Ultimate Goal of Life

What is the ultimate goal of life…many of us would say the path of god or godliness is the ultimate goal. Yes they are true to some extent but this is not the entirety of Ultimate goal of life…before readers conclude about the theme of the story…I must say it’s certainly not about spirituality.

Before I move into the main theme I would like to ask few questions.
How would you explain the term belief in god or if I ask you whether you believe in god or not? what will be your answer?
Answer is quite simple …if you believe in god then it’s there if you don’t believe nothing can be done…it’s presence or absence is there within you…it’s often said if you go out to find god you would never find any trace of the almighty but if you search within yourself, one day you might meet feel the presence of the extreme power.

Now what is godliness? Where can you find godliness?
For onlookers there is no god as such but god resides in one’s goodwill which may also be referred to as godliness. Godliness or goodwill is not present in any temples, mosques or churches it’s there within us. But we seldom do identify such eternal bliss the reason being we never searched for the same. We are accustomed to find fault in others rather than finding the goodness in them as such we have all become corrupted souls, we don’t appreciate the goodness but we can promptly notice the faults…we are very good in analyzing other’s fault but when we would analyze ourselves we would realize no one is at a greater fault then we ourselves.…do you know the reason for this?
We have never analyzed ourselves…we may feel whatever we do or think it’s the best thing which can be done but the reality may be entirely different we never see things from others perspective. We are so engrossed in our own prospective that we seldom think about anything else…What is true to you may be false for the entire world. What is right for you may be wrong for everybody else.

Now what about those who don’t believe in god or godliness?
To make the presence of god felt to an atheist is like preaching young cub (baby tiger) to be vegetarian.  Similarly there are agonistics who will never come up to any conclusion about the existence of god as they require proof of everything to regard them as valid. To understand and believe the presence of god is to go beyond your understanding of citing anything through evidence or validation.
It’s something which can only be felt and not measured. You cannot measure the intensity of happiness or sadness…there’s no process or procedure to measure one’s emotion, belief or trust. Similarly godliness can never be measured. You can only preach what you feel.

Talking about preaching…There are people who claim to be the most worldly and godly. I am not neglecting their claims neither do I ask for any verification…my point is It’s not wise to condemn everyone and consider one to be the most proficient soul. You might know, a person who is knowledgeable will never show off his knowledge similarly a purist will never claim himself to be the best soul or with immense godliness.  He will always be humble and preach himself as if he is only a micron of the entire nucleus.  He will never call himself to be the ultimate supreme.

How would you preach ultimate supremacy?
Sometimes power (in terms monetary values) is considered as of ultimate supremacy. One is willing to forge everything for this…but goodwill doesn’t come with one’s monetary power. Both a billionaire and a beggar exits  from earth empty handed…they are not allowed to take either their money or pride or anything else… we don’t remember them as how rich they were but we remember them for how good/bad a person was during his lifetime. No one knows what happens after life…but what counts is how a person was during his/her life time.

It’s often said bad guys take away all the cream…and the good ones remains at mediocrity…you must be aware of the saying the path of godliness may be difficult, tiresome and time taking but one day you are bound to see sunshine at the end of the tunnel if you believe in the ultimate power…there may be delay but not darkness. Similarly the path of trickster may be short, trickster may achieve glory in short time but its proven fact, the path which is not backed by goodwill won’t be able hold its place for long and one day a trickster has to give up to godliness either peacefully or belligerently.

Everyone wants to be successful and that too overnight, in the process they forget goodwill and take the shortcut to success and thus end up in wrong quarters which may be momentarily fruitful but in the long run can only suffice for darkness and grimness… The path to godliness is very difficult…it will be probing and it will test both with your patience and quality of bearing hardship. You may face many failures during initial phases… but if you continue your path to godliness overcoming anything and everything you would achieve the ultimate goal of life…which is not being rich…not even successful…but the ultimate goal of life i.e. Salvation.

Now you know…the ultimate goal of life i.e. salvation doesn’t require you to become a priest or a saint.
It’s achieved by preaching goodwill…goodwill is not just the denotation of the dictionary meaning but the connotation of being good…it’s complete deviation from greed, jealousy, rage, lust & possession. It’s achieved by preaching Love, Peace, brotherhood and humanity.

Thus the mantra to salvation is:
If you really want to have greed, greed for alleviating people’s trouble.
If you really want to have jealousy, have jealousy to remove your own shortcomings.
If you really want to have rage, have rage for Turbulence.
If you really want to have lust, crave for people’s well being.
If you really want to have possession, have possession for preaching godliness (i.e., Love, Peace, brotherhood and humanity)

Salvation through Godliness is not just preaching the teachings of sacred verses or god it’s about preaching Love, Peace, brotherhood and humanity.

Peace and Harmony - can these be fostered in today’s circumstances.

As I sit down at my desk to pen down my thoughts on this topic, I can’t help but begin to realize that more than a topic this is a question in itself. A question that probably each of us should ask ourselves. In my view it’s a question that hits us hard in our face. Can this so-called peace and harmony that we all wish and aspire to achieve possible? Or is it like a lucid dream? One in which all things are right, all things are just perfect, but not reality. Given today’s circumstances where killings, bombardments, deaths are nothing but mere news (after all we read about it everyday), an article on peace is surely a headliner.

So as I try to come up with points to write this essay, I suddenly remember once reading an article titled “Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam’s important message to every Indian”. Amongst all things, there was an experience in it that just caught my eye. I must say that it has left a deep impact on me.
“I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert into an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news.”

Tough this experience may seem one of the motivational kind, to me it spoke of peace and harmony. It spoke of the difference in perception. No matter whatever the situation may be there is always a reason to smile. Something like behind every dark cloud there is a silver lining.

I remember when I was a child. Before I could go to play, my mother would always tell me, ”Nelton, no matter what, you will not get into a fight. You will never lift your hand, come what may”. At that time those lines seemed weird (Did my mother unintentionally want her son to bashed up black and blue???….i hoped not). So everyday I just kept those words in my mind and carried on with life. Slowly by slowly as time passed by, I began to realize the harsh realities of life. I had begun to understand as to what exactly my mother meant and why. Gandhi’s “Eye for an eye makes the whole world blind” and Christ’s “If a man slap’s you on the left cheek, show him your right” now began to make sense.


One of the easiest things to do is to hit back at others that too in equal measure (if not more). If the other has thrown a stone I shall not throw anything smaller than a brick, that’s the mentality. That too without any hesitation, without any thought. This thing goes on. And before we realize, we are dealing in nuclear weapons. It’s needless to say more.


It really takes a lot to not be intimidated by anyone. It really does. Hitting back probably may seem cool. Take a look at Israel for that matter. You attack it (probably even think of) with a pen knife, you can least expect swords coming your way. But it’s not the right way. At the end of the day, all you know is the countless number of wars you are involved in and the death of your loved ones and fellow countrymen. India’s dealing with the Kashmir issue probably makes sense in this regard. It’s much better having to hear of a few deaths in a year, than of hundreds in a minute.

I truly believe that no matter what the situation, peace is most definitely achievable. Yes, we can. It may seem impossible, but impossible is itself I M possible. After all, the sun still shines brightly even after a long and heavy downpour (What’s more, if you’re patient enough you may also get to see a rainbow).
No matter what today’s times and circumstances may be, there is still more than one contender for the Nobel Peace Prize.


Even though you may have had a former US president who dragged the world in two unnecessary wars, you now have a US president who talks about reducing nuclear weapons and disarmament (He even gets the Nobel peace Prize for it).
Situated on the banks of the icy Lidder River, a 900-year old Shiva temple is the only shrine run by Muslim priests in Jammu & Kashmir.
Naved Siddiqui, a muslim has been organizing the Navratri fest at St Xavier’s College for 20 years now.
A Brahmin funds Muslims for Haj.
The Neenuram Ashram in Tharparkar in Kerala serves as a beacon to all souls irrespective of caste and creed.
These examples are by themselves are an indication that there are people who work towards it. All hope has not yet been lost.
At the end I would just like to say that like in the past, peace has, can and will be achieved no matter what. As I believe, God comes in various forms, but His message is the same, that peace be upon all. It may seem impossible for a lay man, but as the great Mahatma Gandhi, a man who himself may have not won the Nobel Peace prize but inspired many others by his doctrine, said,” “I claim to be no more than an average man with less than average abilities. I have not the shadow of a doubt that any man or woman can achieve what I have, if he or she would make the same effort and cultivate the same hope and faith.” I too feel the same.