Life, a Dreadful Game

Rumi is right that most people have, in a sense, become engrossed in the games of this world. So absorbed and preoccupied that even if all the fundamental assets of their lives were to be squandered, they would not become aware. Humans rarely try to confront themselves with profound questions and prefer escape over deep, inner challenges. To illustrate this point, Rumi, recounting a story, refers to the turban of a jurist that was stuffed with old rags; the jurist's turban, however, had a neat appearance. A man midway, upon seeing the turban, assumed it was very valuable. He snatched it. The jurist ran after him to tell the thief that there was no valuable cloth in it. But the man paid no heed to the jurist's words. The man finally unwound the turban, only to find nothing but worn-out rags:

When he who was fleeing opened it,

A hundred thousand tatters spilled onto the road.

Of that huge, unseemly turban of his,

A single yard of old cloth remained in his hand.

He dashed the rag to the ground, crying, "O you cheat,

With this fraud you have undone us!"

The story of modern man, however, has become far more complex and has fallen into other vicissitudes and struggles. The people of the present century, even if they wish to confront the question of life's meaning, face many obstacles. Modern humans have become like passengers on a ship, constantly swaying with the sea's waves and terrifying storms. The growth of science and the demystification of phenomena that gave life meaning (even phenomena that were "seemingly" meaningful!) began and continued on a vast and sweeping scale. Freud called religion a kind of obsessive neurosis. Turning to philosophy and immersing oneself in deep thought was also considered a kind of escape from the bitter realities of life and its anxiety and worry. The growth of technology and the level of public welfare, despite the many conveniences it brought, also injected dread and turmoil. The passengers of this ship now saw themselves as powerless, lacking support, like a ship without an anchor. Thus, they experienced emptiness and loneliness more than ever. Not only because they became engrossed in this world, but even if they wanted to confront the question of life's meaning, their hands were empty.......So what is the solution??

It seems one must know oneself more and more and, by drawing on an inner strength, confront these anxieties, and by creating order and discipline within oneself, overcome external changes, so that perhaps a path for one's own self may be found and one may be somewhat freed from this self-entanglement and immersion in a foggy atmosphere. To move along this path, two components seem essential. First, one must have courage. Courage does not mean the absence of despair and anxiety, but rather moving forward despite this anxiety-ridden existence; and second, one must strengthen patience and forbearance within oneself, for grasping some truths and overcoming this deep-rooted anxiety hidden within the human being depends on this forgotten virtue. It is as if floundering and hurried movement sometimes sets us back on this path of knowing and progress.

Or one may pursue the path of surrender (not passive and blind) and cheerfulness in this dreadful game of life. In such a way as to provide the greatest pleasures for oneself in personal life and taste the maximum volume of delight, and accompany Khayyam:

Khayyam, if you are drunk with wine, be happy,

If you sit with a moon-faced beauty, be happy,

Since the end of the world's affair is non-existence,

Imagine you are not, while you are, be happy.

So that we do not look back on life untested and full of regret, and when the end comes, we fall into the embrace of death with a cry full of hope and desire.

.

---

.

Life, a Dreadful Game

Author: Hossein Moeini

.

---

.