The bhutan observer
May 2018
What are we looking for?
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Human society seems to be lost in a maze of desires for quenching their thirsts ceaselessly. But unfortunately,they are not able to define the very object of pursuit despite many years of experiences. While it is an established fact that we want emancipation and freedom from the clutches of sufferings, there is something missing in what we seek for in a daily basis. I have tried to put this human predicament in the lines below with a motive to portray the existing scenario as best as possible. This would hopefully enable us to determine what we actually crave for and achieve what we all aspire for - happiness. Some of the thoughts put below has been derived from the divine discourses given by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev.
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It is said that an empty mind is devil's workshop. Generally human beings deploy this mind to a variety of engagements with objectives to fulfil their cravings in one way or the other. The first is the family where we all seek to make our lives comfortable and secured and as understandable we receive some happiness in the process. Next, we are all aware that in our job or profession we give our heart or minds and shoulder collective responsibility in an office or a company and derive some degree of satisfaction. We have other past-times and habits like seeing movies, going to a bar, hang around with friends, reading books, participate in physical exercises like games and sports and many other activities that satisfies our thirst. In doing all these activities, the core objective is utmost pleasantness, blissfulness or joy. Yes, this is all we want in our lives and it is the best thing that can happen to us. But we must be sensible enough to partake in any of these activities because we are always the sufferer or enjoyer as a consequence of these actions.
Our mind is like society's garbage bin. It keeps piling up heaps of thoughts which does not really make any sense most of the time. Yogis say that the content of our mind is not our choice. You must be seeking God himself in your thoughts but many of the times we find ourselves swayed away to insignificant ideas which continue to pervade our minds. Many of the sages have outlined specific ways to win over the mind's chatter and attain calm and peacefulness. However, the most spelled out mantra is that you just ignore whatever is happening in your mind. In the Gita it is said that if you win over the mind, you will be the master but if the mind wins over you, you would be a slave. Generally, some say that desire is the cause of sufferings but it is not that all desires cause suffering in the real sense. It is the unfulfilled desire which causes misery and sufferings. We need desire to make progress in spiritual path too. We need desire to move from point A to B. Desire is life and that's what keeps us going.
There is no doubt that all we are seeking is pleasantness for one and everybody. However, it is in our discretion as to how we want to achieve that utmost happiness in an inclusive manner. We must remember that faring better than others is not your goodness rather the feeling is sickness and vice versa. One very important technique of being blissful is by remaining calm and equipoised all the time, be they be at home, work, friends or other places. This is a very effective yoga which is sure to yield results as we continue to practice. For the purpose of meditation, the Isha Kriya [beginner's' meditation] by Sadhguru could be recommended because it's not only easy to understand but also is very profound. Let me delve into the spiritual aspect of human pursuit. The pleasantness of the body, emotion and mind is a pre-requisite for making spiritual progress. While remaining physically blissful, we can gradually transcend the physical to the spiritual the objective of which is Freedom, Liberation or Nirvana. Like we invest money to run a business we also need to invest our time and energy if we are to get the full benefit from our spiritual progress.
A seeker in spiritual path often gets deluded by the fact that he is unaware of what he is seeking. One needs to come out of this dilemma if he is to experience the greater truth. What is the object of my seeking? The answer is that you yourself are the object of your seeking. The search will only be over when the seeker himself realizes himself the seeker. Yogis point out that you are you and thou art thy lord whom thou seeketh. This is the beauty of the spiritual science which points to you and you alone. Once you realize this beautiful connection, you would surely become one of the happiest persons on this planet. This entire creation is magnificent, and the creator has put everything in such a wonderful order where we can be blissful always and rejoice in his name. The cause for being happy is that we are an indivisible part of the supreme.
Having realized all we want to achieve is pleasantness within and outside, we would do everything possible to maintain that status quo. Also, our long-term objective is Liberation from the bondage of Karma and transcend to the realm of spirituality, it is necessary to follow the path designed. It is an open book now that all human experiences happen within like the stimulus and response of the five sense organs. The seat of all our experiences is within us which is the mind, body, emotions and the life energies as Sadhguru repeatedly mentions. We need to take charge of all of them and create a situation of peace, blissfulness, joy, love, happiness, pleasure, compassion, ecstasy and so on. Our outside situation may not happen our way but our inside situation must happen the way we want because we have the freedom to choose how we want to react to a situation. It means we can chose to be happy anytime we want. This is the greatest gift only humans have– Power to Choose.
Our mind is like society's garbage bin. It keeps piling up heaps of thoughts which does not really make any sense most of the time. Yogis say that the content of our mind is not our choice. You must be seeking God himself in your thoughts but many of the times we find ourselves swayed away to insignificant ideas which continue to pervade our minds. Many of the sages have outlined specific ways to win over the mind's chatter and attain calm and peacefulness. However, the most spelled out mantra is that you just ignore whatever is happening in your mind. In the Gita it is said that if you win over the mind, you will be the master but if the mind wins over you, you would be a slave. Generally, some say that desire is the cause of sufferings but it is not that all desires cause suffering in the real sense. It is the unfulfilled desire which causes misery and sufferings. We need desire to make progress in spiritual path too. We need desire to move from point A to B. Desire is life and that's what keeps us going.
There is no doubt that all we are seeking is pleasantness for one and everybody. However, it is in our discretion as to how we want to achieve that utmost happiness in an inclusive manner. We must remember that faring better than others is not your goodness rather the feeling is sickness and vice versa. One very important technique of being blissful is by remaining calm and equipoised all the time, be they be at home, work, friends or other places. This is a very effective yoga which is sure to yield results as we continue to practice. For the purpose of meditation, the Isha Kriya [beginner's' meditation] by Sadhguru could be recommended because it's not only easy to understand but also is very profound. Let me delve into the spiritual aspect of human pursuit. The pleasantness of the body, emotion and mind is a pre-requisite for making spiritual progress. While remaining physically blissful, we can gradually transcend the physical to the spiritual the objective of which is Freedom, Liberation or Nirvana. Like we invest money to run a business we also need to invest our time and energy if we are to get the full benefit from our spiritual progress.
A seeker in spiritual path often gets deluded by the fact that he is unaware of what he is seeking. One needs to come out of this dilemma if he is to experience the greater truth. What is the object of my seeking? The answer is that you yourself are the object of your seeking. The search will only be over when the seeker himself realizes himself the seeker. Yogis point out that you are you and thou art thy lord whom thou seeketh. This is the beauty of the spiritual science which points to you and you alone. Once you realize this beautiful connection, you would surely become one of the happiest persons on this planet. This entire creation is magnificent, and the creator has put everything in such a wonderful order where we can be blissful always and rejoice in his name. The cause for being happy is that we are an indivisible part of the supreme.
Having realized all we want to achieve is pleasantness within and outside, we would do everything possible to maintain that status quo. Also, our long-term objective is Liberation from the bondage of Karma and transcend to the realm of spirituality, it is necessary to follow the path designed. It is an open book now that all human experiences happen within like the stimulus and response of the five sense organs. The seat of all our experiences is within us which is the mind, body, emotions and the life energies as Sadhguru repeatedly mentions. We need to take charge of all of them and create a situation of peace, blissfulness, joy, love, happiness, pleasure, compassion, ecstasy and so on. Our outside situation may not happen our way but our inside situation must happen the way we want because we have the freedom to choose how we want to react to a situation. It means we can chose to be happy anytime we want. This is the greatest gift only humans have– Power to Choose.
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- DILIP BISHWO, Iowa, USA
Contact the writer at: bishwod@bhutaniowa.org
Contact the writer at: bishwod@bhutaniowa.org
The article presented in this column is the personal opinion of the writer and doesn't represent the opinion of BCI or any other organizations what so ever. The BCI has only offered the medium to the writer for expressing his opinion through this website.
