Change, intrinsic to worldly life

CHENNAI, APRIL 19. The common mistake we make is to be complacent that in life everything will be smooth sailing and hence when changes come we are often caught unawares. It is similar to a person cruising on a river going along with the gentle current enjoying himself and suddenly confronted by a waterfall. The panic that results can be imagined. But as with all laws of nature, the waterfall started the day the river originated and it is only the ignorance of its presence which is responsible for the sailor's predicament. So also, change is a law of nature.

We witness the natural phenomenon of an infant after birth going through the natural changes of childhood, youth, adulthood, old age and ultimately death as natural. Likewise, the thoughts that arise in our minds also undergo changes. Just as the sun when it rises appears delicate, grows intense as the hour progresses till it scorches at midday and finally loses its intensity at sunset, thoughts also are fragile when they rise and then they become strong and fade away. A person who is unable to accept the changes that the body undergoes naturally gets attached to it which results in misery. Thoughts also by themselves are harmless but when they become deep-rooted result in desires. Attachment and desires result in bondage.

In his discourse on the Ashtavakra Samhita, Swami Suddhananda said that it was apparent then that change was intrinsic to life at the physical and mental levels but there was a constant awareness underlying these phenomena. Learning to become aware of one's Self is to realise that changes pertain only to the body- mind-intellect and that the Self is changeless. So, the wise man who is poised in the Self remains unperturbed by the changes.

How does a man-of-realisation live in the world? The world we are familiar with in our day-to-day life is one of intense activity. One must stop and think what a person achieves by engaging in activity in this world. The analogy of an ocean helps to illustrate how an individual can remain poised in the Self while engaging in activity in the world. The ocean neither dries up when the rivers become dry in summer and no water flows into the ocean, nor overflows during monsoon when the swollen rivers empty their waters into it. Just as the ocean retains the same level and fullness irrespective of the volume of water discharged into it, the man- of-realisation retains Self-awareness and remains poised amidst all the activities he engages in the world. While his body, mind and intellect function in their respective realms he remains unaffected poised in the Self.

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