#1 Launching the Vision

Dreams create visions. Visions create ideas. Ideas propel action. Action produces reality.

This undertaking is the result of one such dream. A dream that created a vision that morphed into an idea that spawned action that created what you see now.

Welcome to the official launch of the homonobilis.com website and the publication of the companion book: “Homo Nobilis: The Search for the Meaning of Our Existence”. The website is now live, and the book is available online.

This work was several years in the making. Before I go any further, it is worth understanding the motivation behind the work. Why did I embark on this venture? What drove me to write the book? How did the idea form? What was the vision? What was the dream about? Having an understanding of where this vision evolved from will help you appreciate the reasoning behind this venture.

The Curiosity

The roots of this work go back to my childhood. As a curious child, I liked to take notice of the natural world around me and go beneath the surface of the observable world. I vividly remember – I was six or seven at the time – looking at the sunrise and questioning its origins and role: How was the sun formed? Who created it? How come it rises and sets every day flawlessly? What if it didn’t someday? Will the world end then? How long will the world go on? What does the world exist for? What do we exist for? What is the meaning of it all?

I would watch the birds chirping in the trees and the eagles gliding through the sky and have similar questions. I would enjoy the animal world around me with the same curiosity – the stray dogs and cats roaming the street, the livestock our neighbor kept, and the rooster proudly crowing on top of the boundary wall at dawn. During summer nights, when it was too hot inside and we would make beds under the open skies, I would lie down and gaze at the stars and constellations above me. I would be awestruck by the magnificence of the view. Where did all the stars come from? How did they form? How far were they? How come they looked so peaceful and in balance?

But perhaps my greatest curiosity lay with our being. I remember contemplating as a child about my existence: That I had a unique way of looking at the world just like everyone else. Did that mean each one of us had a distinct entity and soul? If so, did that imply we had a deeper personal meaning to our existence with perhaps a big responsibility associated with it? I wondered about our presence. When and how did we – the human beings – appear on Earth? And for what purpose? What was the meaning of our existence? I remember being fearful of death. Will I die one day? If so, why? And what would happen to me after I die? Where will I end up? These questions come naturally to a child – one who still has innocence within him and whose soul has not yet been contaminated by the vices of the world.

The Learning

The big questions of life have piqued my curiosity since childhood. Obviously, I did not have answers to the questions as a child. But growing up as a teenager, my interests revolved mainly around reading and learning about the world – most notably about how things worked and why they existed. Science and religion were naturally two of my favorite subjects that I explored deeply during my teenage years. Deep down, my interests were in understanding the reality of things. I did not want to live my life in ignorance. I did not want to be full of regrets in my old age.

The responsibilities of adult life kept me away from continuing such pursuits for many years. But once those started waning a bit, I resumed my quest. By that time, I had made my home in a new society – the “West” – and had keenly observed and followed the cultural, religious, and scientific discourses of the Western world for years. I was amazed to find a large disconnect in the worldviews of the Western and Eastern philosophies. It was as if the two worlds communicated at different frequencies.

The Idea

It was this yawning gap between the two worlds that stimulated me to do something to bridge the gap. I strongly felt that this vacuum needed to be filled with the proper and balanced perspective from the Eastern and Western worlds. The discourses in the Western world generally leaned heavily toward scientific and material knowledge but with incompatible or deficient religious understanding. The ones in the Eastern world generally lacked sound scientific understanding to match up with their strong religious worldviews. A sound holistic understanding of the world was missing.

Finding this disconnect highly disconcerting, I revived the curiosity of my younger days when I had the opportunity to do so later in life. I dove deeper into my research to examine the different subjects related to the big questions of life. But this time, I lay heavy emphasis on Western discourses in my studies on top of the knowledge acquired from Eastern traditions. I wanted to ensure that the Western population – a prime audience of this work – could relate to it as well.

The Perspective

The Western society, in general, is very well-versed in its history and culture. Its eminent scholars and academicians have studied and published about world history, cultures, and religions for a long time. However, the general populace in the West has a rudimentary understanding of the world outside the Western realm. Their knowledge is mostly limited to the perspectives they have been exposed to through their information outlets. And that picture may not be a faithful representation of the reality of the world at large. Understanding the world objectively is crucial to a better appreciation of its complexities and the need to live harmoniously.

The book “Homo Nobilis: The Search for the Meaning of Our Existence” was written to provide such a perspective. While it builds on knowledge espoused in the West, it adds insights from non-Western perspectives. It introduces the audience – especially the Western audience – to perspectives beyond what they are typically accustomed to. While scientific and material knowledge is their expertise, the Western academicians leading the discourse on the mysteries of life have not been completely objective about it. This work examines such biases impartially. The religious and philosophical ideas of the West likewise are restricted to particular worldviews and may do well to learn from other traditions. This work fills in the gaps with fresh perspectives. A holistic perspective that answers the big questions of life is lacking. This work offers a grand unification of the mysteries of life.

The Hope

My childhood curiosity that I carried with me was not unique to me. Most people have similar questions pop up in their minds at some point in their lives. But the wide web of the world bogs us down from exploring deeper. We end up spending our lives keeping up with the Joneses, serving the tunes of our times, and oblivious to the reality of things. That might be fine if such a competitive lifestyle offered a meaningful purpose to our lives. But the reality is that a vast number of people in the world do not find their lives fulfilling and meaningful. One only has to look at social statistics to understand this reality.

This site and the companion book are an attempt to help people find a modicum of fulfillment in their lives. The hope is that the work may bring meaningful closure to someone out there in the virtual world. Someone with sincere and good intentions searching earnestly for the meaning of their life. Someone who wants to see things beyond what they are typically fed and told. Someone who wants to use their intellect to decide what is right and wrong. Someone looking for rational, relatable, and organic answers to the reality of things. For that someone out there, the hope is that you will find the book and this site refreshing, eye-opening, and perhaps life-changing.

Did you have similar queries in your mind from your childhood or later in life? How did you deal with them? We’d love to know and discuss different perspectives from people around the world. We can disagree but we must be respectful to each other. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.