Survival
What is survival?
The simple definition would be to stay alive, to continue in one's existence..
However, there is another type of survival. The survival which compels the parent to sacrifice his or her life for the childe, the survival which compels the martyr to martyr himself for his belief, the survival which caters to the higher form of intellect possessed only by humans.
This form of survival is what i like to call the Emotional Survival.
Often i wonder, what is it that compels these people, parents and martyrs alike, to put themselves in harm's way, to threaten their very own physical existence...
What strong, compelling force is it that makes them do the things they do?
Perhaps with parents, it is the need to protect their offspring, their progeny, their future generations which will ensure the survival of the species which compels them so.
But with the martyrs... its something else.
Think about it... why would anyone be willing to die over something which they can't see, touch or taste?
These are what we call warriors of faith. It does not necessarily have to be a religious struggle as we have seen communists and nationalists fighting to preserve their ideology and independence, respectively.
The power of ideologies, to unite people, to unlock their instincts for emotional survival... it is both awesome yet baffling.
Ideologies make people feel as if they belong, to make them feel as part of something bigger. To give them a 'family' to call their own.
If there exists a threat to this family, then it is when these people feel threatened, inividually, it is then when their emotional survival is triggered.
Emotional survival's rationale is usually like this : 'let me die or my body broken, as long as my ideals and ideology live on'.
Hence the survival in essence, is not survival of self but more of survival of belief.
Perhaps these martys have indeed achieved a higher plane than the most of us. Believing in life after death, not in the spiritual form, but in the ideological form. Believing that the spirit of one's faith, of one's conviction goes beyond the physical self. Being able to understand that existence in thought is better than existence in person.
As for me, i have come to believe that survival is my priority, which includes my emotional survival. I do have ideologies of my own and my faith, however i have begun to notice threats to them, but i feel powerless against these threats. Perhaps my instincts for physical survival are higher than that of my emotional survival....
Perhaps one day, i may have the chance to redeem my self and ensure that my spiritual and emotional self continue to survive in my beliefs.
The simple definition would be to stay alive, to continue in one's existence..
However, there is another type of survival. The survival which compels the parent to sacrifice his or her life for the childe, the survival which compels the martyr to martyr himself for his belief, the survival which caters to the higher form of intellect possessed only by humans.
This form of survival is what i like to call the Emotional Survival.
Often i wonder, what is it that compels these people, parents and martyrs alike, to put themselves in harm's way, to threaten their very own physical existence...
What strong, compelling force is it that makes them do the things they do?
Perhaps with parents, it is the need to protect their offspring, their progeny, their future generations which will ensure the survival of the species which compels them so.
But with the martyrs... its something else.
Think about it... why would anyone be willing to die over something which they can't see, touch or taste?
These are what we call warriors of faith. It does not necessarily have to be a religious struggle as we have seen communists and nationalists fighting to preserve their ideology and independence, respectively.
The power of ideologies, to unite people, to unlock their instincts for emotional survival... it is both awesome yet baffling.
Ideologies make people feel as if they belong, to make them feel as part of something bigger. To give them a 'family' to call their own.
If there exists a threat to this family, then it is when these people feel threatened, inividually, it is then when their emotional survival is triggered.
Emotional survival's rationale is usually like this : 'let me die or my body broken, as long as my ideals and ideology live on'.
Hence the survival in essence, is not survival of self but more of survival of belief.
Perhaps these martys have indeed achieved a higher plane than the most of us. Believing in life after death, not in the spiritual form, but in the ideological form. Believing that the spirit of one's faith, of one's conviction goes beyond the physical self. Being able to understand that existence in thought is better than existence in person.
As for me, i have come to believe that survival is my priority, which includes my emotional survival. I do have ideologies of my own and my faith, however i have begun to notice threats to them, but i feel powerless against these threats. Perhaps my instincts for physical survival are higher than that of my emotional survival....
Perhaps one day, i may have the chance to redeem my self and ensure that my spiritual and emotional self continue to survive in my beliefs.
posted by Sam Harith at 4:08 PM
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