Choosing good over pleasant is a wise option!

Many people argue how this visible world could be termed as illusion? If the world is perceived by one individual, then there is logic in concluding that his perception may be wrong. But all people in the world perceive the world and hence there are discussions about every events in many forums around the world. Well, let us consider the example of a magic show! There may be many people who assembled to witness the feats of the magician. Of course, people go there for recreation. The magician performs many feats which enthrall the audience. In most of the magic shows, the clever magician takes up varieties of things, animals and birds from an empty hat. There are other astonishing events wherein a girl is cut clean across and after a few minutes, she comes out whole from the audience side. The entire audience is witness to these feats! Because so many people witness the above, does the magic become true in reality? No, these are all tricks and the entire audience is hoodwinked by the magician in some way! Similarly, our mind falsely makes us believe that the world is real and we believe in our sensual perceptions as true! Each sense organ is capable of perceiving one particular faculty. The eyes are meant for vision and the eyes cannot hear. The ears can only hear and they cannot see! When their capacity is restricted thus, how can we construe that their perception is real and true? It is like the seven blind men who happened to touch the elephant and each one concluded that the elephant is like this and that according to the parts they touched. The man who touched the stomach asserted that the elephant is like a wall. The man who touched the ears affirmed that the elephant is like a big fan. The one who touched the tail concluded it is like the broom; A man touched the legs and said vociferously that the elephant is like the pillar! None of their assertion is correct. Only a wayfarer who has clear vision settled their dispute that each one has touched only one part and concluded that the elephant comprise of this one part. Though our senses and sense organs are capable of perceiving one particular aspect, they cannot conclude that their perception alone is right. It is only a partial idea.

For instance, during the rainy season when dark clouds hover around the sky, there are flashes of lightning and thunder. Thought the lightning and thunder happens simultaneously, we first view the streaks of lightning and hear the sounds of thunder little later. The speed with which light travels across is more than the speed of the sound waves! Hence our perceptions of the external world through the senses may not be always correct! Hence we cannot fully rely on the imperfect sensory perceptions! We perceive everything through the dual mind in the dual world. If the mind is not dual, it cannot perceive the dual world. Advaita philosophy emphasizes only oneness. Those who follow Advaita affirm that there is only Brahman or God and there is no second entity! They assert that the world is an illusion of the mind and Brahman alone IS. For ordinary worldly minded people, this philosophy is beyond their understanding. They believe in what they see and what they hear. They assume themselves as separate from the rest and they take the diversity of the world as very much real. Hence they exult when they achieve something and become dejected when they fail in their attempts. This sort of excitement and dejection is common among the worldly minded people! Whereas the practitioners of Advaita in true sense are always happy since they perceive only God! But the hold of senses over the mind is very powerful and hence it is very difficult for the ordinary people to adopt highest philosophies. Hence they have to move step by step in the ladder of spirituality to reach the highest state of Advaita!

The world is comprises of people of various intellectual capacities and most people lead a mundane life satisfying their senses by various means. For such people it will take many births to evolve in true human spirit which will deliver one from the cycle of births and deaths!

Life is a mixture of pleasure and pain, grief and joy, day and night, wellness and illness and finally prosperity and poverty! Neither an individual suffers forever nor one reap joy throughout his life. It is like rain and sun. But we always crave for change since we are not able to tolerate a particular environment forever. Hence the baby grows into a child and the child become a young boy or girl and within few years they become school going students. The journey of life passes through hills and valleys, forests and plain land, deserts and rivers. We experience different things during different periods of our life. As a baby, we relished playing with toys. Later colorful story books attracted our attention. Still later, we liked the company of friends and started playing games in parks and grounds. When we were made to study alphabets and numbers, we have not evinced much interest and only coercion of parents and teachers forced us to attend schools which enforced orders and disciplines. We always wanted to play and rest instead of studying and writing. The natural tendency of the mind is seeking comforts for the body and to enjoy the pleasures of the senses. Hence mind and intellect are of two opposite natures. The mind desires while the intellect discriminates. God has blessed man with discrimination and thinking capacities. In every task or act, one has to discriminate and choose good over pleasant.

All pleasant experiences fade soon while all good deeds lead us further towards righteousness and truth! Hence choose wisely good things over pleasant experiences!