Are we Happier Than Our Forefathers?

“Happiness depends on what you can give not what you can get.” -Mahatma Gandhi

Turning back the pages of history to ancient times, a modern man feels wonderstruck to see the hard life of human beings a few centuries ago. Our ancestors used to live in caves, ate uncooked food or depended upon fruit and leaves, walked long distances on foot. They could not get any clothes to cover their body and had not thought of getting shelter to hide their head. Their standard of living was no better than that of beasts. Like animals, they used to live in groups and fight other groups with bows, arrows and sticks for food, clothing or shelter.

But everything is destined to undergo a change in this world. The things of the past have become outdated today. Man used his scientific imagination, made a number of inventions and revealed the mysteries of nature. He started controlling the forces of nature. With the passage of time he went on marching ahead and soon became the master of the universe. He can now fly across the sky like a bird, swim across an ocean like a fish and communicate over long distances in no time. Today, with modern technology, man has been able to enjoy all facilities of life. Life is exceedingly comfortable, smooth and easy-going for him. The word ‘impossible’ does not find a place in his dictionary. He is able to get all the necessities of life.

A modern man enjoys himself in different ways. He is the master of the whole universe. When bored with his dull, mechanical routine, he has lots of means for entertainment. He has the video cassette recorder to entertain himself. He has beautiful restaurants and hotels to go to. He has melodious musical extravaganzas and dance sequences packed up in his cassettes. His fertile creative mind had made him what his ancestors could never have thought of becoming in their entire lifetime.

But are we really happier than our forefathers? Definitely not. We have gained physical comforts at the cost of moral and spiritual values. We do not believe in God. We do not think of our moral upliftment. We think of our own comforts, not of others. We are too much entrapped in the snare of money. We are greedy, selfish, isolated, perturbed, disappointed and addicted to all sorts of vices. We have so many aspirations that life is full of frustration and depression. We have no pleasure or leisure, rest or peace, joy or contentment

Man, today is, angry, proud, hypocritical, dishonest, insincere and tense. His life is full of frustration, agony and terror. He has no love for life and he does not bother to heed to the teachings of great mea like Guru Nanak Dev Ji who once said:

Why hast thou forgotten God?

Anger has thou not forgotten

Not falsehood,

Why has thou forgotten truth?

Our ancestors enjoyed that inner joy that a modern man does not dream of having. The modern man has struck a very bad bargain. He has earned name, fame, position, status and physical comfort at the cost of inner joy, spiritual contentment and moral values. He has ascended the throne of God Himself. He knows how to fly in the air but has not learnt to live gracefully on the earth like a civilized citizen. The moral and spiritual progress is negligible as compared to the scientific progress.

Man, today, has money but he does not know the right use of it. He uses his money to buy others and make them betray their conscience or their country. He has scientific knowledge but he is using it to create bombs, missiles and deadly armaments and this increases tension, fear and suspicion. He wants to enjoy himself at the cost of others. He does not mind indulging in a sort of cut-throat competition. He is as cruel, callous and unscrupulous in his ways as ever, No doubt, he is blessed with physical comforts but he is certainly far from being really contented and happy. The divinity in him is losing ground every day and he is becoming more and more a child of mere flesh and blood. May be he realizes his follies only when it is too late.

Shakespeare’s words in Henry VII are very aptly applicable to a modern man:

“O! my good lord, that comfort comes too late,

This like a pardon after execution;

That gentle physic, given in time had cured me,

But now I am past all comforts here but prayers.”