{"id":1165,"date":"2008-02-20T22:57:28","date_gmt":"2008-02-20T22:57:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nhsf.org.uk\/2008\/02\/its-the-question-that-drives-us\/"},"modified":"2020-07-19T14:35:18","modified_gmt":"2020-07-19T13:35:18","slug":"its-the-question-that-drives-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nhsf.org.uk\/?p=1165","title":{"rendered":"It’s the question that drives us…"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Niyati Paragjee, University of Nottingham 3rd Year Nursing<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

‘I know why you’re here, Neo. I know what you’ve been doing. I know why you hardly sleep, why you live alone, and why, night after night, you sit at your computer. You’re looking for him, I know. I was once looking for the same thing. And when he found me, he told me I wasn’t really looking for him. I was looking for an answer. It’s the question that drives us, Neo. It’s the question that brought you here. You know the question, just as I did.’
\n<\/em>
\nTrinity to Neo in The Matrix<\/em><\/p>\n

In 1999, the Wachowski brothers released The Matrix, a film filled with religious and philosophical symbolism. The plot supposes that humans live in vats many years in the future, being fed false sensory information by a giant virtual reality computer (The Matrix). When we meet the protagonist, Neo, he is driven by the question, ‘What is The Matrix?’.<\/p>\n

Throughout time, many ordinary people have often asked simple questions which have been refuted by the society in which they live. Yet it is their pursuit of the answers to those questions that have made many of these people great in the eyes of history.<\/p>\n

Had Isaac Newton not asked why the apple fell, or Galileo not questioned the orbit of the earth around the sun, would astronomy and modern physics still be at the mere beginnings of progress? Had Thomas Edison, the inventor of the long lasting light bulb, not pursued this curiosity, would the world still be in darkness?<\/p>\n

We are posed with so many questions throughout all of the phases of our lives, from material things such are what to wear, and what to eat, to more spiritual quests such as what to believe, and who to be.<\/p>\n

Why, aside from the ringing alarm clock across the other side of the room, do we wake up in the morning? What is it that makes us tick, and conversely, why is it that we get ticked off with so much? What is the purpose of life and what is the purpose of us in context of it?<\/p>\n

It is the quest for these answers which have been debated and discussed from the beginning of time. Souls seeking the explanation of existence. In The Matrix, Neo is such a soul. He meets the mysterious Morpheus, who helps him begin his journey into finding this explanation.<\/p>\n

Morpheus<\/strong>: Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here because you know something. What you know, you can’t explain. But you feel it\u0085Do you know what I’m talking about?’<\/p>\n

Neo<\/strong>: ‘The Matrix?’<\/p>\n

Morpheus<\/strong>: ‘Do you want to know what it is?’<\/p>\n

Many question the existence of a higher power and deny the existence of other realms of reality. This may be because we now live in a world where everything needs an explanation; where logic is the only key to belief, where conviction needs concrete evidence. But whether or not we believe to accept it or not, the questions still remain: what goal are we working towards? What is our purpose for being here?<\/p>\n

Swami Vivekananda famously said, ‘We are not human beings having a spiritual experience but spiritual beings having a human experience.’ So what is the driving force in this human experience?<\/p>\n

We all would answer differently. Some may say it is their job, their family, their lifestyle, their desires, their ambitions. As a soldier why he fights for his country; ask an artist what inspires him to create a masterpiece; ask a politician why he campaigns for change or ask the historian what motivates him to keep searching for answers to the past. What creates their particular pattern of motivation, inspiration, effort and action? Whatever the response, some aspect will relate to the pursuit of happiness, or at least our own perceptions of it. For the spirituality awakened, however, it is a pursuit of happiness for the masses and a search for the ultimate truth and unity with the divine that provides the motivation.<\/p>\n

In The Matrix, Morpheus offers Neo two pills. The red pills will answer the question, ‘What is The Matrix?’ (by removing him from it and showing him the truth of reality) and the blue pill will simply allow life to carry on as before. As Neo reaches for the red pill Morpheus warns him, ‘Remember all I’m offering is the truth. Nothing more.’ He was warning Neo that facing the truth of reality was only to be the beginning of the journey, not an ultimate answer. It is inevitable that one question will lead to more\u0085<\/p>\n

What is it about being human that sets us apart from other species? The biological theory, ‘survival of the fittest’ applies to all species. Animals live, eat, sleep, reproduce and die, and so do we. All species have a specific role in the ecosystem, but what is the role of man and what is it that makes us different? It is the power of intellect, the ability to question and freedom of choice given to mankind of choice given to mankind that makes us unique (and our opposite thumbs!).<\/p>\n

As human beings, the responsibility that comes with having the freedom and power to make one’s own choices can often be a daunting experience especially if those choices have long-reaching consequences for us, for those around us, perhaps even for the world at large. Fear often sets in and holds us back from questioning and moving forward to make change. We should not, however, be afraid. Hindu Dharma has always stood the test of time and provided us with a set of guidelines to enable us to always make the right choice. Amongst the many concepts of Hindu Dharma, the Purusharthas (purush meaning being, and artha meaning objective) of which there are four, stand as goals and sign posts of human existence, enabling us to always move in the right direction. These are:<\/p>\n

Dharma<\/strong>: righteousness, duty and ethics;<\/p>\n

Artha<\/strong>: material wealth that should be used to uphold Dharma;<\/p>\n

Kama<\/strong>: desire which should be controlled; and<\/p>\n

Moksha<\/strong>: the absence of ‘Moha’ or delusion, thus leading to liberation and realisation of the ultimate truth or reality.<\/p>\n

The great epics of Hindu Dharma such as the Mahabharat and Ramayana describe the balance of these four aspects in relation to life. The Bhagavad Gita, which is the divinely enlightening conversation between the Lord and his beloved friend and devotee, also shows the significance and relevance of these Purusharthas in gaining happiness and performing one’s rightful duties. A great analogy is used in describing the four Purusharthas as the four wheels of the chariot called life, which collectively hold up and lead it. It is only in synchronising these wheels that one can move forward with conviction and towards the goal. In The Matrix, Neo felt fear when faced with the decision of which pill to take, yet with the guidance that Morpheus provides he is able to move forward without fear. In the same way, even in the Bhagavad Gita, it was only through the grace and understanding imparted by Lord Krishna, that Arjuna could carry out his duty in waging war on his cousins on the battlefield at Kurukshetra. Those days of Kurukshetra and the values which resonated from it are still just as relevant to us today. We are all still waging war, but in the realms of ourselves. Dharma will always guide us in our pursuit for the truth.<\/p>\n

Morpheus, Trinity and Neo were all ambassadors and agents of change. The driving force for them was liberation of themselves and others from The Matrix allowing for freedom of thought and realisation of the truth. What was the driving force behind ordinary people who became legends such as Shivaji Maharaj, Aurbindo Ghosh, Bhagat Singh, Mangal Pandey, Mahatma Gandhi, Jhansi ki Rani? What were their questions? What was their reason for getting up in the morning? We, like them, are all here for a purpose. It just so happened that they found their purpose, the actions they performed led to their names being recorded in history. If we are to find our purposes, we must ask questions. But don’t forget that questioning is merely the start of our understanding: once you question, you must make an effort to find the answer.<\/p>\n

We may not be soldiers who fight for our country, or painters who will ever paint masterpieces, but for now, we are the youth and ambassadors of our Hindu Dharma and we should be proud and stand up tall. Generations have come before us, and generations will follow but we should be aware that we are all travellers within an existence, moving towards a certain goal.<\/p>\n

So, if you were Neo, and Morpheus was offering you the choice, what would you do: take the blue pill or the red? Would you have the courage to tackle the question that drives you?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Niyati Paragjee, University of Nottingham 3rd Year Nursing ‘I know why you’re here, Neo. I know what you’ve been doing. I know why you hardly sleep, why you live alone, and why, night after night, you sit at your computer. You’re looking for him, I know. I was once looking for the same thing. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[738],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nhsf.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nhsf.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nhsf.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nhsf.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nhsf.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nhsf.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1165\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nhsf.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nhsf.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nhsf.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}