OUR MISERY & IT'S ROOT CAUSE.pdf

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Swamy Divyanand Saraswathi

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My devout sisters arid brothers

Come friends, let us all sit together and
discuss a problem of our lives in peace.
All of you must have tried time and time
again to make your lives more comfortable,
but in vain. You have collected innumerable
things throughout your life and made

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friends with many people, but the problem
remains unsolved. When people and
physical things were of no avail you star­
ted kneeling down at the portals of the te­
mple. How many times have you not cou­
nted the rosary, taken vows and made
pledges? But alas, you failed to achieve
mental rest, mental peace. All your efforts
were in vain! Why did this happen? What
is the reason for that?
My brothers and sisters! You have me­
ted out the wrong treatment for the mala­
dy. Your eyes were paining and you have
swallowed a pill for stomach ache. You
had cruciating pain in the stomach and
you were dabbing your eyes with coilyrium. Could the illness be eradicated this
way? Evidently not. We are making the
same mistake in life to-day. You are try­
ing to treat a physical ailment spiritually
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and a spiritual illness with a physical me­
dicine. This way no treatment is possible.
First try to diagonise the illness. Have you
ever tried to think of the root cause for
agitation, strife, stress and sorrow? But
have not failed to race to the temple at
the slightest agitation and vowed to offers
rupee and a Quarter's worth prasadam or
listened to the scripture at a rupee and a
quarter. You expected to attain peace and
happiness! You might have even without
belief or devotion repeated some mantra a
few times for a few days. You thought
that you had done your duty
I am not ridiculing these things. One
should go to the temple, listen to holy
scriptures, make pledges and take vows.
But if you think you will reach your goal
by these things you are bound to be disa­
ppointed. That is what is happening with
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external how can you realise your mistake?
To understand your folly you will have to
turn within, realign your perception and
change the course of your life. Only then
will you understand the.problem, the true
cause for the malady and real treatment
will be possible.

■ ‘‘■'3r some selfish end or revenge
i‘ you kill 3 person and to escape punishnient you go to a temple, wrap yourself
with divine-worded apparel and count
rosary, do you think you will escape retri­
bution. Never. On the other hand to hide
\ our Crime if you use faith as a shield then
you will be not only committing a worse
eiime hut will also be sowing seeds of
discard and unhappiness. You will never
be rewarded for your vows, pledges, rosa­
ries. Youi heart's desire will never be ful­

filled and you will lose your reverence,
faith and trust on your Gods, Saints, Scri­
ptures and Mantras.
l ook at the anam.oly in our life. We never
tiv to analyse the reason for all the sorrow
in oin life but start blaming one person or
the other and even the Lord. How does

that happen? As long as your attitude is
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.

Now, please come with this Sanyasi
and try to fathom out the root cause for the
misery. Have you ever seen a bird with a
single wing flying away happily towards
its nest? Your answer will be a no, because
it can not fly with abandon towards its
goal on a single wing; it needs two wings.
With only one wing it could crawl on the
earth, it cannot fly. And what are you do­
ing in life? You also are trying to fly to­
wards your goal on a single wing. No, my
brother, you will not succeed. With only
one wing you can helplessly crawl but
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you cannot fly with exuberance towards
your goal. You try to fly time and time aga­
in but each time you crash to the ground.
Do not be surprised. Like the bird our life
also has two sides. When we concentrate
on one aspect neglecting the other and try
to pamper it then we will also be reduced
to the status of a single winged bird. Re­
member, whenever your life becomes one­
sided then no power on earth can save you
from sorrow.

You must be wondering as to what
these two aspects or your life are? Then lis­
ten to me carefully, contemplate on my
words, try to put them in to practice and
instil them in life. One aspect of your life
is the practical one and the other is the
spiritual aspect. Unless these two aspects
are qually teken care of the problem remai­
ns unsolved. At the first signs of distress in
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life, to escape it you take shelter in spiri­
tualism, make pledges to Gods and Godessess. But the moment you see good days
you will not be able to find time to think
of the Lord. This is pampering one aspect
of life. You have not tried to analyse the
practical reason for the adversity that has
crept up in your life. Until the reason is
found the remedy cannot be determined.
The doctor first correctly diagnoises and
the disease and then treats the patient. The
spiritual world is ever pure, there is no
necessity for you to cleanse it. it is our
day-to-day life that has gone bad and it is
necessary to clean it. Will you try to find
out the time, effort and power you have in­
vested in rectifying your attitude?
Hear, 1 am not speaking about the ve­
nerable great sages who having severed the
bounds of attachment have quit society and
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gone away to caves to continue penance.
I am not refering to holymen for whom the
pebbled earth is the bed, roots and fruits
the food, mountain streams quenching spots
and tree bark the garment. I am discussing
you and me. We are a part and parcel of this
society. But a person who is actively enga­
ged in Society in whatever role, has to
develop these two aspects of life not only
to attain the ultimate goal of human life but
also to realise peace and happiness in life.
The practical life does not consist only
of somehow feeding oneself and the kith
and kin, continuing the clan, collecting a
few things, building a house and things like
that. This much even animalsand birds ma­
nage to provide for themselves. They also
eat, build nests and reproduce, if our lives
are also restricted only to these activities
what is the difference between beasts, birds
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and ourselves? No my brother, our lives are
not meant only for this. Every being exists
but living the human life is an art. Only who
is aware of this lives a life of happiness,
peace and exuberance. One who does not
will continue his existance full of pain and
humiliation. The rest of his life he will do
only this.
I am only urging you that the eternal is
ever pure. You purify your conduct so that
you need not shed tears or feel sorrowful.
Your worldly life influences your mind,
thought and intellect. A person leading a
fast life will always be agitated and be see­
thing with discontent. His mind will always
be scheeming. How to dishonour others?
How to orders others about? How to take
revenge for past insults? Thinking about all
these things he is not only always unhappy
and agitated but makes others' life also
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unbearable.
This saying sums up all the reasons for
your sorrows. Listen carefully, contemplate
over it and finally try to guide yourself into
the correct path"Love of one's self and neglect of
others is the root cause of your sorrow''.
This axiom is insignificant in size but
is heavily loaded with meaning. Please
think coolly; How will you feel if others
want from you the same behaviour that you
expect from them. It is hard truth that you
have always expected exemplary behaviour
from others. But when other people also
expect the same good behaviour from you,

ciple, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law,
neighbour and a neighbour or any other
relationship - all are cursed with an endless
anguish only because of this lopsided worl­
dly attitude. Everybody expects from others
but no one is bothered about others. No
brother, this will not do. Do not trample on
the emotions of others, try to respect them
and love them. You hurt the feelings of
others by your conduct and they hurt you
by ignoring yours. This way both your
lives become hellish. I do not know whe­
ther there is a hell or heaven anywhere else.
But you are making hell or heaven of your
life by your own behaviour.

you insult them by conducting yourself
arbitrarily with them. All the relationships
in the world whether it be of father and son,
husband and wife, brother and brother,
friend and friend, the master and the des10

If you could instil this idea into your life
you can make your own life and that of
others heavenly. I have already revealed
the nature of the malady to you and now
I will let you know of the treatment, if
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only you can fiimly put this rule into pra­
ctice you can really make everyone's life
divine. That rule is
"You meet out the same virtuous be­
haviour to others as you expect from others
towards you."
I can assure you that if you could put
this rule firmly into practice in your life
then animosity, enemity, tension, agitation
and mutual difference of opinion will all
disappear from your lives.
I am not refering to any person belonging
to any particular faith, religion, caste, creed
or sect, neither to people living in any
particular region or country. I refertomere
human being. To-day I am here to narrate
the story of the human being, not from any
mythology or epic. If you only listen to this
story of your life with great intent all so­
rrow from your life will vanish. I am not
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here to skip through the pages of any
volume Your life is a book whose pages
you have not been capable of going thro­
ugh because of mundane irregularities and
extravert nature. It is this book which con­
tains all the secrets which can take you
from death to immortality, from darkness
to light, from sorrow to happiness and from
strife towards peace. I am going to lay the
pages of this divine book bare. It is the
study of these pages which is called self­
study. Whatever is written in these pages
of the Book of Life is no doubt a bitter pill
for you but if only you could swallow this
you are going to attain immortality.
Please let me know if you want to lea­
rn truth from your wife, son, friend or a
person known to you? Or is it untruth you
want? How would you feel if your family
members suppressed truth and fed you on
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falsehood? You would tell everybody that
you wanted to here the truth not lies. My
dear friend, I request that you practice tru­
th with others as you would like to listen
only the truth from others. Do you really
do it?

Just imagine that you are walking down
the street and that there is nobody with
you. Suppose you meet with an accident.
You are wounded. You are lying on the road
m a helpless condition. In this state of hel­
plessness will you not expect help and
cooperation from others? You wish that
someone helps you and also gives informa­
tion to your house. In helpless moments
you wish for help from others. So it beco­
mes your duty to render help to the help­
less, the distitute, the afflicted, you have
to give aid by way of money, clothes, me­
dicines, food etc., to the maximum extent
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you can. But, do you really put this to
practice?
You are here in devout company. By
carelessness your purse or some other thi­
ng is misplaced. You realise that you have
lost the thing when you had gone to listen
to Satsang. You immediately return to the
place. You will be wishing that nobody
would find your belonging, that none wou­
ld handle it. You are worried about your
property. Then it is yourbounden duty not
to take away something belonging to othe­
rs. You are not even supposed to look at
other's things. But do you practice this?
Then is it not a crime to do anything un­
known to father, son, brother and wife at
home and outside without the knowledge
of the Government? Is it not stealthy behavi­
our?

You send your son or a servant to the
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bazar with a hundred rupee note to purcha­

se some things. On their return do you
expect the person to give you a correct
account of the things and the remaining
money? Or do you want him to hide some
things and keep some money for himself?
No, you do not like dishonestly, you want
others to be honest with you. Then it beco­
mes your duty to behave honestly in every
sphere of life. Do you do it? Traders think
of adulteration to make more profit. Gover­
nment servants want to make a fast buck
by presenting mythical bills. The wife thin­
ks nothing of padding up the saree bill by
fifty rupees. The husband returns home
late and tries to gain the sympathy and love
of the wife by pleading extra work at the
office. The students want to stay back
home to rest by telling that it is a holiday
for the school. This way we find dishonesty
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pervading every sphere of life.
You quarrel with some one over a
person, thing or situation Both of you de­
clare that you are speaking the truth. You
cannot come to a decision by yourselves
as how to solve the problem. Then you
approach a third person for arbitration. Do
you expect justice or injustice from the
arbitrator? Naturally you expect justice in
this situation. You would have the arbitra­
tor listen to both of you fully and then pass
a just judgement. My dear brother, you do
not like injustice done to you. Therefore
it will be your obligation to meet justice to
others also. But can you do it?
Imagine a lady belonging to your fami­
ly is walking down the street. So ne body
informs you that a person is teasing her and
abusing her. You become wild, your eyes
glare and your lips quiver. Why, what is the
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reason? Why did you flare up by hearing
the news. It is evident that it is distasteful
to you that a rogue should misbehave with
a lady of your family and use filthy words.
Then, my dear friend, it becomes your bounden duty that you never look at any lady
with covetting eyes and you treat her as
you would a lady of your own family. But,
have you been practicing this?

In the dead of night ar unsocial ele­
ment gets into your house and points a
knife at your chest. At that moment you
start begging him for your life. You offer
him all the wealth you have amassed throu­
gh toil in your life But, you are not prepa­
red to surrender your life. Why do you do
it? Do you love your life so dearly that you
are prepared to give away everything you
have to save it? You love your life very
dearly. You beg for your life, with folded
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hands you besiege him to spare it. But
what is it that, fora little taste or for a little
self-interest you turn a demon and ruthle­
ssly snuff out the life of some defenceless
person or thing? That animal is dumb and is
incapable of expressing the pain you expe­
rience when you are at the receiving end.
It is incapable of even begging you for its
life. But ruthless you, takeaway its life in
a second without any pity or remorse

When any one even justly crosses your
path of progress, self-interest and ambition
you will not tarry to consider that person
is somebody's child, someone's father,
somebody's husband and brother of some­
body else but the demon you have become
you will ruthlessly kill him or get him
killed. No, my brother. Just imagine your­
self in his place for a few moments. Supp­
ose he had behaved with you in a similar
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fashion, how would you have felt? You
have started to shiver on hearing this, let
al:ne actually losing your life at the hands
of your adveisary. You satan in human form
bent on killing at the drop of a pin! You
might amass wealth and fame but you will
never attain peace or happiness. When you
are not ready to give up your life it is your
duty not to take any life whether human,
animal or bird. How I wish you could have
practised this in life!

How many pages of your life can I skip
through? I can not guess as to how many
escapades have filled these pages. Natu­
rally, you have never bestowed any thought
on them up to now. How I wish you went
through these pages of your life! For mon­
ths together I can narrate your life history.
Even then I cannot completely do that. I do
not want to go into more details. You

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know very well that whatever the farmer
sows in his fields he reaps. If he sows wh­
eat and wants to raise a crop of Bengalgram he is sure to be disappointed. You have
no doubt heard this saying:
''Sow the wind and reap the whirlwind."

The Great and the wise compare human life
to a field. Whatever you sow in this field
you reap. If you sow seeds of hatred, enemity, jealousy, dishonour and disrespect
in these mobile feilds, then please be sure
that you are going to reap the same crop
many folds. In such a case just imagine
how helplessly you will feel? How agitated
would you be? You will be looking piteo­
usly at every passerby and they would pass
by without paying you any attention. The­
refore, my friend, please be careful.
"The person goes and only the ashes
remain"
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I have already made it clear that you
should behave in the same loving and frien­
dly fashion with others as you expect them
to practise in their day to day life. You
expect in others truth, compassion, forgi­
veness, justice, happiness, respect, love,
honour, righteousness and therefore you
should bestow the same on others. This
gives sanctity to your worldly life.
There is no necessity for any one to
guide you in yourdaily life. For gratification
of personal interest and to please you some
people may praise you even for your wrong
doings. Fired by jealousy and hatred some
others may call your noble acts mean.
Therefore, please do not be guided by
others' opinion. You be your own judge.
Make your own decisions. But remember
only this much, that before you act would
you approve of this behaviour in others

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towards you? What would be your beha­
viour in such a situation? Yes, if only you
could do this much your wordly life will
be free of strife and tension as a result of
wrong behaviour in day to day life. It will
become divine and sublime.

Om Shanti !

Shanti!!

Shanti!!!

-English version: Dr. Ramachandraswamy
*********

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