It is my personal opinion that the philosophy of the maze, destination and traveler is responsible for the whole play of the world and all the struggles of life. Throughout existence or in the universe there are innumerable travelers, many paths and many destinations according to personal desire and purpose. With so many roads, destinations and travelers, it is obvious that conflicts would be unlimited. Which traveler is the best? Which way, path or maze is better? And which destination is superb? There are countless philosophies in this regard. There are many questions of not to understand and some questions are there even if it understood. Moreover, in the survival of many such questions, the basic philosophy of maze (route), destination and traveler remains an unsolved riddle.
In this world, traveler means soul that travels through the ages in anticipation of the desired destination by different routes. The path (route) and destination of each traveler is different and everyone understands his own path (route) and destination excellent, advises other to walk accordingly. Also, since every traveler has different experiences about the path (route) and destination, no one is willing to reject his own opinion (experience) because how can the “self” experience be wrong? That is the belief of everyone. Also no one is ready to accept the opinion (experience) of others as how can others be true because we don’t understand anyone better than ourselves. From where the endless conflict is born and the whole journey becomes incredibly painful. For example, if a traveler travels from AHMEDABAD to Mumbai, his experience will be different according to his choice of destination that is place in Mumbai and off-course choice of path such as bus, railways, waterways, airways. Even though the destination is the same (to reach Mumbai), it is understandable that the journey, path, experience etc. are different according to which part of Mumbai you want to go. But the traveler can get a deeper understanding of the right path and destination only through the sum of the experience of others besides his own experience because in a very short life, it is almost impossible to have every kind of experience or travel on a personal basis. Whether it is a pilgrimage, a worldly pilgrimage, a spiritual pilgrimage or a journey abroad, a true and deep understanding of the destination, maze and the traveler is essential. Only then can the journey become instinctive, effortless and result-oriented. Otherwise, wandering without any purpose or result becomes the only destiny. The way soul travels 84 lakhs rounds from time immemorial. Neither can enjoy the journey nor achieve the destination. Only in the endless struggle of understanding the maze and the destination can the precious time be wasted and the entire journey becomes useless.
Sometimes people who are fighting over the philosophy of maze and the destination I genuinely feel that is there a real need for struggle in life? Do you really think that preference over the one is required each time? Can’t enjoy both? Can’t get both the maze and the destination to become an excellent traveler? When people who are fond of traveling abroad go out voluntarily, enthusiastically and for pleasure, don’t you think that they should enjoy both the maze and the destination because the beauty of both is different. What is in the route (maze) is not in the destination and what is in the destination is not in the route. Yet there must be something special about both. But when we go to visit some good hill station, we get tired of traveling, get bored and constantly worry about when we will reach the destination and often after reaching the destination, we realize that more beauty and joy was on the way which went on without getting. Due to which either the regret of not being able to get it remains constant or we keep planning a new journey with the desire to get back what we missed. In the same way, in fact, the journey of every living being goes on uninterruptedly (84 lakhs uninterrupted rounds of birth and death). Sometimes in the fascination of the maze and sometimes in the fascination of the destination, a person misses being a true traveler. Thus traveler means nothing but the soul, maze is nothing but the choice of the path of life according to the personal desire that is lust and the destination means the attainment of the purpose which is different for each traveler. The maze (path) and destination of a traveler who desires wealth will naturally be different from that of a traveler who desires salvation. We all have to choose our fellow travelers according to our own desires, aspirations and motives. Moreover, no maze (path or route), traveler or destination can be unsuitable or inappropriate as we have chosen it voluntarily with deep understanding. The maze, the traveler and the destination of others may be different from ours doesn’t mean that they are not right. Every traveler has to understand the eternal truth that one has to cultivate maturity and prudent knowledge to achieve or enjoy one’s own path or the path and destination of others. If you want to enjoy every moment of life, you have to learn to enjoy both the path (route) and the destination. Don’t forget to enjoy the route while the journey is going on. You can enjoy the route without worrying about when the destination will come otherwise when you reach the destination at the end of the journey, you will regret that there was more fun on the route and you lost the pleasure of both journey (route- maze) as well as destination.
That is why the scriptures advise us to enjoy every moment of life and enjoin living in the present because the journey cannot be enjoyed if we struggle with the route based on our own or others’ past experience as a traveler. Also, if we forget the joy of travel during the journey and worry about the future, that is, if we hurry to reach the destination, we will lose the joy of the journey and in the end we will be deprived of the joy even on the occasion of the destination. Through such dissatisfaction, we become frequent travelers in the expectation of endless unknown pleasures and keep arranging vain journeys but we cannot get anything. What could be more tragic than this? In fact, this is exactly what we do throughout our lives. We cannot achieve the destination because we do not understand the philosophy of maze, traveler and destination in its proper form, nor can we enjoy the journey, nor can we do justice to the role of the traveler by maintaining the dignity of the traveler. Just become a constantly wandering traveler and lose both the maze and the destination. So let’s enjoy the maze in the true sense, maintain the dignity of our role as a traveler and reach our destination with ease.
Shilpa shah,
Director in-charge, HKBBA College
