1. The Purpose of Life
DidGodcreatemanaspartofthechainofreproduction,tobeacogina
machine, and to be counted only as an automaton?Was man created
only for his own enjoyment? Was he created only to amass as much
wealthaspossiblethroughanymeans,directordevious,soastosatisfy
his material wants? Is there no greater idea behind His creation?
Alargenumberofpeopleregardonlyman'smaterialaspectandneg-
lecttheothersideofthecoin,becausetheyhavenotunderstoodthepro-
fundityof the natureof manorbecausetheyhavenot correctly evalu-
atedit. Menof greatunderstandinghaveascribedthreedimensionsto
man:
- Individual material dimension.
- Social dimension.
- Spiritual dimension.
Thosewhogive importanceonlyto thefirstdimension,overlookthe
profound characterof man andhavethus forgotten the other twoim-
portantdimensions.Thosewholandimportancetothefirsttwodimen-
sions, but neglect the third, only succeed in creating an environment
devoid of any spiritual and moral values.
Arnold Toynbee, the famous British historian, in a long interview
withLifemagazine,saidthatmanhadsubmittedhimselftomaterialism
andthatfromthatpointofviewwedonotlackanything.However,he
said,wehavebecomebankruptonthespiritualside ofthings.Thereis
still time, he said, to address this problem and return to religion.
Soa serious thinker goesfurther thanthe firsttwo dimensions, and
studiesthe purposeoflifefromallthreedimensions.The thirddimen-
siongivesmanthepowertoevaluatehisentrancesandexitsonthestage
of personal and social dimensions. Man can reach perfection only by
makinghiswaythroughvariousdimensions—hemustfindthisway,for
it is the purpose of his creation.