Ultimate purpose of life as per Vedanta

Firstly, there is a broad agreement amongst all schools of Hindu Philosophy (Astika and Nastika schools) that the ultimate purpose of life is Moksha. Only the Charvaka school does not agree with this.The different schools disagree on the way to achieve Moksha.

The most unique concept in the philosophy contained in the Vedas and the Upanishads is the concept of Dharma. Dharma has been defined differently in different texts. Dharma is what guides the individual in various walks and stages of life.

The Astika philosophies (6 in number) believe in the supremacy of Vedas. Read more about them here.

Tumuluri Rammohan's answer to What are the major differences between six schools of Indian philosophy?

In order to understand the purpose of life according to the Hindu Upanishads, the concepts of Rta, and Rna need to be understood.

Rta:

The concept of Rta is another unique concept in Indian Philosophy. What is Rta? Rta is the eternal, cosmic and moral order. Rta represents the basic truth, harmony or system of the universe which no one can violate. In the physical sphere Rta represents the eternal and inviolable law of nature. Rotation of Heavenly stars, alteration of day and nights, flow of rivers, oceans, etc. are regulated by Rta. In the moral sphere, Rta is righteousness. It is the measure of morality. Those who follow the path of Rta, follow the path of Good. They are called Vratani. The path of Rta (Vrata) is consistent with natural cosmic order. In fact, the theory goes as far as saying that even Gods are subject to the laws of Rta.Gods are not above the Rta. One of their basic duties is protection of the Rta. The God Varuna is considered as the upholder of Rta.

Rna:

Rna, translated as debt, is responsibilities and obligations. Man is a social being and his development is possible due to eh efforts of many other fellow beings have, in some or other way, contributed to his progress. Therefore he is under indebted to many members of his society. These debts, three in number, are the Rnas.The three Rnas are

1.

Rishi Rna: Also called as Guru Rna, this represents the debt a being owes to his Guru/Rishi/Teacher. Isaac Newton very famously said that “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” This is the best possible explanation of what Rishi Rna is. One has to live his life in a way that this debt is discharged. How does one do that? The books say by respecting your teacher and his learnings. If we take a modern outlook on this, this debt is discharged by using the knowledge for the purpose for which it exists, not for a contrarian purpose.

2.

Pitru Rna: An individual owes his own existence to his ancestors. Therefore, it becomes responsibility of the individual to sustain the family by giving birth to next generation. By begetting children the individual becomes free from the debt of his ancestors.

3.

Deva Rna: Let us consider that God is someone/something you owe the existence of humanity to. One may consider the five elements of nature to be God. This debt is discharged by paying respect and honouring whatever one considers as God. Sacrifices in Hinduism are one of the ways of achieving this.

Unless these debts are discharged, it is not possible to attain Moksha, the purpose of life.

Purusharthas – The purpose of life

The four purusharthas (Supreme Ends) form one complete whole and are intimately connected with each other. They define the purpose of life. These four Purusharthas are;

Dharma- the pursuit of the right (discharges the Rishi Rna)

Artha- the pursuit of material wealth (provides one with the means for the next one)

Kama- procreation and pursuit of material pleasures (discharges the Pitru Rna)

Moksha – the pursuit of salvation which happens if the above three have been done (discharges the Dev Rna)

A purushartha cannot be pursued by compromising some other Purushartha. As has been stated above, all of them combined form a single whole. Dharma cannot be compromised in the pursuit of any Purushartha.

This is the purpose of life and the way to achieve it.

Design Thinking as an Innovation Engine

A Crying BabyIn his book "Hit Refresh", Satya Nadella (now, CEO of Microsoft) talks about the interesting incident when he was getting hired into Microsoft. In Year 1992, when Nadella, went through his first round of interview, he was posed a question by the recruiting manager Richard Tait that "Imagine you see a baby laying on the street, and the baby is crying. What do you do?"

Nadella quickly replied, "You call 911." 

As Tait walked Nadella out of his office, he put his arm around Nadella and said, "You need some empathy. If a baby is laying on the street crying, you pick up the baby."

Nadella still got a job but the lesson of "EMPATHY" and he would take this lesson throughout his career at Microsoft.

Empathy is formally defined as "the ability to understand and share the feelings of another."

Renewed Interest

The word "Empathy" is coming back to center stage recently and this empathy is towards customer needs and the kind of the experience they would love to emmerse themsleves into. The process of Design Thinking has this empathy at its core.

There is a renewed interest in Design thinking by companies in Software Engineering, Healthcare industry, Automotive industry and other industries who are proactive in taking their User Experience & Engagement to a next level and use that as competitive edge in the overcrowded market.

Design thinking is a method for resolution of problems in a practical, creative and Emphatic way. Let us look at the crux of this practice.

A)   It is Different from a normal Problem Solving method

Normal “Scientific method” is more about the coming up with a hypothesis/theory resulting in model supporting by stats/facts. However, Design thinking goes one step ahead by considering “emotional” aspect of the problem along with traditional ways of designing. It not only considers the stated issues by a user for a particular product, but also throws a light on non-stated problems which helps in discovering the intangible underlying issues which cannot be uncovered by using pure maths/physics based approaches. This method brings in “Human-Centric Point Of View” and has “Empathy” to its core. Constructive and practical solution is the aim of Design thinking.

A normal PROBLEM SOLVING results in Answers but Design Thinking results in “New Possibilities” and Solutions. Following simple example will help in understanding this better.

B)   Main 3 Ingredients of “Design Thinking”

Following three factors are vital in using this method which results in what is referred as PREDICTIVE INNOVATION

1. DESIRABILITY (About People)

• Tries to answer the question “What your User want?”
• This is #1 and most overlooked area
• Answer to this question will generally result in

① Value Proposition,

② Customer Relationship and

③ Customer Segments

2. Viability (About Business)

• Tries to answer the question “What can be sold in the market?”
• Lot of companies start from here but this should come after “Desirability”
• Answer to this question will result in

① Cost Structures

② Revenue Streams

③ Channels

3. Feasibility (About Technology)

• Tries to answer the question “What is possible with Today`s Technology?”
• This is point where one should make best use of the Digital innovation both in Software and Hardware to our disposal. This is the right way to become digital (if required)

・Answer to this question will result in

① Key Partners

② Key Activities

③ Key Resources

C)    The meeting points and the Core innovation

As indicated in the figure below,

1.    The area where Desirability and Viability meet results in EMOTIONAL INNOVATION and helps in branding, marketing and Relationships.

2.    The area where Viability and Feasibility meet results in PROCESS INNOVATION

3.    The area where Desirability and Feasibility meets result in FUNCTIONAL INNOVATION

4.    And as a whole, this activity results in “Most Valuable Design and Innovation” at its core.

D)   5 Main steps in Design Thinking

Main Five steps in design thinking are broadly divided into

1.    Problem

• Empathize with the user situation and problem
• Define the problem

2. Solution

• Ideate based on the inputs
• Prototype as early as possible
• Test the prototype with use
• If it meet and solves the problem, implement is vision in full scale.

There are whole set of tools (will explore in other post) on how to go about actually engaging with a client who intend to solve their problems and want to bring the Customer-Centricity, User Experience and Engagement to the core of the their business. By using Design Thinking, an enterprise can get started on their journey towards Innovation, rather Predictive Innovation.

You might have your own views/experiences around Design Thinking, it would be great to hear those and to take this discussion beyond this forum too.

GoogleMap pins for Fuji Five Lakes

One of the route options to visit Fuji Five Lakes fromTokyo.

I have marked specific places where we happen to visit by road.

https://goo.gl/maps/DPg5VKVynap

What is your true Nature ?

What is your true Nature ?

The world which we experience  is actually meeting point of two universes.

1st Universe is a Matter Universe of which our material body is a part of. You sensory , action organs are part of this. Even your mind and emotions are part of this. Your Work, play and anything physical, is part of it.

2nd is a Consciousness Universe of which our Soul/Spirit/Super Energy we experience is part of. Your inquisitiveness beyond your body and mind is in this realm. We can name it anything, but “what enters your body from when you found your place in your mother’s womb and what leaves when you die” it is that...

Matter Universe is governed by law of a.matter, b.Space and c.time.
If we see this with th help of an eg:
Take any living or non living object,
a: it cannot travel faster than speed of light(law of matter controls motion),
b: will be limited to 3 dimensional existence & can exist at one place in one time(law of Space) and
c: will exist for finite amount of time(law of time). Everything that exists around is confined by the cycle of time. Moon, Sun, our body, living or non living.

However, our soul belongs to Consciousness Universe which is not governed by laws of matter, Space and time. Consider Consciousness as an unbounded, formless, eternal and infinite source of Energy and it’s very nature is freedom. Our soul is a simple subset of this super energy. Hence we have a feeling or craving of freedom brimming inside us all the time.

If you are still with me 🙂, it is considered that since Consciousness Universe is eternal, Matter Universe is born out of it during Big Bang. Hence since body is a product of matter Universe, it is unable to confine or limit the soul inside you which is a product of Consciousness Universe, whose eternal nature is “freedom”.

Everyone tries to find this freedom by various hobbies, habits, play, relaxing, exercising, reading, music , art forms, surfing, interests, passions and countless things which make them forget their Matter Universe in their daily lives.

This is the same feeling of vastness, limitless-ness which is invoked when u see some endless oceans, huge mountains, thick forests, grand waterfalls etc which gives u an impression that there is something far bigger beyond your meager body and that grandness/unconfinedness and freedom is par of you.

And that’s you, in your original Nature
“ Freedom” & “ Part of that Pure Super Energy” and that is what you are here to know. This Pure Energy is in its purest form and always is a sense of bliss, balance and ecstasy. You bring a cell if it can relate to these characteristics in your natural form.

The part of Consciousness is in you. The Universe is you and You are the Universe. Or as some have started saying recently “Universe is experiencing itself through you” or “You are the Universe experiencing itself” !

All is true just different ways of seeing the truth!

Questions kids ask

https://youtu.be/gSj5V4Xlt84

Future of Education

https://youtu.be/nLtUl2CP8ak

What is best diet for human beings

https://youtu.be/0z03xkwFbw4

Source: TED