I absolutely love the fall season. The weather gets cooler and it’s actually nice walking outside. But, it is also a reminder that summer is over and generally so are the major vacations we take in the year. Whether it’s Memorial Day, Independence Day, or Labour Day, it seems everyone is just happy either celebrating with friends and family, enjoying a get-together in the backyard, or travelling.

My family and I were in Chicago in July for Independence Day with the kids running around and watching fireworks in the night sky. To them, the holiday was about having fun. The concept of freedom does not truly mean much to them just yet. Honestly speaking though, aside from understanding the theory of freedom from what I have learned from history classes in school, the ‘experience’ of freedom doesn’t truly resonate with me given that I have been living in a free society all my life.

From a US perspective, desiring to be free from the oppression of the British Crown, the 13 colonies banded together and collectively drafted the Declaration of Independence. For them, freedom amounted to three inalienable rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These foundational rights are the basis of the US Constitution, the very document that could be seen as the principal text for Western thought when it comes to politics, governance and human rights.

Growing up as a Swaminarayan Hindu, it was difficult to assimilate in the 1980s. No matter how well I spoke, how many friends I made, the differences were just too apparent — from the tone of my skin, to the food I ate and to my parents who were first generation immigrants to the US. It made me feel I was different no matter what I did. So naturally, there were times when I questioned why I was so different from everyone else. But in the end, being Hindu and religious was important to me, even as a kid, so I learned to accept that I was just different.

But something interesting happened as I grew older. Despite the preconceived notions of what Hinduism is, with all the different festivals, the multitude of deities and images found inside Hindu places of worship (mandirs), there are tremendous similarities to all other major religions of the world. While the buzzwords of liberation, salvation, nirvana, and moksha are all different, in the end, the reward, if you will, is exactly the same — eternal happiness. Or better yet, in pursuing moksha, you are in the pursuit of happiness, the very inalienable right mentioned in the Declaration of Independence.

If, taking a step back, the pursuit of happiness must follow the other two alienable rights: life and liberty. Without those two, how could we possibly pursue happiness?

Life is life, right? There shouldn’t be more to discuss than the fact that we need to be alive to, well, be alive. But let’s think about this for a minute.

National Geographic cites a 2011 study that estimates there are 8.7 million different species of plants and animals in existence on planet Earth. However, of that estimate, only 1.6 million species to date have been identified and described! This number of 8.7 million has changed over the centuries. Carl Linnaeus was a famous Swedish botanist and naturalist who is most known for creating the system of naming plants and animals — a system that is still in use today. In 1735, he estimated there were roughly 4,000 types of species. As more were identified, naturalists in the late 19th century estimated more than half a million species existed. It seems the more we are able to properly identify new species, the higher the estimate goes to.

Interesting enough, the shastras in Hinduism state there are 8.4 million types of species of life. These shastras were written thousands of years ago — that is quite impressive to know the estimated amount so long ago!

Irrespective of the actual number, the point is that there are a lot of life forms out there. Hindus believe in reincarnation, where an atma goes through different life forms until it attains a human life form. Only upon being a human can one perform new karmas that could either lead to going through the 8.4 million life forms once again, or to moksha.

Even if we leave the religious aspect aside, we all could agree that without being a human, the richness of life could not be fully experienced. Whether it’s complex reasoning, ability to communicate in multiple languages, pursue knowledge for the sake of knowledge or to express ourselves through art, most of these tasks can only be done in the human form. So, whereas most animals are preoccupied with survival, humans have evolved to spend their time in other endeavours, endeavours toward the pursuit of happiness.