BEING AND BECOMING

Once Buddha lost his way while traveling in a forest with Anand. He asked an old man working in a field, "how far the town is from here"?  The old man smiled and replied, "Don't worry! You have already reached the destination. It is only two miles away from here".  Buddha smiled back and continued his journey with Anand. Both were very tired. Instead of taking rest both continued their journey. After two miles of journey they couldn't find any town. Buddha asked to an old women about the distance of the town. She smiled and replied, "Town is not far away. It is two miles away from here". Buddha smiled back getting similar reply and continued his journey with Anand.  Anand was puzzled and asked about the smile of that old man and woman. Buddha answered, "We are in a similar profession, i.e., to inspire people to continue with their journey, even if journey is too long and tiresome. If you tell people from the very beginning that journey is too

Freedom is the first condition of the human's life as claimed by many metaphysicians, and of course, Immanuel Kant was the father figure of moral and political philosophy, who inspired many generations to ponder upon and internalize the postulate of "freedom of will". "Will" signifies the human's ability to create and superimpose the willingness over the natural conditions. It was considered to be a departure point from the thinking that humans are as natural as cow, dog or any other animal. Aristotle already expounded the social nature of the human's life, Kant added further and revolutionized the idea of freedom, autonomy, and human dignity. His conception of the categorical imperatives (morally binding duties), laid down the foundations of deontological philosophy in Europe. Deontological philosophy was though already a hallmark of Indian thought reflected in Bhagwat Geeta. Kant was a father figure of the European Enlightenment, who advocated to use r