Fear of the unknown is the mother of all fears. Much of our
anxiety and dread pertains to things and events of which we have no good knowledge.
Looking these fears squarely in the face can often make them vanish into thin air,
or at least make them appear less formidable.
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For although we take joy and hope to be synonymous with
life; pain, affliction, evil and injustice regularly impinge on our lives to
shock us out of such notions.
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The pursuit of happiness is a basic teleological urge
motivating all human behavior. The reveler in the streets, the scientist
involved in cutting-edge research, the connoisseur of art and the meditation
adept, each derives immediate or prospective pleasure from his or her specific
engagement physical, intellectual, emotional or spiritual. But that pleasure is
never unmixed.
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In its classificatory scheme of happiness (sukha) based on
the three gunas, the Bhagavad Gita tells us that sattvika sukha is a result of
prolonged, repeated and taxing effort that matures into a psychophysical state
of joyous equanimity. All higher forms of pleasure are defined by this category.
Sensual pleasure, on the other hand, is rajasika and is
characterized by an immediate sense of gratification. This satisfaction is not
only transient but ends up in misery for reasons that we shall soon discuss.
The third category of tamasika sukha is delusion of
happiness. The lazy and the callous, whose only source of happiness lies in sleeping
it off, comprise this category of tamasika people, and their number is by no means
insubstantial.
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Even in our more mundane moments, sorrow is a great
benefactor. It is sorrow that spontaneously collects our scattered minds and it
is in sorrow that we usually turn Godward. Moreover, it is the contrite heart that
is graced by God. It is for these reasons that Swami Vivekananda, echoing
Mother Kunti, once prayed: “Lord, place me in a position where all others may
criticize and abuse me, so that all my heart, mind, and love may turn to you
alone.” Suffering may well be the remedy for evil.