While going through some material today I came across some lines that made me think about the wisdom or thoughts in Jainism and Hinduism. Both suggest that at some stage in life, one should reduce bonds with family and friends and should devote more time on introspection and search for knowledge. Those are interesting ideas and at one time in life I did not understand them much. But as I am growing older I have started thinking that there may be some other ideas behind those. Living in western society, I hear many times that at one stage you live for others then you should find time to live for yourself. I wonder whether there is some connection in these two lines of thoughts — eastern and western.
I lik to think that they are pushing you towards the same — at some stage one has to find time to do what he/she wants to do rather than doing things that family and society wants you to do. Of course in some cases these two may be the same, but more often they may not be.
Pingback: East and West