Why are there so much misery in life in spite of all the material comforts available to us?

Why are there so much misery in life in spite of all the material comforts available to us?

Why does man suffer endlessly? The enlightened sages have a simple answer to this different question: “look at the river: unconcerned With whatsoever is happening all around, it flows on in deep tranquillity, in deep calmness, undistracted, by what is happening on the banks. Undistracted, it moves on. It remains tuned to its own nature; it never goes out of its nature. It remains true to itself. Nothing distracts it; nothing calls it away, away from itself. Whatsoever happens in the world around, to the river goes on being a river- true to itself, it goes on moving. Even if a war is going on, even if bombs are being dropped, whatsoever is happening, good or bad, the river remains true to itself. It goes on moving.”

Movement is its intrinsic nature. And tranquillity is a shadow when we are true to our self.” Why is it so different to be authentic and true to one when the whole existence is comfortable to be so? Man wants to dominate others and become Alexander the Great. Nature does not suffer from such crazy ideas. An enlightened man follows the nature and lives in choice less awareness. He drops all crazy ideas of conquering the world and dominating others. He becomes master of his own self.

Happiness and harmony are possible to the original and natural. Just watch the flowers on the trees. The trees are true to themselves. No flower is trying in any way to imitate any other flower. There is no imitation, no competition and no jealousy. The red flower is just red, and tremendously happy in being red. It has never thought about being somebody else. Where has man been missing?

“Man misses his true nature because of desire, imitation, jealously, competition. Man is the only beings on earth that is not true to himself, whose river is not in tune with itself; who is always moving somewhere else, who is always looking at somebody else; who always trying to be somebody else, the calamity. You can be only yourself. There is no other possibility, it simply does not exist. The sooner you understand it, the better. You cannot be a Buddha, you cannot be a Ram, and there is no need. You can be only yourself.”

Going to the ocean, a fisherman will be happy with a big catch, with which he can obtain money. Some other may go in for pearls and someone may dive deep to get more precious items. Some may try to strike oil and become rich. All of them seek only wealth.

Material progress alone will not give real happiness or even peace. The happiness, a person enjoys in a tasty dish or witnessing a charming person can be attributed to the soul within the body. If this soul goes away from a person others will hesitate even to utter his name. They will categorize it as dead and will be anxious to get rid of it at the earlier hour.

The man, who has loved his wife so much and was deeply attached to her, will not want to sit near her, once the live element soul departed her. This does not prove that taste or look, touch, sound nor will smell give pleasure but only the soul inside the human frame. To realize this soul is the purpose, of this birth.

We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are. After that we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire.

The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now.

If not now, when?

Our life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to our self and decide to be happy anyway.

"For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, and a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life".

This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.

So, treasure every moment that we have. And treasure it more because we shared it with someone special, special enough to spend our time and remember that time waits for no one.

So stop waiting until we finish school, until we go back to school, until we lose some money, until you gain some money, until we have kids, until our kids leave the house, until we start work, until we retire, until we get a girlfriend, until we get married, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until we get a new car or home, until home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until we are off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until we've had a drink, until we die, until we are born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy.

He who is happy himself has the capability of making other human beings happy. Happiness comes from within. It is a state of mind and, of course, it is the mind. That guides the body. And pray. What is it that guides both mind and body! Well, it is the Atama आत्मा (Soul). It is the soul that gives an individual his or her permanent identity.

The body gives only a temporary identity for one life. The soul is there as your own identity in life after life. It is the soul that enriches itself through action; Soul may impoverish itself though a different set of karma कर्म

Karma कर्म is the most important and essential aspect of advancement or backwardness of a soul. What is it that guides a soul on the path of progress to enable it to achieve its aim? The Veda वेद  or the divine knowledge- celestial jyana ज्ञान - to guide all souls in their journeys though this mundane world.

Problems in life arise mainly due to lack of discipline. Our words should be measured. Our food habits clean and our senses kept under control. Some people question the statement of saints and the wise that life, which is the precious gift of God, ought to be utilized only to realize God. Their argument, based on the Hinduism is that life should be enjoyed to the brim and one should not close his eyes to worldly activities. These people do not realize that the pleasure they dream of our but purely fleeting in nature leading to misery. Their mind will be filled with filthy and base thoughts. But one who is ever vigilant, keeping the mind pure and impervious to evil thoughts can experience real happiness.

Happiness is a journey, not a destination. Work like we don't need money, Love like we've never been hurt, and dance like no one's watching.