Problems of Human Life

Life means activity and all activity brings with it certain problems. Those problems have to be solved successfully in order to make the human life a success.

If we analyze the human problems, we find that they fall under two categories:

(1) Immediate Problems;

(2) Ultimate Problems.

The immediate problems are the practical day-to-day problems, such as those, which refer to the immediate personal needs of the individuals and such problems as the administration of the state, the production, consumption and distribution of wealth and the relations between the different nations of the world. There is no human being living on earth who has not to face these problems one way or the other during his life. The manner in which these problems are faced and the efficiency and practical common sense which is shown in connection with their solutions forms the measure of human success.

As regards the ultimate problems, every human being who takes life seriously finds himself face to face with them as soon as the attains the age of maturity and feels the strains, the burdens and the intricacies of life. The first question, which arises in this connection, is: "What am I?" Every human being is closer to himself than to anyone else. Hence the first problem, which should arise in his mind in connection with the ultimate problems, should naturally be about his own self.

The question: "What am I?" is a question about the nature of human beings. But this simple question opens a whole field of questions which shoot off in a continuous chain and whose links are forged with the unbreakable bond of necessity. Consideration of this first question, therefore, leads to the next one, namely: "From where have the human beings come?" Then a third question arises: "What is the nature of human life?" and then a fourth question: "What is the purpose and end of human life?"

All the above-mentioned questions are, so to say, personal. But, then, no human being lives in a vacuum. He lives in a world, which is infinitely and immeasurably vaster than his physically infinitesimal personality, and this world influences, his life and his actions at every step. His fortunes, nay, his very life is interlinked with and dependent upon the world around him. For instance, if the sun were to stop its function all life would disappear; and, again, if the heat of the sun becomes even 25% more than what it is normally in summer, the human bodies would be reduced to ashes.

This being the case, the questions about one’s own self lead to questions about the world. The first question in that connection is: "What is this world", which in other words means: "What is the nature of this world?" But the nature of a thing cannot be properly understood unless we have a clear idea about the origin of that thing and the purpose for which it functions. Therefore, the question about "what" leads to questions about "when", "how", "where from" and "whereto". In other words the enquiry arises: "When did the world come into being?" "From what source did the world acquire its life? "What is the end towards which it is moving?" and "What is the final goal (destiny)?"

Among the questions about the world, the question:

"How did the world come into being?" brings forth a number of further questions, namely: "If this world came into being by itself, how is that conceivable i.e., on what ground?" "If this world was brought into being by some other force, what is that force?" "Is it an impersonal force like electricity, or is it a person?" "If it is believed to be an impersonal force, that would mean that it is a blind force like all impersonal forces; and if it is a blind force, how could intelligence, foresight, plan, purpose and law come out of it?" "If it is a person, what is the nature and constitution of that person?" "Is He a person like us – physical, faltering and subject to the processes of decay and death, or is He eternal?" "If not physical, what else is He?" "Is He finite or infinite?" "Is he one in number or two or three or more?"

The above-mentioned questions concerning man, the worlds of God are ultimate questions (or fundamental problems). The questions are so vital that every thinking human being is bound to face them at one time or the other during his life and they have such a close bearing on the immediate questions of life that anyone who has any knowledge of human problems will admit that they cannot be shirked.