Life is a Problem

Why Life is a Problem?

     Life is a problem for those who do not know what life is. A Jnyani will not complain about life for he knows what life is and how to live it. It is all in the Mind and Mind Control. All problems arise out of 'avidya', ignorance. Only an awakening, awareness, 'Knowledge' will pave the way for happiness and success in life. For an ignorant man problems are many and they are coming as 'taapatrayas'- three forms of heat. These three are: one created by the self, the second created by others, and the third, created by nature. The third one cannot be cured by mortals, as we are. The first and the second should be properly understood.

       The problems of Life are many and varied. But the source of all these is the same. It is our 'desire' selfishness, greed and avarice, and our inconsiderate behaviour towards others.  But, still more important is the 'Reality' that governs our lives. These are more beautifully explained in the Vedas and the Upanishads than in the modern day science text- books. May it be hunger and thirst, sexual urge and marriage, children and friends, the problems are the same. The answer to the life's problems can be easily found in Vedanta, Vedanta is the Key to happiness and success in life.

       Aadhi, vyadhi and Upaadhi are the three 'tapatrayas'. These emanate from 'ignorance', or 'Maya' (avidya) that govern our lives. Most of the problems of our physical wellbeing are created by ourselves- by our life style, our food habits and tastes, our attitudes, moods and mind.

Hunger and Food

         Chhandogya Upanishad gives an elaborate description of food. It is very important that one should take care of what he is eating, because “Mind consists of food”[Chhandogya Upanishad VI 5.4]. The grossest part of food goes waste while the middle part is transformed into flesh and the subtlest part goes to form the mind. It is like the butter, the subtlest part of the curds that comes up due to churning. Pure food gives pure mind and good memory; it helps to realize the true nature of this world. Cold and stale food is tamasic leading to laziness, inactivity, loathsomeness, and hot and spicy food are rajasic disturbing the calm disposition of mind leading to restlessness.

       Food is elusive. Search for food is the most important driving force in man and it is hunger that keeps him on the move. Why is food evasive? Although food is available in plenty, it is not easily obtained by man to quench his hunger; even water is available, but not food! Why is it?  The answer lies in the mystery of the origin of the universe. It is again illusion or ‘Maya’; it is the divine ‘Leela’.

        When the Lord created life he also created food.  First manifestation of Brahman is the Sun (Energy) and the second manifestation is the Moon (food); Moon is the food to the Sun. Sun and the moon also stand for time, the solar year, the lunar month, the Shukla Paksha and the Krishna Paksha and the days and nights, etc. The waxing and waning of moon is the consumption pattern of the Sun. In other words, the energy, space and time are the earliest manifestations of the Brahman, the Supreme Conciousness, the eternal cosmic flow. Flow as it clearly shows is movement; the food, the Brahman in his manifest form, is evasive! When food was created in water it started moving. The Lord tried to catch it by his mind, but could not reach it; He tried by the eyes, the ears, the nose, the skin and the tongue but failed to catch it. Then He Himself entered into it through the mouth with Vayu and reached the stomach (navel). Hence, food remained elusive and it is not within the reach of the mind or the five sense organs. If it were so, by mere thinking or thought of food, one would be satisfied! One would be happy and contented with mere sight of food, sound of food, smell of food and touch of food. Even the generative organs cannot reach for food unless Brahman enters through the mouth as Prana in the form of air. It is only when food along with Prana Vayu reaches the naval center of consciousness and Vaishvanara Deva, the Jataragni consumes it, the man is satisfied; remember, the hunger continues day after day and year after year till death consumes the body!

        The whole pattern of food chain is a very tricky business, like each bigger fish swallowing the smaller fish. When the tiger falls on a deer and kills it, the Jnyani knows that there is neither the tiger, nor the deer and its death. The deer and the tiger are merely different names and forms and killing an action identified by our ignorant mind and the senses. The Vedas proclaim “Annam Brahma” and the jnyani knows that neither there is an eater, nor the edible, nor the eating. It is all one ‘That Inseparable Brahman’! It is the ignorance that makes us believe all that appears in this sensate world as real. Name, form and function mislead us. Meditate on Him and the screen dissolves, illusion dissolves.

      It is again the Self, the Consciousness (Prajnya), the Enjoyer of the food; for namesake, it appears like the one eaten by man; but, actually it is an yajnya. The food offered to Vaisvanara Deva, the Jataragni. Since the mantra says “Annam Brahma”, the food is the visible God. Brahman manifest in different forms and rules the life on this planet earth. Hence, it is the Vedic dictum that one should never disrespect food! Any person with spiritual attainment will not find it very difficult to get food. For him, food is available in plenty, enough and to spare! Vedas proclaim, one should work hard, earn by self-effort enormous food, only to give it away to the hungry and needy.

       Food sustains Prana with air (Vayu) and water (Jal). When a man is dying due to hunger, the first thing that he requires is food.  Five morsels (handful) of food is just sufficient to regain the life of a man dying of hunger. With the first morsel, his dull brain will become more active (helps to regain memory); with the second morsel his closing eyes will open slowly. With the third morsel, his dying sound comes back. With the fourth his body will regain strength to sit up and the fifth morsel will make him stand on his own and he will exclaim that his life has come back! Offering a hungry man food is the most sacred duty of every human being.

       Here again there is an interesting story about Uddalaka teaching his son Svetaketu by experiment how food is converted into mind. As we all know Milk contains butter; butter comes out of churning of curds (made out of milk). Butter is thus the subtlest part that rises out of the churning of curds. Similarly, Uddalaka told Svetaketu, “That which is the subtlest part of the food that is eaten rises and becomes mind. The subtlest part of water that is drunk rises and becomes prana. Thus, my dear, the mind consists of food, prana consists of water and speech consists of fire”.

        It is through sattvic food, one can develop a calm and serene mind that can perceive the Atman. A volatile mind is the cause of all the unrest, unhappiness and misery. One should avoid Rajasic food- excessively hot, sour, bitter, sweet and saline food. Similarly, Tamasic food- cold, stale, over-night stacked in cold storage should be avoided. Only fresh, balanced and agreeable food should be consumed in limited quality, enough and to sustain the body. A Jnyani or a wise man will take food in limited quantity like medicine. Essentially man is not the mind but the Self or Atman. The Atman is ever free, infinite and eternal. It is pure consciousness. Mind is an instrument in the hands of the Self through which man apprehends and responds to the external world. Since the mind is always vascillating, changing constantly, it makes the world appear changing; if the mind is made to be calm and serene it can reflect the Atman and reveal the true nature of the world. When one knows oneself as the Atman, there is no longer a mind needing control. Hence, sattvic food is one of the essential requirements for a happy and successful life.

       Life teaches us lessons at every stage. If one is alert and attentive, he can learn the lessons to better his life. The ari-shadvargas cause misery to man and one should learn to control the senses. It is the avarice, greed, ego, jealosy, anger, and selfishness that bring misery. One should conquer fear and live a life of self-less service. One should develop equanimity towards all the fellow beings. Sympathy, compassion and helpfulness are the basic qualities of human beings that need be cultivated. This is emotional quotient that is more important than the Intelligence Quotient (IQ). Spiritual Quotient (SQ) is important in that it changes man into a ‘human’ and leads him towards divinity. Together, these make an integrated personality of a person.

       Another important question that haunts us is that of ‘luck’ or destiny. It is true that God’s Grace protects us by giving us strength- moral and spiritual. It is also true that one who performs his functions in the name of God achieves enormous success. But, luck alone is not in any way helpful is ‘self- realization’. Absence of ego is the first pre-requisite of success and happiness in life. Pride nullifies all good actions while humility and trust in God brings success.

        Absolute Faith in the ‘Almighty’ is a sure path to success. Devotion, total dedication, concentration, and total submission are essential requirements of a successful life.

       Ultimately, it is God’s Will. Since man has no knowledge of the future, it is He who will guide all persons in times of need or distress. Only those who submit totally to Lord Almighty will get His attention; in a sense He gives strength and courage to face life and provides clues to pass the test of life. Without His grace, nothing is possible in this worldly life. Even to tune oneself towards Him needs His Grace. ‘Trust in God’ is essential to success and happy life.

       Many people have ask the question “if God’s ‘Will’ be done, where is the need for human effort’? This is true. If God or Lord Almighty rules our destiny, a doubt arises as to what is our role in life. The answer is simple. ‘He helps those who help themselves’. One has to perform his duty without anticipation of anything in return. Every action is performed as if by divine inspiration and offered to the Lord. This is the secret of success and happiness. Giver is one who has plenty and he has got everything to give; but the actions of our past decide the results of our action. Each one gets according to his karma. If one has done good deeds in the past, the fruits of the good actions come sooner or later in this life. Those who do not believe in the karma theory depend on their rational mind that does not help in understanding the sublime and infinite truth. Ego speaks in such cases. It is ‘I’ which makes one forget the Creator. One has to do his duty and leave the rest in the hands of the Lord. Bhagavad Gita holds the key to success and happiness in life.

      Now, as to the living and enjoyment of life on this earth, there is a very simple formula. Find out the level of consciousness at which you operate. We are living on the periphery and it is difficult to go to the center of Consciousness. Most of us are living and operating at lower levels of Consciousness that does not require much energy. The centers of Consciousness decide about the nature of one’s status in life. Those who live and operate at lower levels, i.e., the level of navel are engaged in fulfilling their basic instincts of life like any other animals. Probably, they are at lower scales of evolution. They are consciously aware of their ‘annamaya kosha’ and ‘pranamaya kosha’. Some of them excel in one of these ‘koshas’ and achieve great success, too. A few of them rise above the level of awareness of these two layers and reach the ‘Manomaya Kosha’ and try to understand the mysteries of life. But those who realize higher levels of Consciousness reach ‘Vijnyanamaya Kosha’, and very few reach the innermost center of ‘Anandamaya Kosha’ and enjoy the Supreme Bliss.

         Hence, the level of Consciousness at which one operates is very important. One can excel at any of these levels by pure will power, personal efforts and Lord’s Grace. It is only the enlightened persons who realize the need to rise to higher levels of Consciousness; it takes several births to reach the higher stages of evolution. Buddha says, it took five hundred years to reach the highest state of Pure Consciousness,

        One must consciously be aware of one’s spiritual status and position in life in order to move forward; but this awareness is rarely possible. Normally, every- body has not got the capacity to understand these secrets. Hence, it is advisable to take the guidance of an enlightened person or a spiritual leader. But, it is hard to find a true guru. So one has to look inward to one’s own soul for guidance and thus become one’s own Guru. This is possible only by concerted sincere efforts. Develop purity of mind and heart.

     Now, one very important question arises. Is it necessary to take to Sanyas to attain liberation or freedom from the drudgery of life? This is a very important question that bothers most of the youngsters. To take to simple ascetic life does not come easily to one and all. Only initiated persons, may be those already initiated to spiritual life in the previous birth, can take to this course. Others who are born with an inherent desire to fulfill their unfulfilled desires have to struggle hard in this life. It is our desire that makes us undergo all the travails of life here. One can remain a householder and gradually turn to the Lord for guidance. A very simple life, dedicated to the selfless service of the fellow beings with love and compassion is all what is required of this life. It is very true that one has to work hard to earn wealth in order to help others. But, material prosperity and the ego that is growing with it should be offered to the Lord in total submission. This is the sure path to success and happiness in life.

      Well, can one become wise and realize the Self within, with all the knowledge of the scriptures and the spiritual practices, is a very important question. It should be clearly understood that each one has to live and experience his life himself. One should remember the advice of Sri Krishna to Arjuna. After the divine vision of ‘Viswa Roopa’, Arjuna is advised to simply forget everything the Lord has taught and shown, and revert to his simple duty. So no scripture can help in the Self- Realisation process and it is one’s sadhana and personal experience that is very important. Whether learned or not, everyone can reach the goal by sheer perseverance, devotion, love and sacrifice.

      Lord Jesus has stressed a good deal on this aspect of love and sacrifice, and the Bhakti cult of the Hindus stress the devotional aspect. The Buddhists try to practice a life of restraint and become monks in order to desist desire. Jainism preaches to practice compassion. So, in one way or the other, all the religions of the world preach only one thing and that is to live a simple life of love and self -sacrifice. There is happiness in giving and there is no doubt about it. Bookish knowledge is absolutely of no use, unless one practices the teachings of the enlightened souls. Not all the pages of the calendar or panchanga showing the rain-bearing stars will ever give a drop of water and no Veda or Upanishad and Puranas will show God.

    A very important secret of success of life is to shift from 'Body-consciousness' to 'Soul-consciousness'. No body asks you to resist temptations of life and feel frustrated or disappointed. In fact, Sanyas (ascetic life) is not an answer to the life's problems. Only, be aware of the temptations and the way it leads you to. Live a life of full awareness and become a witness, ‘Sakshi’, to yourself. Watch your thoughts and action. When you enjoy life, enjoy so well that you do not hanker after it any more. Be satisfied with what you get. Do not allow discontent and greed to take over. Once you fully enjoy what you get and do not live on its memory, you are liberated. Live a happy and contented life. Do not fall prey to greed and avarice. Contentment is very important. There is no end to greed and sensuous pleasures that only lead to sickness of body and mind. Restraint from excessive sexual indulgence, or for that matter, any excessive indulgences are forbidden. That does not mean denial of the essential requirements of life. The golden rule is “this far and no further”.