The more we are in search of happiness, the more we will find sadness in our lives. The more we engage in activities for our own pleasure, the more we will find pain in our lives. The more we engage in activities for our own sense gratification, the more we will find distress in our lives. As long as the motivation for our activities is to find honor, the more we will suffer dishonor in our lives.
The principle of material existence is ‘anxiety’. As soon as the child is born, he cries. Later as we grow up we lament for what we lose, hanker for what we don’t have and even if we got what we ever wished, we are in fear of someone taking it away or somehow losing it.
An extreme example of this insecurity or anxiety was revealed by the dictator Stalin. When Stalin saw his close aides getting popular, he killed them one by one; anyone who got close to him would be eventually killed. He was insecure and in anxiety of losing his position.
A classic example of this is when a young boy pursues the girl of his dreams and after he gets her, he feels insecure. Even though she reciprocates his love, he is constantly gripped with the anxiety of losing her. But at such times, he needs to remember that he did not fall in love with the girl's physical form or her material possessions. He fell for the beauty of her soul. So there should be no cause for worry or despondency.
The Vedic scripture, Srimad Bhagavatam cites the example of Indra, the king of heavenly planets, who often gave a vent to his anxiety and insecurity by attempting to harm or defame others. Once Indra wondered why was the sage Nara Narayana performing intense penances, tapsya. He feared the sage maybe motivated by a desire to usurp his own heavenly position. He sent Cupid and heavenly damsels to distract him from his pursuits. However, powerful that he was, the sage Nara Narayana used his mystic powers to create a beautiful damsel, Urvashi, from his lap and gifted her to Indra. The sage, pitying Indra, expressed, “I give you this gift so that you can enjoy her company. I am neither motivated by kama, lust for your position nor am I influenced by krodha, anger at your mischief.” Thus the sage Nara Narayana exposed Indra’s misdirected consciousness; Material insecurity, induced by lust and anger only leads to offenses to others.
In material consciousness, the conception of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ causes anxiety. We think the more I have, the more I will be happy. But we fail to fathom that the more we possess, the more we have to work to maintain and sustain what we have. Then we also add more worry of losing it.
The perfect cure for this chronic disease of anxiety is in the practice of Bhakti Yoga. This most potent solution practised by bhakti yogis is to increase our connection to Krishna by chanting the Holy Names of the Lord with attention and sincerity. This leads to attachment to the Lord and gives us a higher taste; and while helping us transcend petty material causes of worry, also helps us perform our duties happily. Sincere practise of Krishna Consciousness convinces a practitioner that only connection to God can give tangible happiness in life. Such a bhakti yogi is not deluded by anything of this world. When material situations in life change, due to the inevitable vicissitudes of time, he isn’t shaken; he is absorbed in Krishna. He performs his duties in a non-envious fashion, wishing well for everyone. He is overflowing with the ‘abundance mentality’; he has Krishna and is only eager to serve and help others come closer to the Lord of his heart.
Until we work and act for the pleasure and satisfaction of the Supreme Lord, we have to suffer the dualities of material existence. That is why Lord Krishna says in the third chapter of Bhagavad Gita (BG 3.9) that work done as sacrifice for Vishnu has to be performed otherwise whatever work you do with any other motivation than the pleasure of Krishna you will only cause bondage.
So as long as we do what we like to do we should understand that we are extending the perplexities of our own bondage in material existence. But as soon as we do what Krishna wants us to do, what the great devotees on behalf of Krishna are telling us to do, through that process we gradually become free from all the miseries, perplexities and anxieties of the material world.
Article by:
H.G. Mathura Vasi Devi Dasi
(Meghna Choudhury)
E-Counselor
ISKCON Desire Tree
www.iskcondesiretree.com/e-counseling
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