LIFE IS ROLE PLAYING 1 - TALKS  

9/19/2009 2:39 am

Talk by Swami Dayananda Saraswati Action and reaction, as we know from physics, are both equal and opposite. You cannot rub against something, without yourself getting rubbed in the process.However, I am looking at these two words with reference to one’s response tothe world. LIFE INVOLVES RELATIONSHIP You cannot avoid relating as well as responding to the world, whether you likeit. You must necessarily relate to the world in order to live your life; you neednot relate to the world just to be alive. When you are in deep sleep, you are alivebut you do not relate to the world; there is no world, in fact, for you. There is norelationship, no memories, no situational problems to cause any concern. You arejust alive; you merely exist. You can exist even in a state of coma, without in anyway relating to the world. It is possible to keep a person alive in coma for years on life support systems. However, that is not living. In order to live your life, youneed to relate to the world.Any relationship implies two factors: one is you, the person, who relates and the other is what or whom you relate to. Of these two, one is a changing factor – thatwhich you are related to. The situation to which you are related keeps onchanging all the time and the change can be total. Now you see fire and now you see a stream of water; two things entirely different in nature. You meet your father and the next moment you meet your son. The object has completely changed, the son replacing the father. In terms of sensory perception, the objects constantly change. You perceive a form or smell or sound or touch or taste. Thus,the world you confront keeps changing whereas you, the one who confronts the world, is invariable. A person who sees a form is the same who hears a sound.The one who saw and heard is the one who is talking to someone now. The person, ‘you’ remains the same, whereas the objects keep changing. Therefore, 1 Excerpt from Action and Reaction, Arsha Vidya Research and Publications, Chennai, 2007.