BHAGAVAD GITA Chapter II:28 Beings are unmanifested in their beginning, manifested in their middle state, Oh Arjuna, and unmanifested again in their end. What is there to grieve about? Commentary This is a very important thought, which can immediately liberate us from worry and grief. We clothe the moment with the mantle of eternity and worry over its magnitude. We forget that what happens now has had a cause in the unknown past and will in turn have an effect in the unknown future. In the darkness of total ignorance, we grope and break our bones. We cling to our "possessions," forgetting that we were alive before they came to us. We fear their loss. We grieve over the loss. Ignorant of the laws of karma (cause and effect) we strive all the time to push unhappiness away and to acquire happiness. Pushing unhappiness away involves us in greater unhappiness. Feverish striving to acquire happiness is only misery! The Bhagavatam reminds us of the mystery of life: "You do not work for unhappiness and yet find yourself in it. Even so, happiness will be yours unsought-for." They are the effects of adrsta (the unseen karma). Meditation upon this will rob us of all tensions, grief and delusion, and will snap all our attachments. "The relationship as son, friend, teacher, father, mother, wife, brother or sister is formed through the body on account of attachment and delusion. Just as planks unite and separate in the river, just as pilgrims unite and separate in a public inn, so also fathers, mothers, sons and brothers unite and separate in this world. He who thus understands the nature of the body and all human relationships based on it, will not grieve." - Swami Sivananda. The enigma of a "future" is tantalizing. People are irresistibly drawn to others who profess the ability to "read the future." How strange! What is the use of this knowledge if "what will be will be"; and how can one trust the prophesy if the future calamity can somehow be averted? One who knows "what is" is not worried about what was or what will be.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Oct 2013 07:26:49 +0000
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