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The sad laughing buddha

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http://blog.talluk.com/the-sad-laughing-buddha/




                                                       The Sad Laughing Buddha

One of the biggest virtues of Buddha’s followers has been their pursuit for excellence to become

the Human Beings in their purest forms. Probably that’s why the Buddha was portrayed as Laughing

Buddha too because his clear message was to smile and spread smiles all over so that the world can be a

congenial place where everybody is Happy.

But, how do the smiles spread when there are no more eye contacts. The people in this technology freak

world are so immersed in their iPhones, Samsungs and smart phones that they have forgotten the very

basic ethos of harmony and camaraderie.

Many of the similar kind of thoughts bombarded my mind during my recent travel to Singapore. The

moment I entered the local train (MRT), the whole world seemed completely unaware of me or the real human

beings all around. I saw the very pretty girls wearing stunning outfits with nobody to throw a gaze at

them. I saw the old lady trying hard to stand but nobody letting their eyes off their gadgets to see the

irony and pain in her eyes, probably just a mere mention of her round spectacles would have made her

happy or an offer of the seat to sit would have given her strength to continue with her hardships with

aplomb. I saw a herd of young executives with the ear phones plugged in and their blank eyes moving in

every direction, I could see they all are struggling to get their thoughts consolidated but none of them

had anybody to talk with them and neither they seemed too willing to initiate any discussions with

somebody coz they too were wearing a mask of oblivion in the form of that mp3 player. I saw a couple

who never looked like a couple, their eyes were constantly staring at their devices busy in transferring

some stuff to each other.

I saw so many people, so different yet so similar, I don’t remember any face because none of them

had any; they only had the apathy for everybody around. I suddenly felt Déjà vu and realized I have

seen many science fiction Hollywood movies where the world is tamed by Robotic entities and it’s so

much apocryphal all around. I thought further and realized that here is a pattern more than obvious

and then how come it is being unnoticed so much, or it is that this pattern is rapidly and keenly being

observed by those Business People who are currently ruling the human minds to come out with more

and more contagious Games, Devices, platforms and gadgets to keep them hooked even longer. People

themselves have forced their self-beings into the money making schema of the business world.

I learnt during my Management program that the human beings constantly learn through out their lives,

and the phenomenon is omnipresent due to the natural tendency of “Observations”. If the current trend

continues then I am sure the end to this learning cycle is not far.

Man essentially is a social animal. He needs to share thoughts, he needs to fight, he needs to love and

be loved, he needs to feel sad and shattered at times. These are not mere characteristics but are the

basic necessities for the Human beings to survive. These are the building blocks of the Social Structure

and their evolution and advancement into a stable system which is closer to the equilibrium. Above

all, all these activities have to take place among real human beings with an involvement of the 5 major

senses. This complete involvement of 5 senses makes a person capable of having a tryst with the

ethereal and out of the world experiences where the sixth sense is awakened. This simple yet extremely

complex phenomenon is the one required for a person’s transformation and to make him understand

the real meaning of life.

A human being without having a real purpose and moving in vague directions is the most dangerous

animal on the planet. While the objective of the technology and these omnipresent gadgets was to give

something to man to have fun in their extra times; after spending the time on their occupation, family,

sports, friends, health etc; these have taken the toll on the essential activities. Aren’t we losing sight?

Aren’t we so getting distraught from the real vision of making the planet a place worth living? Yes, we

are and I can bet my life on that.

No wonder, the Laughing Buddha would be sad to see his very own earth being converted from

“one home for everybody” to a “colony of different homes for every individual”, where everybody is

wirelessly connected yet so Detached from each other. Now completely lost in so many aching thoughts,

I suddenly saw an old, bald man with a big belly trying to look at me from the corners of his eyes. He

perhaps could peep into my mind and follow the stream of my thoughts. I looked at him, he smiled, I

smiled back, there was sudden exchange of thoughts and we both nodded in acceptance of each other’s

notions. Probably the Buddha too smiled somewhere because this moment, the world seemed better to

me once again.
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