At times life seems to be a ceaseless struggle against relentless oppositions to our sense of security and peace. Though we yearn for permanent, uncompromised happiness material reality simply does not supports that ambition.
Imagine yourself amidst a vast ocean, its waters violently whipped into terrifying waves by hurricanes. You’re tormented within and without by the harsh winds, the bolts of lightning, and the great waves rising beyond the sky. You feel yourself growing perplexed and fearful. You wander about alone in the water as if dumb and blind. Tormented by hunger and thirst, attacked by terrible sea monsters and repeatedly beaten by the wind and waves, you move aimlessly through the infinite darkness. Sometimes you feel lamentation, bewilderment, misery, and fear, and at other times you experience such terrible illness and pain that you feel yourself practically dying. This is a sketch of life in material existence.
In New England it was a common practice to punish criminals by fastening them onto a so-called “ducking stool.” This was a seat attached to a plank and used to plunge culprits tied to it into water. Just before drowning the criminal was brought out of the water just long enough to gasp for one life-saving breath of air, only to be plunged back into the water again.
Having fallen victim to the ducking stool of material existence, who would mistake the temporary gasps of relief as true happiness? In such stark conditions what’s the value of fleeting sensations of pleasure? But ignorance veils the real nature of this world from our perception. No matter how miserable our lives may be we tend to think, “I’m OK.”
Once a group of examiners placed a number of fleas in a jar and closed the opening with a lid. At first the fleas fervently tried to escape. After a while they noticed that the higher they jump the harder they smash their heads against the lid. So in order to avoid the hardship and impracticality of the attempt they adjusted their leaping to the precise hight of the jar, stopping in the air just before hitting the lid. The moral of this story is, "Learn from your experience."
Alluringly, this world offers to soothe our pains, but mundane solutions are superficial, they deal only with symptoms leaving the underlying problem untouched to fester and resurface time and again. What we need to notice and confront is the underlying cause of all our pains. When the superior spiritual energy is in contact with the inferior material energy, an incompatible situation arises, like a fish out of water. This is the reason we suffer.
Distress in this world is inescapable and unpleasant, but not without meaning. Difficult times in life can be most rewarding. We can thrive even in those dark hours. Adversities are in fact opportunities for advancement in spiritual consciousness. Armed with awareness you can come to view them as the blessings that they really are. These are the forces that spur you forward. When you face the problem and open yourself to what it wants to teach you, you grow. But you could also go the other way, towards disintegration. It all depends on how you respond to the challenge.
By taking personal responsibility for the difficulties we encounter in life, and reacting with spiritual faith, we can imbibe the real nature of this world as a miserable and temporary place uninhabitable for any sane soul, develop renunciation towards mundane gratification by understanding that our present suffering is a direct result of our indulgence in worldly pleasures, become relieved of sinful reactions accumulated through previous lifetimes (we're just getting tokens), strengthen our relationship with the Lord by persisting in our devotional practice and faith, increase our spiritual humility, and ultimately return home back to Godhead in the very near future.
When we thus come in contact with the superior spiritual energy we are established in our happy, normal condition. In fact, we may have that experience even in this life if our minds become sufficiently absorbed in the Divine Names and Pastimes of Krishna and the Vaishnavas . The result of this spiritual consciousness is that one becomes increasingly enlightened, and he enjoys life with a thrill, not only for some time, but at every moment.
Imagine yourself amidst a vast ocean, its waters violently whipped into terrifying waves by hurricanes. You’re tormented within and without by the harsh winds, the bolts of lightning, and the great waves rising beyond the sky. You feel yourself growing perplexed and fearful. You wander about alone in the water as if dumb and blind. Tormented by hunger and thirst, attacked by terrible sea monsters and repeatedly beaten by the wind and waves, you move aimlessly through the infinite darkness. Sometimes you feel lamentation, bewilderment, misery, and fear, and at other times you experience such terrible illness and pain that you feel yourself practically dying. This is a sketch of life in material existence.
In New England it was a common practice to punish criminals by fastening them onto a so-called “ducking stool.” This was a seat attached to a plank and used to plunge culprits tied to it into water. Just before drowning the criminal was brought out of the water just long enough to gasp for one life-saving breath of air, only to be plunged back into the water again.
Having fallen victim to the ducking stool of material existence, who would mistake the temporary gasps of relief as true happiness? In such stark conditions what’s the value of fleeting sensations of pleasure? But ignorance veils the real nature of this world from our perception. No matter how miserable our lives may be we tend to think, “I’m OK.”
Once a group of examiners placed a number of fleas in a jar and closed the opening with a lid. At first the fleas fervently tried to escape. After a while they noticed that the higher they jump the harder they smash their heads against the lid. So in order to avoid the hardship and impracticality of the attempt they adjusted their leaping to the precise hight of the jar, stopping in the air just before hitting the lid. The moral of this story is, "Learn from your experience."
Alluringly, this world offers to soothe our pains, but mundane solutions are superficial, they deal only with symptoms leaving the underlying problem untouched to fester and resurface time and again. What we need to notice and confront is the underlying cause of all our pains. When the superior spiritual energy is in contact with the inferior material energy, an incompatible situation arises, like a fish out of water. This is the reason we suffer.
Distress in this world is inescapable and unpleasant, but not without meaning. Difficult times in life can be most rewarding. We can thrive even in those dark hours. Adversities are in fact opportunities for advancement in spiritual consciousness. Armed with awareness you can come to view them as the blessings that they really are. These are the forces that spur you forward. When you face the problem and open yourself to what it wants to teach you, you grow. But you could also go the other way, towards disintegration. It all depends on how you respond to the challenge.
By taking personal responsibility for the difficulties we encounter in life, and reacting with spiritual faith, we can imbibe the real nature of this world as a miserable and temporary place uninhabitable for any sane soul, develop renunciation towards mundane gratification by understanding that our present suffering is a direct result of our indulgence in worldly pleasures, become relieved of sinful reactions accumulated through previous lifetimes (we're just getting tokens), strengthen our relationship with the Lord by persisting in our devotional practice and faith, increase our spiritual humility, and ultimately return home back to Godhead in the very near future.
When we thus come in contact with the superior spiritual energy we are established in our happy, normal condition. In fact, we may have that experience even in this life if our minds become sufficiently absorbed in the Divine Names and Pastimes of Krishna and the Vaishnavas . The result of this spiritual consciousness is that one becomes increasingly enlightened, and he enjoys life with a thrill, not only for some time, but at every moment.
0 comments:
Post a Comment