Austerities - Easy?

Have you noticed how philosophers seem to find it so simple and easy to do what is needed for whatever problem you want them to address? You want success? Simple, they say, and give you a six word mantra - like six Hs of success - Honesty, Hard Work, Humility, Helpfulness,  Hearing (You know, listening to others, to experts and so on. I NEED a word starting with 'H', don't I?) and Holding Fast (I'd call it perseverance but it does not fit into the six 'H' thingy). You go off nodding, eager to try it all out, and find that each one of those is oh-so-difficult to practise. Almost all advice seems to belong in the easier-said-than-done category.

So, when Tiru says this...

Utranoi nondraluyirkkurukan seyyaamai atrae dhavaththir kuru - Tirukkural

To patiently endure his own suffering and to cause no pain to others is all there is to Austerities - Loose Translation

You know those ascetics who lead an extremely simple life eschewing all pleasures and live with a mind focused on God? What they do is what is meant by 'Dhavam'. Whether the entirety of that meaning is captured by 'Austerities' I leave it to you but, in this post, THAT is what 'Austerities' mean.

Tiru says that all you have to do is to endure your own suffering without complaint and to avoid giving any pain to others...THAT is the essence of dhavam. So simple, no?

Think, then, of the word endurance. It means that you just live with your pain/suffering without ranting and raving at someone who you think is to blame for it. Easy, yeah? When you cannot even withstand the weather without cursing the Sun, those responsible for climate change, the current government, yada yada. Think then of going out for alms and having someone refuse it with contempt for you? Can you see yourself smilingly bless him still? Think of someone trolling you when you are giving a speech? Can you avoid reacting to that hurt? Think of...you get the point.

You can patiently endure the weather only as long as the power is on and the airconditioner functioning. So, this patient endurance is not as simple a thing as it seems. It involves a total revamp of your character.

As for not causing hurt to anyone...of course it is easy. You are no sadist and only wish well for everyone. Till, say, someone tells you that the other guy is getting the promotion which you were aspiring to get. Or your neighbor says something that hurts your ego. Or when you can retain your job prospects only if you blame that other person. Or when the other guy shows contempt for your leader...

See, more often than not you always have reason to say that the other guy hurt you first. But does Tiru say that you should not cause pain only to those who do not cause you pain? Nope...and therein lies the problem. To adhere to the second requirement of 'Austerities' you need to necessarily be able to patiently endure suffering first. AND, also, be mindful of not causing hurt inadvertently which means you have to live a life of empathy. THAT means completely eliminating your own ego and live a life where everyone and everything is as important to you as your own self.

Does not seem as simple to do these Austerities, now, does it? These philosophers, I tell you...

The light of life

There are times that one thinks of philosophers as being dry as dust. You know, most times they are talking about hard work and dedication and so on and so forth. All things of the brain and you see them as having made no allowance for emotions at all. Yeah, they scatter around words like love or affection but those are rare occassions and, almost invariably, they tie it in to success and things like that. So, I'm sure you see 'light of life' and you think that, at last, there is a glimmer of emotion here.

Well, in this Kural, Tiru does talk of emotion but...

Olioruvarku Ulla Verukkai Iliooruvarku Aqdirandhu Vaazhdhum Enal - Tirukkural

What lights up your life is your enthusiasm; to even think of living without enthusiasm is shameful - Loose Translation

See what I mean? Enthusiasm MAY be an emotion but it is not exactly what you and I think of as an emotion, right? I mean it is not love or hate or joy or sorrow or...I know you know!

But Tiru does have a point you know. You need a reason to want to get up in the morning. If you have never had a time in your life when you go to sleep eager for the dawn, then you have hardly lived. I mean, at least because of those emotions - to want your next meeting with your significant other, you should have had those days. AND, if those days WERE there in your life and ARE no longer, life must be feeling drab.

To want to get back such days, to strive to find some interest that makes you jump out of bed...THAT's living. (NOT in the SAME way, thank you. To chase after a disinterested ex is not living.) To give up on life and just meander from day to day...that's mere existing, not living.

Animals only exist cos that's the way they are made. To be human and to live no better than an animal - that's what Tiru calls shameful. So, one should pick up the light of enthusiasm and brighten the rest of your days.

The pillars of goodness

There is a problem with some philosophical concepts. Goodness, for one? I mean, do people still seek to be good? Or is it all sunk in the cynical attitude that being rich will automatically cause you to be seen as good? When one goes around scattering advice, it is important to know whether the goals to which your advice ostensibly leads are even considered as desirable these days. Or will it be like you telling what to do to become a great coder when the other chap thinks that coding is for AI.

So, yeah, Tiru said this but is it worth it for me to say it too?

AnbuNaan Oppuravu Kannottam Vaaimayodu Aindhusaal Oondriya Thoon - Tirukkural

Love, shame of sinning, benevolence, helpful friendliness and integrity are the five pillars of exemplary people - Loose Translation

Let us get rid of words and meanings, first. Love here is not romantic love but the sort of love that you can have for all people around you. AND this 'saal' which is a form for 'saandranmai' is a toughie really. Sandraanmai can mean the wise, the great etc. I have called them, in short, the exemplars - people who can be held up as an example to Society at large.

To be an exemplar, you need to love your fellow human being. Which is another way of saying that you cannot be self-centered but open to care for all others. Even the idea of sinning should cause you to feel shame. You need to be benevolent to Society at large and a helpful friend to those close to you. Above all, you should possess personal integrity. THAT, in short, is what Tiru says. The sort of easy five steps that rolls off your tongue easily but is infinitely harder to practise.

But, then, whoever said that becoming great was a cakewalk?

Burden seeks the strong?

You often hear that God does does not burden you more than you can bear; when life keeps throwing curveballs at someone it is because he has the ability to hit them for home runs. (Hmm! WHY do you do this? No clue about baseball and you want to use baseball metaphors?) It is not only God, apparently, who does this to you. Even Society behaves in like fashion apparently.

Tiru has this to say about it.

Amaragaththu Vankannar Polath Thamaragaththum Aatruvaar Metre Porai - Tirukkural

Like the soldier who takes the responsibilty in the battlefield, the man with the strength to handle responsibility is handed the burden - Loose Translation

In any social circumstance, have you seen most people jump up to handle responsibility? Especially when they do not have the legal or moral obligation to take it on themselves? (Like, you cannot really skedaddle when the problem relates to your job or your child, no? Unless you can shove it off on a colleague or your spouse, respectively.) More often than not, even people who claim to take on the responsibility only want the authority. Other people are content with the right to criticize. Most people, though, are happy to not be noticed when the problem crops up or when it is getting solved.

AND, thus, the chap who volunteers for it OR has proven his ability in sorting problems in the past IS the chap who the community shoves the job on. Much like you push that soldier into the van of the army to take the brunt of the attack. In a way, the reward for handling responsibility well is, almost invariably, more responsibility.

This, then, means that Tiru is not exactly enthusing people who do the hard yards. It seems more like a warning about being the strong pillar of society. Except, yes, if you want to become a leader, and have the misfortune of not being born in the right family, the way to get noticed is to be the man who seeks responsibility.

Otherwise, you can see this Kural as merely a warning. THAT a display of strength could end up as an invitation to be burdened!