEY SHOULD BE. BECOME ONE YOURSELF.
- Marcus Aurelius.
It is one thing that just talking is not fun. Way to a meaningful life is about being in action. All that is true that without experience and the guts of acting an ideal way of life, any sort of preaching is flimsy and superficial; there is no power to the whole way of being. Action is the key. Ofcourse it has to be preceded with contemplation and understanding.
But here Marcus Aurelius hints into something more subtle and profound. I point out these as follows –
1. He hints on the sense of urgency, by saying, “waste no more time talking about….”
Humanity has spent enough time in talking about great souls. Most of the life is spent being awed with the greatness of people. Men consider the great souls as a separate league altogether, and keep singing in praise what they have done or said. The Euphoria starts in talk and ends in talk. Marcus Aurelius says that is time wasted. And men should wake up immediately from this self imposed slumber, and be that great soul, what inspires him. It is about being Jesus, not just being a Christian. It is about being Buddha, and not just be a Buddhist.
2. The second part of the first sentence – “…and how they should be.”, is also very interesting. Most of the fabled legends remain immortal through eternity, in the folklores of generations after generation. Over time, these folklores take their own character, and portray an extended portrait of the subject. There might be some grey areas, which the common man of a particular time in history might find derogatory, or in-correct. Marcus Aurelius says that it is a waste of time to speak about what those great souls should have been, and what they should have not been. It is an extreme naivety to profess about someone’s action, without having an idea what the person was going through when he took that action. It has been experimentally proved by modern psychologists, evolutionary biologists, and neurologists, that the mind of every human is unique, and she lives in her unique illusion of what she thinks life is. No one can actually realistically know the other in entirety. It is biologically impossible. We try our best to make our point in the form of language and other modes of communication. But one’s consciousness is so very private and uniquely positioned, that it is statistically impossible for another human to have the same vantage point.
3. The second sentence – “Become one yourself”. This sentence de-mystifies greatness. It says that no matter how great is the legend, it is possible for a common man to become that. This tries to bring the mythic aura of the great souls to earthly realities. It says that no matter what, you can be that! That gives a sense of freedom to humanity. It gives a hope that we are free and capable to be what inspires us. Life might be an interesting journey in trying to be that greatness which makes our heart pound stronger.
4. One more thing about this is the importance of action is very important to understand. As also illustrated by Krishna in the Bhagavat Gita –
“The path of knowledge is the same as the path of action.” What this means is that “path of action,” i.e., of what is called Right Action, when it is attained, merges with the path of knowledge. At this point, they become one and the same; but this is because that action is no longer action as we normally understand it, but something quite different: it is wisdom in activity and, ultimately just Wisdom. So we can see that in order to reach this path of Wisdom, a man cannot be bound to the action he is carrying out, but must be immersed in the Law, and act from there.
- Marcus Aurelius.
It is one thing that just talking is not fun. Way to a meaningful life is about being in action. All that is true that without experience and the guts of acting an ideal way of life, any sort of preaching is flimsy and superficial; there is no power to the whole way of being. Action is the key. Ofcourse it has to be preceded with contemplation and understanding.
But here Marcus Aurelius hints into something more subtle and profound. I point out these as follows –
1. He hints on the sense of urgency, by saying, “waste no more time talking about….”
Humanity has spent enough time in talking about great souls. Most of the life is spent being awed with the greatness of people. Men consider the great souls as a separate league altogether, and keep singing in praise what they have done or said. The Euphoria starts in talk and ends in talk. Marcus Aurelius says that is time wasted. And men should wake up immediately from this self imposed slumber, and be that great soul, what inspires him. It is about being Jesus, not just being a Christian. It is about being Buddha, and not just be a Buddhist.
2. The second part of the first sentence – “…and how they should be.”, is also very interesting. Most of the fabled legends remain immortal through eternity, in the folklores of generations after generation. Over time, these folklores take their own character, and portray an extended portrait of the subject. There might be some grey areas, which the common man of a particular time in history might find derogatory, or in-correct. Marcus Aurelius says that it is a waste of time to speak about what those great souls should have been, and what they should have not been. It is an extreme naivety to profess about someone’s action, without having an idea what the person was going through when he took that action. It has been experimentally proved by modern psychologists, evolutionary biologists, and neurologists, that the mind of every human is unique, and she lives in her unique illusion of what she thinks life is. No one can actually realistically know the other in entirety. It is biologically impossible. We try our best to make our point in the form of language and other modes of communication. But one’s consciousness is so very private and uniquely positioned, that it is statistically impossible for another human to have the same vantage point.
3. The second sentence – “Become one yourself”. This sentence de-mystifies greatness. It says that no matter how great is the legend, it is possible for a common man to become that. This tries to bring the mythic aura of the great souls to earthly realities. It says that no matter what, you can be that! That gives a sense of freedom to humanity. It gives a hope that we are free and capable to be what inspires us. Life might be an interesting journey in trying to be that greatness which makes our heart pound stronger.
4. One more thing about this is the importance of action is very important to understand. As also illustrated by Krishna in the Bhagavat Gita –
“The path of knowledge is the same as the path of action.” What this means is that “path of action,” i.e., of what is called Right Action, when it is attained, merges with the path of knowledge. At this point, they become one and the same; but this is because that action is no longer action as we normally understand it, but something quite different: it is wisdom in activity and, ultimately just Wisdom. So we can see that in order to reach this path of Wisdom, a man cannot be bound to the action he is carrying out, but must be immersed in the Law, and act from there.
This is a very profound dimension of action. Most of the western thought comprehends action as a means to achieve some goal. So goes the old saying, "You reap as you sow." It is as if, it is about reaping a reward, an action is done. Action is just an intermediate thing that is done, to actually get the primary goal - its reward. But in this case, Bhagavat Gita gives much depth into the word - action. Krishna says action as a "Wisdom in activity". That is truly profound! Action is whole and complete by itself. It is by doing an action, one "becomes", and not "has". Action is the only way to really appreciate something in its entirety - to ingrain the knowledge in the self.
It is one thing that action should be done without any expectation of rewards; action is not a means to get something, rather it is a path to wisdom – it is wisdom in activity. But the more important thing that Marcus Aurelius points out in these words is that action is the way to really understand that wisdom of the great soul. It is only by being a Buddha can you ever understand the true knowledge and wisdom what Buddha taught.
It is one thing that action should be done without any expectation of rewards; action is not a means to get something, rather it is a path to wisdom – it is wisdom in activity. But the more important thing that Marcus Aurelius points out in these words is that action is the way to really understand that wisdom of the great soul. It is only by being a Buddha can you ever understand the true knowledge and wisdom what Buddha taught.
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