Many times, I have been asked by my friends and others on how to live properly.  This is a perennial question, and mankind has always looked for answers on how to live a good life.

There will be as many answers and solutions to this question as there are people.  And I will add mine to it. I believe we should live our lives guided by the new paradigm of development. Spirituality + Technology = Sustainability + Happiness. This path has to be cultivated and followed from childhood.

Spirituality gives us wisdom to use the resources of this world efficiently and in a sustainable manner and technology allows us to make our lives less stressful and more convenient. Both these together can make us live in a sustainable manner to achieve happiness.

After having lived a good and satisfying life when the time comes to go, we should not be afraid of death but should welcome it as a friend since it helps us to transition to new experiences.  

Happiness

We try to live our lives and do everything based on what gives us happiness.  Everybody has their own definition of happiness but when the mind becomes very powerful through spirituality it also looks honestly and deeply within and gives us the true sense of what happiness is all about.

Happiness is a state of mind.  We feel happy and enjoy life through our senses and mind.  Brain processes the information from the senses, and our level of happiness is dictated by its processing power.  A powerful brain (the processor) which produces deep thought can therefore extract more information from the senses and can give us more happiness since the mind gets satisfied easily.  Besides it can look at a greater number of eventualities and hence can resolve the issues amicably.

A smaller processor obviously needs many more inputs to reach the same enjoyment or satisfaction level.  Thus, weaker brains need more resources to occupy them, and this leads to greed and unsustainable lifestyle. Therefore, one of the prerequisites for happiness and sustainable lifestyle is the development of a powerful and smart brain.  This should be cultivated right from childhood. Such a brain allows us to think deeply or concentrate during which we can get “lost” in processing that information.

Spirituality

This deep thinking leads to spiritualty.  Spirituality is concerned with matters of spirit.  When we think deeply and for a long time about anything – whether it is an idea or an object – then the brain tends to focus on it like a laser, and in that process the object vanishes from the field of vision and only its germ or the spirit remains.  This process is called "sanyam" in Patanjali Yoga Sutras.  This results in complete knowledge of that idea or the object.

Spirituality is not religion.  It is the state of mind that makes it understand that the truth is beyond the barriers of worldliness, religion, caste, creed, race, or geographical boundaries.  It connects us to marvels of nature in a deep way, and subsequently to Universal Consciousness or the mind of God.

Spirituality also helps us to have a compassionate view of nature, and as we evolve spiritually, we become more tuned to it, which helps us in preserving it.  Besides, it gives us a sense of connection to other living beings and thus helps us to live in harmony with each other, enabling everybody to work together for the common good.  This is the genesis of non-violence and sustainable living.          

Technology

Our civilization is defined by technology. It touches every aspect of our life.  Yet we sometimes become slaves of technology and do not have wisdom to use it judiciously and efficiently. Technology is a double-edged sword. We can use it to help mankind improve their quality of life or it can be used to destroy mankind by wars and unsustainable development.

I also feel it is the law of evolution that as we evolve spirituality, we will also become a technologically advanced civilization. This is because when we apply our sharp brains to any problem, then solutions occur to us.

Technology helps us in making our lives easier and better and hence leads to partial happiness.   Full happiness comes only when we make our mind powerful through focused thought and become spiritual.  Thus, technology guided by spirituality can produce happiness and sustainability.

Final exit

Once we have lived a good and satisfying life it should be easy to transition during the final exit or death. Life well lived gives us the internal security and peace of mind so that when death comes it is not emotionally painful, and we are not to be afraid of it. However, we cannot escape physical pain of death.

During death all the memories of the present life are shed.  They include cellular or body memory which is a product of the cellular structure of the body and the brain memory.  Shedding of brain memory produces emotional pain which can be reduced by living a good life. 

However, shedding of cellular memory produces physical pain which cannot be avoided. This is presently managed (though not very effectively) by suitable pain medicines. Normally these medicines play havoc with the body and mind. If we can develop suitable medicines through our science and technology which will relieve the physical pain while being gentle on the body and mind, then the fear of death could be reduced drastically. That is a goal worth striving for.

Thus, by following the above principles I feel the real art of living can be achieved.      

(The writer, an IIT and US-educated Indian spiritual engineer and rural development pioneer,  a 2022 Padma Shri award winner, is the Director, Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute, Phaltan, Maharashtra.  He can be reached at anilrajvanshi50@gmail.com/@anilraj24.bsky.social)