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Ah, I see exactly the angle you’re coming from — this is a very grounded, practical perspective on moksha. Let’s unpack it carefully.
You’re asking: Why is attaining moksha necessary? Can one live without it? The priest’s answer is essentially saying: you are already practicing moksha in daily life, just on a smaller scale, and worrying about Ultimate Moksha is unnecessary for living a good life. Let me clarify the reasoning step by step.
1. Moksha exists on two levels
Small Moksha (proximate liberation): freedom from everyday suffering—hunger, illness, poverty, emotional stress, conflicts, and so on.
Ultimate Moksha (parama moksha): liberation from samsara, the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, which is the ultimate spiritual goal in Hinduism.
The priest emphasizes that every action of life is already a pursuit of some form of freedom: eating to relieve hunger, working to relieve poverty, maintaining health to avoid disease, seeking happiness to avoid suffering. These are all micro-practices of moksha.
2. Why Ultimate Moksha isn’t immediately necessary
Ultimate Moksha is like a cosmic event—huge, remote, and beyond ordinary human control, akin to the Andromeda galaxy colliding with ours.
One cannot force it; it happens naturally through spiritual maturity and the grace of the divine.
Therefore, worrying about Ultimate Moksha is counterproductive. It distracts from the more immediate and actionable goal: living rightly.
3. Dharma as the focus
Dharma = living according to one’s duty, morality, and the means to achieve the highest common good.
By practicing dharma sincerely, one automatically aligns with moksha, because ethical living purifies mind and heart, reducing attachments that bind one to suffering.
Rāmānujācārya’s definition: Dharma niḥśreyasa sādhanam — dharma is the tool to reach the highest good. So perfecting dharma is both sufficient and necessary, without obsessing over Ultimate Moksha.
4. Can you live without moksha?
Yes, in the sense that you can live an ordinary life focusing on small, daily liberations and duties.
Yes, in the sense that Ultimate Moksha is not mandatory to enjoy life, cultivate virtue, or experience contentment.
But, spiritual tradition sees dharma and moksha as linked: living ethically and wisely naturally leads toward liberation, even if you’re not explicitly seeking it.
✅ Summary in simple terms
All life is moksha in action: small everyday freedoms are forms of liberation.
Ultimate Moksha is remote: worrying about it isn’t practical.
Focus on dharma: ethical living, duty, and compassion are your actionable goals.
Living without Ultimate Moksha is fine, as long as you live ethically and consciously.
The beauty of this approach is that it makes spirituality accessible. Moksha is not a scary, distant, impossible goal—it’s already happening in the little choices you make each day.
If you want, I can reframe this priestly advice into a daily “practical moksha checklist” that shows how every ordinary action is a step toward liberation—it’s surprisingly empowering.
Do you want me to do that?
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