Renegade Yogi

Our very existence means death

We are born into this world naked and knowing nothing of it. We learn language and the rest of culture, which help shape and give meaning to the world. They help us navigate it and survive.

But ultimately, the world still remains mysterious. There is still a part of you that is aware that each choice you make is only a guess.

Because every choice is only a guess. We often face decisions beyond our capacity to understand. When we look at our options, they each look both inadequate and unknowable. When we face a decision like that, that is where real life is lived.

You can never realize all of the consequences of your actions–of your life. Everything is connected in some way. Does driving an ambulance to save a dying man burn gasoline that was paid for in blood? Probably. How many Iraqis must die to save one American’s life?

I am not judging. Only observing. Because there are no simple answers to these complex questions. Even if we knew the true cost in lives of each gallon of gasoline we use, we would still be faced with the same dilemma: what we do effects everything else. Our very existence means the death of something else. Things often live by taking the lives of others. No system of morality or ethics can sufficiently navigate the complexities of an infinitely connected world.

Cultures, through their systems of morality, abstract away a lot of these decisions. They help you live day to day without getting bogged down with the immeasurable choices life presents to us. But they are abstractions. The experience of existential angst still hangs around us like stale air.

So when we answer questions like “Should we go to war?” or “Should I become a vegetarian?”, we are in some ways avoiding the issue. The issue is the question itself. The question of existence. There is no answer. There is only what we do. Do not trust those who speak of answers. Listen to those who ask good questions.