Snake in a jar or a snake in the jungle?

Life is about movement that happens every moment. One can experience the completeness of it either by being totally absent or being totally present. The former means that one is in a constant state of bliss that is far beyond the reach of the vagaries of life and is unfazed by them. The great saints fall in this category. The latter state means that a person is completely absorbed in the activities of life and attends to them with total concentration and alertness for the benefit of others. Selfless political leaders and other founders of big companies that employ lakhs of people fall in this category.  
Life is to be lived and not passed. To understand this in a clearer way, let us take the case of two snakes. One snake is dead and is in a glass jar in the science laboratory of a school/college. The other snake is alive and moving around in a jungle and living its life in a normal course. It is hunting, shedding skin, doing various other activities and experiencing the world in its natural way. It is not aware when death will reach him but it is living the moment. Now the snake in the glass jar is ‘dead’ and ‘happy’. It will be remain in a glass jar for generations of students to see how a dead snake looks like. The snake in the jungle may not last longer than the dead snake in the jar but it is ‘living’ the ‘present’. The excitement that one may get by seeing a live snake is not the same as when they see a dead one. 
A person has to lead his life filled with action in a natural manner while at the same time applying the special intelligence (buddhi) given only to humans by God. Those who do not perform their duties and prefer to be 'remain' may last longer than those who are active but they do not serve any purpose except for being in their own lazy world. The aim of life should be contribute to the eco system in which we live and to do our bit in bettering it. There should be constant introspection on one’s contribution to his/her self, family and also to the society at large. A life lived for the benefit of others is far more superior to one that is lived for selfish interests. The world’s memory of latter class is almost a naught. 
Life is not about being ‘encaged’ and ‘dead’. It is about being ‘engaged’ and ‘alive’.


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