Think, Enquire and Reflect for Intuitive Wisdom; Satsang: Swami Sukhabodhananda October 3, Speaking Tree in TOI Edit Page | India, Spirituality |TOI

Think, Enquire and Reflect for Intuitive Wisdom;

Satsang: Swami Sukhabodhananda

October 3, Speaking Tree in TOI Edit Page | Edit Page, India, Spirituality | TOI

Why do people live a superficial life?

Just be in the question and let the question give you an answer; the answer will be an insight, not dead words or dry knowledge but intuitive wisdom. For this to happen, one has to learn to think, to enquire. Education is not about what to think but how to think. To think with openness, and not just continue to do what we have been doing. Whatever we have concluded may not always be true. People have lost the art of observation, to think, to question, as they are drunk with their greed. They don’t pause and ask, is this greed giving me joy or an illusion of joy? Greed takes you through a miserable trip. This is our biggest trap.

What makes us so greedy?

You become greedy because in your effort to be happy, you try to fulfill all your desires, Greed is an unwise way of making your life happy. You may put effort to be happy, but an unwise effort is counterproductive. It is qualitative and not quantitative change, which will bring the right impact. People’s understanding of growth is quantitative and greed oriented. I have a large house, lots of money, but that is not truly making an impact. It is inner richness of understanding, of true love and devotion that impacts life in a good way.

True religion is to enable you to search and find the Self, which is abiding.

If you learn to observe, you can see clearly that most of us are driven by fear. Out of fear, we create gods to fulfill our desires, which have grown into greed.

What is fear? Fear is a journey from uncertainty to certainty. At present, we are uncertain about something happening and hope that it will happen in the future. Fear arises when we are waiting for that “something” to happen. Thus, we start wondering whether it will actually happen or not and if it does not happen then what?

What is fear, really?

Look deeply and you will see that fear is a movement of thought. Thought is an expression of memory. Memory is the representation of the past, and from the past, it flows into the present and distorts the present and then projects a future. The whole movement is disorder. In this disorder, fear exists, and one has to see this clearly, and through that clarity, a different quality of action will emerge.

Fear also exists in comparisons. Comparison happens again through thought, and this comparison is serving the ‘little self”, the ego. Ego itself is a disorder and thoughts serving the ego add to the disorder.

Looking a little more deeply, you will find that fear is the absence of love. You can’t do anything with the absence of love. It is like darkness. You can’t directly remove darkness. To remove darkness, you have to bring in light. One has to bring in the light of love and then, lo and behold, fear disappears. To bring in love, one has to bring in the wholeness of love and not self-love. Self-love is limiting. True love is full and complete, and for that to happen, fear and greed which are feeding the ego, have to go.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

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No denying the fact that uncertainty about something results into the realization of restlessness or fear and all may not have the same level of understanding to deal with possibilities in time and the statement as "Four kinds of pious men begin to render devotional service unto Me – the distressed, the desirer of wealth, the inquisitive, and one who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute"(Gita,7.16), remains relevant to the discussion here successfully as the manifestation of the life process of the world is subtle in nature and individuals with varying state of mind are likely over here, the statement reveals the same as "Even a person of knowledge acts according to his/her own nature, for everyone follows the nature he/she has acquired from the three modes. What can repression accomplish?"(Gita,3.33), reveals the same only. Considering the statement "An intelligent person does not take part in the sources of misery, which are due to contact with the material senses. O son of Kuntī, such pleasures though feel good at first yet have a beginning and an end, and so the wise individual does not delight in them"(Gita,5.22), to rejoice in indulgences is not the means and as the verse states "God intends to lighten your burden, for the human being was created weak"(Quran,4.28), living in fear for anything beyond a certain limit is not called for and not likely to bring the solution to the problem and yet one is advised to develop a level toleration for the possibilities supposed to appear in the course of life and so the saying as "The nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed."(Gita,2.14). In this way, the verses as "While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust and greed develops from which anger arises. From anger, complete delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the fear of material pool. A person free from all the unwanted attachment and aversion and able to control his/her senses through regulative principles of freedom can attain lasting peace in life"(Gita,2.62-64), are worth considering here and abiding by the statements as "In the endeavor of regulative principle of yoga there is no loss of undertaking, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear. Those who are on this path are resolute in purpose, and their aim is one. O beloved child of the Kurus, the intelligence of those who are irresolute is many-branched and delusional in nature only"(Gita,2.40.41), is the means. As per the saying " One who is not associated with consciousness can have neither transcendental intelligence nor a steady mind, without which there is no possibility of peace. And how can there be any happiness without peace?"(Gita,2.66), to be in peace with the self and enjoy the life to the fullest level alongside is possible for the embodied beings in general and that would require one to develop the sense of empathy and compassion towards the others alongside by means of dutifulness for true happiness rests above the comfort level of the senses and mind in reality. An important part of our learning comes from the knowledge of what the successful persons really exemplify by their acts and so the statement "Whatever action the great men performs, the common masses follow. And whatever standards they set by exemplary acts, all the world pursues"(Gita,3.21) and, as the verse goes "There are three gates leading to the hellish state – lust, anger, and greed. It is to be shunned by every sane being quickly, for they lead to the degradation of the soul"(Gita,16.21), let us be prepared to inquire about what ought to be done and what ought not to be done selflessly according to the injunctions of the scriptures with humility to have the all-round successes in life with time.