Desires lead to discontentment

Today, desires have become natural for man; it is impossible to live without them. Each man has desires that reflect his nature. A saint desires to see God, a businessman desires to be successful in his ventures. All of us are desirous of finding fulfillment in our chosen professions. But is that possible? We can only find fulfillment within us through peace of mind and contentment, not outside us through our possessions and professions.

In our eagerness to achieve our goals and desires, we often lose the discrimination. Whether it is proper or improper, we have to look at the means, be it spiritual or material; it is necessary to be always aware of our goals and the foresight necessary to achieve it. If our desires are heading towards materialism, fulfillment and spiritual advancement becomes farther and farther away from our soul.

Our own desires and tendencies have taken deep root within our psyche and we have let them grow into a huge tree without our knowledge. This tree goes on bearing the fruits of discontentment and disappointment in our life because we ignorantly go on watering it with our desires and expectations day after day. In verse 31 of Shri Guru Gita, Lord Shiva says: ‘Salutations to Shri Guru, who indeed saved all (the devoted ones) who climbed the tree of the mundane world and were falling into the ocean of samsara’.

As long as we are caught in the snare of our senses — desires and cravings — spiritual progress becomes very slow. In fact, almost nil. The first step towards peace and enlightenment is the dissolution of Karma and past tendencies (Vasanas). Every desire generates fresh Karma and every tendency pushes you backwards. All the desires we have had till now are waiting in a queue for fulfillment. So we must stop desiring things immediately. Shed all your desires — even the desire to see God, which is also an expectation as explained by our seers and sages as per Guru Parampara and Upanishadic tradition.

Imagine a train with one engine trying to pull a hundred million carriages. How can such a train move? This is the load of Karma carried by us ordinary human beings who are completely immersed in our transactional existence. All of us should put an end to this and reduce our Karmic load and unnecessary mental baggage. Then only the effect of spiritual sadhana begins. This is where we start touching the base of our Soul and a Sadguru enters into your life and starts guiding you by refining and defining your thoughts, the right kind of attitude you should have and the extent of awareness you should develop. Then, the path towards enlightenment is paved with peace and bliss in life.

Even as we are born, our creator has equipped us with all the success, peace, happiness, bliss and fulfillment that we now crave, in our very own soul. It is our birthright to enjoy this bliss perennially, irrespective of the state of our physical and financial abilities. Right mental attitude is very much needed to enjoy it.

We can experience all these to the extent that we incorporate our God-given gifts in the way we think and relate to the world in our day-to-day life. The more innocent, open and free we become, the more we exhibit our true inner nature, the nature of our soul, which is bliss, peace and prosperity. The only way to move towards our true nature is to inculcate spirituality in our life. So instead of succumbing to the pull of the mind towards excessive desires and expectations, let us answer the call of our soul and enjoy all its wonderful bounties that have been ours all along, to experience peace and fulfillment.

ashram-india@shrinimishamba.org