Life as we know it can be a very fragile thing. When we hear the news of an unfortunate event that involves loss of life, the most common reaction is that we feel sad. This is true for events on the other side of the globe and it feels even more real when it’s someone we are familiar with or someone who is relatively close to us, whether geographically or emotionally. It can all feel very real and delicate.
To make things more complicated, many of us have families we need to look after, jobs we need to attend to, careers we need to enhance and many other obligations or things we need to deal with. The common theme here is the need to protect. We feel a strong need to protect these things, whether it’s reputation or tangible belongings. In a way, these things are like our life, they are precious and fragile. For some people the stakes are very high. People go to great lengths to protect what feels precious to them. As a result, most people take things rather seriously and cannot enjoy life.
I am not implying that we should not protect these things that are dear to us. But if it means that we lose a sense of lightheartedness towards life, we are no good to others. When we become overly serious about the things we have to protect, we would not hesitate to cause harm to others if push comes to shove. When the stakes are high and people get overly serious and protective, conflicts occur. The extreme case would be war.
Spirituality reminds us that there is another way out. Contrary to what it seems, life is in fact not fragile, in it’s purest form it’s eternal and is beyond the physical realm. All is well in this dimension. There is no need to get protective and serious about it, it is just there. When we remove the preciousness and fragility out of the equation, life becomes rather lighthearted and easier to enjoy. This is quite a useful realisation. And furthermore, when we are not joyous, we can’t really be of any help to others either.