From a satsang with Pt. Umesh Persad, Spiritual Leader, SWAHA Gyaan Deepak Kirtan Mandali
Sanaatan Dharma teaches us that we are all affected by five different forms of bondage. The wisdom of our scriptures also provide us with guidance on how to deal with suffering, problems and hardship.
The five forms of bondage are:
- Pancha klesha: Five mental afflictions, avidya (ignorance), asmita (ego), raag (attachment), dvesha (aversion) and abhinivesh (fear of loss or death);
- Pancha kosha: Five sheaths that envelop the soul, annamaya kosha (the food sheath), praanamaya kosha (the vital air sheath), manomaaya kosha (mind sheath), vigyaanamaya kosha (mental sheath) and aanandamaaya kosha (bliss sheath). These also belong to one of three bodies: the gross, subtle and causal bodies;
- Trikarma: Three types of karma, sanchit (stored-up karma), prarabdha karma (bearing fruit now) and aagaami karma (karma we are creating now);
- Tritaap: Three types of misery, daihik (suffering in a personal way, such as physical and mental illness), daivik (environmental disaster) and bhoutik (suffering due to other people in the society);
- Triguna: Three qualities that influence the mind, sattva (purity), rajas (materialism) and tamas (inertia).
Life is filled with various challenges and there are two ways we can deal with them. We could respond negatively by carrying around the baggage of negativity with us and spiral into further negative thought and emotional patterns. The Buddha puts this into perspective with the story of a man who was shot. He insisted on finding out first why he was shot, who shot him and their reason for so doing, instead of treating the wound. We must first of all think of what we must do to reduce the pain. It is a practical analogy of how we must deal with problems in terms of focussing on the problem at hand and mitigating it.
The positive response to life’s challenges is to start thinking of ways to deal with the problem. Little by little, we can turn the situation into something positive. We must take the negativities and use them as nutrients in life’s garden of good qualities: flowers of kindness, a tree of wisdom, fruits of sweet insights from dealing with the problems. We can then share those fruits with others when they too are confronted with life’s challenges.
In the Shree Raamcharitramanas, we always hear the term, ”Aagay chalay” meaning “going forward”. In reality, we all are bound by time and have no choice but to move forward but the statement denotes a mental attitude that we must develop. We must understand that everything is temporary in life, both good and bad. In this transient world, life situations are always changing. If we can look beyond the impermanent to the permanent, we are using the Ganesh principle of good judgement or discrimination.
The Shree Raamcharitramaanas speaks of Rishyamukha mountain. Rishya is a seer or rishi; mukhya means ‘to be silent or quiet’; and the mountain represents the mind. We must quiet the mind in order to see clearly. In ideal circumstances, we would be able to have total control over the mind, no thoughts, no experiences, that is, the ultimate state. We need to quiet the negative thought patterns that emerge when we are faced with difficulties. We must make some positive affirmations and move forward in life.
