(adapted from a lecture by Swami Paramarthananda)
There is a Sanskrit verse
which runs as follows:
Sukam
me Sarvadha Bhooyaath
Dhukkam
Maa Bhooth Kadhachana
Ithi
Ichche Sarva Saamaanye
Te Jnaanadeva
Sidhyathaha
May I enjoy happiness all the time. May I not face unhappiness at any time. These two desires are common to all the human
beings and they are fulfilled thru’ Jnanam.
These two desires, seeking
happiness and avoiding unhappiness, are basic and universal and are common to
all human beings. The verse itself tells
how this can be achieved. It states that
through Jnanam and Jnanam only one can reach this state of happiness
and happiness only. Before proceeding to
discuss how Jnanam could help one to attain this state of ‘only
happiness and no unhappiness’, let us try to understand how happiness and
sorrow arises in one’s bosom. Happiness arises when one goes through any
experience that one would like to go through. In other words happiness can be defined
as going through a wanted experience. On
the contrary one experiences sorrow when going through an experience one wants
to avoid. So sorrow or unhappiness can
be defined as going through an unwanted experience.
As one probes deeper one finds
wanted experience need not always be pleasant ones. They can also be painful experiences but they
are definitely loved ones. One example to illustrate this statement is
mountaineering. Mountain climbing is
full of pain and tension. It is highly risky as well. Human error like a
misstep or an avalanche can cause death to the mountaineer. Notwithstanding all
the hardships, pitfalls, and risks, mountaineers enjoy the suffering. It is a
wanted experience and so becomes happiness. Another common example is motherhood
for women. Motherhood is a painful
experience involving discomfort during pregnancy, intense pain in the form of
delivery and numerous hardships later in bringing up a child. Yet most women after marriage aspire to
become mothers and enjoy the motherhood when it happens because it is a wanted
experience and so brings happiness.
Similarly there can be
experiences which in normal circumstances can be termed pleasant and cause
happiness but in special circumstances can be viewed as unpleasant and cause
sorrow. When a self-employed person with
self-respect suffers a setback in business and loses fortunes and has to be
rescued by the in-laws to find his feet again he does not feel happy about regaining
the fortunes but feels sorry about the way it is achieved and this experience
brings him only sorrow.
In one’s life, one is all
the time struggling to get wanted experiences (pleasant or painful) and avoid
unwanted experiences (pleasant or painful).
But even though one puts in one’s best efforts, one finds that many a
time unwanted experiences impinge upon one and wanted experiences elude him. If
one without getting frustrated and sinking in despair analyses calmly, he will
discover the truth that only the experience happens and labelling it as wanted
or unwanted is done by one’s mind only.
As the labels are one’s creation only, they are within one’s control
unlike the experiences themselves which depend on many factors over which one
has little or no control. So if one through attitudinal change avoids wanted-unwanted
classification, one can get rid of the mental misery and accompanying sorrow.
This change in attitude that
guides one to get rid of the labelling can be achieved through Jnanam,
scriptural knowledge. Scriptures point
out that the entire universe is an orderly and harmonious whole implying
everything happens perfectly according to universal laws. Nothing is odd or
chaotic. Everything in creation, from
the tiny microbe to the giant sun, has an assigned role to play in this
universe. One can see this from the
example of childbirth. When the baby is in the mother’s womb, it gets exactly
the food it needs from the mother through a beautiful, naturally well-designed
connection called the umbilical cord. After the baby emerges from the mother’s
womb, the umbilical cord is snapped. The baby has delicate health to regular
food, food that adults consume. At that time the mother secretes milk – at the
right time and right temperature containing the right nutrition with all the
antibodies the baby needs to fight the diseases. It is a biochemical marvel and
this happens naturally without human intervention.
This reveals that the entire universe is orderly and well-designed by an
omniscient and omnipotent Lord. All experiences
of all people at all times, without any exceptions, are also an integral part
of the universe. So every experience in the world is perfectly in order as part
of the wonderfully designed universe and one classifies an experience as
unwanted only out of emotional immaturity or out of intellectual arrogance. So
one should regard every experience that one goes through as a wanted experience
only, needed for one’s spiritual nourishment and growth. In Brihadaranyaka Upanishad there is an
entire section (5. 11) called Vyahita Brahmanam advising one to look upon even diseases as sadhana or tapas (meaning a wanted experience).
Fasting (on Ekadasi)
and remaining without sleep (on Sivaratri) are wanted experiences
that one is happy to undergo. But
fasting due to lack of food on a train stranded in floods or lack of sleep due
to a noisy neighbour are unwanted experiences that plunge one in misery. The difference is just in perspective. If one
is a spiritual seeker with Jnanam, he will consider every experience as a wanted
experience and let no experience upset his tranquillity. The benefit is that
there are no regrets, no resistance, and no frustration. So if one changes one’s
perspective to any experience one can be happy all the time, is the knowledge to
be gained from the scriptures. With this
knowledge one will accept every experience as wanted for one’s growth, and be thankful
and grateful to the Lord for the experiences with the prayer “Let me consider
every experience as a wanted experience especially designed by the Lord for me
just like mother’s milk designed for me when I was an infant and therefore I
welcome all experiences whole heartedly and am thankful to You for all the experiences”. This is the Jnanam required
for one’s spiritual growth as well as for a happy life free of sorrow.
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