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Commentary by Jayaram V
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15. O chief of men, the wise man to whom pain and pleasure are alike, and who is not tormented by these contacts, becomes fit for immortality. |
Spiritual life is not an easy life. It is not for the weak and the infirm who
vacillate in their convictions. They are not fit for spiritual life who have not
learned to be free from the passion and pains of the ordinary life. The fires of
mortal existence have yet to refine and purify these weak souls who burn their animal
passions tirelessly in search of false dreams. They are still madly and deeply in
love with themselves and their mortal achievements, forever enchanted by winds and
storms, spells and magic, threats and challenges of the deceptively alluring worldly
life.
The first step in spiritual journey is the realization that the worldly life
is the cause of all human suffering. The next step is to establish a certain inner
tranquility capable of withstanding external pressures without which no further
spiritual progress is possible. The divine calm that is hidden behind all life is
the first door through which the soul has to pass in order to experience the beauty
and joy of divine life, the life which is the objective of all spiritual aspiration.
Into that world of happiness and harmony the soul cannot set its feet unless it
has attuned itself to a life of perfect calm, peace and impassionate witnessing
awareness that is enduring, absorbing and irresistibly overwhelming. Without peace
and silence in the inner mind, the mind's door is never opened to the celestial
drama, to the eternal Ganges that flows into the earth consciousness setting it
firmly on the road to immortality.
The purpose of worldly life is to aid and abet Nature in her secret plans. It
is sole aim is to keep the individual busy and preoccupied so that he is forever
bound to his self-destructive lower nature. Nature on earth is not yet ready to
receive and groom evolved souls. She supports and protects the ignorant ones who
are deeply caught in the web of her alluring dreams. This is Nature's way of keeping
its resources firmly under her control. Majority of the people are unhappy because
they have not understood the true nature of their lower selves. They have not learned
the mechanism of their lower minds and the senses. It is only the wise and the intelligent
few who by dint of their effort and grace of God unravel this secret and lead a
divinely peaceful life untouched by the troubles of the outside world. They know
the cause of their suffering and how to free themselves from it. The evolved soul
ready for spiritual journey knows that it is not the external world around him which
is actually responsible for his suffering, but his reaction to it; that inner peace
and happiness are independent of his external world, but dependent on his own inner
nature. This makes him the real "wise man" of the Gita "to whom pain and pleasure
are alike" and who is fit for immortality. How this state is achieved is described
in subsequent verses.
Perceptions by themselves do not create any ripples in the mind. Nor are they
capable of producing the same reactions all the time. In summer heat from firewood
would cause the body to sweat while in winter the same heat would provide warm comfort.
A beautiful flower is imperceptible to a troubled man in his immediate surroundings
while at other times it may invoke in him a sense of deep appreciation. The individual
is the same. The objects are the same. Then what is the cause of divergent reactions?
The wise man knows this and therefore is not affected by the ever-changing images
and actions that appear and disappear on the screen of his life. He knows how transient
these images are and how inconsequential it would be to react to them. This awareness
gives him the strength to face life with a firm inner peace and sets him free from
the tragedy and comedy of ordinary life.
Bhagavadgita Chapter 2 Verses 1- 21
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