Problems of Life - Teachings to Change Lives:

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Telugu Talk

Why we need to have correct knowledge about life & What’s missing?

As humans we always want to be happy and not have sorrow or difficulties. What do we need to do to be happy?  We need good education, good job, healthy relationship, family and good health like this list goes on. What’s wrong in asking for these things?

As a student we want to have good conventional education where we can be successful in our lives. With this education we can earn material comforts, entertain ourselves in a variety of ways, travel around the globe and support a large group of friends, family and community. Thus, the main purpose of the conventional education is earning comforts and companionship. We need to be happy when we have all these things but we are not always happy. 

Conventional education may be considered a tool that can maximize happiness and minimize or eliminate some of the situations leading to unhappiness. Education cannot change the world unless our outlook changes. Life will present the pairs of opposites such as victory and defeat, pleasure and pain, gain and loss, health and ill health. Although we see that life is constantly changing, we expect it to remain constantly favorable to us. When we hear some bad news such as premature death, loss of property or such unfortunate events, we secretly hope that it should not happen to us.

Correct knowledge guides us to increase the quality of our life.

Most of the time, our focus is on increasing the standard of life.  We keep going for quantity in our lives thinking that next object or person will make us happy. We have to learn to understand the quality that we need, not quantity. We keep accumulating things around us which will make us more depressed some times.

Correct knowledge teaches us the way to handle all our problems in life effectively so that life could be joyful.

It provides us with an emotional insurance cover so that we are not affected by the problems of life. 

Correct knowledge shows resolution to so called problems in our life. 

We remain unprepared when a tragedy strikes us. In life, we may face various difficult situations. Such situations are termed as 'problems' or 'crises. Once we gain the real knowledge of the life, there will be no more problems or crisis in our life but only situations. Life will be joyful.

What are problems of life?

Nature of the problem
All the problems in our life are represented by negative emotions such as:
Anger, Annoyance, Anxiety
Bitterness
Confusion
Discontent, Disgust, Displeasure

Fear, Frustration
Grief, Guilt
Hatred
Irritation

Pain – Emotional and Physical
Rage, Regret
Shame, Sorrow, Suspicion
Worry

When we are crippled at times with these emotions we feel that there is no way out. Sometimes we make mistakes that are irrecoverable when these emotions are overflowing.  The suffering comes through these emotions, and if this is constant this will drag us in to depression or change of personality.

We might think that people around us or objects outside are the problem.

If we carefully examine this, we can understand that these factors are only the causes of the problem. The real problem is in our mind and this is universal in nature.

Only situations and conditions change.

We always react to the situations in a similar way.

We have been facing problems since our birth but we never had time to understand our thinking and patterns of suffering.

Unless we understand these patterns that we go through, we cannot fix our so called problems.    

Understand that the problem is dormant:

We do not enjoy having such negative emotions. If we have such emotions, we suffer.

We call this suffering as our problem.

Even if we do not have these negative emotions, during any given period in our life, it cannot be said we are not suffering. Like a dormant disease, which has not yet manifested, the possibility of suffering by such negative emotions, exist in all of us all the time.

Thus, the problem is always present. Either it is manifested (as suffering) or it is in the dormant state (possibility of suffering). 

Understand that miscalculated expectation is the reason for suffering:

When we encounter a situation that is not in line with our expectations, then such negative emotions are manifested.

In life, either we are expected to be certain way or we want other people or situations to be certain way. We do not make an effort to understand our responsibility and limitations in this aspect.

Multiple causes but single problem

We can have multiple causes for the single problem that exists in our lives.

Where is the problem?

The problem could be caused by anything but suffering remains the common factor. All these emotions that we go through are an expression of our suffering.

Where are they generated?

The simple answer is “Mind”.

Mind is the reason why we suffer.

Not understanding our own self is the reason why we suffer.

Our expectation in our mind is the reason why we suffer.

Not understanding our tendencies and patterns is the reason why we suffer.

By letting our mind control the intellect - is the reason why we suffer.

Let us pray to Baba so that he can take us inside our mind. With this we can travel forward in the spiritual path.

OM SAI RAM!