Square Peg in a Round Hole Revisited
Western Thought posits that it is *wrong* to be a square peg in a round hole. Indic thought offers a radical possibility: What if the goal of human life is to be a square peg in a round hole?
Dear Readers,
Over the past few days, I have been able to write the first cut draft of the first chapter outline, addressing the question: Why should you read this book? Obviously, I plan to rewrite this many more times, integrating various sets of questions I have been grappling with in my yagna. Do share your evocations/questions if you feel called to participate in this yagna. I also plan to have a call to share the exploration so far. If you wish to participate, do write to me.
Hello Friends,
Namaskar! Welcome to the sixth edition of my newsletter: Dharma and Dharmasankata: Infrequent Meditations to Discover the Best You Can Be Using Indic Wisdom. To learn more about this newsletter, what it is, what it is not, you can read more here.
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Square Peg in a Round Hole Revisited
The metaphorical idiom ‘Square Peg in a Round Hole' has a fascinating origin story. As per popular accounts, it was born when Sydney Smith delivered a lecture on moral philosophy titled, “On the Conduct of the Understanding”, at the Royal Institution in 1804–06:
“If you choose to represent the various parts in life by holes upon a table, of different shapes,—some circular, some triangular, some square, some oblong,—and the person acting these parts by bits of wood of similar shapes, we shall generally find that the triangular person has got into the square hole, the oblong into the triangular, and a square person has squeezed himself into the round hole. The officer and the office, the doer and the thing done, seldom fit so exactly, that we can say they were almost made for each other.”
Over centuries, we have internalized the idea that it is wrong to be a square peg in a round hole.
There are plenty of examples. The earliest reference to “Square Peg in a Round Hole” came in the works of celebrated journalist Albany Fonblanque.
“Sir Robert Peel was a smooth round peg, in a sharp-cornered square hole, and Lord Lyndenurst is a rectangular square-cut peg, in a smooth round hole." - Albany Fonblanque, England under Seven Administrations, 1837.
Indic thought offers a radical subversion of this popular idiom. To live a life of purpose and meaning, it is necessary to discover what it is to be a square peg in a round hole.
In Indic thought, one comes across geometric ideas. Life is a circle. Time is a circle, consisting of various Yugas. Indian classical music, when defined visually, is a geometric appreciation of musical ideas.
Along with the circle, simultaneously, there has always been a spiritual pursuit to draw a square inside the perimeter of a circle. Is it possible to anchor yourself in a perfect square, while you engage in the circularity of life? How do I discover the appropriate form in which I deploy my life energies and discover the gifts I bring in my life?
Could it be the reason why computing Pi holds a special significance in Indic thought?
Being a square peg in a round hole is a spiritual pursuit to ensure that one doesn’t get caught tumbling in the vicissitudes of life. Development of the consciousness is the attainment of the perfect square which can sit inside the circular flow of life, with its ebbs and flows.
How does the perfect square emerge inside the circle? What are the four sides of the perfect square?
In Indic thought, one comes across four stages of human life;
“Brahmacharya”: Being the Learner until 25
“Grihastashrama” : Being the Householder from 25
“Vanaprastha” - Being the forest dweller from 60
Sanyasa - Being the unattached sage from 80
One also comes across four divisions of varna, with its corresponding divisions of professional ethics, which later calcified into a system of hereditary castes, irrespective of their functional and ethical purpose.
Kshatriyas: rulers, warriors, and administrators.
Vaishyas: agriculturalists and merchants
Shudras: laborers and service providers
Indic thought offers a powerful framework to discover meaning and purpose. The Purusarthas is a four-fold directional framework to discover the goals of human life.
This book is an attempt to rediscover the four purusarthas -the four-fold goals of human life in an age of runaway climate change.
Discovering the four purusarthas, the four goals of human life is an attempt to draw the perfect square, in living terms, with dharma, artha, kama, and moksha.
What are the four sides of the perfect square that drives our aspirations?
The Perfect Square
The base of the square is Dharma. While the definition of Dharma has evolved over centuries, essentially, it asks a fundamental question: How do I live in the world that simultaneously enlivens me, you, and the context in which we live?
Life is not just about dharma. You have to discover some forms of livelihood
The next side of the square deals with the engagement of wealth - How do I generate wealth that upholds my dharma as a householder?
Living a life of dharma is not to live an ascetic life. Life has to be a celebration of the fullness of living.
The third side of the square deals with the engagement of Kama - How do I live a life of passion, beauty, and connectedness?
The fourth side of the square deals with the engagement of Moksha - How do I free myself from the trappings of conditioned existence to make mindful choices in my pursuit of dharma, artha and kama?
This book is an exploration to rediscover the four purusharthas in order to discover meaning and purpose in an age of climate change.
Today, amidst present-day worries of wars and fears of food security alongside tomorrow’s worries of climate change, it wouldn’t be too remiss to say that meaning has lost its meaning.
There seems to be a shared sense of realization that all frames of meaning that we built over 2-3 decades of our lives have lost their irrelevance.
We seem to be in a meta-crisis mode where we are right now not just seeking meaning, but frames of meaning in which we will anchor our lives.
How did I come to pursue this journey of discovering the four purusarthas? When did meaning lose its meaning? In order to tell that, I will have to tell you my life story.
The exploration will continue.