Suffering
The human being has a greater capacity for suffering than any other animal in the world. Maybe we have a greater capacity for rejoicing also, but the swing between suffering and rejoicing is huge and constantly recurring in human beings. It is as if we are on a seesaw. Animals undoubtedly suffer, but their suffering is normally connected with their bodies. Human suffering is acute because the mind is involved.
Undoubtedly, it is natural to suffer when the body is in pain, but the pain in the mind is far greater. Even when the bodily pain has subsided, the mind lingers over it and suffers. It will also suffer for the pain that is still to come. It will imagine events that may never occur. It will build castles in the future and suffer when they crumble. We suffer for what took place, and we suffer for what “may never” take place. There is never an end to our suffering. The rich suffer because of their bad health and the bad behavior of their spoilt children. The poor suffer for what they don’t have, the middle class suffers because they feel they should have a bigger house and a bigger car than their rich neighbors. Everyone has some suffering of their own.
The Bhagavad Gita refers to this planet as “dukhalayam, ashaswatam.” This means “The ever-changing abode of sorrow!” In the modern world, with increasing technology, we have devised ingenious methods of forgetting this sorrow. So many channels on the TV, so many apps on our phone, bungee diving, scuba diving, car racing – all sorts of distractions meant to divert our minds from the ever-present sorrow lurking at the bottom. Unless the mind is distracted, it will fall into deeper and deeper depression!
So let us look into the cause for all this suffering. The main culprit is, of course, the “mind.” Our minds are capable of great imagination. In one way, this is good because this is how we have created so many wonders in the external world. On the other hand, it’s not so good because we still tend to imagine situations that may never arise in the future, and we will continue to dwell unhappily on the past and think of ways by which we might have circumvented certain situations. Both these exercises are of no use to us in any way. The sorrow about past situations simply tends to make us sad, and imagining the future adds to stress and worry.
The Puranas say, “Mana eva manushyanaam kaaranam bandha mokshayoho!” “In the human being, the mind alone is the cause of both bondage and liberation.”
Therefore, we come back to the question of how to control the mind? All yoga is an attempt to control the wavering mind. The great psychologist Patanjali says, “Yoga, chitta vritti nirodha!” “Yoga is controlling the waves of the mind.”
The Sanatana Dharma gives many ways to do this. First amongst these is “pranayama.” We have already discussed how breath and emotions have a close connection. Daily practice of pranayama or breath control will work wonders for us. But the practice has to be regular. Great discipline has to be followed if we want to control our mind. Certain yogic postures will also give tremendous benefit.
The strange thing about human beings is that we can spend hours doing work for others, but we cannot spare even one hour daily for our own benefit. Of course, the time spent in an office will give us a paycheck at the end of the month, but take a minute to think. Continuously sitting in an office, doing work we don’t like day after day, month after month, year after year, is certainly not conducive to the health of either the body or the mind. Moreover, a mind that is at peace can think and work better than an exhausted, worried mind. The fact is that not everyone may get the type of work they really like, so that’s fine. At least, you can spare some of that precious time during the twenty-four-hour period to do some sadhana. For this, you don’t have to ask anyone’s permission. It is our wish, and if we stop and think for a while, we will realize that this is not only our wish but the most necessary thing in our life if we want to live a life of no suffering and anxiety.
A good routine to follow is to do at least 15 to 30 minutes of yogasanas, 15 minutes of pranayama, and 30 minutes of meditation. Round up the whole thing so that it fits into a one-hour period, which is the maximum that most people can spare for themselves!! Anything extra that you can spare is always a bonus. Continuous practice of yoga is the only way you can control the mind. Taking a walk in nature is the cheapest and most powerful way to counteract burnout and the sort of depression we feel when we sit in front of a computer the whole day.
Another excellent method is the constant repetition of the mantra in your mind. The mind is nothing but a stream of thoughts. If the stream stops, there is no mind. But the stream never stops, so what we do is to give it one thought instead of a thousand thoughts. And this thought is “the mantra”. It needs thoughts to survive, so allow it to think the mantra!
There is a famous story in the puranas about this. Once a man managed to catch hold of a spirit who promised to do everything he wanted. But it made the condition that it should never be left alone. It should always be given some job to do. The man thought this was very easy, and he agreed. But of course, the spirit would finish the job in a trice and ask for more. After some time, the man ran out of requests, and the spirit started to run after him to gobble him up. The man ran to his guru in despair and begged him to save him. The guru told him to ask the spirit to build a huge well-polished iron pillar and oil it really well. Then he told him to climb up to the top. Of course, the spirit kept slipping and slipping and could never reach the top, so he was kept well occupied.
The guru then told the man that this was the allegory for the mind, which is like a naughty spirit that can never be controlled and is always thirsty for more thoughts. It can never sit still. The only way to control it is to make it repeat the mantra all the time so that it never gets time to sit silent and do mischief. All the mantras given in the Sanatana Dharma are good. If you have your own guru mantra, that’s fine. If you don’t have one, then you can repeat the mantra “Aum” or “Rama”. Both of these are very powerful and can control the mind.
Our New Year has just started, so let’s all make a resolution to start from today and keep the mind occupied with elevating thoughts rather than depressive and unnecessary feelings.
Hari aum tat sat