SPIRITUAL CRISES

  Modern man grapples with the issues of spiritual crises. One ascends the stairs of faith and stays there for sometime and then descends down by committing a sin. This process goes on continuously. People die in this process before they could resolve these crises. Sins hurl down faithful people from the pedestals of faith. They tear the threads of faith into pieces. 

Faith is not something easily understandable. It is very enigmatic and entangling. Its definitions and interpretations undergo variations with every passing day. Scholars define it as a remembrance in heart, expression by tongue and practice by bodily organs. The definition of faith differs according to the different religions  of  people. Christians may differ from Jews in defining it and Muslims may differ from Hindus in defining it. But what is common tenet among all these religions is that faith is personal and does not subscribe to the outside conventions and traditions. One may appear great to people but bad to lord and vice versa. One may be near to lord but far away from people or close to people but distant from lord. One can personally develop long lasting relation to lord without others knowing it. Faith is something that can`t be demonstrated to anyone and proved to them that it is faith. It is an abstract idea that is very confidential between lord and his adherent. It is a motley of different beliefs and ideas that one subscribes to . 

there are some fixed norms that one needs to adhere to to qualify for having faith. These norms should not be violated . These constitute the core of faith. For instance, one should not lie. One should not harm others unnecessarily. One should not commit adultery. One should not thieve. One should not harbor jealousy, envy, hatred and rancor to others. there are other various things that one needs to stick to if one wants to qualify for faith. These norms bind the faithful from doing various things. 

Spiritual crises arise when these norms are violated. One despairs over the infringement of these norms and enters into the critical zone. In the fit of passions , one commits sins and feels joyful for a moment but soon after it pinches his heart and saddens him. The hangover of sins stays for long till one recovers it by repentance. 

One can not always help oneself to be at safe coast. This phase is unavoidable. One is bound to go through this stage. Rise and fall in spirituality is not an unusual thing. It is there. Sometimes one overcomes it but sometimes one is overcome. Lives perish. People end up being of neither world. Here they struggle to make their hereafter but they fail. They lose both this and that world. Or may be lord reveres their strive and admits them in heaven or only lord knowns what. Faith is a delicate thing. It needs extra care and caution. An unending pleasure is possible only through the attainment of faith. Once this faith is harmed by sins, it ushers huge desperation. This desperation reverses the pleasure into anxiety.

Question definitely arises why do you feel despaired if you do something wrong. This is a common question and people wonder why it is so. Humans have been created in such a way that their soul, that pleases or displeases, attains calm if it occupies the love and devotion of lord. Its attains pleasure by the remembrance of lord. If your soul does not taste the love and devotion of lord, it becomes restless and leaves you baffled by agony and anxiety.

Although, it is not so easy to persist in this way and it does not mean that once you fall, you cant get back at your feet. The doors of coming back never close. It is always open. Its entrance is repentance. Repentance heals the wounds of soul and pushes you back to your previous position. Don't lose hearts if you stumble in this way. Repent your sins. Come back to your lord and start doing things that please him. That convinces him to pardon you. To rid your despair and bless you with the directions to pray more lovingly. 

HAPPY LIFE IS THE BEST LIFE.

                                      

The question that everyone asks but not everyone answers is what is happy life? This question can be answered in multiple ways making multiple things as the hinges of happiness. I will discuss few of the things which , if acted upon, can make your life happy and peaceful. 

1, Contentment: The fundamental of happiness is to be content over little things. Enjoying and extracting joy from small things has been a practice of happiest people. Life does not offer you everything that you ask for. You can not have everything that you seek . But being content with what life gives you can minimize the pain of not having everything. Thanking and showing gratitude over small achievements invites more satisfaction and joy. There really is no other way to be happy and over ambitious simultaneously. Being overambitious and desirous keeps you restless. You work day and night for realizing your dreams and finally you end up being desperate and stressed. Those who seek more , they attain less peace and joy. Struggling hard is not always good.

As the saying goes that one should compare oneself to those who are inferior to him\her in rank and status. It grants joy of having privilege over others. Joy of having more than others. Joy of being superior to others in certain respects. It curtails competition and lets people have a breath of ecstasy. Although, it is good to seek more and compete to those who surpass you but it should not cost you your happiness and peace. It should not disturb your life. It should not pour stress and anxiety in your life. Therefore, contentment is the principle of happy life. One can opt for gratitude over little things and taste the sweetness of joy and peace.

2, Friendship and a loving family: Friends contribute aboundingly to the happy life. As has been proved  that friendless people are sadder than others. They have none to speak to and unburden themselves off the worries of life. One can live a happy life if he accompanies good friends who help him in difficulties . 

Joy is proportionate to friendship. Good friendship means happier life. Friends take you away from the sorrows of  life . One exchanges his pains candidly to friends and feels relaxed. Friends listen to your worries and offer solutions that are poured out out of love ,care and concern. 

It is a great blessing in the modern times to have a loving family. The love and care of family brings happiness. A person who has loving parents, brothers and sisters can doubly be happier than those who want loving families. Asking of parents about your life is a great comfort. When father asks how are things going on in your life, it opens up the treasure of happiness. Everyone loves to be loved and cared. This love and care ensues joy and peace in ones life.

3, Religion: Religion is the core of happy life. It teaches the transitoriness of the world and its worries. It teaches that there is a savior , lord, who loves you and never wants you to be unhappy and sad. People find peace in religion, in praying to God and seeking solutions for your problems. It answers your intricate questions of not attaining this and that. You learn that God knows better than you what is good for you. He gives you what is good for you and holds back what is harmful for you. Through religion you learn being satisfied over whatever life offers you. You learn being patient and not despair for what you do not obtain in your life. If you want to live a happy life, you need to have faith in lord and be grateful to him for everything you have and you don`t have.

4. Be self confident: The basic sadness descends on you because of feeling unfit and diffident. Feeling little in the company of others throttles happiness. Create your own world of thoughts, ideas and emotions and stick to them. Respect your ideas. they are worthy . They weigh heavy. Do not be crushed over by the dominating and domineering ideas of others. Create your own confidence. Keep people in check while commenting on your life. Self confidence resolves various of your issues. 

           DECIDE TO BE HAPPY AND DEFINITELY YOU WILL BE HAPPY.

FATE AND FREE WILL IN OEDIPUS REX.

Fate and free will are the most debated concepts. Fate dominates humans. Free will lands us into various troubles because the decisions and determinations are circumstantial and situational. Having choice could ameliorate the matters of humans but one is bound to cut ones coat according to cloth. 

Oedipus Rex is partially based on free will and partially based on fate. Both have been aptly discussed taking references from the original text. The play propagates the beliefs  and  ideas cherished by Greek masses in general. Common people usually were staunch believers of determinism . The highest authority, Oracle of Delphi, was unchallengeable. Its word was ultimate and no one could even doubt its predictions. Oracle had already made a prophecy that Oedipus will murder his father, Laius, and marry his mother, Jocasta. This prophecy is final and can not be parried even if one tries to. According to this prophecy Oedipus is bound by his fates and can not be spared by anyone. He kills his father and begets his mother fulfilling the foreseeing of the Oracle. Through this fulfillment of prediction , Sophocles strived to highlight that fatalistic beliefs are true and one can never overpower ones fates. He diffused his deterministic ideas by showing Oedipus grappling with his fates and finally surrendering before his fates. The second reference one can cite to show that Oedipus suffers due to his fates, is the futile struggle of Oedipus`s real parents to avoid the prophecy of Oracle . They left their child at lord`s mercy  on the mountain to die but he was saved to materialize the same predictions. This also shows that fates turned out cataclysmic for Oedipus and ruined him completely. Oedipus ironically thinks Polybus and Merope are his biological parents. He leaves them believing that he would avoid the anticipations of Oracle but audience know that he goes to do reverse of his intentions. One the way he fulfills one prophecy of murdering his father. Fates have played jokes with him. He considers himself wise by resolving the riddles of sphinx but he is ignorant of his approaching doom, winning the queen and marrying her. This rouses spectator`s sympathy . They feel for him and pity him but simultaneously they fear and pray not to encounter similar fates. 

Who knows truth is so bitter? It is not always pleasing . One needs gallons of fortitude to know truth and be satisfied over it. The tale of Oedipus is pathetic and pitiable. Above, it has been justified that fates played a huge part in the devastation of the protagonist . Here in this portion, i will quote references from the text and argue how only fate is not responsible for his doom. His free will equally played its part in ruining the peaceful life of the Oedipus. It is paradoxical that Oedipus while struggling not to be the victim of prophecy of Oracle actually headed to fulfill it. He left Polybus and Merope resolute to change prophecies but it is here that he committed a blunder out of his own free will. He could have easily freed himself from the clutches of fates by not trying to change them. Staying where he was was an opportunity for him to protect himself. The moment he left Polybus and Merope, his doom started ruining him. He did not stop here only. He stubbornly wanted to know the cause of plague in Thebes. Here he is himself  responsible for his destruction. Being ambitious turned out to be his tragic flaw that drowned him completely. He was even advised by Jocasta not to dig up buried truths but he did not stop. After knowing whole reality, he severely punished himself. He could easily stop himself and not add to his ruin but he stepped ahead unwisely and left no stone unturned to destroy himself. Here he , out of free will, took wrong decisions and paid the price.

In summation, it can be argued that this tragedy bases itself both on fate and free will. Fates were unchangeable for Oedipus but he misapplied his free will as well. In both ways , Oedipus suffered, he suffered till end.