THE CREATION OF SUFFERING
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Don't empower it
Everyone talks about suffering, but who is really keen on overcoming it? What really happens is, when your suffering is less, you feel you are too small, so you increase your suffering. Then you can feel you are somebody. Ask anybody how his or her life is. They will say, 'Swamiji, nobody should suffer like me. I am the person who has suffered the most on this planet Earth. Even my enemy should not get this much of suffering.' They know how to write their own biography. Ask anyone to write their own biography. This will be their first sentence. You always exaggerate your suffering because it boosts your ego to think that you are handling a lot. The problem is, after some time, you forget you exaggerated and you are yourself caught in the same net. It is you
who creates a big net for yourself. You might disagree and say, 'No no, you don't know my life; you don't know my suffering, how much I have struggled...' After some time you are caught in the same feeling, in the same net that you created. Remember, suffering is purely your own reaction to a situation, reinforced by you.
Paramahamsa
Gratitude is Prayer
26 Aug 2004, Texas, USA
A cow from the goshala (cow shelter).
Outside the Laughing Temple,
Bangalore ashram. 2006.