WHY SUFFER?🔗

Q. Swamiji, what is Suffering? Is suffering essential in our lives?

There is a beautiful Buddhist sutra: No suffering, no cause, no end.

What exactly is suffering? Almost all of us have undergone suffering at some time of our lives. Now suppose I ask you, Why did you choose to suffer? Was your suffering necessary? You would certainly find that an absurd question! Does anyone choose to suffer? you would ask me. Suffering just happens to one, that's all. It can't be helped... But the truth is, suffering is a choice! Suffering is not a state of life - it is a state of mind. It is an internal event, not an external event! Whether you suffer or not in a particular situation depends entirely on how you choose to handle that situation. For me to tell you that your suffering was unreal would be unfair, and untrue. Because for you, your suffering was real, and inevitable. You never gave yourself the option of not suffering! You didn't even know you had the choice. But now, consider this question consciously:

When do you undergo suffering? When you fall ill? When your neighbour gets a new car? When your partner leaves you for someone else? Well, suppose you decided to just accept these situations without anger or resentment. Would you still suffer as much? After all, there is nothing inherently painful about your neighbour getting a new car! Even if there is pain in the moment, as when a loved one leaves, you cannot wish it away. By accepting the moment, instead of resisting it, you automatically bring down your level of suffering. Suffering is always, ALWAYS born of resistance to the present moment. When you stop resisting, you stop suffering!

A man who had fallen out of a second-floor window and miraculously survived, was visited in hospital by a friend. Did the fall hurt very much?, the friend enquired politely. Oh no, the fall was totally painless. It was only the landing that hurt!, replied the man. As long as you go with the flow, there is no pain, no suffering. When you place your ideas and expectations in the way of life, you create obstacles to that flow. Often, the defenses that you set up to escape pain cause more suffering than the event itself! Consider even Death! As an event, death can hurt you only once. But the fear of death haunts you all your life! Your constant running away from death causes you more suffering than death itself! Suffering is rarely caused by a major event, like an accident or a fatal disease. Most of our suffering stems from the day-to-day frictions in relationships, the push and pull of daily living. In many homes, even after 30 years of married life, you will find the husband and wife quarrelling over the same issues everyday! Neither are they able to change their own behaviour, nor are they able to accept the other's. This is what is true samsara worldly life; your own repetitive patterns of living, which you can neither recognize nor control, but which cause you endless suffering.

Suffering happens when you invest too much, emotionally, in other people or in external events. After all, how much control do you have over them? Become your own source of inspiration. Don't mortgage your happiness to someone else! Remember, you are 100% responsible for your own happiness. No one or nothing can make you suffer without your silent permission! These are not just words to motivate you. It is the simple truth. Try to make a habit of witnessing your own experiences. What is making you suffer in a particular situation? Is there something you can do about it? If you can do something, do it. If the situation is beyond your control, you can react in one of these ways: (a) you can allow yourself to suffer, or (b) you can accept the situation, and get on with your life. It is your choice!

During the last years of Sri Ramakrishna's life, even when he was afflicted with cancer, he continued to live a normal life. Physically, it was a daily battle against the disease, but the master was at peace. One day, a concerned disciple asked him, How can you smile like this? How are you coping with so much suffering? What suffering? questioned Sri Ramakrishna in return. There is pain, but there is certainly no suffering!

To be free of suffering does not mean there is no more pain. Life has not yet given us a remedy for cancer, starvation or stubbing your toe against the furniture. Freedom lies only in refusing the pain a reaction, in not allowing it an influence over you. You ask me - is suffering essential? Yes, in a way it is, because suffering can be a powerful catalyst to growth. Just like a seed first has to rupture before a plant can grow and blossom, intense suffering can break down the defenses of your ego, leaving you open and vulnerable to Existence. With your usual thought patterns shattered, you begin to see things as they actually are. Pain is part of everybody's life. True maturity lies in knowing how to use that pain before it uses you!

A small story:

Two men, one a gnani (a wise man), and the other an ordinary person, were traveling through a forest on a dark, moonless night. Suddenly, a shaft of lightning flashed in the sky. The ordinary man began to tremble in fear. A storm! His mind was immediately given over to confusion. Should he walk on? Or should he find a safe place to stop till the storm was spent? The man began wishing that he had never decided to undertake this journey. He cursed himself as foolish and unlucky. In other words, he fell headlong into suffering! The gnani, on the other hand, simply used the moments of lightning to take a better look at the road ahead. He ensured that he was traveling in the right direction, thanked the lightning for its help, and moved onward.

Pain is just like this flash of lightning. You have no control over its existence. But whether you suffer from it, or learn from it, is entirely up to you!

One of the most deeply hidden reasons for suffering is: you could be enjoying it. Even falling ill can become a source of pleasure if it fetches you the attention and care you have been craving for.

A small story:

A man working in a large firm would bring the same dish for lunch everyday. Everyday he would complain about how much he hated that particular dish, and his sympathetic friends would share their lunch with him. Taking pity on the man's plight, his friends finally advised him, Why don't you ask your wife to cook something you like, for a change? How can she not be aware that you hate this dish? What wife? the man asked in surprise. I'm a bachelor. I cook my own lunch!

How often do you find yourself doing this - in subtle ways? Deliberately creating suffering for yourself and gain self pity and another's sympathy? For instance, going without dinner just to spite someone whom you've had a quarrel with?

Examine why it sometimes gives you pleasure to inflict pain on yourself, or on others. Is there a better channel through which you can receive the same pleasure - without the suffering? Is there a positive way to tackle your needs?

Become aware - this is the first step.

The second is to accept totally the Here and Now.

Awareness with acceptance - this is the only way out of suffering.

I don't mean that you needn't take steps to improve your situation.

Take all the necessary steps - but don't let the situation overwhelm you.

Don't react - just act!

Paramahamsa Nithyananda is an enlightened master living amidst us today. With a worldwide movement for meditation and inner bliss, Nithyananda offers solutions for situations as practical as every day stress to the quest for something as profound as enlightenment.

Nithyananda left home at a young age and traveled the length and breadth of India, visiting holy shrines, associating with several yogis and mystics during this period. He realized his intrinsic knowledge through the paths of meditation, yoga, knowledge, devotion, Tantra and other Eastern metaphysical sciences. With an enlightened insight into the core of human nature, Nithyananda has defined his mission for humanity at large.

Rooted in the ancient tradition of enlightened living, and embracing all world religions as sacred and unique. Nithyananda draws people from around the globe, crossing all societal, cultural, language, age and gender barriers.

Since its inception, Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam in Bengaluru, India has been a spiritual center for devotees from all over the world. The organization renders innumerable services and programs. The worldwide ashrams and centers offer programs in Quantum Spirituality, where material and spiritual worlds merge to create blissful living.

The services provided by the organization include ? meditation ? yoga ? corporate leadership programs ? free energy healing through the Nithya Spiritual Healing system ? free education to youth ? promoting art and culture ? satsangs (spiritual gatherings) ? free medical camps and eye surgeries ? free meals at all ashrams worldwide ? a holistic system of education for children through the ashram gurukul ? a two-year free residential spiritual training program in India called Life Bliss Technology ? a three-month residential program for international youth called Life Bliss Engineering, and more. Life Bliss Foundation is the USA-based entity that spreads the powerful teachings and meditations cognized by Nithyananda to centers in North America, Europe and other parts of the world.

Nithyananda says, 'Enlightenment flowers when individual consciousness disappears into Universal Consciousness. When you start living enlightenment, you automatically raise the human consciousness around you. Living enlightenment holds the key to global peace and inner bliss. Every individual should be a pioneer in the transition of human consciousness to Divine Consciousness.'

Nithyananda Mission offers specialized meditation programs worldwide, to benefit millions of people at the levels of body, mind and spirit. A few of them are listed below:

Inner Awakening

Inner Awakening is a 'master' program that is intensely transformative. It is a 21-day energy cycle that brings about an irreversible alchemy of moving from the mundane to the Divine. It is a program where the master is completely available to work on the true seeker and guide him to the Ultimate. Further, it gives you the lifetime opportunity to stay in the intense energy field of the Bengaluru ashram for 21 days.

Nithyananda says,

'The Inner Awakening program is designed to reproduce all the components of jeevan mukti or 'Living Enlightenment' in every being.

Each of my programs is designed to reproduce one component, one dimension of me in you. For example, Life Bliss Program Level 1 (LBP 1), is designed to reproduce one component that is 'living joyfully'. Life Bliss Program Level 2 (NSP) is designed to reproduce another dimension that is 'living death beautifully'. Nithya Yoga is designed to reproduce yet another component that is 'having a yogic body'. Each program is designed to reproduce one component of jeevan mukti in you. Whenever you experience one dimension, you experience an opening, an inspiration or feeling to go deep. Unfortunately that one opening is not enough to pass into jeevan mukti and start staying in jeevan mukti itself. It is more like having one glimpse of jeevan mukti.

The Inner Awakening is designed in a complete, whole way - it is like all the programs such as Nithyanandam, Nithya Yoga, everything put together and something more...reproducing all the components of jeevan mukti which is in me, in you.

The whole thing is now available to you in one place.

Living every moment with the understanding that life is introducing new dimensions of the cosmos to you is 'Living Enlightenment'."

A residential program to experience the intense and transformative power of being in an enlightened master's presence. Life Bliss Engineering (LBE) is a 90-day program in the Bengaluru ashram in India, which takes you to the depths of your being through yoga, meditation, and helps you to awaken your innate peak potential. Learn directly from the master, Paramahamsa Nithyananda, to engineer your very body and mind for enlightened living.

In LBE, you will:

n Participate in the 'Inner Awakening' sessions, a 21-day enlightenment-intensive program with the master, that leads you to discover the very purpose of your life and rise above the clutches of your mind. This program includes life solutions and meditations for all levels of seekers, daily Nithya Yoga sessions, initiation into Nithya Spiritual Healing

n Embark on travel studies to culturally, historically and spiritually significant locations including Tiruvannamalai, the birthplace of Nithyananda, and Chidambaram, the birthplace of Patanjali.

n Engage in revealing discussions, debates and study groups for deeper insights and understanding about the human mind-body mechanism and how to live life as a celebration.

n Concept, design and execute project work(s) that will help expand your capacity for creativity and intelligence, and to serve society with responsibility.

n Experience continuous inner healing in the energy field surrounding the mystical Banyan Tree at the ashram in Bengaluru.

n Enjoy ayurvedic satvic food during all meals in a day.

People from all over the world participate in this unique program and experience a quantum jump in their inner space and outer life.

A one-day meditation program that sows in you the seed of Living Enlightenment. Through Kalpataru you will be blessed with: Shakti, the Energy to understand and change whatever you need to change in life,

Buddhi, the Intelligence to understand and accept whatever you don't need to change in life,

Yukti, the Clarity to understand and realize that however much you change, whatever you see as reality is itself a continuously changing dream,

Bhakti, the Devotion, the feeling of deep connection to That which is unchanging, eternal and Ultimate, and

Mukti, the Ultimate Liberation called Living Enlightenment when all these four are integrated in you.

This program empowers you with the energy to align your actions with your intentions so you move with success and inner bliss.

Life Bliss Program Level 1 (LBP Level 1) - Energize yourself

A chakra based meditation program that relaxes and energizes the seven major chakras or subtle energy centers in your system. It gives clear intellectual and experiential understanding of your various emotions such as greed, fear, worry, attention-need, stress, jealousy, ego, and discontentment. It is designed to create a spiritual effect at the physical level. It is a guaranteed life solution to experience the reality of your own bliss. When you are liberated from a particular emotion, you experience a new world, a new energy. It is a highly effective workshop, experienced by millions of people around the globe.

Life Bliss Program Level 2 (LBP Level 2) - Death demystified!

A meditation program that unleashes the art of living by demystifying the process of dying. This program creates the space to detach from ingrained and unconscious emotions like guilt, pleasure and pain, all of which stem from the ultimate fear of death. It is a gateway to a new life that is driven by natural intelligence and spontaneous enthusiasm.

Life Bliss Program Level 3 - Atma Spurana Program (LBP Level 3 - ATSP)

An indepth program that analyzes clearly the workings of the mind and shows you experientially how to be the master of the mind rather than be dictated by it. It imparts tremendous intellectual understanding coupled with powerful meditations to produce instant clarity and integration.

Life Bliss Program Level 3 - Bhakti Spurana Program (LBP Level 3 - BSP)

A program that reveals the different dimensions of relating with others and with your deeper self. It clearly defines relationship as that which kindles and reveals your own unknown dimensions to you. It allows you to experience the real depth and joy of any relationship in your life.

Life Bliss Technology (LBT)

Life Bliss Technology (LBT) is a residential program for youth all around the world. Offered over either a three-month and a two-year period, this program, with its roots in the ancient inner science of living enlightenment, is designed to empower modern youth with good physical, mental and emotional health, practical life skills and above all, the science of blissful living. By nurturing creative intelligence and spontaneity, and imparting life skills, it creates economically self-sufficient and spiritually strong youth. Above all, it offers a lifetime opportunity to live and learn under the tutelage of an enlightened master.

Nithyanandam

An advanced meditation program for seekers where the presence of the master and the intense energy field lead one to the state of nithya ananda - eternal bliss. It offers a range of techniques from meditation to service to sitting in the powerful presence of the master.

Nithyananda offers Nithya Spiritual Healing, a science and service of energy based healing that is causing miraculous relief from a host of physical and mental diseases. Nithyananda initiates people into becoming healers of this Nithya Spiritual Healing system. The initiated healers world over touch at least 20,000 people every day through this free service.

n Nithyananda Publishers: Over 5000 hours of Paramahamsa Nithyananda's discourses transcribed, edited and published in-house and made available in stores through books, DVDs and CDs

n Life Bliss Gallerias: Worldwide stores and mobile shops retailing recordings and books of Nithyananda's discourses and Nithya Kirtan recordings in 23 languages

n Nithyananda Meditation & Healing Centers: Worldwide, offering meditation and healing services

n Nithyananda Sangeeth Academy: Music, dance and other forms of art taught and encouraged in youth and elderly alike - live and through internet

n Free Discourses on YouTube: Over 600 free discourses on www.youtube.com - wisdom from the master, easily accessible. Ranked top in viewership

n Support to scientists and researchers: Continually bridging gaps between science and spirituality through researches on spiritual energy and healing.

n Nithyananda International Youth Foundation (NIYF): A collection of inspired youth, building a divine and dynamic society with a common ideology of peace and enlightenment

n Nithya Dheera Seva Sena: Through transformation of self, this volunteer force of Ananda Sevaks trains and functions in the service of humanity, also serving as relief wing working towards disaster recovery management. USA: Los Angeles

Listed below are some of the main centers of Nithyananda Mission.

For further information visit www.nithyananda.org

A wide range of products for blissful living:

n Nithyananda's insightful messages on video, audio tapes, CDs and books in over 26 languages.

n Enlivening music and chants for meditation and inner healing.

n Meditation and yoga books, kits and CDs for rejuvenating body, mind and spirit.

n Energized rosaries, bracelets, photographs, clothing and gift items for a stimulating life style.

n Ethnic energy bead jewelry for men and women for tranquility and continued high energy.

Visit www.nithyanandagalleria.com or www.lifeblissgalleria.com for more information. E-mail: [email protected] & [email protected]

Suggested for Further Reading

n Living Enlightenment (Gospel of Paramahamsa Nithyananda)

n Nithyananda Vol. 1 (A biographical account of Nithyananda's life up to the age of 17)

n Guaranteed Solutions

n Don't Worry Be Happy

n Instant Tools for Blissful Living

n You Can Heal

n Follow Me In!

n The Door to Enlightenment

n Songs of Eternity (A coffee table book with Nithyananda's messages and pictures)

n You are No Sinner

n So You Want to Know The Truth?

n Uncommon answers to Common Questions

Over 500 FREE discourses of Nithyananda available at http://www.youtube.com/lifeblissfoundation

Are you using only a fraction of your potential? Is suffering actually a choice that you make? Can laughter be a meditation technique? What is 'karma'? What is 'body intelligence'? Do rituals and mantras have a scientific basis?

Paramahamsa Nithyananda answers many questions that you always had, and some you didn't even know you had. There are no theories or metaphysical answers proposed here; only easy-to-use tools for effective and joyful living.

PUBLISHED BY NITHYANANDA PUBLISHERS

Ebook ISBN: 979-8-88572-543-9

M.R.P. in India only : Rs.200/-