Causes of Sufferings
First I tell you about cause of human sufferings
When Sensor 2 evaluates the receiving input, which may be pleasant or unpleasant, the Alarm in the form of Sensation arises which may be pleasant or unpleasant according to the evaluation of Sensor 2. At last, Reaction comes into picture and we react to pleasant Sensation and desire it more and more which result in attachment and a File of Attachment is formed on Divine Layer. If the reaction is of hate or dislike, a File of Hate is formed on Divine Layer. The fruit of both kinds of Seeds is suffering
But how File of Attachment results in to sufferings?
We all attached to the family and people around us, they give us happiness and play an important role in our life.
On the face, this is right.
But the Law of Impermanence regulates all the objects including living beings and nothing is permanent in this universe.
Once we are attached to any one, whether material objects or living or human beings,
when we lose them, being impermanent in nature,
it results in suffering which is more painful than the happiness derived from them.
This means basis of attachment is suffering. But this is natural phenomenon that we get attached to family, people and material objects possessed by us. How it is possible not to attach with our possessions?
Instead of knowing the fact that everything on this universe is perishable under Law of Impermanence, if you experience this fact it will be easier for you to maintain detached attachment with all objects and beings and save yourself from sufferings
Since we all have independent journey of life, we should be attached to living beings to the extent of fulfilling our moral and social responsibilities towards them and not to entangle in their situations or become part of it. We should behave like a doctor who treat the sufferings of patients without feeling their pain and as a result give best of his expertise to make them free from diseases. We should be attached to living beings but remain detached from their situations and help them from outside. If we start feeling their pain and misery, we will also become like them and instead of helping the sufferer, we also need help of others. So, by detached attachment, we remain free from sufferings and help others to the best extent.
We all require material objects to live life and experience this physical world for which we are here. Whatever we desire over and above our requirement, is lust. The nature of lust is that it multiplies. Lust instigates a person to accumulate more and more and his accumulation should be more than others. Lust makes a person so much occupied and gives no scope to stop and think that he himself is an impermanent creature and the money he is accumulating is also of the same nature. As we discussed earlier that the basis of attachment is misery and attachment with impermanent objects will ultimately result in sufferings and pain. If someone has lots of money, it is not bad; but if he accumulated such money to show his superiority over others and never help other who are in real need of it, in that case he is attached with it and such money will never give him internal peace and pleasure. On the other hand, if a wealthy person helps others, we may term his attachment, as detached and such person will enjoy his material possessions and peace within. You may observe people around you and in the family, then it will be easier for you to understand.
Now the question arises, why we all remain in fear?
How to get rid of fear and insecurity about life and its well-being?
People used to have fear about future that everything should remain good and as per their wishes and feel insecure about it. They don’t know what will happen in future but are apprehensive of how to face anything, which they don’t wish, would happen. Actually this fear is within us and developed over a period of time. Parents and society generally inculcate this fear since childhood and with the growth of child, he/she gets conditioned to this fear and insecurity. Actually Fear is an illusion, which used to develop inside us. The reason of its development is our excessive attachment with all objects of impermanent nature. Fear has a nature of expansion. If we have fear about one aspect of life, slowly this limited fear expands and make us fear for other aspects too and slowly we remain fearful for result of our every action and ultimately it takes the shape of insecurity and we feel insecure about life.
Actually the main reason for fear within us is that we don’t live in Present. We are conditioned by the Past and this conditioning develops fear for the Future. If a person experienced sufferings or seen others sufferings in past, his mind gets conditioned and develop fear that the same should not happen in future. Just see that he is living in past and think about future. Generally, there is no Present in the life of people and this is the main reason of their sufferings.
Since Fear develops due to conditioning of mind, we can get rid of fear by breaking the conditioning, for which we should stop doing actions, which we do out of fear. For instance, if we pray out of fear for good future or fulfillment of desires, then stop praying to any deity or God. If you do any action out of superstition or fear of losing an achievement or non-fulfillment of desire, then stop performing such action. We should be aware of the fact that our success or fulfillment of desires cannot be achieved with the help of an illusion i.e. fear. Whatever we will get during this life is on the basis of past actions we have already performed and the present actions that we are doing. Fear is not a medium to achieve rather make things difficult to achieve and create mental and physical sufferings.
Other way of getting relieved of Fear is to live in Present. To live in Present means be present at the moment wherever we are. Generally, we do not remain in the moment running in the present, we either have a thought of past or future. At this moment, we are moving on this mud path, discussing a topic and we can see plants around us and this is the Present and truth of this moment, but tell me honestly that, are you living in Present only? Are you with the truth of this moment?
This is a truth that we don’t live in Present. As I explained you that past or future thoughts travel every moment in our brain. If the thought is related to past experience e.g. if in the past, somebody didn’t performed an action which suits me or which is against me and that thought comes to me in present moment, I will start reacting to it within me, either starting disliking it or planning to retaliate to take revenge and devise future plan of action against that person. On the other hand, if thought is about future pleasure, then I will attach to it and start desiring for its experience and suffer in case of its non-fulfillment. In this way, we ruin our Present due to Past or Future thoughts, otherwise Present is always blissful.
In fact, to remain in Present is the basic Meditation or we can say foundation of the building of Meditation is to remain in Present.
It is easy to say that we should remain in Present, but how it is possible when thoughts of Past and Future are continuously travelling in brain and we don’t have control over them?
Basically, we are conditioned to have thoughts relating to past or future, in the brain and think that this is normal to have such thoughts. But we have not experienced the present, which is the right or pure state of mind. In order to remain in present, we have to break the conditioning of mind for which we have to remain alert and aware about our thoughts. When we are aware of thoughts of past or future, they vanish but will come again due to such conditioning. We have to be aware and alert about the past and future thoughts constantly while doing anything whether studying, cooking, bathing, watching TV or even eating. You will observe that slowly frequency of coming these unwanted thoughts will increase.
With such consistent practice for a month or so, these unwanted thoughts will stop coming to your brain and you will start enjoying peace of living in present.
I have already explained you that we have got physical body to experience the pleasures and sufferings, which are created by us by reacting to the sensations created by contact of our senses with the relative objects. But we could not stop reacting to sensations in the body due to our inability to feel these sensations. For which connection of physical body (Self) with the etheric body (Innerself) is required. Which is possible through ‘Yog’ only.
But everybody has an awareness of ‘Yoga’ now-a-day, but reaction of people to situations has increased much due to which everyone seems to be suffered physically or mentally.
Actually, whatever is popular in the name of ‘Yog’ is ‘Asana’ or ‘Exercises’ only of body and breath, which may shows relief to people on the face, and helping them to connect with material world, which is the cause of their sufferings.
‘Yog’ means to bind, join or union of physical body (Self) and etheric body (Innerself). It is a path, which creates a bridge between Self and Innerself to provide every answer to the mysteries of life and thereby relieve us from sufferings and miseries through experiential wisdom.
I have observed that you are using word ‘experiential wisdom’ instead of ‘wisdom’. Is this a special kind of wisdom? ... Kavita asked.
Wisdom is of three kinds. First is ‘Knowledge Wisdom’ which comes in the form of words, when we read, seems to be wisdom giving, whether logically correct or not, but makes no difference in life.
You mean whatever words of wisdom we see on social media are come under this category of Wisdom. Which gives knowledge about life but due to non-application in life, becomes wasteful.
You are right. Knowledge Wisdom may increase our knowledge but make no difference in our as well as other’s life.
Second Wisdom is ‘Intellectual Wisdom’. Such words of wisdom are logically and intellectually correct and after reading such words, we generally think that we have become aware and enlightened. But actually such Wisdom again makes no difference in our as well as other’s life due to non-application. They again increase our knowledge, which we think as wisdom, but of no real gain.
Third Wisdom is ‘Experiential Wisdom’. In fact, knowledge when applied becomes Wisdom. Knowledge means we believe some facts, which never experienced. When we experience such facts, they become Experiential Wisdom. Only experiential wisdom makes us enlighten.