The more
we get involved in this world, the more complicated our life
becomes. When the mind becomes crowded with the complexities of worldly
living, there is no room for peace and quietude. More worldly gain brings
more worldly pain.
Where does
peace of mind come from? Does it come from getting what we want?
Satisfying the wants of the mind only makes the mind more wanton—it
deprives the mind of peace. The mind that is constantly deprived of
peace becomes depraved—it will stop at nothing to get more and
more excitement.
This life
is not a child's play. It is a place where people come to work
off their debts. In the process of paying off our debts, we sometimes
create more debt by taking credit. Anything that inflates our ego will
rob us of our real worth. Our debts can only be paid by unearthing the
diamond of the soul, by uncovering the treasure buried in our own hearts.
For that, we do not need to take any credit, we need only to take good
advice, and follow it.
There is
no such thing as 'Heaven on Earth.' Heaven
is only realized when we unearth our real nature. Our real self is buried
beneath our material nature. This material (PRAKRITIC) nature can only
bring pleasure and pain---it can never bring us lasting happiness. True
happiness, true love, and true peace, are NOT derived from some'thing'.
Our true self, our essence, is not something that can be made or unmade.
Everything
in this world (in this universe) is manufactured: cars, houses,
toys, skyscrapers, even the sun, moon, and stars—everything has
been produced from matter (and material forces). But there is something
beyond all of this: and that 'something' is you, me, and the Supreme.
We are in this world, but we are not of it---we are above it (that is,
we are 'above' pettiness, greed, negitivity, etc.).But we are only above
it when we go beyond our mind and ego. Our bondage, our attachment to
this world exists in our mind only, and our misconceptions and false
perception are reinforced by our behavior (by our actions).
Trying to
find happiness in 'things', trying to get love from some'body',
looking for meaning in things that are meaningless (essenceless). .
. these actions are born out of ignorance and can only bring disappointment,
frustration, and pain. We cannot afford to ignore the lessons of the
past, or else the past will repeat itself. We can learn from our own
mistakes, and we can also learn from the mistakes of others. If we don't
learn the lessons of life, we will have to come back again and again.