Pain and Pleasure too will pass

On many occasions, I have come across a phrase, “This too will pass”. I started contemplating on the inner meaning, hidden deep. Yes, outwardly, the above words proclaim that every event or situation is subject to change and nothing remains constant in this mundane world. The earth is in constant orbit around the sun, in addition to rotating on its own axis. The oceans are rising and falling. There is constant onslaught of waves against the shore. Air is flowing incessantly but the flow is not constant. Sometimes, a silent breeze, sometimes a storm, yet at some other time, a tornado capable of uprooting even the strangest tree and hurling it far away?

In the Vedic scriptures, there is a mention about: Rudra:, one fiery aspect of Lord Shiva. Though the Lord is taken to be auspicious and benevolent, yet in its fierce manifestation as “Rudra”, he is destruction personified. Why the Lord, who is auspicious assume such form? We know that creation has three aspects. Once created, it has to be sustained for sometime and finally it will be absorbed back in the primal power. For this absorption, the Lord needs to assume a fierce aspect called “Rudra”. But the sages and saints have realized that worshipping the Lord in his Rudra form, there are beneficial chants called Chamakam and Namakam. By these chants, the sages prayed to the Lord not to inflict harm on society. From ancient days in India, these chants are religiously chanted everyday both in the morning and evening in temples. It possesses curative properties. The chanting protects the chanter from harm.

If we deeply consider, even the period of grief and pain pass. At the same time, joyful and happy times too pass. They never linger. Hence this particular phrase conveys the ephemeral nature of events as well as evanescent human life. Divine Masters have conveyed the truths explicitly that all the pleasures enjoyed through the senses are fleeting in nature. Nothing lasts. Experiences fade but the one who perceive those experiences remains. We feel that the mind experiences the pain and pleasures of life through the instrumentality of body. But, there is a silent witness to all these. It is none other than the Self. The mind is affected by the events but the self is a mute witness to all that happens to the individual soul. The self is unaffected witness. But the Self is pure awareness. The self is aware of everything. The mind clinging to a body can perceive only that pertains to a particular body.

The mind is attached to a body but the soul is all pervasive. It pervades the creation and transcends it too. It is like the surrounding ether which has no limitations whatsoever! Hence, every day newer galaxies are perceived through very powerful telescopes installed in vital locations. But what the astronomers know is “nano”, compared to the infinity of space.

We are all living in an illusory existence, thinking ourselves as bodies and mind! This is not true. In reality, we are one with the supreme, rather a speck in the cosmic power. In fact, we are one with the self. Hence, no grief or anxiety can really affect us once we are aware of our identity with the self. We too are omniscient, omnipotent. But clinging to the little body as the self, we consider ourselves as an helpless soul suffering grief and pain through the body mind complex. This is the fundamental ignorance of all human souls. Once we are rid of this false identity with the body, we will be rid of the delusion of worldly existence.

Hence, when we are confronted with problems pertaining to the world, assert deeply that ‘THIS TOO WILL PASS’!