Friendship day has already passed and I am a bit late with this blog. But, better late than never. There is hardly anything left untold about the value of friendship and friends in our life. But let me make ourselves aware of 2-3 aspects.
In the domain of spiritualism, selflessness is held Supreme. It is called the tunnel that leads us to the Ultimate Truth. Friendship epitomizes selflessness in the simplest way. In a way we can notice and practice every day even unconsciously. One need not have to master tomes on spiritualism to have friends after all. But my definition of "friend" is the classic old book definition and not the hundreds and thousands we have on our social networking sites.
Human being is a social animal and he is bound to have relations. All relationships, save friendship, come with bonds- some small and other big. Mother, father, sister, brother, in-laws, husband, wife, son, daughter, boss... all come with bonds. There is a set of basic duties that one has to deliver to all these relationships. They are tagged responsibilities and duties. I don't mean that these duties are carried out half-heartedly by all of us. We deliver these whole-heartedly and pleasantly, but still they are our duties.
But friendship probably is the only relationship that we get to choose and hence there is no bond here. Spending time with your friend, having a hearty laugh with him are not duties. You do these selflessly. You don't get any material benefits by being with our friends. But it all feeds to our souls' wellbeing. Lord Krishna too calls Sakhya Bhakti as His best form of worship (treating God as our friend).
Dedicated to all my loving friends.
In the domain of spiritualism, selflessness is held Supreme. It is called the tunnel that leads us to the Ultimate Truth. Friendship epitomizes selflessness in the simplest way. In a way we can notice and practice every day even unconsciously. One need not have to master tomes on spiritualism to have friends after all. But my definition of "friend" is the classic old book definition and not the hundreds and thousands we have on our social networking sites.
Human being is a social animal and he is bound to have relations. All relationships, save friendship, come with bonds- some small and other big. Mother, father, sister, brother, in-laws, husband, wife, son, daughter, boss... all come with bonds. There is a set of basic duties that one has to deliver to all these relationships. They are tagged responsibilities and duties. I don't mean that these duties are carried out half-heartedly by all of us. We deliver these whole-heartedly and pleasantly, but still they are our duties.
But friendship probably is the only relationship that we get to choose and hence there is no bond here. Spending time with your friend, having a hearty laugh with him are not duties. You do these selflessly. You don't get any material benefits by being with our friends. But it all feeds to our souls' wellbeing. Lord Krishna too calls Sakhya Bhakti as His best form of worship (treating God as our friend).
Dedicated to all my loving friends.
