Understanding Joy And Sorrow

PREFACE

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I went to the market in Kolkata but I did not find any shop where joy was being sold.

I went to the market in Mumbai. I continued my search for a place where I could buy joy, but with no result.

I went to the market in Surat, the diamond city. There was no signboard indicating a place where joy was on sale.

I went to the market in Delhi, the capital of India. Not a single businessman did I find selling joy.

I could find no shops selling joy in any of the other metropolitan cities, such as Chennai or Bengaluru, either. There is no factory manufacturing it, nor has any high technology been discovered which can produce joy. Then, the question arises: From where does joy come? From where can it be obtained?

Long research has revealed that neither joy nor sorrow can be produced or sold in the market. Joy and sorrow are the rays of consciousness that cannot be created.

The cycle of joy and sorrow is perennial. A man is joyful sometimes and at other times, sorrowful. Favourable conditions stimulate joy, whereas unfavourable conditions result in sorrow. The transformation of consciousness brings a change in the stimulation of joy and sorrow. A man with an enlightened consciousness remains calm and peaceful even in an adverse situation. A man with a dormant consciousness will remain tense and restless even in a favourable situation.

There are various causes that activate a feeling of joy or sorrow:

D Remembering joy or sorrow experienced in the past

D Imagining joy or sorrow

D Thinking of joy or sorrow

The theory of karma is a theory of subtle vibrations. Karma is the core of an individual’s internal condition. Sometimes, we become sorrowful without any external cause; this happens because of the intense force of karmic waves.

SPIRITUAL SORROW

Spirituality means that whatever happens takes place in the innermost layers of consciousness. Negative emotions, like anger, pride and greed, lie in pure consciousness and are termed spiritual vices. Positive emotions, like forgiveness, modesty and contentment, which also lie in pure consciousness, are called spiritual virtues. Spiritual vices cause sorrow while spiritual virtues lead to happiness.

A person who has faith in the power of action and effort can transform sorrowful moments into moments of happiness through a positive attitude. On the other hand, a man whose consciousness is dormant, through his negative attitude, will transform a moment of joy into sorrow.

We may ask here, what exists in larger quantities in this world? Joy or sorrow? The common reply would be that this world is full of sorrow. A man always finds himself surrounded by problems.

I believe in the soul. I believe in the soul as the doer of everything. Therefore, a man himself is responsible for the joy and the sorrow he experiences.

In Yoga Darshan there is an explanation of the relation between sorrow and the fickleness of the mind. A steady mind can reduce a big incident to a small one. The less the fickleness, the less the sorrow. On the other hand, a man with an unsteady mind will magnify a small issue into a big one. The more the fickleness, the greater the sorrow.

Spirituality prescribes the following aphorisms to transform sorrow into happiness:

D The body and the soul are not identical. One who practises the science of the separation of body and soul transforms the consciousness of agony into the consciousness of bliss.

D Consciousness is free from all kinds of ailments. I reside in my consciousness. The disease occurs in the body and not in the consciousness. Therefore, I am not subjected to pain.

The sensation of sorrow can be reduced and terminated through the practice of meditation and contemplation.

The various aspects of sorrow and joy have been discussed in this book. Happiness and sorrow have been analysed in several of my books and lectures. Mukhya Niyojika Sadhvi Vishrut Vibhaji has selected some flowers of joy and sorrow from those books and lectures and, consequently, a beautiful garland has been woven. Sadhvi Vandanashree assisted her in this task.

The reader himself will reach the conclusion that joy is greater than sorrow. Joy is turned into sorrow by those whose world is confined to the materialistic approach. For such persons, there will always be more sorrow than joy.

The gist of this book is that a person should develop samyagdarshan–right vision and right attitude.

The translators deserve high praise for the good work done by them.

— Acharya Mahapragya

1

SORROW AND THE HUMAN MIND

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W e human beings are connected to a vast world of living organisms, of which we form a small part. Living beings can be classified into three categories which may be described as those who are:

D Devoid of a mind

D Endowed with a mind

D Beyond a mind

Worms, insects, flies and other similar creatures form the first category. There is no mentaldevelopment in them andtheir life merely depends on physical consciousness. They can be termed as underdeveloped living beings.

Human beings fall into the second category. They are blessed with a wonderful brain which has the capacity to think, to imagine and to memorize. Using it, man has progressed from the Stone Age to the Atomic Age and is now heading towards the Nano Age.

It is natural that where there is capacity to think, there will be different ideas; and where there are thoughts, there are bound to be conflicts. No mental activity is free from the clutches of conflict. Agony, struggle and depression are all by-products of the mind. Happiness and peace are the first priorities of a human being. Nobody really wants to be sad. Living beings which are devoid of a mind also suffer, but in the absence of mental activities, they are less expressive. The only pain they suffer is physical. A tree suffers pain when its leaves are plucked or its branches are broken, but this pain is momentary—it lasts only as long as the action lasts. Once the action stops, the pain disappears.

Such is not the case with humans. Humans are the smartest creatures in the world, but they are burdened with sorrow. If a man is injured, he feels unbearable pain which will last until it is cured. This physical pain is linked with the mind and it turns into a sensation. Because of his mental development, man leads a life full of sorrow. If he was lacking in a developed brain, he would not suffer from any kind of mental turmoil. The pain would stop with the end of the incident itself.

If a man is physically injured he experiences pain, but he may soon forget it. This may not be so when he is verbally abused. Because of a sharp memory, a powerful imagination and the capacity to think, a man tries to reason out everything and the matter does not come to an end. Man’s habit of reacting and retaliating is inevitable, and looking for a solution to eradicate it cannot be analysed or explained. The more developed his mind, the greater is the sorrow in his life. Mental development has proved to be a boon as well as a curse to the human race. Unfortunately, this boon and this curse cannot be separated from each other.

Even for King Midas, who was blessed with the golden touch, the boon turned out to be a curse. His greed for gold made him lose his beloved daughter who, like his material possessions, turned into a golden statue. His happiness at attaining an immense amount of gold immediately turned into unbearable sorrow. Now, the question arises: can we protect ourselves from the curse of mental development? The afflictions of this age compel us to think that it would have been better for man to be devoid of a mind. But, having reached levels of development hitherto undreamt of, it is not reasonable to think so. It would be better to look for a solution to eradicate the issue of mental sorrow. The problem is, how can one reduce sorrow? Meditation is the answer to the problem. Mental development can continue to be a boon only if a person practises deep meditation. It can keep a man free from different kinds of sorrow. To reduce distress, one has to reach a state beyond the mind: a state of mental development where the normal mental process declines. This state of mind can be achieved only through meditation.

The third category of living beings includes those who have the capacity to go into a state beyond the mind. In this state, one is free of thoughts and imagination. There exists only light and pure consciousness, resulting in the end of misery and leading one to experience true joy.

When the mind is active, sorrow and negative emotions, like day and night, cannot be separated from each other. The state of the mind keeps on changing continuously. Sometimes it struggles with restlessness and at other times, it rests in peace.

Once, Prince Bhadrabahu, going through the city with his minister’s son Sukeshi, noticed a crowd. The curious prince asked, ‘Why have so many people gathered here?’ Sukeshi answered, ‘It is a cremation ground and a dead body is being cremated.’

The ignorant prince asked, ‘Why is the body being cremated? Why isn’t it preserved?’

Sukeshi replied, ‘When there is no life in the body, it rots and stinks. So it has to be cremated.’

The prince, who was very proud and fond of his beautiful body, asked, ‘Will my body too be cremated one day?’

Sukeshi replied, ‘Certainly, it will be.’

The realization of this truth made the prince furious. He was terrified by the idea of cremation. His pride in his body vanished, and he became sad and depressed. The king, who came to know the reason for his son’s sadness, took him to a holy man and narrated the whole incident.

The holy man addressed the prince, ‘False knowledge is making you sorrowful. This physical body is not real beauty. Real beauty resides within you in the form of consciousness. Try to perceive that.’

The prince realized the truth and his mind became calm and peaceful.

STATES OF MIND

There are three states of mind:

D Restless

D Peaceful

D Ecstatic

The human mind remains restless; rarely does it experience the true happiness that comes from tranquillity. The rich and the poor alike suffer from agitated states of mind. The poor are unhappy due to lack of resources and the rich, in spite of having abundant wealth, are never satisfied. It has been noticed that the rich people are more restless than the poor.

The human mind is in a state of rest when the owner’s emotions are under control, but this state does not last long. Fickleness of mind makes a man continually restless.

The third state of mind occurs when one goes beyond the mind. This state can be experienced through meditation. Here, the mind remains inactive while the psyche becomes active. Mind and psyche are quite different from each other. What is the difference between them? All aspects of life cannot be explained on the basis of the mind only. It has its own limits while the psyche is quite comprehensive. A combined explanation of mind and psyche can draw a complete picture of behaviour and conduct. The mind can stop functioning but the psyche continues to perform. The activeness of the mind suppresses the psyche. When the mind is in a state of tranquillity—that is, when one goes beyond the mind—the psyche becomes active. Meditation is the means for triggering one’s psyche. An over-active mind increases the sorrow within. In the state beyond the mind, sorrow comes to an end, whatever may be the cause of distress. The end of restlessness of the mind results in the absence of thoughts and distress.

Maharshi Patanjali described sorrow as the first consequence of an unsteady mind. The greater the fickleness, the greater is the sorrow. Nobody wants to suffer but it is unavoidable because man does not understand the fundamental cause of misery. The general perception is that unfavourable conditions cause sorrow. However, this is not enough to explain the degree of suffering one goes through because of these conditions. The amount of sorrow one experiences is practically immeasurable.

MEDITATION: NOT JUST A MENTAL EXERCISE

The only solution to overcome distress is to go into a state that is beyond the mind. The practical solution is meditation. The objective of meditation is to go into a state beyond the mind and to realize the conscious mind. Its goal is not to gain control over one’s mind. If we confine mediation to a mental level it will prove to be merely a mental exercise.

A herdsman used to work for a pandit. One day he asked for his salary for the month. The pandit said, ‘You