Quest

· by · in Fiction, Photography, Travel. ·

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Those who don’t ask questions remain baffled for their lifetime. Questions help to understand other people and their problems, and sometimes, fortunately, the solutions pave their way through the heaps of ashes form by questions. The answer, like a phoenix, rises from the questions, it remains hiding in them.

Questions act as a conduit between two persons, two cultures and help to understand each other better. The Socratic method helps to see through words, to connect with the souls.

Sometimes, we ask questions to ourselves, to our minds. And, perhaps, this process is an insatiable one as we seldom get satisfactory answers. The most disturbing question I’ve faced with myself is, “Who Am I?” 

The thirst of knowing myself, the inter-connection between He and me and the universe- this always remains an unanswered one to me.

I keep on searching the answer….I need to know it…this is perhaps an ongoing quest for me, travelling through levels of realization to reach the end, the destined one.

Ever faced that haunting question? “Who Am I?”

114 responses to “Quest”

  2. Who am I ? It’s a question I think we all ask of ourselves . I’m not sure if the answer never comes to us because live changes to fast. A powerful post it makes one think

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Maniparna your words are as deep as your persona.
    “We all are PANCH TATAVA’s ‘JAL, VAYU,PRITHVI, AGNI, AAKASH’and ultimately one day we all will reach the final destination i.e. ‘the cremation ground’ the ultimate play ground where everybody goes with friends, relatives, near and dear ones but never returns. And this so called beautiful, sexy, ravishing, strong, robust, tough and muscular body will go in flames and we all be in heaven except bloggers, writers, poets, story tellers(LOL) . And your, mine and everybody’s existence will be just in 1ft by 1ft photo frame. If you want a little big bigger photo frame of yours in your sweet home, get it prepared from a nearby photoshop today only and install it in your home in your life time only.”

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  5. I’m still looking for the answer to that question and yet I don’t really think one ever truly finds out who one is 🙂

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  6. “Who am I?” is a very significant question. We grow and change throughout our lives, and it helps us to become a better person by reflecting upon our character, attitude, beliefs, etc.
    I enjoy your philosophical nature, Mani. You have a wonderful soul. ❤

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  7. I agree with you about the importance of questions. I remember reading Carl Sagan saying in one of his books that he really liked talking to young children because they firmly believed there was no such thing as a stupid question. 🙂

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  10. Questions, I too feel, are the first step to knowledge. The mysteries of life are never obvious if you do not seek, however simple they might turn out to be in the end. I myself is sometimes intrigued by such questions.

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  14. मणिपर्णा, बहुत बढ़िया लेख। अपने आप से सवाल पूछ कर ही हम कामयाबी हासिल कर सकते है।

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  16. Great post Maniparna Ji. Yes, we should never shy away from asking questions. That’s the only way leading from darkness to light. However the more pertinent question is put up by Hariod Brawn above – ‘Where is awareness ?’ I second his opinion in this regard.

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  20. “Who am I” the biggest philosophical question, the Indian philosophical books can help you to find the answer, but it’s not as easy as i am saying coz though i have read lots of books still unable to attain the level of realization, we all know it’s very tough, we are stuck in this mundane world and its tough to find the answer with so many desires in heart and mind. yah, one more book i can suggest in “Life divine” and i know there is no need to mention the name of the author.

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    • Have read it…”Life Divine” by Sri Aurobindo. Have read the Gita and some other Hindu Shastras in bits and pieces… it takes time to go through them, you definitely know. Surely, to connect with those philosophical revelations, we need to attain a state much higher.

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  23. Looks like I have not yet reached that pinnacle of spirituality and never let that question bother me or haunt me but yes, sometimes, other questions such as why am I here, what made God to give me these human connections and such weird stuff do prop up, of course with no finite answers…and the crusade goes on and on …

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    • 😀 😀 All these questions are inter-connected, I think.

      By the way, don’t even try to give it a thought that I’ve attained a certain level of spirituality 😛 I’m a happy-go-lucky sort of person. But, sometimes, when I’ve nothing else to do (rarely happens), these kinds of weird thoughts ransack my mind.

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  28. Pingback: Quest: Shopping Trolley | What's (in) the picture?·

  30. maniparana.. when i fall into the thinking trap, i felt myself very odd to think on “who am I”.. but now i know, there wont be a single person who hasnt ever thought on the same..

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  37. Your question reminds me of a conference my daughter attended and told me that it started with the question “who are you?” And all people struggled to answer, pondered and the answers were manifold. So long back, after hearing that story I had asked myself the same question and got some interesting answers, many of which I keep sharing in the form of my poetry. To begin with, we can say…I am a female, a mother, a wife, a grandmother and you can add many adjectives before all the roles we play! Spiritual and philosophical answers could be more profound and varied! 🙂
    Good topic, which can be discussed and taken much further!

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    • Yes, we can have easy answers to this question if we take it simply. But, a philosophical root helps to delve deeper and, perhaps, it’s almost impossible for mundane beings like us to get a concrete answer to this question. Thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts, Balroop… 🙂

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  38. That question has haunted everyone at some stage I am sure. . The answer to which not many have been able to give ..

    I think that is the mystery that will always remain because of the way life is.. full of ups and downs. . And each experience or episode takes us nearer to answering that question.

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    • Right, life is a stupendous journey and, it makes us wiser with every passing moment. As for the answer, I don’t know if anyone ever has been able to get a satisfactory answer! (not speaking of the sages and Maharishis of ancient times)

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  41. Excellent. I love the phoenix analogy, a very poetic yet realistic expression of the question/answer relationship. Asking ourselves who we are is a daily meditation I think, and the answer is always changing, even if ever so slightly. Really interesting and thought provoking post.

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    • Thanks a lot. Indeed, this question has no specific answer. From the philosophical standpoint, our Hindu scriptures do have some answers, but one needs to attain a level much higher to actually relate with them. We, mundane beings, keep on searching the answer along with the journey of life… 🙂

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  42. I loved this … Thank you to Terry Spearfruit for pointing me your way. I wonder if any of us ever really understand who we are. Those who claim to are often staying tight in their comfort zone because the question is, I think far to scary for them. The others, like me spend many hour navel gazing and trying to work it out and many more trying to forget!

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    • You said it rightly. Perhaps, nobody ever has received the answer to this question. There maybe philosophical discussions and arguments and explanations, but that leads to nowhere for common people like us. We just spend hours pondering on it and then forget all about it as life beckons…

      Thanks a lot for visiting my blog. I visited yours and left comments on a couple of your posts. Kindly check your spam folder for my comments and rescue them…this is a problem I’m facing with WP lately. All my comments are landing as spam.

      Also, it would be a great favour if you kindly ask Terry to check his spam for my comments. I know it could be tiring for him at this stage…but I just have no other option left :-((

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  43. Quest!

    It pulled me, and then I read your opening lines. As a rule, I don’t read posts, unless they are really interesting. My taste is horrible. Even I think so. How can you account for a guy, who thinks that snake is beautiful?

    It’s trendy to ask the question you asked. Who am I. 😀 Ko hum?

    Did you ever try asking yourself the more poignant and important question, lady?

    Kasmaat Amasthi? Why am I? I’m more bothered with that than who am I. 😀

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  44. Throughout the history of mankind, the subject of identity has sent poets to the blank page, philosophers to the agora and seekers to the oracles. The answer may be philosophical.
    Well, you may find the answer in “Shivoham” mantra composed by Sage Adi Shankaracharya in the 8th century:

    “Shivoham Shivoham Shivaswarupoham
    Nityoham shuddhoham buddhoham muktoham”
    It expresses the inner experience of knowing oneself as that Self, which is identical with the pure awareness personified by Shiva. As per Isha Upanishad: “The light which is thy fairest form, I see it. I am what He is”.
    Soham (I am He) is very common in ancient and medieval Indian literature. Many upanishads, tantras and stotras have “Soham” in shlokas.

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  45. The problem with that question, as I see it Mani, is that any answer would necessarily be conceptual, or an intuited percept. In other words, it is an impossible question because the answer to ‘who I am’ can quite obviously never be a concept or percept. Is this what you mean, a philosophical or ontological question? The better question might be – ‘where is awareness?’

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    • That’s true, Hariod. I got your point.

      Perhaps, we will never be able to find the answer to this question. A palpable answer. Though in Hindu Shastras (old scriptures) it is said, we are part of the universe and everyone of us is also a part of the Greater Being, that is, He himself, He is the Awareness, the Knowledge, the Light, the Enlightenment. But these answers are really philosophical and do not make much sense to mundane being like us. If anyone ever became aware of the answers, she/he would attain Nirvana or Zen… 🙂

      Thanks for the comment, it’s always a pleasure to have your opinion… 🙂

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