The Zen of Good Living

Is life worthwhile? And what is death? Does knowledge of death help us live better? Suma Varughese responds to these questions posed by Arun Chatterjee, an enthusiastic seeker

- Arun Chatterjee

Eversince Suma Varughese left the editorship of Life Positive in 2017 she has had her hands full. Riding on the wings of her super successful writer’s workshops she has been touring the country, meeting new people and disseminating spiritual knowledge to one and all, along with the skill of good writing.

In the course of her work she had a discourse with Shoonyo, a spiritual teacher on Instagram, where they discussed Shakespeare famous line, ‘To be or not to be.’ Inspired by the talk, one of the members of her Zen Pen club, Arun Chatterjee, came up with a set of thought-provoking questions on life and death and posed them to Suma.

She answered his questions on Zoom for the benefit of her students and is more than pleased to share her wisdom with the readers of Life Positive.

Below are her reflections:

Q. Many of us believe that life is a continuous struggle. If that is so, what is the point in carrying on with life? Is this struggle worthwhile?

It is a fundamental question, a question that must have occurred to all of us at different times in our life’s journey. And as long as the answer to this question eludes us, we simply cannot reconcile to life. The sad thing about questions like this is that they need to be answered by us alone. No one else can answer this question for us. Yes, answers to this question are available in all the scriptures and most explicitly in the Indian scriptures, but unless these answers come alive for us, they may not affect us. Nevertheless, what others say can give some pointers, so, in that spirit, I am answering this question.