Desire, Fulfillment or Disillusionment

  The Buddha arrived at the conclusion that 'Desire' is at the root of all unhappiness. But he did not elaborate on the aspect of desire, its origin and fulfillment or disillusionment. The mute point is "Whose desire is it, after all?" The scriptures make these points explicitly very clear and explain the concept of creation and narrates the process of creation in great detail. Let there be no confusion as to the source of creation. It is the desire of the supreme Lord, His will. He desired. He willed. He thought, "He thought, He is One, and decided (desired, willed) to become many!" eko'ham, bahusyam | Thus, the entire universe, the cosmic entity is the product of the desire, will, decision of the Lord. One may ask who is this Lord? The supreme Lord, the 'One' is variously described by the jnyanis, the learned saints, Rishis, the knowledgeable ones as 'That' (tyat), brahmn. It is clearly stated as: tad brahmaa, tad vishnu, tad sarvam, tat paramam padam | Everything is 'tat' (That) inexplicable One! sarvam khaluvidam brahma |

   Bhagavan Shree Krishna sates in the Gita Creation is His will, magical powers, His prakruti and it is His yoga maya and even tells Arjuna; Look at my yogamaishvaram! pashya me yogamiashvaram |    There is no doubt that everything we see, hear, experience here is the yogamaishvaram of the Lord! But, then the question arises as to 'what this karma is and why this suffering of the jiva? It is the misconception that the jiva undergoes karma and the sufferings or joys and miseries of life. The jiva does not have anything of its own since everything is 'His' and 'Him'? The Lord goes on to make it clear that "He only exists and nothing exists besides Him!" He, the Lord, promises to take care of us if we realize this truth and surrender to Him, see yogaksemam vahamyaham | But, we do not know Him, His ways, or His will and our ego will not permit us to surrender to Him. Here again, this ego, our ahamkar is also not ours! It is 'ahanta', the Self-ness! It is the Rudra Shatiya (Rk Veda Mandala VII) who resides in us. His own divine plan, the purpose of life, is to make us realize the truth! 

   Now, what all are this life's trouble and turmoils are of our own making due to lack of knowledge and will to surrender to Him. It seems as though the supreme Lord has taken a journey in different forms and functions to experience His creation here. tat srishtva tadevanupravishat | It is His will, He takes different forms and experiences as the enjoyer (bhoktru), as also, the enjoyed (bhogya). He is the sacrificial Fire and He only is the havis, offered to the Fire. 'Agni' and 'svaha' |

   Now, as to the main questions, "whose karma" and "who suffers", the answer is: "it is the jiva and not the jivatman that suffers!" The jiva is a biological, physical entity of flesh and bones, and the jivatman is the spiritual entity of 'pranic energy' derived from the subtler-most source, almost invisible, as if a non-existent entity! The spiritual entity manifests as the physical entity in the form of radiation, vibration, waves and sounds. Thus, the joys and sufferings are that of neither the physical body nor the soul. It is the creation of adjuncts such as the mind, the intellect, the ego, and the senses that act and react with the brain cells. Although the joy and sufferings are not that of the Atman, or the Soul, it is stated that the Soul is experiencer, bhoktru, in the Gita! However, it cannot be denied here that the Soul is an embedded spiritual entity, and it is this Soul, Atman, that gets itself embodied due to ignorance, avidya, as per the scriptures. This ignorance, avidya, is not actually lack of knowledge, but it is the knowledge covered by attachment, ego, desires, anger, pride and prejudices, greed, selfishness, etc. like the bright light covered by a, ornamental cover or sunshine overshadowed by a passing chunk of cloud. The knowledge dawns when ignorance is shed off, the light shines when the cover is removed, or the sun shines as soon as the cloud passes! So also, the jivatman becomes happy and blissful as soon as it realizes its true nature.
   The jiva, as a physical entity, seems to suffer due to its actions driven by the desires. It is the unbridled freedom given to it by the Lord that prompts it to act ignorantly, senselessly, whimsically, and suffer the consequences of its action. The jiva has absolute freedom to think and act since He, the Lord only is seated within it and gives it the freedom! The Supreme Lord is free and, so also, is the jiva embodied by the Atman. So whom do you attribute all these karma, action and reaction, and the consequent joys and miseries? These are beautifully explained in the Gita- Ch. 13 verse 21.

   Hence, the jiva should realize its true nature of existence and evolve into a divine state of existence! There is no blame game here, as it is karma that one suffers or enjoys as a result of the frivolous mind, and its attitude and behavior. It is ultimately dharma that prevails. It (dharma) is the right way of living- right thoughts, right action, and right way of life. It is all about sadguna, sadvichara, sadachara and sat-sanga that help us. 

   Fulfillment lies in the attainment to the truth, realization of the 'Self', Atma sakhatkara. Disillusionment lies in worldly aspirations and the futility that accompanies it even when the desires are fulfilled! There is no end to our desire or its satiation. There is a gap between the time one aspires, desires, works hard for it, and the time the desire is fulfilled. Time eats away the fervor, the joy of attainment. Hence no worldly attainment is joyful permanently. At best, it may give some satisfaction, joy or happiness momentarily. No permanent happiness ensues from worldly attainments. Permanent bliss is attained from the realization of the Self.  The Gita says, "One who is established in the Self is equanimous, the happiest!" Atmanyevaatmano thishthah ... ...tasya prajnya pratisthitaa|