THE THREE DEVASTATING STATES OF
HUMAN MIND
A deed which looks odd to
the human mind people term it as Senseless. But the senses can
also be over powered. Not one or two but six enemies are there with in us who
always over power us but do not leave so easily. They are called shadripus (six
enemies). The shadripus have
been listed as
1. Lust (Sanskrit: Kama)
2. Greed (Sanskrit: Lobha)
3. Anger (Sanskrit: Krodha)
4. Arrogance (Sanskrit: Mada)
5. Attachment (Sanskrit: Moha)
6. Jealousy (Sanskrit: Matsarya)
These 6 enemies hold our senses and thus will have hold over us and try to devastate ultimately both our character and life. Allowing our senses, to control us is to be in the throes (violent pain and struggle) of emotions and to be in a senseless state. Now a days these six are hidden in three states. These are anger (krodha and Mada), greed (Moha and matsarya) and love sickness (Kama and Lobha). Three animals represent these three states, respectively: the tiger, the monkey and the deer in Chinese Buddhism. The three emotions anger, greed and lovesickness are of such intensity that they have the power to completely sway our minds and interfere in our dharma by making us slip from the path of righteousness...
Anger is the corrosive emotion that causes real damage in your mental and physical health. With anger, the dilemma is ’Do you hold it in or do you let it out?’. Anger doesn't dissipate whether you suppress it or whether you unleash it. You just got to manage it! One of the best ways to control anger and aggression is through prayer. There's no underestimating the power of prayer. When you pray, two things happen: our focus moves away from the object of our irritation and provocation, and dwells on the bigger picture and the Divine Force.
Greed is God nowadays. This is another modern malaise that blinds one to the priorities of his own life. Despite knowing what the important things in one's life are, he becomes a slave to greed which makes flounder (To struggle in mud) on the spiritual path.
Contentment, or the state
of mind whereby you tell yourself that what you have is enough, or how much you
actually need to make yourself happy, and where you may be crossing the line of
control, is what keeps you rooted on the spiritual path. Here one thing I would
like to bring before you from Telugu Bhagavatam:
వ్యాప్తిన్ చెందక వగవక
ప్రాప్తంబగు లేశమైన పదివేలనుచున్
తృప్తిన్ చెందని మనుజుడు
సప్త ద్వీపములనైన చక్కంబడునే
కారే రాజులు రాజ్యముల్ గల్గవే గర్వోన్నతిన్ జెందరే
వారేరీ సిరి మూట గట్టుకొని పోవన్ జాలిరే, భూమిపై
పెరయినన్ గలదే, శిబి
ప్రముఖులున్ ప్రీతిన్ యశఃకాములై
ఈరే కోర్కెల, వారలున్
గలుగరే ఇక్కాలమున్ భార్గవా!
A person who is over ambitious or not saturated in his
attainment of riches cannot be cured where ever he goes. Bali chkravarti continues
to say to Sukaracharya Innumerable kings have ruled this earth and departed,
do we remember them nor could they take away the wealth they have earned to wherever
they went after death? See great people like Sibi who considered Dana (Charity) (దానము) as their dharma
and indulged in charity are still living in the minds and on the tongues of
people even today. So contentment and charity bring happiness and not greed.
The third, and equally psychologically-damaging mental state, is love sickness which is nonparallel to any other mental physical or psychological sickness or can we say infatuation. It is a state where one imagines oneself to be in love with someone. The feeling is damaging because not only does it make a falsehood appear real, but it blocks out the priorities of life. Indra, Chandra, Ravana, Duryodhana are concrete examples for this, who were the worst sufferers. Think whether you deserve more than you desire. If you could realise what you have and what you are you can control yourself. When you experience lots of friendship, attention and empathy then you realise that your infatuation is of little consequence.
Above all there is one thing honestly to think. Suppose you consider yourself great for the reasons best known to you. Does it mean that you are ultimate? Even a great Emperor remains as s mouth piece of his Cabinet. If he keeps himself stiff he will not have nobody to speak, to come closure and to tell good and bad.
క్రోధో వైశ్వానరో దేవో ఆశా
వైతరిణీ నదిl
విద్యా కామదుఘాః దేనుః సంతుష్టిః నందనం
వనంll
తన క్రోధమగ్ని గాంచగ
తన ఆశే వైతరిణిని తప్పక చేర్చున్
తన విద్య కామధేనువు
తనతృప్తే నందనమ్ము తలవగ రామా!
See this great advice from our
Niti-Sastra. Our anger is devastating fire, desire is Vaitarini which is incorrigible
filth filled with rotten meat, eggs, excrete and so many such other things and
we have to swim across to reach hell to swallow the bitter taste of our ‘Karma-Phala’.
While his Knowledge and Wisdom are his ‘Kalpavriksha’ and ‘Kamadhenu’ his
contentment is the eternal garden with heavenly bliss.
So, practice mindfulness by becoming aware of the workings of
your mind, analyse the root cause of your anger, the mesmerising effect of your
greed, and the helplessness of your love sickness...and try to rise above
them...the path may not be easy, but it's not impossible...stay blessed, stay
happy!
Swasthi.
No comments:
Post a Comment