{"id":153307,"date":"2020-02-17T12:00:48","date_gmt":"2020-02-17T12:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=153307"},"modified":"2020-02-06T10:01:59","modified_gmt":"2020-02-06T10:01:59","slug":"what-next-a-discourse-on-the-present-and-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2020\/02\/what-next-a-discourse-on-the-present-and-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"What Next \u2014 A Discourse on the Present and the Future"},"content":{"rendered":"

What Next <\/em><\/strong>denotes\u00a0an expression of what will happen after an event has occurred. The event could be social, economic, political, educational or related to sports, etc.<\/p>\n

For example, after a person may have won a political election, he may wonder how he would fulfill the promises he had made and keep the electorate happy. It can also be expressed after playing a game that a sports team may have lost and now plans how it will improve and win the next game, and so on.<\/p>\n

A novelist or poet after having completed writing a novel or a poem often will not rest, but think of the next composition she may have on her mind that would be better and more interesting than the present one.<\/p>\n

I am hoping that the present essay is good but I would very much wish that my next one would be better and receive critical appreciation.<\/p>\n

A family will hope for the next child to be healthy, if the present baby died at child birth. It may also hope and work for a bigger, more spacious apartment if in the present one, the family feels squeezed in. A female beggar in a metro town in some Asian country would hope that she is able to get enough charity the next day to feed herself and the baby she carries in her lap while begging.<\/p>\n

Similarly, most people, students, researchers, teachers would expect to do better the next time around that would result in better grades or better appreciation or more emoluments etc.<\/p>\n

A builder of apartments which did not do too well in the buyer\u2019s market would generally hope that the next lot that he builds will fetch him better financial returns. An old man who has led a poor miserable life would hope that his next life will be more comfortable and peaceful.<\/p>\n

The above are some common examples of what actually occurs and what a person wishes for in the future.<\/p>\n

Hinduism talks of karma and after life; if a person is kind, does good deeds\u00a0in his\/her present life, their next life will be better, enjoyable and rewarding as a consequence of karma.<\/p>\n

A natural question that arises is what are the factors or reasons for this dispensation of people in various walks of life to think about\u00a0what next <\/em>and how to do better in future.\u00a0This is difficult to answer satisfactorily but it seems that in\u00a0the contemporary world, insecurity and competition weigh heavily on peoples\u2019 minds and on\u00a0their behaviour.<\/p>\n

A different approach to life is provided by the ancient Hindu texts \u2014 Vedas, Upanishads and Bhagwad Gita. Apart from the concept of Karma and after life, the Hindu philosophy and texts divide\u00a0life into four\u00a0ashrams<\/em>\u00a0or stages.<\/p>\n

These are:<\/p>\n