CHAPTER 9
WHAT IS THE
CAUSE OF OUR
MISERY?
IGNORANCE
The root cause of losing our Peace of Mind is ignorance. We are ignorant about many things. We are ignorant that everything in the world is an illusion. It's like a movie, a drama. We are ignorant about death and thereafter. We are ignorant about life and its purpose. We are ignorant about who we truly are. And the biggest ignorance of all, we are ignorant about our own ignorance!
We go about life as if we know everything when in reality, we know nothing. We live as if we can do anything, but the truth is we can do nothing. Our Mind is our biggest enemy. The Mind along with the ego, imprisons us in this ignorance and steals our Peace and we don't even realize it. We just live with stress, and anxiety, and become miserable. Every 'body' has to suffer. There is no way to escape physical pain. But why should we become miserable? Why do we let our pain become our suffering? It is because of ignorance. We don't realize the truth that we are not the body that suffers the physical pain nor are we the Mind. Our Mind is an illusion; it doesn't exist. We do not accept the reality of life and thus suffer.
We cry when we see somebody die. But why? Again, it is ignorance. We know that death is certain – still, we cry! Death is inevitable. Nobody can escape death. But when death happens, we break down. Although we know the truth, we are still ignorant.
It is not that we don't have the knowledge. But despite being educated with the facts, we are still ignorant. We know that the dead body is not the person who died. Still, our ignorance stops us from realizing that we are not this body that will return to dust. Our Mind makes us worry and wander. We let the little things of life trouble us and we become miserable so easily. What is the cause of this? It is ignorance.
We experience the triple suffering of the body, Mind, and ego because of our ignorance. We live with anger, hate, revenge and jealously, because of ignorance. We know in the end, everything dissolves to dust. We see it happening when somebody departs. But still, we are unable to visualize our own departure.
Is it not true that at death, nothing will belong to us? Our money, our assets, our car, our home and our favourite possessions will all be left behind. Still, we crave, we desire, and we fight with everybody around us. Isn't it silly on our part, when we can clearly see that when somebody dies, not even a pin goes with them? Then, why are we ignorant? Why do we experience misery? Why does the ego get so passionate, attached and thus agonized, angry and upset?
Our ignorance is very deep-rooted because of Maya – the cosmic illusion. It hides the truth and projects the myth. Thus, we don't realize what the truth is and we believe the illusory projection to be real. A lady was watching a movie in which a man loved his dog very much. Suddenly, one day the dog died and as the man cried, she too wept. It was not real. It was just a movie. But she was crying as if her dog was dying. Haven't we seen people sob and become miserable watching a tragic movie? Why? They know it's a movie. But ignorance makes them cry. They believe the projection to be real.
Life is a movie too. We are all actors who come to the earth, a humongous stage where 8 billion people are doing their part. We come with nothing and we will go with nothing. Still, we don't realize that all this is an illusion. It appears to be real, but in the end, it is not. Then, why do we become miserable in this drama called Life? We build relationships with people and then when a relationship ends, it breaks our heart. We become emotional and shed tears. Isn't it true that ultimately all relationships will end, then what stops us from accepting this fact and not becoming attached to people? It is our ignorance. Although we know it, we don't realize the truth and this deep-rooted ignorance makes us miserable.
Suppose you borrowed my car in my dream last night and in the morning I came to you and asked you to return it. Wouldn't you scoff at me and say, 'What are you talking about? When did I borrow your car?' Then, I innocently tell you, 'Last night in my dream, you came and asked me for my car, and I was kind enough to give you the keys. Now, will you please return the car and the keys to me?' Wouldn't you think I have gone crazy? What nonsense - asking you to return the car that you borrowed in my dream! It was only a dream. It was not for real. Then, why am I asking for it?
We all know what a dream is. It is not real. It's just a dream!
But we think life is real and this makes us lose our Peace. We fret and fume about everything and slip into a state of misery so easily. If only we realized that life is exactly like a dream, we would laugh through it. The fact is that life is like a dream! But our ignorance is so deep, that we can't see the truth that stares us in our face. Nothing in the world is worth being so stressed about. But everything makes us miserable. Every little thing that happens in our life robs our Peace and we are not able to do anything about it. Because we live in ignorance, without realizing that this is a drama, that we come with nothing and we go with nothing, we are constantly becoming miserable.
Our own Mind is the cause of our misery. Although we have the intellect to discriminate, the Monkey in us keeps us imprisoned in ignorance as we cry in misery. We lose our Peace of Mind, only because of the deep-rooted ignorance that the Monkey Mind holds on to. Unless we realize the truth, we will continue to suffer in misery.
We human beings are not Monkeys. Monkeys only have a Mind. They even have an instinct. But they don't have a well-developed intellect like us. Despite the Monkey Mind of man believing that we were apes, the fact is that we human beings have a unique intellect that no animal has. Only the human species is gifted with the ability to choose, to discriminate, and to realize the truth. If we don't use our intellect and overcome our ignorance, we will continue to suffer and be miserable.
Anand and Rhea had a lovely Shih Tzu pet. They both adored their dog. But it was Anand who was truly passionate about the pet. One day, Rhea got some exotic imported lettuce and she decided to plant it in her garden. The little Shih Tzu was playing around and his attention went to the new plant. In a matter of moments, he pulled out the roots and started chewing them. Rhea was furious. She gave the pet several spanks as anger took over her. Anand was watching her but he did not respond because he knew that her rascal Mind had overtaken her rationality. Later that morning, he got an opportunity to discuss this when the little dog started chasing a crow in the garden and Rhea commented, 'This dog is crazy!' Anand explained that we humans are blessed with an intellect. Thus, we can discriminate and choose what is right. Dogs have some kind of instinct, but they do many things because they don't possess a well-developed intellect. Instead of us foolishly losing our Peace of Mind and then, our humane compassion, we should let wisdom prevail and respond with our intellect. This gift of discrimination is unique, but if we don't use it effectively, we can end up behaving like animals and lose our Divine gift of Peace.
We human beings are not the body that dies and returns to dust. We see it happen in front of our eyes. We are also not the ME – the Mind and Ego, that we appear to be. It is a subtle existence that is caused by our ignorance. Because we don't realize we are not the body and the Mind, we continue to suffer the triple suffering without realizing that we are the Divine Soul. Until we realize this truth, we will continue to suffer in ignorance. We lose our Peace of Mind only because of our ignorance.
The moment we overcome our ignorance and realize the truth, we are free from the triple suffering of the body, Mind, and ego. If only we realize the truth of who we are and why we are here, we become free from our sorrows. Unfortunately, our ignorance seems to occupy every cell of our body. Thus, we are unable to accept the truth. We are unable to surrender to the reality that life is no better than a cosmic drama. Although we see actors come on the earth stage and go, we are unable to accept that this is just a show.
Ignorance steals our Peace. The Peace that we so much want is within, but it is the ignorance within that destroys it. The ignorance makes us blind to the truth. Although we see that a ring, a bracelet, a chain, and a bangle are all made of pure gold, and therefore, they are all nothing but gold, we still call them by what they appear to be. The reality is, it is not a bracelet, nor a ring, nor a bangle. There is gold in everything. If we remove the gold, there will be no bracelet, no ring. Still, we identify it as a ring. Why? Although it is not a ring, it is gold, why does it appear to be a ring to us, when in reality it is only gold? It is our ignorance that stops us from realizing the truth. Although we can see it, we don't realize it. Although we have the knowledge, we don't realize it. This is the power of our ignorance that makes us miserable as it robs our Peace. Is there a way to eternal Peace? The good news is, there is!
