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Everywhere in this universe, in one respect man's condition is the same.
No matter how vastly different he may be in the outer appearance of his
life, different countries, different races, different cultures, different
languages, different ways of living, eating, dressing, etc., he may be
completely different in all of these aspects, but there is one thing that
is the same to all human individuals. And it is this factor that binds
them into a global unity. If analyzed, it will be discovered that all
humanity is engaged ceaselessly, day after day, from the cradle to the
grave, only in trying to avoid painful experiences and in trying to attain
that which gives them happiness.
Yet, beloved seeker, let me ask you this one very important
question. Since the time of creation, is there one single individual who
has been born onto this earth who can stand up boldly and declare, "In
my life I have never experienced any sorrow or pain or suffering whatsoever.
My whole life has been a life full of joy, full of happiness, full of
bliss". You will find that there is not even one single individual
on earth who has not had at some time or another some type of pain or
suffering or grief or sorrow.
This is a world of pain and sorrow. With a few minutes
thoughtful reflection you will see that this is so. Many painful experiences
are brought about by natural forces beyond our control-floods, earthquakes,
tidal waves, cyclones, fires, famines. Then there is suffering brought
about by other forms of life-germs, microbes, bacteria, viruses, insects,
reptiles, animals. But by far the greatest source of suffering is caused
by man himself. It is suffering that is self-created, that arises within
our own psychological self due to desire and attachment for worldly objects-love
and hate, anger and passion, fear, worry, tension, anxiety, jealousy,
envy, greed, frustration, disappointment, disillusionment, the sorrow
of separation, bereavement, and all other varieties of restlessness of
mind due to our multitude of desires.
Everyone thinks happiness is to be found in objects and
experiences. Everyone thinks, "If I could only attain certain objects,
if I could only possess them, if I could experience them, I will get happiness."
In spite of countless disappointments and disillusionments, man never
learns. There is not an iota of happiness in earthly objects. No object
is perfect. They do not have in them the power or ability to give you
lasting happiness or joy because they are finite and they are imperfect.
Otherwise, they must be able to give a homogeneous state of happiness
to all beings at all times under all conditions. But what do you actually
see? If you like milk and you take a glass full of sweetened milk flavoured
with spices, the first glass may give you satisfaction. And if you are
pressed upon to take another glass, the second glass may give satisfaction,
but it is not the same degree of happiness or pleasure as was the first
glass. And if your stomach is already full with two glasses of milk, if
you try to take a third glass of milk, it becomes unpleasant, it becomes
undesirable. And if it is forced upon you, a fourth glass of milk produces
nausea and you will have to throw it up. Where then is real happiness?
If milk had in it the power of giving happiness, it must
be able to grant you this happiness at all times, under all conditions.
It cannot change its nature. Such examples show that all experiences derived
from the contact of senses with their respective sense-objects ultimately
are experiences that end in disappointment.
Therefore, the great world teacher, Lord Krishna had
this very important insight to impart to us when he said: "O Arjuna,
all these experiences brought about by the contact of one or other of
the five senses with their respective sense objects, these experiences
are ultimately the source of sorrow. There is no real happiness in these
sense contacts and sense experiences. They are but mere momentary sensations
afterwards giving you pain."
A wise person realizing the real nature of earthly objects,
that they are impermanent, fleeting, empty of content, that they cannot
give happiness, such a person never stoops to revelling in these petty
objects of this materialistic world.
Yet lasting happiness must lie somewhere, otherwise the
Creator would not have put this inner urge within each human soul. Somewhere
there must be a source of eternal and unchanging happiness attaining which
all desires become at once totally fulfilled. Is there an experience which
grants at once total satisfaction and eternal bliss, which takes one forever
beyond all sorrow, pain and suffering? This is an important question.
It was to the resolution of this riddle of life that the ancient sages
and seers of India devoted their entire lives. Relentlessly they pursued
this quest until they ultimately achieved an experience of inexpressible
joy that took them forever beyond all sorrow, pain and suffering.
These sages, being filled with universal love for all
beings, did not want to keep this experience to themselves. Therefore,
they declared to all: "O mortals, striving and struggling upon this
earth plane, weeping, wailing, buffeted by the vicissitudes of life here,
we have come upon a great discovery. There is something beyond these appearances,
these vanishing names and forms that go to make up this universe. There
is something beyond which forms the very source and support of all these
objects of the phenomenal world. Why do you search in vain for happiness
outside. Come, come, happiness resides within. Stop your wanderings amidst
this desert of empty earthly objects, amidst this jungle of sensuality,
and turn your gaze within. Dive within. Happiness is within. God is within
you. Meditate upon the Reality within."
They had discovered a Supreme Reality attaining which
one goes beyond all relative experience, all duality, and enters into
a blessed state of Bliss Absolute, a state beyond all sorrow. To attain
that state in which even the heaviest sorrow is powerless to shake one
is the birthright of each and every individual soul.
If Wealth is lost,
nothing is lost.
If Health is lost,
something is lost.
If Character is lost,
everything is lost.
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