The observer, the process of observation and the observed object. That is all life is. The primary objective of life then must be to observe the observable object with utmost love, care and detachment. The only obstacle is our contemporary philosophy forcing us to be attached to the observable object. Almost every Upanishad asks just one thing of us, to be detached and indifferent.
Material accumulation is great if it sets you free, which might seem contradictory. But if you zoom in a bit, you’ll figure out that the statement above is completely true. A book is a material object, so are the pages inside it and so is the content. But when you read it and understand it, it lends you the beautiful gift of liberation. See how a material object made you less material and more conscious. Material is worth dying for if it enters your life in this form, provided the book sets you free. If the book makes you even more greedy and lusty and anxious, what good is that book?
A car is great if it sets you free from the needless hustle and bustle of a bus every day, if it liberates you from useless stress. A car is catastrophic if bought for the sole purpose of impressing others. Each material object contains within it the potentiality to set you free and also the possibility to make you its slave. A mobile phone is brilliant if used for increasing one’s awareness of world events. A mobile phone is utter chaos if used for scrolling reels on Instagram. Material accumulation isn’t good or bad intrinsically. It’s what we extract out of it.
A laptop used to study and research and create is utilitarian. A laptop used to watch an Andrew Tate podcast is revolting. Material that helps you to transcend the material itself is the only material worth striving for. Material that makes you less material and more Aatman is worth striving for.
The only qualm with collecting material for the sake of it is that it brings unending and sheer emptiness. That void within starts acting like a black hole, consuming all the material that you feed it and in turn grows ever so strong. On the material plane, no matter how much you have, it’s never enough. Pop-stars, rock-stars, celebrities, actors and models commit suicide and self-harm at an extraordinary rate, ever wonder why? The more body-conscious and material you become, the more you compare yourself with others. And there’s one axiom that dominates reality: “There is always someone who has more, looks better, fitter and neater”. So no matter how much you have, ‘nothing will ever be enough’.
Comparison is the thief of joy. And remember in this world of ever-expanding chaos and capitalistic madness, our joy has become very restricted as of late, and if you spend this very little joy that you do possess in trying to impress others, what will you have left for yourself?
Embrace randomness. Embrace spontaneity. You’re a bubble, and a bubble’s destiny is to float for a few seconds and then burst. We are all bubbles floating in the wind, our destiny is to pop as well. The only difference is that we are conscious bubbles. Each bubble trying to expand and become bigger, all to pop out of existence. Don’t get attached to bubbles in the air, it’ll go in vain. Become an observer, enjoy the bubble while it lasts, forget it when it pops.
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