Working Hard to Fall Sick, Paying Hard to Get Well - We work for comfort, lose health for it, and pay the savings to get health back.
Today people work for benefits: a bigger house, latest
gadgets, health insurance, holiday packages and what not. We are told that this
is the prize for hard work. But look at the deal carefully. We give our best
years, our sleep, our peace and our family time. In return we get a body that
is weak and fragile, ready to catch every illness. Then whatever money is left
at the end goes to the hospital and the pharmacy.
So in simple words, we work to earn money, the money makes
us sick, and then we pay the money to get cured. Any shopkeeper doing such
business would be closed down in one month. But for our own life we call it
success and put it on the visiting card.
Needs Versus Wants
In old days, a person worked for three basic things: food,
shelter and taking care of the body. That was enough. Today we do not work for
basic things anymore, we work for luxury. A simple house is not enough, we need
a duplex. And the duplex must have a smart TV, smart lights, smart fridge and
smart doorbell. The only thing not smart is the owner, who is paying the EMI
till retirement. And these gadgets have a special talent: they stop working
exactly when we need them the most.
Then comes the vacation. We are told that the vacation is
the reward for all the stress. But how long does the happiness of a vacation
stay? Two weeks, maybe three. After that the mind starts searching for the next
trip, the next phone, the next promotion. Each day we search for new happiness,
and each day it runs away from us. At the fag end of life we find ourselves
alone with a sick body, regretting how life went by.
The Fire That Drinks Ghee
Hindu scriptures explained this problem thousands of years
back. In the Bhagavata Purana (Canto 9, Chapter 19), there is the story of King
Yayati. He was cursed with old age too early, but he was not ready to give up
pleasures. So he asked his sons to exchange their youth with his old age. Only
his youngest son Puru agreed. Yayati enjoyed the youth of his son for one
thousand years. And what did he find? That desire is never finished by
enjoying.
He said the famous words, which are also found in Manusmriti
2.94: desire never gets satisfied by enjoying the objects of desire, it only
grows more, like fire when ghee is poured on it.
Think about it. A person with fire in the house does not put
more ghee to stop the fire. But we do exactly this with our wants. A new gadget
comes, we feel happy for one week, and then we want the next model. Yayati took
one thousand years to understand this. We have only around eighty, so better we
learn from his experience and save the time.
Preyas and Shreyas
The Katha Upanishad (Chapter 1, Section 2, verses 1 and 2)
speaks about two paths: Shreyas, the good, and Preyas, the pleasant. Both come
to every person. The wise person chooses the good, and the one lacking wisdom
chooses the pleasant for the sake of comfort and gain.
Modern life is nothing but Preyas with a loan. The pleasant
things are on sale every day with attractive discounts. The good things, like
sleep, walking, simple food, silence and time with family, are free, and that
is perhaps why nobody is interested in them.
The Body Is the Chariot
The Katha Upanishad (Chapter 1, Section 3, verses 3 and 4)
gives a beautiful symbol. The self is the owner of the chariot, the body is the
chariot, the intellect is the driver, the mind is the reins and the senses are
the horses. If the driver is not wise, the horses run wild, and the chariot
breaks.
This is exactly what happens to us. The senses want taste,
comfort and entertainment, the mind lets the reins go loose, and the body,
which carries us in this whole journey, gets broken. We give the chariot full
speed and no maintenance, and then we are surprised when the wheel comes off.
Balance, Not Running Away
Hinduism never tells us to leave the world and sit in a
cave. Bhagavan Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita (6.17) that yoga destroys
sorrow for the one who is moderate in eating, recreation, work and sleep.
Notice that work is also in the list. Work is fine. Overwork is the problem.
Even rest and recreation are fine, but in the right measure.
The Ishavasya Upanishad (verse 1) gives one more key: enjoy
through renunciation, and do not covet anybody’s wealth. In simple words, use
what you have, enjoy it, but do not let it own you. Also, in the Gita (2.62 and
2.63), Bhagavan Krishna explains the chain: thinking about objects creates
attachment, attachment creates desire, desire creates anger, anger creates
confusion and the loss of memory, and then the person is finished. It looks
just like our daily life, from the shopping cart to the stress to the doctor.
Modern Day Relevance
Look around. Young people are getting blood pressure and
sugar problems in their thirties. Falling dead in offices, gyms and on street due to heart condition. Offices give gym membership and also give
deadlines that make going to the gym impossible. Everybody is tired, and nobody
can sleep. Wellness is now a big industry, which means that our lifestyle is
creating a big market for its own cure. This is why this old wisdom is not old
at all. It is a very practical warning.
Life Lessons
- Know
the difference between need and want before every big purchase.
- Protect
the body first, because without it no house, gadget or holiday has any
meaning.
- Ask
honestly: how much is enough? If there is no answer, the race has no
finish line.
- Give
time to family, friends, prayer, walking and silence. They are free but
valuable.
- Work with full effort, but do not tie your peace to the result.
Nobody is saying throw away the phone and live under a tree. The scriptures only ask us to drive the chariot with wisdom. Earn well, live well, but remember who is the owner and who is the servant. Otherwise at the end of life we will have a beautiful duplex, a smart fridge, a thick file of medical reports and nobody to tell the story to.
A Thought - If you stopped adding things to your life for one year, what would you miss, and what would you not even notice?