Let’s face it. Life is difficult. This was one of the Buddha’s four great truths. Life is dukka, he concluded. By this, he meant that the basic framework of life included suffering, because no matter how cosseted a life we lead, we will eventually come into contact with illness, old age and death, all of which are a source of pain.
But of course, for most of us, there are even more sources of sorrow. Failure in exams, marriage, career or business. Heartbreak. Sibling rivalry. Difficult parents or in laws. Poor self-esteem. Wayward children. The death of parents, lovers, spouses and worst of all, children. And so much else
Often it can appear as if life on Planet Earth is simply a long litany of suffering, enlivened by fleeting moments of joy or laughter. So how on earth can we make the best of what seems bad?
Believe me, dear friends, life actually makes perfect sense. There is a method to the madness and through the unfolding of spiritual truths over the coming months you and I are going to come to an understanding of life and how to live it.
The first and most fundamental truth, which only the rishis of yore could crack, is this. The Universe is one. Get this: The Creator and the creation is one seamless whole. There is no God sitting on a white cloud up above, dispensing our fate. The Creator is an intimate part of every bit of creation, from every molecule of matter, and blade of grass to the human being. This means that we are connected with everything. We are not fragmented creatures rattling around in a random world as science at one time had told us. We are part of a perfectly cogent, perfectly intelligent Universe shot through with the Creator’s presence.
There is another corollary to this. We are part of God, which means we are divine! Every bit of the Universe is divine, including the pesky mosquito or clod of clay. You will need to pause a bit to let this sink in. You are not just a manager in a bank with a weight problem and a nagging wife. You are God stuff.
What this means in practical terms is that we need to align ourselves to a whole new way of life. We can no longer live as if we are separate from others and are free to control them, abuse them, use them, violate them, exploit them, enslave them, compete with them or put them down. If we are interconnected, each time we damage the other, we eventually damage ourselves. We cannot damage the environment without damaging ourselves because we are connected. We cannot destroy species without it impinging on us because we are interconnected. The more we think about the truth of interconnection, the more we will understand that our good lies in the larger good. If I want to be happy, I have to make the world happy. If I want to be trusted, I need to trust. If I want to receive generosity, I have to give it.
Can you see how this one truth will force us to a natural state of ethics which will ensure that we harmonise ourselves with the other instead of warring with them? Do mull this truth over in your head until we meet again. Wishing you many happy revelations.
The writer is the former editor-in-chief of Life Positive magazine, and holds writing workshops called The Zen of Good Writing Course. Contact her at sumavarughese@gmail.com
