Obsession With Anything Is Bad

A wise man should never sacrifice the big for the sake of the small

Life is big

Everybody's life is big

Life is not about one event or one person or one subject or one object

We say this is my object in life, this is my purpose in life

I want to do this, I want to achieve this

This is my object in life

Once I do that, I will consider my life fulfilled

Nature has never meant it to be that way

The less evolved living beings are that way

Take an earthworm

It simply goes on eating mud and sends out the waste after taking the nutrients that it wants, single activity

The single point obsession is not what is expected out of humans, because otherwise nature would not have given man so many faculties and functions

We can hear, smell, see, taste, and feel at the same time in various combinations

Then all these can be processed

They are processed differently by different people

Then you apply your intelligence, wisdom, take decisions, implement them, act, react, respond, initiate, reciprocate, so many things

When you do so many things only, it qualifies to be a Human life

Otherwise, it is only life of a lower form of creature like the earthworm

People get into single point obsessions

They get into a litigation and make it their single purpose of life

Like a marriage discord

Winning that case becomes the whole purpose of life

Everything else is forgotten

Earning becomes another obsession, earn, earn, earn

You see these cashiers who sit in the cash counter of the Udupi type of restaurants

They simply collect the bill

Look at it once, take money from you and give you back the change

That is the only thing they do, at least when they sit there

Even the trajectory of their hands and the timing is predictable

They won't even look at you, they won't smile at you, so mechanical

This is what some people do with their life

I'm not saying that the cashiers of restaurants do not have quality of life, just look at how they function during that time

Single activity, single thought, single obsession

Another obsession is with health or ill health

Early morning glucometer and worrying about sugar and cholesterol and calories throughout the day

And suddenly the diabetes association comes around and says, no, we are changing our stand

Up to 250 sugar level is not very bad

You have to see from person to person to decide

Keep HBA1C between 7 and 8

Earlier anything above 6

5 used to set off the alarm bell

Now 8 is okay

Tomorrow they might come around and say if you're below 250 it is bad

God knows

Indian doctors say this is going to create confusion

How it can create confusion? We are already so confused

How can you create confusion within confusion? It is like having a dream within a dream

We are already so confused

Obsession with career, obsession with money, obsession with body, six-pack body, obsession with clothes, obsession with a certain lifestyle

These obsessions are pushing you downward in the ladder of evolution, evolvement

Get the big picture of life

Life is not one event, life is not one role

Life is not one or a few persons

Life is not one place

Your life becomes meaningful when you realize this and live accordingly

This is a big picture

Always keep on taking a bird's eye view of your life

Only man has been given this faculty by God to look at himself, to assess himself

You can go outside your body, not literally, and look at yourself

Where you are, what you're doing

Get the big picture

Then you will see that every event, every person in your life, every aspect of your life only has a limited significance

They're all single bricks in a wall which is your life

But you get obsessed with some of them, thinking that they are everything

People meet with accident, fracture their leg, get bedridden for months together, but then they spring back to life

So every event has only limited significance

This obsession with something, this focus on some person or some event is called small as compared to life which is big

So, don't sacrifice the big for the small

Life has several aspects, even if some of them suffer setbacks, it does not matter

Make the best out of the others

You may be without a job for a while, don't allow this to take away the good time you can spend with your family

Use it better

Wherever you are lacking, compensate during such time

Even when you are facing financial trouble, you can be a good father, good mother, good son, good daughter, good brother, good sister, good neighbor

The beautiful rising sun will not tell you, no, you don't have a job, you don't have money, I will not show myself to you

The waves in the sea will not show partiality because you don't have a job, you don't have money

The gentle breeze is still there for you

These are times to do a few good things

Give back something to the society

That way, you will also remain mentally agile and fresh

Never lose sight of the complete picture

Life is not just a job or a designation or a portfolio

It is us who get into these traps, these vicious loops, these obsessions which are self-destructive

Have as many dimensions as possible to your life

Have as many aspects as possible to your life

Nobody will do it for you, it is your canvas

What you paint is up to you, nobody else

• What is the fundamental difference between human life and lower biological forms according to this philosophy?
  The core difference lies in the range of faculties and the complexity of engagement. While lower beings like earthworms are defined by single-point biological obsessions such as eating and excreting, humans are gifted with multiple senses, complex processing abilities, and the capacity for wisdom. A human life only truly qualifies as such when it utilizes its diverse faculties to act, react, and initiate across many dimensions rather than narrowing down to a single mechanical function.
• Why is a single-point obsession described as a downward move in the ladder of evolution?
  Evolution is a process of expansion and increased complexity. When a human focuses entirely on one thing—whether it is a legal battle, a medical metric like blood sugar, or financial gain—they are effectively shutting down the vast majority of their neurological and spiritual potential. By acting like a specialized machine or a simple organism, they bypass the higher intelligence and multifaceted nature that defines human evolution, essentially regressing into a simpler, more limited state of being.
• How does the analogy of the Udupi restaurant cashier illustrate the danger of mechanical living?
  The cashier serves as a metaphor for a life lived without presence or variety. When a person becomes so specialized in a task that their movements are predictable and they no longer engage with the world around them—failing to smile or even look at others—they have become a cog in a machine. This illustrates how easily a person can lose their humanity to a routine, turning their existence into a single, repetitive trajectory that lacks soul and connection.
• What is the hidden danger in being overly obsessed with health metrics like sugar levels or calories?
  The hidden danger is the loss of mental peace to an external, often shifting, standard. The text points out that medical guidelines change frequently, meaning a person might spend years in anxiety over a number that is later deemed acceptable. By obsessing over the minute details of the body, one loses sight of the joy of living, becoming a prisoner to fluctuating data rather than a master of their own well-being.
• What does it mean to take a birds eye view of ones own life?
  This refers to the unique human ability of self-reflection or meta-cognition. It is the capacity to mentally step outside of ones immediate circumstances and emotions to observe oneself objectively. From this elevated perspective, you can see where you are and what you are doing, allowing you to realize that your current struggle or obsession is just a small part of a much larger landscape.
• Why are individual events and people described as single bricks in a wall?
  This perspective helps to de-escalate the intensity of personal crises. If life is a massive wall, a single brick—be it a job loss, a divorce, or a financial setback—cannot represent the entire structure. While a single brick may be cracked or missing, the wall itself remains. Understanding this prevents a person from allowing one negative event to define their entire existence or to collapse their entire sense of self.
• How can a person maintain the big picture during a period of financial hardship or unemployment?
  One maintains the big picture by pivoting to the other functional dimensions of life. Even without a job, a person remains a parent, a child, a friend, and a citizen. The philosophy suggests using the time to strengthen these roles and to appreciate universal constants that are unaffected by money, such as the beauty of a sunrise or the rhythm of the sea. By focusing on being a good human being and giving back to society, the mind remains agile and the spirit remains fresh.
• What is the mysterious quality of nature that ignores our personal or professional failures?
  Nature operates on a level of absolute impartiality. The sun, the breeze, and the ocean do not recognize human social constructs like designations, portfolios, or bank balances. This reveals a hidden truth: our most essential relationship is with the universe itself, which remains open and supportive even when our man-made systems—like the economy or the legal system—fail us.
• Why is it the individuals responsibility to paint their own life canvas?
  Because life is multidimensional and subjective, no external force or person can create a meaningful existence for you. The canvas represents the potential of your life, and the colors represent the various roles, hobbies, relationships, and service you engage in. If you choose to paint only one dot of obsession, the canvas remains empty. It is a personal duty to ensure the painting is vibrant and wide-reaching.
• What is the ultimate consequence of sacrificing the big for the small?
  The consequence is self-destruction through the creation of a vicious loop. When you decide that one object or one goal is your entire purpose, you become fragile. If that one thing fails, your whole life feels like a failure. By sacrificing the big picture for a small obsession, you lose the resilience, variety, and depth that make life worth living, ultimately leading to a hollow and vulnerable existence.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi