Apart from the turning points mentioned already, others may also be drawn to find meaning and purpose in their life for different reasons. Other turning points could stem from experiencing meaninglessness that stems from being repeatedly thwarted in one’s endeavors, or a severe life-threatening illness. However, not all hints or turning points are necessarily negative. The flow of creativity, flow in mental or physical activity are also hints of inadequate knowledge of our true self. However, usually our strongly egoic self tends to ascribe success and positive outcomes solely to personal effort and rarely to other agencies. Ironically, failure is usually ascribed to external factors (random events, luck, Fate or Providence), and rarely to one’s personal agency. This is why the negative turning points are more often instrumental in making us turn to inquire about our true nature, rather than the positive ones.
Finitude and transience of the external world: Now the speed with which one learns from life depends on what type of learner one is, which to some extent is shaped by previous karma. Quick learners are those who learn deductively, as opposed to slow learners who learn inductively[1]. By this I mean that a process of deduction leads one to the conclusion that if one experience in the external world (say a dessert or one human relationship) is finite in its capacity to satisfy and is transient in nature, then all experiences in the external world (all desserts and all human relationships) will be the same. The fault is not with the dessert or the human at the other end of the relationship, but merely a characteristic of the external world. Quick learners only need one or two examples to deduce this law. This process of inferential learning is called anumAna in Yoga, and is considered one of the valid forms of knowing. However, inductive learners will have to learn repeatedly through multiple experiences of the finitude of pleasure and human relationships. In the early stages of the inductive learning process these characteristics of finitude and transience are ignored or set aside, and the failure of a dessert or relationship to satisfy is ascribed to that particular instance (“The desserts at such and such restaurant are not good. Or he was not the right man for me.”) Thus the human being develops a “comfortable” notion of reality where some unknown or uncomfortable aspects of life are safely relegated to unknown factors and pushed back into the unconscious mind. But they do not go away for good!
Experiences of the subtle realm: Sometimes the hints of one’s true nature come to individuals in whom instinct is strongly developed. Such people may experience extrasensory or parapsychological phenomena. Gifted astrologers and psychics belong to this category. Usually these phenomena are often dismissed by rationalists since these are chance phenomena that are difficult to systematically reproduce with any certainty. However, these too can lead to greater understanding of one’s true nature provided these special powers do not feed one’s ego[2] and become an impediment to knowing one’s true nature. It is also not useful to get over-awed by seeing these powers in others, or to get caught up with exploration of the powers themselves. Frequently consulting astrologers is not useful in leading one towards one’s true nature. Yielding to gullible blind faith in any person does not lead one any closer to one’s true nature. The true aspirant acknowledges that such powers may exist, but steers clear of them.
Cracks in reality: Another hint comes from what I call “cracks in reality”. This relates to the existential dilemmas discussed at length by the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre in his books "Nausea" and "Being and Nothingness". Sartre was a brilliant philosopher who directly confronted these questions, but the problem with most Western philosophy is that it does not address the issue of how a philosophical viewpoint translates into a practical way of living. The lives of philosophers such as Sartre are not inspiring to me either. Ultimately the value of a philosophy must lie in how it enables one to lead a more meaningful life.
There are many literary works that beautifully capture the existential dilemma associated with the human condition. In the famous novel "The Stranger" written by Albert Camus, the protagonist says "Mother died today or maybe yesterday". These and other works of the post-WWII era highlight this sense of 'disconnectedness'. So many of T. S. Eliot's poems speak poignantly of the human condition. In the 'Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock' he writes "I have measured out my life with coffee spoons." Why does Eliot continue to appeal to so many readers and how does he speak so directly to our inner heart? This is because he asks the same eternal questions that trouble every human being. The Seers and Rshis who saw the Truth asked the same questions and their answers are what are contained in the Upanishads. In fact, Eliot quotes directly from the Upanishads in his poetry.
The intuitive feeling about the unreality (mAyA) of human life was also expressed by Shakespeare, when in the 1600's he wrote in 'As You Like It':
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
The same sentiment can be found in the AnnamAcArya krithi "Natanala bhramayaku nA manasA' (all this world is a play O dear mind).
Swinburne in his 'Garden of Proserpine' writes
From too much love of living,
From hope and fear set free,
We thank with brief thanksgiving
Whatever gods may be
That no life lives for ever; 85
That dead men rise up never;
That even the weariest river
Winds somewhere safe to sea.
In Macbeth, Shakespeare writes
...it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
In the Victorian period we find great wisdom in Lewis Carroll's (Charles L. Dodgson) 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland', when Alice meets the Cat:
Alice: But I don't want to go among mad people.
The Cat: Oh, you can't help that. We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.
The feeling that “things are not what they seem to be” pertains to this existential condition and this can be exacerbated by sensory deprivation, monomania, and inattention to maintenance of physical well-being. While these experiences can sometimes be a starting point to begin the journey towards one’s true self, wallowing in the existential condition and trying to find a way forward through existential philosophy does not lead to knowledge of one’s true nature.
Seekers of the truth are led to the Truth: It is also possible that someone who is otherwise happy and secure in life is drawn to find out more about their true nature out of curiosity. Seekers of the truth in science, art, literature, and human relationships are all drawn eventually to the same questions. Gandhi’s "My Experiments with Truth" could just as easily have been titled "My Experiments with Consciousness." In many traditions, certain classes of society were designated as custodians of these revelations, as were the Brahmins in India. It is not unusual that one's training and background may draw one towards these questions, but these questions are the proper enquiry for all human beings. Anyone endowed with a human body and consciousness is going to be drawn to this enquiry, and by demonstrating sincerity of purpose is then qualified to receive instruction on the path.
Others: Or there may be others drawn to this inquiry that do not fit any of the categories I have attempted to describe.
[1] See Forman Williams, Combustion Theory, Preface or Foreword on this distinction.
[2] Here by ego I mean ahamkAra (the faculty of mind that gives the impression that ‘I act’).