Recently I read the books 'Fools Rush In', an autobiographical account by Bill Carter about his trip into wartorn Sarajevo and 'The Zahir' by Paulo Coelho. There was a common factor in both of them, it explained how people in the middle of war were living their life to the full and how they were not worried about trivial matters of existence but concentrated fully on the present. This was the central theme of the first novel and formed an important part of a revelation in the latter novel.
'Fools Rush In' explained how people who have survived a day in the frontline enjoyed a well earned break by drinking and singing and also about a fashion show that was organised in the city of Sarajevo right in the middle of war (the song 'Miss Sarajevo' by U2 is based on Bill Carter's book).
I suppose having survived certain death, humans become more aware of being alive since they have realised, whatever it is that we do to keep this body breathing, it will stop one day. Yesterday was a hellish experience which they were able to see through and are thankful for having one more day to live and tomorrow, they might not be this lucky. This makes today the only certainty, the only thing that is visible and within their reach. Hence, they make the best use of today.
They are not burdened by the mundane aspets of daily life, saving for a rainy day, paying for rent, getting a degree or looking after the family for all of this is too far in the future to even cross their minds. The only constant and certainty is not even today, but this nanosecond for in the next a missile or bullet or shrapnel could take away everything. We are weighed down by our actions in the past, we have things to do in the present, we have dreams and aspirations of the future hanging over us and always, always miles to go. We are all prisoners of our past, expectations about the future and helplessness in our present.
We sacrifice our present in the hopes of a better future, we carry our past with us- its weight pulling us down. I do not know what is right- to live forgetting our past, uncaring about the future and living a free present or to lead a cautious, planned life. But one thing is for certain, not all of us can be totally free, for if that happened, the world will not run. Not all of us are free of commitments and we will never be free of our past for it determines our present.
There is a practical way out perhaps- we can stop worrying about results and what will happen in the future but just give it our best. We can learn from our past and leave the experiences behind just as pointers and to remind us of our mistakes and
low points so that we do not repeat them especially because how much ever we want to change the past, we really cannot do anything about the time that has gone by. I guess this is what 'Bhagavad Gita' tells us, it is our duty to perform our actions and it is not for us to worry about the results and also says that whatever has happened has happened for the good.
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