Is Life Unfair?
Life is unfair because human beings are still in pursuit of happiness. They have not become joyful, blissful beings who are expressing their joy in the world. If your whole life becomes an expression of your joy, not pursuit, then you would walk very gently upon this planet.
It depends where you have gotten in your life. If you have done well in your life, you think God is very kind, compassionate and wonderful, and the world is beautiful. If you have been trampled by the world, then you think God is a fool and the world is unfair.
The world is neither fair nor unfair. Everybody is in pursuit of their happiness. It is your business to learn and pursue what is yours. But the moment you are in pursuit of your happiness, you are in natural conflict with the rest of the world. Right now, suppose I am pursuing my happiness in one direction, you are pursuing your happiness in the opposite direction, and both of us meet. What will happen? Initially, out of your education, culture, and whatever else, you will say, “Please move out of my way.” But I refuse to move. Then you want to gently push me to one side and go. Still, I refuse to go. Then you want to shove me and go, but I again refuse to go. The next thing is you want to shoot me. One way or the other, you want to get rid of anything that stands in the way of your happiness. You may not have the courage to shoot somebody, but you would like that person to at least somehow disappear from the planet by himself.
You are pursuing your happiness one way, and another giant of a man is pursuing his happiness the other way. If you happen to meet him and were trampled, you think the world is unfair. Suppose instead you met an ant and trampled over it, you think that is fair. Isn’t that the reality of your life?
Unfortunately, we are still not evolved enough to come out of the simple jungle law “survival of the fittest.” We have been implementing the same instinct from the caveman’s time to the civilized world, in different patterns, but still it is the same thing. It is still the same law. We are still not at a level of evolution where we could handle the weak gently and nurture them.
We are still functioning out of instinct and compulsions. We have to move from our instinct to our intelligence. Only then this will change. You can do this only when you are joyful by your own nature—you are not in pursuit of your happiness, your life is an expression of your happiness. Then you have no need to trample anybody. Look back at your life and see. The most beautiful moments in your life were those moments when you were expressing your happiness, not when you were pursuing your happiness. When you are in pursuit of your happiness, you are not concerned about what happens around you. You just have to get there, you are desperate to get there. When you get desperate beyond a certain point, we call you a criminal. Society allows a certain amount of crime on a daily basis, which every human being is committing one way or the other. Beyond that, they cannot tolerate it.
Life is unfair because human beings are still in pursuit of happiness. They have not become joyful, blissful beings who are expressing their joy in the world. If your whole life becomes an expression of your joy, not pursuit, then you would walk very gently upon this planet.
| Named one of India’s 50 most influential people, Sadhguru speaks before millions annually around the globe, including to prominent leadership forums such as the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, TED, and the World Peace Congress. From ground-breaking yoga programs to projects for rural communities and the environment, Sadhguru’s Isha Foundation (www.IshaFoundation.org) serves as a thriving model for human empowerment, which is reflected in the Foundation’s special consultative status with the UN. |
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