We are thrown into birth in an unknown body, family, culture, society, religion, city, and country — all without our consent.
We do not feel troubled by this until our consciousness begins to develop.
As soon as consciousness awakens, we start demanding, blaming, and desiring… But why does this happen?
Who is responsible — we, as the innocent child, or the influence of consciousness itself?
We confine ourselves within the boundaries of attachments — attachment to family, society, religion, and country. And all conflict begins with this confinement.
Thrownness becomes a subtle mental condition that remains unnoticed throughout life, yet produces ego, envy, anger, and desire.
Martin Heidegger described this condition as Geworfenheit (German), or “Thrownness” — the fact that human beings are “thrown” into existence.
Heidegger also noted that Thrownness is an infinite loop (an ontological state). But if we interpret it in the framework of Indian spirituality — like the cycle of moksha → life → death → moksha — then it can be seen as a tri-state situation, where one state is the beginning, and the other two states form loops. Consciousness compels us either to remain in this loop or to exit from it through discrimination and conscience.
In Indian spirituality, however, we find a more detailed answer to the question: “Why are we born into different families, surroundings, or countries?”
The answer is Prārabdha (प्रारब्ध) — the unfolding of past karmas.
Whatever we do in this life, knowingly or unknowingly, becomes part of karma: either new karma that accumulates for the next birth, or old karma being exhausted from previous births.
This cycle continues across countless lives.
The moment we realize consciousness, viveka (विवेक, discrimination) begins to develop, leading us to enquire further: What is good or bad consciousness? Or rather, how, why, and when can we develop higher consciousness?
Such discrimination leads us toward the path of truth-seeking. This has been a common psychological phenomenon since the beginning of the human race, and the ṛṣis and munis of India worked deeply on it.
The Vedas and Upanishads provide answers to these questions. But before that, let us understand:
What are the Vedas and Upanishads?
The Vedas and Upanishads are not ordinary human writings. They are called Śruti (श्रुति) — literally, “that which is heard.”
In other words, they are considered the direct voice of the Divine (Parmatma), received by enlightened seers (ṛṣis).
Think about it: before writing, one must first listen or receive thoughts in the mind.
In science, thought-synthesis happens through data and training (just like an AI model needs data to produce responses).
But when insight arises without external data, it is called consciousness in science — and in spirituality, it is called the Voice of Parmatma, the Act of Parmatma, or Śruti.
In psychology, Sigmund Freud worked deeply on this subject, but he could only explain up to the level of the subconscious mind. Spiritual texts go far beyond.
Thus, the Vedas and Upanishads are regarded as the direct revelations of the Divine.
Something similar happened in the West too, though in a different language of philosophy.
Figures like Lao Tzu, Socrates, Gurdjieff, Heraclitus, and Freud — each in their own way — tried to articulate flashes of truth that arise not merely from logic but from a deeper consciousness.
But here lies a difference: the Western world largely remained concerned with the idea of good and bad consciousness.
In India, our ancient ṛṣis went a step further.
They declared:
“Nothing is absolutely good or bad. Seek the truth yourself. Look from above.”
A thief may appear bad to an honest man, but if the thief is truly bad, then why does Parmatma allow or compel him to be a thief?
The point is: become a seeker of truth.
In India, in this search for truth, we encounter great mystics and teachers — Raidas, Kabir, Guru Nanak, Vivekananda, Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Mahavira, Buddha, and many more.
As an engineer, a natural question arises:
How did they find the truth? What techniques did they use?
And the answer will be different for each individual — just as it was in the past, where each person, from different backgrounds, discovered a different path to truth.
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