The nature of the mind is such that it wavers. Joy is only there when the mind is stable. With knowledge and dispassion, the mind becomes stable. Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom, is depicted sitting on a rock
or on a white lotus. Knowledge is always rock solid. It isn’t tensile. Once you gain wisdom, it stays with you, it completes you, and brings happiness that lasts. Where there is misery, there is no knowledge. For example, when your stomach is full, you don’t feel hungry. If you feel hungry, it means you need to fill your stomach. If you are unhappy, soak your mind in knowledge and examine your life. Where are you headed in your life? You have come here many times, took birth, cried, and died. Now wake up and look around-life is a celebration. Grow in knowledge and celebrate life. It is food for your soul. With wisdom your pleasantness and enthusiasm increase and overflow, benefiting the whole of mankind. Misery isn’t your nature. Don’t think that misery is deep inside you. This is the biggest myth propagated by psychologists. The truth is deep inside you are a fountain of joy and bliss, and misery is only peripheral and superficial. Sit quietly and reflect on the words of knowledge that you have listened to. You will see your mind becomes light. Why do you attend satsang? Although you may not understand all that is being sung, whatever you listen to, washes impurities away. The mind feels relieved and happy. Spiritual knowledge brings awareness and allows you to honour your emotions and manage them well. If you lack knowledge, emotions can carry you to disaster. It is the knowledge that not only keeps emotions under control but also elevates them. Events give rise to both emotions and lessons. Often, we hold onto emotions and don’t learn. Wisdom is to drop emotions and move on with lessons. With the strength of knowledge, happiness is sustained. Sorrow is bound to come to all of us. Tell me one person who hasn’t had sorrow? Jesus Christ, Lord Rama, and Lord Krishna — they all went through pain and sorrow in their lives. But they had the strength of knowledge, and hence, sorrow didn’t touch them. True education, I believe, is that by which an individual is strengthened and can sail through sorrow. Only strong people can take criticisms boldly, and vice versa. You also need mental strength to share criticisms with patience and confidence, without hesitation. There should be no timidity. The person should be equanimous – this is knowledge. Knowledge removes the darkness of ignorance in life. Without knowledge, we remain depressed in life. Whatever you have received will eventually go away! We will leave everything behind. Nothing is going to stay. Everything will change. Nothing will remain static here, neither our body, home, profession, nor our prestige – one day, we will go beyond all this. You are on this planet for a few years only. Just look up and see! So many people have been here on this planet. There have been so many great men and women in the past. And the ultimate place for them all was their graves. So even the person whom you are jealous of, or those who bother you, will not be here forever. Happiness dawns when you see life from a bigger perspective. That is why knowledge and wisdom are essential in life. The author is a humanitarian leader, spiritual teacher and an ambassador of peace. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
