Suffering seeps in When past is allowed to dwell so much in the mind that one hopes only for the future, without living in the present.
And without living in the ‘Now ‘ mind is always dominated by illusions which either don’t exist or may not happen in the future.
Happiness is sense of self totally engrossed in something in the Now. When we think that we are what the past has made us , we lose our true identity . We continue to live that past again and again until it ruins us completely.
We can only recover from all sufferings by denying our mind the sense of time or psychological time .
When we feel our presence in the ‘Now’ and nothing beyond it , we truly feel the warmth of happiness cuddling us with all the beautiful creation around us
Not very long ago I wrote about the nightmare of 2020 which shattered many hearts all over the world and how that grief came to an end.
2021 looked bright and very little did we know it was just a beginning of a cataclysm we would soon find ourselves in the middle of.
It came back and this time it began from our home, people gasped for breath , some because of the disease and some watching their loved ones dying helplessly in front of them.
There was a chaos in the city, hospitals failed to Fulfill their purpose, bodies piled up on the shores of the river and resources ran dry even for the last rites.
Media tried their best to show that everything was in order, government was busy in elections and many people who were thrown to conduct such elections breathed their last afterwards.
Who will talk about those people who died alone, in isolation, away from the loved ones, with only shattered dreams in their eyes?
There were only letters they read only once a day in their wards-
Papa don’t worry about anything , we are fine at home. Mother is already planning of things we all will do on your birthday next month. Papa we miss you every day and we know you will comeback stronger . Have faith in your God. Get well soon !
They read those letters just to live that possibility infinite times until their mind became so numb and their body became so weak that whatever happened afterwards seemed real only to their soul.
How difficult it is for their families to recover from that grief? How difficult it is to get back to normal life? How difficult is comeback?
It’s tough to come out of this deluge of grief but you have to try with whatever you have and whatever you can to pick your pieces one by one and hold it together.
You have to remember the dreams of those who you have lost , have faith in those dreams no matter how difficult it may seem and carry on.
Life has one thing in common, it never stops ,it always finds a way no matter how many times it perishes.
Water dries, becomes vapor , precipitates over mountains , flows like a river and becomes a mighty ocean in the end.
There is an initial push, then there is a long day of hard work and finally there is a long , stretching night of struggle and perseverance. The three phases of an aspiring life .
Some don’t see that long persevering night as they get success early but the real adventure lies beyond the day ,into that good night.
It might seem tough or frustrating to persevere but the moment you focus completely on your efforts in the present you start enjoying the journey, rather than the goal.
You walk, you stumble You struggle, you fall ! You sweat, you cry, You smile creating ripples, In an ocean full of insignificance. You might not reach your shore, But your shore lies Where your will rest And becomes sparkling sand !
Death is stripping away of all that is not you. The secret of life is to “ die before you die”- and find that there is no death. -Eckhart Tolle
What I have become, I don’t want to know anymore! I have been fed to all that I am not and I only came to know about that when I faced death.
I identified with my mind. I let it dwell on my fears which gave me sufferings and frustrations. It made me to shed tears for my past and worry for my future.
It stole my ‘now’. It overpowered me, I became its prey and it fed my life. I became my failures, my sufferings which lingered only in the past. It became my sense of self.
Who am I ? Just my failure or suffering ? No it can’t be true. I cannot be the figment of my mind, just a mere thought?
No I can’t let my smitten mind feed me. For that I have to die before I actually die.
I have to stop thinking, I have to come out of my unconscious self and cling on my heart beat which exist in the ‘now’. I have to breathe in my present and exhale my past.
This will kill my ego, my fear, my sufferings and all that is born out of my past and future.
My false self will die and my true self will emerge from the eternal now. I am not the past and future , I am all that is happening right now !
Your deep inner self which resides in your consciousness, your true identity, which can only be accessed by the stillness of your mind .
What is stillness of mind?
By Stillness of mind, I mean when you are not thinking about the future or the past. In fact the process of thinking itself is not being in the present ,where your heart beats with every passing second.
Life is ‘now’ and you are not the slave of your mind. The reason behind most sufferings or grief is your mind. It makes you think , makes you accomplish things but at the same time it controls you to look for more wealth, exploit things before finally exploiting yourself.
How our thoughts affect us ?
If you can’t stop thinking about material things or can’t control your thoughts then you are surely enslaved by your mind. Most of us are slaves. And that’s why we struggle to find inner peace, happiness and even struggle to find the meaning of our existence.
Enlightened are those who can feel life right in the present without thinking too much aboutit.
Just try to find a moment for yourself , focus on your breathing, declutter your mind from all thoughts, feel the moment residing in the eternal now, the oneness ,yes right there your existence lies, your true identity.