Understanding life and its elements is a prerequisite for living a happy life. This is not an overstatement. Often, it may come across as one, but then counseling, therapy, and depression have become normal words today. They are not viewed as unorthodox, even though they involve disseminating valuable life lessons. A systematic study of life and its multivariant components is crucial to overcoming personal obstacles and leading a happy life. But what is the process of such a systematic study? What are the parameters one must consider for such a study? Also, how long will it take to decisively conclude on what determines a happy life?

Asking these questions is necessary for us to determine the methods of understanding life. We are constantly exposed to new experiences in life and are rarely able to put together a cohesive picture of them all. We need not discount the value of inferences we make of everyday experiences, but it is important to acknowledge their limitations. No man can make decisions solely based on one’s inferences in life.

Almost all of us depend on others’ intelligence in making conclusions. The most common form of it is by studying literature. Even in literature, we inevitably choose between its various types based on how relatable it is to our lives. Honestly, it is difficult to provide hierarchical views about the philosophical literature of the world. A comparative study only allows us to choose for ourselves a manual most doable in life.

Coming from India, I am inescapably biased towards choosing the rich philosophical themes of Indian literature across its various languages to study life. This does not prevent me from referencing or discussing other literature in the world. I believe that it is important that we draw parallels between ideas of the same domain from different parts of the world, as it allows a perfect contextual understanding of our literature.

As an Indian, I believe that understanding my cultural literature equips me with a cumulative perspective about life from generations of Indians, whose views I can utilize to overcome the hurdles I face every day. In my current opinion, it doesn’t cost enlightenment to live a happy life, but only a strong grasp of what the world offers and what one can make out of it.

A correct understanding of life leads to the determination of one’s purpose in the world. Determination of one’s purpose, in other words, is setting a goal in life. But this goal is not set haphazardly, but rather after heavy introspection. Once a goal is set, designing a path to reach the goal is one’s sole duty. Living life would then mean treading this set path.

Philosophical literature is the product of generations of thinkers who’ve added, refined, and finetuned their experiences and expressions of those experiences into carefully recorded works. This encompasses a range of subjects, including epistemology, ontology, metaphysics, mysticism, language and linguistics, ethics, and morality. A systematic study of those works is the pathway to living happily in life. So, everything in this blog post would revolve around discussions in this genre only.