Author – Labib Mahfuj Chisty
Theseus, the only son of Aegeus and Aethra in Greek mythology, is a hero. He killed the terrible monster named Minotaur and rescued many young men of Athens who were captured by him. The ship on which he performed this victorious expedition, the Greek king ordered the preservation of the ship to keep the great memory alive. The ship of Theseus should remain in the harbor of Athens forever.
Far from forever, after some time, trouble began. The ship began to decompose slowly. On the king’s orders, the rotten planks were immediately transferred with new and strong wood.
A clever mechanic in Athens, who collected the old wood from the ship and built a boat from that wood in his house. The day the last piece of wood was thrown from Theseus’ ship, that clever carpenter claimed, “Theseus’ boat is not on the wharf, the original boat is in his yard.”
A debate that has been going on for ages began. Where is the original boat? On the wharf? Or in the carpenter’s yard?
Some said that the boat in the carpenter’s yard is the original Theseus’ boat. Because, literally, that is where the original pieces of wood or material elements of Theseus are.
Some said that the boat on the wharf is the original boat. Where the material body is absent, all the memories of Theseus’ victorious expedition are there. Even though the wood has changed, here are all the intangible elements of Theseus’ expedition, including long-term feelings, perceptions, which accurately represent those times.
Life, both material and emotional, appears at the center of our consciousness. Physical life is constantly decaying, rotting, and changing. Behind the changes, an eternal movement still persists. Behind the physical life lies a vast expanse of the eternal beyond. The life that is always changing, wherever a cognitive circle of infinite motion is created. Basically, that life is our original life.
The philosophical paradox is very compatible with our philosophy of life. Some of us think that our physical entity is basically “I”. We make existence contingent on the body or object. Basically, from where all our disappointments, sorrows, and all disorders including aging are born. In eternal life, we suffer the pain of limitation. Where the intellect of existence was supposed to be “eternal”, we become minimal. Because, bodily life is never a full life. It is just an instrument of life, which is always changing, being added and subtracted, and where permutations and combinations are happening every moment.
Our life is basically a world of limitless divine sentiment. Where the limitless world of infinite perception exists on ever-changing matter. Where there is Infinite Consciousness above the static material world. If it is possible to create the absorption power to feel the immense joy of that world, then here we will experience eternal heavenly happiness. This is where the success of life lies.
Body-centeredness is never life. Life is a world of limitless feeling-perception. Where infinite consciousness prevails in the limit.
Date of writing – 18/04/2023
Author – Labib Mahfuj Chisty