What is a meaningful life? How one can achieve it? Is it same as successful life? This slideshow has been created from lecture delivered by our revered teacher Swami Amartayananda on the subject. here we share his message with the world. Please read it and follow it in your life.

1. Meaningful Life
What is it?
How to achieve it?
This slideshow created from lecture delivered by Swami Amartayananda
on 2nd February 2015 at RamKrishna Misson, Khar, Mumbai, INDIA.

2. 3 parts to this
document
• Part 1:
– Understanding Matter
• Part 2:
– Using Matter
• Part 3:
– The Goal of life
Meaningful Life

3. UNDERSTANDING MATTER
Part 1

4. How we live our
life?
• We are born
• We grow
• Get educated
• Gain qualifications & then…
• Work to be successful.
• Success to most of us mean
acquiring things like name,
fame, fortune, etc.

5. WE COMPLAIN!
We live for success and then after living a
whole life…

6. What complains
we make?
• We feel dissatisfied with
life.
• We experience
discontentment towards
outcomes of life.
• We feel we struggled so
much yet we got so little.

7. Why such feelings surround us after
living for 30-40-50 years?

8. Incidentally, the more we have…
The more dissatisfaction seem to arise.

9. Life appears to have burned away like a candle.
Its gone! We feel.

10. WHY?
We even start feeling that people at levels
below us are more happier than us.

11. Why we begin to feel our success has
given us only little?

12. • This happens because our
life is driven by our desires,
which in turn are related to
matter.

13. What is Matter?
We ourselves, our
beloved, our
family, our friends,
all the people of
the world.
This earth, moon,
stars, sun & the
universe
Things we wish to
possess – car,
house, clothes,
gadgets, etc.
Our qualifications,
degrees,
certificates,
awards, etc.
Matter
Matter is
everything
around us.

14. THEN WE CAN BE HAPPY.
We believe that if we can possess this
matter, i.e. become successful…

15. But in reality…
• The more matter we possess, more
miserable we become.
• All happiness gets turned into
unhappiness.
• And as desires enhance, happiness stops
coming from achievements.

16. WHY?
After a while, success stops bringing
happiness…

17. THE MATTER IS PERISHABLE
Reason:

18. All matter is perishable…
• The cars, the gadgets, the houses.
• We the people, our friends, I, you, us.
• This universe, this earth, the sun & the
moon.
• Our qualifications, degrees, awards &
rewards.
Every form of matter is perishable.

19. WE ARE UNHAPPY.
The moment matter perishes… we lose
it… & then….

20. Some
examples:
• We can’t buy our dream
car/house:
disappointment arises.
• Husband dies, wife is
miserable.
• Old age comes, people
feel disheartened.
Matter Perishes &
We unhappy.

21. Thus, the
truth
• While we try catch success
through acquisition of
matter, what we get
instead are sufferings.
• Chase for matter bring us
only miseries.
In our foolishness…

22. So, Is matter such a bad thing?

23. A QUESTION?
Now if matter is so bad, why it exists in
the first place?
This we understand in Part 2
This is the END OF PART 1

24. USING MATTER
Part 2

25. LET’S LEARN FROM 2 EXAMPLES:
How we create problems with matter?

26. Example 1:
• Suppose we have to travel
from point X to point Y.
• We may have 4 options:
– Go anyway available
– Go by bus/train
– Go by car
– Go by a luxury car
• If we say we will go only by a
luxury car, we have created the
problem with matter.

27. Example 2: • A Doctor gets a rich patient
who can afford every
treatment.
• The doctor senses
opportunity and decides to
charge this patient three
times the actual cost of the
treatment.
• A problem has been
created.

28. MATTER IS NEEDED TO RUN THE
WORLD.
Without matter there will be no world;
no life.

29. BOTH ARE PERISHABLE.
Both, ‘the world’ and ‘this life’
themselves are matter.

30. IT MUST BE USED TO REACH THE
GOAL OF LIFE. HOW?
Thus, the matter is very much needed
for life, though…

31. An Example:
• A Doctor gets a poor
patient.
• Still, the doctor gives the
patient as much time as is
needed for the treatment.
• This way the doctor has
used matter (qualification)
to achieve the GOAL.
Matter being used to
reach the GOAL.

32. What is this GOAL?
We learn in Part 3
This is the end of Part 2

33. A revision
• We chase matter, that’s
perishable.
• When matter perishes we
become unhappy.
• But matter is needed for
life.
• Thus, the trick is to use
matter for achieving the
GOAL.
Part 1 & Part 2
Meaningful Life

34. WHAT IS THE GOAL?
Part 3

35. Two Truths:
• The Goal is same for all
• The Path is same for all
• Everyone must go from
point ‘x’ to point ‘y’.
• There is no escape for
anyone in this rule.
Re: Goal of life

36. What is point ‘x’?
• Our present state of
searching permanent
happiness running
after matter that is
perishable.
What is point ‘y’?
• The GOAL of life, the
place of permanent
happiness that is
NOT focused on
matter.

37. WHAT IS THIS NON-MATTER?
Now, If everything is matter…

38. There are different names used for this
non-matter.
Swami Amartayananda call it ‘Peace’.

39. THE GOAL OF LIFE IS TO FIND THIS
PEACE THAT IS NOT PERISHABLE.

40. PEACE IS A NON-MATTER.
We keep searching peace in matter,
whereas…

41. HOW WE ACHIEVE IT?
So, if peace is a non-matter…

42. • Just like in the example of
the doctor who treated the
poor patient with as much
dedication.
• By that action the doctor
fulfilled his responsibility.
• He used matter (his
qualification) to find the
non-matter (peace).

43. • It is through change of our
attitude that we are able to
shift our focus from matter
to non-matter.
• So instead of focusing on
success in acquiring matter,
we begin focusing on
attainment of peace.

44. • Once achieved even 1%,
this attitude leads to great
joy that is not perishable by
any force in the universe.

45. • Caution:
• This attitude is not
achieved by merely
learning theory, but
through constant practice
of the principle in everyday
life.

46. • Thus, we must use matter
to find this non-matter, just
like the doctor did by
treating the poor patient.

47. • Swami Amartayananda
says:
• There is no harm in making
money, provided we never
touch it.
• Instead use it to service
others.
• This attitude he says is the
road to peace.

48. A LIFE SPENT ON ROAD TO PEACE.
So, what is a meaningful life?

49. BY FOCUSING ON NON-MATTER.
BY NON-ATTACHMENT TO MATTER.
& How meaningful life is achieved?

50. SUMMARY

51. If we focus on success through
acquisition of matter
Successful
Life
Meaningful
Life
Are two opposing forces

52. BECAUSE MATTER WE ACQUIRE IS
PERISHABLE.
There shall never be any permanent
happiness

53. THIS STATE IS ACHIEVED THROUGH
A CHANGE OF ATTITUDE.
Permanent happiness is in pursuance of
non-matter.

54. ONE IS ABLE TO ACHIEVE PEACE
THROUGH SAME ACTIONS OF LIFE.
Once attitude is directed towards non-
matter.

55. Peace is the Goal of Life.
A life spent in pursuance of peace is
meaningful life.

56. Swami Amartayananda
is a distinguished senior
monk of RamKrishna
Order.
He is also our revered
teacher.
Swami ji prescribes SDM
methodology for life:
Satsang
Disciplined Life
Meditation
This presentation created by:
Puneet Srivastava, a student of Swami Amartayananda since 2001
Photo courtesy:
Dr. Amit Dixit
© 2015

57. #QUOTE
#SDM
‘If Goal is not clear,
the journey is meaningless’
– Swami Amartayananda

58. #QUOTE
#SDM
‘Happiness is the cause of unhappiness &
we are not considering this at all.’
– Swami Amartayananda

59. #QUOTE
#SDM
‘We keep searching peace running after happiness
through success in matter, which is perishable.’
– Swami Amartayananda

60. #QUOTE
#SDM
‘What we know is not sufficient,
we must practice as well.’
– Swami Amartayananda
End of Document