ADDICTION...GET RID
OF IT:
I always wonder, why there is an emptiness sometimes in our lives, the gap that we cannot fill, the pain of missing
something? And when I go deep, I find that it's probably caused by the desire to fulfil the unfulfilled desires in our lives
which has taken the shape of an addiction and we cannot give it up. This addiction becomes a part of our life though we know
that it may lead us to destruction. But, it gives us that momentary pleasure, without which we feel the emptiness and
we don't want to give it up. We like doing certain things so much that the thought of leaving that habit scares us. To give some examples...
We love to think about the pleasant past. We get addicted to trying to fulfil our unfulfilled
desires of the past in our thoughts. This addiction leads one to misery and agony. we know that past is an illusion,
but we still cannot give up this addiction of living in the past in our thoughts as it gives us momentary illusive satisfaction,
a FALSE pleasure.......or not?
To give another example to explain a little more.....
The addiction to
fame, addiction to praises can lead a person to lies and pretensions. The person cannot tolerate criticism and behaves abnormally.
He loses his sense to judge the good and the bad. It's only running after the praises, the desire to listen to the good
in oneself, to satisfy the hunger for fame that matters then. Totally destructive as this addiction can be, makes one
an egoistic and blind person.
Similarly, the addiction to reach the top......Oh! another race, another craving to win
and only win.It makes a person dangerous. He doesn't then bother about anyone else except for himself.
Ít's hard to
give up these addictions. We try to run after the dreams which could not materialize. We try to make them real in our
thoughts. we know that the dream is far from reality and there are other priorities which are more important but we try to
fulfil our desires and are never able to give them up. But the question remains... how can we conquer these addictions?
It's only and only our will power which is capable of conquering our so long nurtured addictions.To face the challenge is
the key to conquer it. We do all know our limits and capabilities. To try to fulfil our dreams is definitely not wrong but
to get addicted to a fantasy, an idea or a self-destructive concept and to run after it only leads to false hopes and misery.
Let's not run after a mirage, let's recognize the Truth and have the courage to accept the reality.
LIFE:
Experience is a teacher. But man
never learns. He commits the same mistakes again and again. Why is he not satisfied with what he has already got? He craves
for more happiness and ends up in sorrow and pain. Pain created by himself leads him to momentary detachment and he tries
to push away the happiness that is already there in his life. He overlooks the good in his life as he wants to have something
better. Momentary detachment leads him to more pain and agony. The absense of a certain thing in life remains more prominent
in his eyes , so much so that he becomes blind to the positive and beautiful things present in his life. The five stages of
life described in Hindu scriptures have their own significance. To mix them up leads to only illusion. To try to practice
sanyaas (detachment) in yauvan (youth) and to be totally involved in grahasthya (family life) in oldage cannot serve the
purpose of life. Life is beautiful but beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Man continually runs to make his life more
beautiful, by whatever means , trying to pull materialistic pleasures into his life from outside. But he forgets that, what
is brought from outside cannot fit into his life. To let it go then becomes almost impossible and he keeps hanging in between
the happiness and the self -created pain. So, to live the life that one has been given, to appreciate life's beauty
can only give pure happiness . To be truthful to oneself is the key. Let's accept the truth of our life, let's appreciate
the beauty of our life and be thankful to God for this wonderful life we have been given.
DEATH:
All of us fear death.Why are we scared
to see a dead person's body? Somewhere inside we know that THIS is what we have to face one day and we are afraid to accept
that fact. People who are left behind cry after the death of their dear ones.This has been a cycle for ages but still we cannot
accept the reality and try our best to conquer death. Death is the ultimate truth. Birth is directly related to death. One
who is born has to die. Who knows what happens after death though we claim to know what life is. But do we really live our
life the ideal way? Everyone has to live his own life and die one day leaving everything behind. The circumstance in which
a person dies, the pain the suffering one goes through before death is just one of the episodes of the whole chapter.Death
liberates one from all the suffering and pain. Death teaches us detachment.. So, to be born is a blessing, to live the life
to its fullest and to accept the sufferings as part of one's life is desirable and to be able to accept death as the ultimate
truth is real attainment.
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