Patience During Adversities

Patience During Adversities (49)

Defining “Tu” in the sacred ‘Gayatri Mantra’:

Patience During Adversities


Patience During Adversities

The fifth letter in the sacred ‘Gayatri Mantra’ - “Tu”

teaches us to keep patience during adversities, hardships and

difficulties.

As the Sanskrit verse says: it is our duty to put sincere

efforts during period of crisis. Unlimited importance and glory

are attached to hard work and sincere efforts.

Difficulties, calamities, adversities and damaging

moments of crisis keep on coming into human life. As the time

cycle consists of night and day, comforts and sorrows are two

wheel of this chariot of life. Man has to be prepared for both the

situations - prosperity or damage with due detachment.

Lamenting and wailing in crisis and flying in vanity with

inflated ego during prosperity – both attitudes are wrong. One

should keep calm and need not lose balance during

disappointing circumstances of fear, worry and despair, but

should try to overcome difficulties intelligently with vision,

alertness and patience. One who laughs even in crisis and plays

his role like a character in this drama of life is considered a

wise man.

Bad times come and go, but they leave for us a precious

gift of virtues like tolerance and experience. Difficulties teach

us lessons better than ten teachers put together can. Adversities

bring one more boon for us, they clear and discharge the

obligatory sufferings accumulated as a result of past deeds

(Karma), that one has to compulsorily undergo. Such hardships

and adversities challenge our skills and build up capacity for

putting efforts. One who successfully passes through this test

can only be garlanded with glory and fame.

Therefore, it is our duty to learn from the past, to remain

alert in the present and to be bold and fearless to face the future.

According to the proverb, hope for the best but be prepared for

the worst. Mental balance should never be disturbed during

prosperity or peril. Striving to reach a better and better position


from the present one, is natural for the soul, but looking to its

grace, the fear of difficulties is not normal.

It is futile to be afraid of difficulties:

Sorrows and difficulties have an important place in

human life. The seed of progress is concealed in the blows of

adversities. Surrounded by smooth and comfortable

environment, a man will lose liveliness and will become dull

and lazy, leading to a mental state of grief. This will hamper the

growth and curtail progress, research and ambitions. If one does

not undergo pain in life, he can not truly enjoy the happiness

also. Always a bright sunny day time without an intervening

night can not be a good situation. In absence of the balance of

tastes like salt, chili, bitter, astringent etc. only sweetness will

not have any charm. In the same way, the taste of happiness is

enjoyable only after a pinch of unhappiness. We consider

unhappiness to be bad, but in fact, that is the only nucleus for

growth and progress.

The prestige, fame and name earned by all great people of

the world, are due to their endurance and capacity to resist

adversities. Had the king Harishchandra not been sold by a

lower cast person nobody would have known him. In the same

way, Dadhichi, Shibi, Prahlada, Mayurdhwaja, Seeta,

Draupadee, Damayanti, Kunti – all these great souls are

remembered today due to their endurance while undergoing

severe hardships. Nobody would care to remember them, had

they chosen the life of luxury and comfort. Trees on remote and

hard rocks grow stronger and larger and live long compared to

the short lived orchards that are irrigated daily. Any person,

society or a nation, that works hard and withstands hardships

can only grow and achieve victory. History is witness to the

tribes diminishing into slavery and poverty due to indulgence

into lust and luxury.

Our ancestors were well aware of the benefits of

endurance and hence they attached prime importance to its

practice in their lifestyle. Combating sorrows was a part of their


study of penance and endurance just like a soldier rehearsing

fight before going to actual battlefield. In old days, the children

of kings and wealthy families also used to stay in the

‘Gurukulam’ of Rishies to learn the lessons of life the hard way,

undergoing all atrocities and hardships, which they otherwise

would never realise living under shelter of their parents. The

ardent practitioner of endurance enjoys facing obstacles much

the same way as a swimmer finds a lake to swim across – as an

opportunity to test his skills and strength. On the other hand, a

coward seeking comforts only can easily be crushed by slightest

problems of routine life as he starts crying in tough times as if a

mountain has fallen on him.

Difficulties come into each one’s life - they are

unavoidable and necessary too. Not only to relieve us from

bondage of past deeds (‘Karma-Bandhan’), but also to make us

strong and sharp, purify our mind and put us on a path of rapid

progress. They impart precious experience of facing any rough

situation. This is a gift from almighty God, which destroys

impurities like ignorance, ego, laziness and attachment to the

worldly matters.

To wail, resent, become dumb or blame others on

encountering an adverse situation is totally unjustified. It is

like contempt of God’s great favor. Thus you deny the intended

benefit of making you strong and on the contrary such wailing

will make you coward, helpless and pauper. Being afraid of

hardships, giving up efforts, crying in despair, start worrying –

are all not good traits of a true man. In a way a difficulty is a

divine challenge to arouse the courage and manliness in us. By

accepting it, we attain God’s grace and favor. The veteran

wrestler teaches his student by throwing him in the wrestling

rink and badly beating him down. This provides him a great

lesson for learning all tricks of wrestling. God is also one such

great teacher – who thrashes us to shake off our weaknesses and

to make us strong to fight against any adversity of life.

There is no point in getting afraid of difficulties as they

are a useful part of this universe. No need to get upset, to blame


others or to be unhappy over it. Only thing required is to face

difficulty with sincere efforts, with perseverance and to conquer

it and convert it into a comfortable situation. Such efforts are

our pious duty, avoiding it amounts to deviation from our own

moral path (‘Dharma’). Therefore perseverance and hard work

are the only tools for uplifting our soul, which are sharpened by

the adversity.

Radiance of man’s glory and prosperity occurs due to

efforts and hard work. The true pleasure or bliss of life can be

enjoyed only after boldly facing difficulties and conquering all

adversities.

Spiritual Progress Through Adversities:

Spiritual progress always occurs while undergoing

severe hardships and boldly confronting them. Running away

from difficulties makes a man worthless but challenging them

makes him more capable. Success of a human life depends on

one’s willpower. Stronger your willpower, the more successful

you are; and for increasing willpower, you have to face more

and more adversities in life. A person habituated to struggle,

never gets afraid of any new difficulty but confronts it boldly.

Basically the attitude of cowardice is a root cause of all sorrows,

and such sorrows can be curtailed by a strongly positive

attitude of bravery. Man of a weak mind is usually sulky and

shadowed by horrifying negative imaginations. He can not have

good thoughts as he finds himself surrounded by all sorts of

troubles and distress. To avoid such a situation and to make our

life happy, we have to be always prepared to combat the

hardships and difficulties.

Mind Only Is the Cause of Freedom and Bondage:

Challenges are of two types: external and internal.

Ordinary people usually focus on external challenges only. Very


rare persons have the power to visualize the internal

challenges. In fact the internal ones are the only real challenges,

because the external ones are mere reflections of the internal

ones. Any situation can be either beneficial or harmful – it all

depends upon how a man tackles it. Sometimes the apparently

favorable condition can cause damage and an apparently

adverse condition can result into benefit for us. The situation

which frightens a man is harmful, but if a man is strong enough

not to surrender to the situation, however difficult it may be, at

the end it turns out to be beneficial, as it makes the man

stronger.

The mind gets stronger by internal contemplations. A

man, fully aware of his duty and ready to sacrifice anything, can

never be afraid of any situation. The human mind has a

limitless power. Whatever energy one needs, usually gets it

from within. A man, endangering himself to perform his duty,

reveals unlimited source of energy within himself, which

overcomes any obstacle on his way. As he experiences more

internal energy, his efficiency to tackle adversity also increases

more and more.

When a man finds himself trapped among adversities,

most often he misses to focus on his duty. Such a deviation from

the path of duty, further traps him into external adversities and

a person so perturbed by difficulties, has a totally confused

perception of his duty. If the internal complexities of a person

are resolved, external problems automatically get solved,

because of their mutual inter-dependence. As a man goes on

fighting and conquering the external adversities, he keeps on

gaining self-knowledge, which ultimately gives him more power

to overcome even greater difficulties.

The person, who is easily scared by every small trouble

in life, usually dwells in a state of internal conflict which


prevents his mental energy from channelizing onto a specific

task. Such lack of concentration of mental energy leads to a

weak mind which easily succumbs to any external adversity. A

nation which has become weak due to internal anarchy of riots

and rebels reunites again and prepares itself to fight against any

external threat. In the same way, a person however

disorganized internally, once he faces external adversities and

takes the challenge to combat them, regains the harmony and

unity of his mental faculties. An idle brain is a devil’s

workshop. So keeping the brain busy in resolving external

perplexities automatically solves many difficult problems.

Usually a man should take up any work that comes to his

hands, even if it is more beneficial to others rather than to

himself. No matter, if it takes sacrifice and devotion to

accomplish the work. If he habituates to do such work, he will

acquire spiritual knowledge slowly and steadily. The self-

knowledge, which is not gained through mere philosophical

thinking, is easily gained by combating with tough situations.

This further makes a man calm and composed, which is

impossible in a life of comforts and luxury. The spirit of fighting

and conquering upon difficulty, not only makes us successful,

but also provides inspiration to others. Like bad habits and

vices, the good habits and virtues are also infectious and spread

among people very fast. Many soldiers start running away from

the battle-field when they see some coward doing so. On the

other hand, when they see some brave warrior fighting unto the

last drop of his blood, they also fight fiercely with all their

might. A brave soldier induces courage into others. In fact,

human nature is composed of a mixture of all good and bad

traits. It is the inductive effect of surrounding atmosphere to

bring out a specific nature of a man at a particular time.

Therefore, the good moral character of noble and brave men

always provides inspiration to the society and this is a great gift

of such benevolent men to the society

Difficulties Help In Our Progress


Ordinary people consider difficulties as matter of

misfortune. People born in wealthy families get upset on every

small inconvenience they face, and also expect that all their

desires be fulfilled in no time and without any trouble on their

part. Moreover such people are considered lucky by others. But

the fact is other way round. Those who do not face hardships of

life remain raw and underdeveloped in many ways. Therefore,

God created sorrows and difficulties at the same place where

happiness and joy are bestowed. A man remains incomplete

without experiencing them both and deprived of apt growth.

Let Us Understand God’s Blessings

God is considered as an ocean of mercy and compassion.

God’s gift to mankind and his benevolence are limitless. We

know that even the trivial animals love their offspring and

creations enormously, whereas the human being is the supreme

creation of almighty God, hence one can never imagine how

much love and care He must be having for man! A painter wants

to see his painting to be in the best condition; in the same way, a

gardener, – his garden; a sculptor, – his idol; a farmer, – his

farm; and a shepherd wants his herd to be in the best condition.

They rejoice the growth and wellbeing of their creations. Then

God, the omnipotent creator, how can He neglect His best

creation – this mankind? Certainly, God wants us to be the

happiest and prosperous. His love and mercy are constantly

showered on us. In spite of all these, we find many people

unhappy and dipped in the sea of sorrows, suffering from many

hardships, fear, pain, torture, injustice and scarcity of basic

amenities. Some people face so harsh and acute emergency that

even onlookers may faint. Sometimes people start doubting the

kindness of God or consider such calamity as divine curse. But

fact is, God can not be merciless for a moment even. The stream

of his love and compassion keeps on flowing perpetually. And

what we consider as difficulty is also one kind of his generosity

only in the broad sense.

Mother’s Harshness is a Blessing In Disguise for the Child


The mother’s love for her kid is unique. She does not spare

any effort to make it happy. Even then, some of her acts are

unpleasant for it. The child wants to eat sweet in harmfully

excessive amount, but mother knows that it can make it sick, so

she allows only required quantity and child does not get any

excess of sweet in spite of many resentful tantrums. Similarly, a

child is guarded against exposure to fire, arms and ammunition

and prevented to play with such dangerous goods even if it

wants to do so. A child is also not allowed to play with wild and

harmful animals, or to lean and peep from high terrace. It is

punished also if it tries to indulge into any act harmful or risky

for its own self. The mother gives it a bitter medicine with only

purpose of making it well during its sickness and she is also

prepared to allow a painful surgery or an injection on the child

with an ultimate aim of giving relief to it.

The child thinks that its mother is cruel as she does not

allow certain activities or does not give it certain things and

does not help it in difficult situations. Being unaware of the

reality, it can even start disparaging or ridiculing its mother

and blame her for being harsh, but surely, its belief is baseless.

Only if the child could see the noble purpose behind this

attitude, it would realize for sure, the true love, compassion and

care. Otherwise how can she tolerate the pain caused by any

process of healing the child and restoring its health during

crisis!

God’s Mercy and Mother’s Love are Similar!

Mother’s love for the child is expressed in two ways: one

that pampers and cossets the child, when it gets sweets to eat,

toys, nice clothes and a ride out for sightseeing etc. The kid

thinks its mother is very kind and considerate. But when she

resorts to the other way, that truly nurtures it, as putting an

ointment in the eye, or sending it to school, or asking to take a

bath, it often gets annoyed and curses the mother. The

immature mind fails to understand the soft and harsh aspects of

the mother’s behavior, but those who know the reality, fully


well understand that mother can extend only love and care for

the child, which are equally concealed in both the attitudes –

harsh and soft. In the same way, God’s mercy also comes to us

through joys and sorrows – and both situations contain love and

care for us. Lack of knowledge prevents us to realize this, but

when we are awakened to see the truth by grace of God, all

difficulties and hardships disturbing us disappear and make us

free from all fears and unhappiness.

Keep a Balanced view on Joys and Sorrows

Happiness brings many benefits for a man – mind

remains fresh, senses are satisfied, progress seems easy, friend-

circle expands, encouragement increases giving more prestige

and pride. But benefits of sorrows are also not less. The dormant

talent wakes up to activate mind in search of relief from the

troubles. Body acts fast giving up all laziness. The jockey or the

horseman lashes the horse with a whip to teach it a correct gait.

It is trained for fast running through painful whipping and tight

rein, which ultimately help the horse to win the race. The

adversities and sorrows act as a whip to activate and rejuvenate

our slack physical and mental capabilities. They also guide us to

walk on the path of truth and honesty.

Scission of a blister releases stinking pus from the wound;

passing stool clears the intestine of faeces (nightsoil, excreta);

fasting burns the undigested residues in the stomach; in the

same way, sorrows and adversities wash away the accumulated

sins and our conscious comes out purified and bright like pure

gold after exposure to fire which burns the dirt sticking to gold.

Negative thoughts, malice and malevolence in man do not end

until he is confronted by a great trouble or a severe crisis. A big

slap of nature brings him to senses and compels him to trim his

irregular path of life. The knowledge which can not be gained

from lengthy sermons can be quickly obtained from a single dip

in distress. Thus, most often a single stroke of time teaches

more than a thousand teachers.


Beware of Happiness:

Happy days have many advantages, no doubt, but a great

drawback also. Good times often make a man arrogant, greedy

and lazy. He forgets to utilize this opportunity for extending

kindness and compassion to fellow human beings. He spends

most of his time in chasing selfish motives. To rescue him from

this miserable situation, God snatches away his wealth to divert

his attention from selfish means towards benevolence. This is

just like a mother taking away all toys of a child who is deeply

engrossed in playing, neglecting his study and books. Hence

many times the purpose of divine punishment is to teach us the

lesson of “Quit playing around and start studying”.

Endurance of Great Souls:

Many great souls have willingly adopted the hardship of

penance with a sole purpose of benevolence not only for self, but

for the entire world. They attained immortal fame and the

radiance of their worship has enlightened the path of people for

an endless time to come. Harishchandra, Prahlad, Shibi,

Mayurdhwaja, Dadheechi, Pratap. Shivajee, Hakikat Ray,

Banda Vairagi, Bhagirath, Gautam Buddha and Jesus Christ –

all they volunteered to undergo severe hardships which

otherwise they would have easily avoided by little compromise

in their principles. But they knew that gains so achieved were

worthless, so they remained firm on their path of truth. Other

people view this as suffering but in reality, only if we peep in

their inner-self, how pleasant they felt while tolerating these

hardships.

Accelerating Freedom from Birth-Death Bondage

Those kind people who are favored by God are subjected to

greater difficulties and more severe hardships in life as a quick

means of clearing away the suffering destined as a result

(‘Karma-Fala’) of their accumulated past deeds (‘Sanchit

Karma’). In any way, one has to tolerate this to get free from


bondage of birth and death. Once all such due pains are

experienced and none is left, the soul is not forced to take birth

again. On one hand all the accumulated resultant destiny

(Sanchit-Karma) are exhausted and on the other hand the inner

self and mind also get purified in the process. This double edged

sword cuts the bondage of deeds (Karma-Bandhan) faster and so

the soul proceeds rapidly towards ultimate goal of salvation.

This is why great souls willingly and happily invite all sorrows

and adversities on them to accelerate the suffering for finishing

it as fast as possible.

Hardship – A Great Teacher

Normally God forces us through bitter experiences from time to

time to develop many virtues in us. After death of a child,

parents shower more love and affection on other children, as

they understand the pain of losing a dear one. Whose wife dies,

takes better care of his second wife. Usually loss of anything

makes one realize the importance of that thing in one’s life. The

man who lost all his wealth learns how to use money for the

benefit of other less privileged people. Only the sick person

knows the difficulty of another sick and also realizes value of

maintaining good health and controlled diet. Necessity of good

conduct is self-evident to a person whose face is slapped on

abusing someone. The victim of atrocity and torture knows the

pain of a sufferer. When we ourselves are trapped in a gross

tragedy of life and beg for mercy, only then we come to know

how important it is to help others who are in dire need of our

support and compassion.

Patience is an Important Attribute

While dwelling in this world, facing difficulties and

adverse situations is natural. Specifically when we plan some

important work, facing unexpected obstacles is almost

unavoidable. Many people never start any big project just due

to fear of such hurdles. They may escape from difficulties in


the life, but at the same time do not make any progress and

their existence is nothing more than small insects.

Agony and ecstasy are inevitable attributes of this gross

physical body. Enjoying happiness forever and escaping from

sorrows is not possible. When joys and sorrows are both so

assured why to be upset with the latter? These are inseparable

parts of the physical body, we have to patiently endure their

cycle of coming and going. Those who understood this secret

and learnt to be patient are really happy in this life. It is the

nature of all animals to get upset under grim and horrifying

calamities, but keeping cool and unperturbed during distress is

a characteristic of a brave man with a lion’s heart. After all,

why we become anxious? The reason is nothing but mental

weakness. It is well known that nobody in this world - right

from almighty Brahma Himself to the smallest insect – is

completely happy and satisfied. All have undergone pain and

discomfort of one or the other kind. Even then, if a man becomes

frustrated under a hopeless situation, it reflects lack of will

power. Physically, great persons and saints are no different

from ordinary man, they do not have horns on their heads.

Their only speciality is they never lose their calm during trying

times. They happily tolerate adversity accepting it as a result of

past deeds. Had the five ‘Pandavas’ obeyed their oppressive

brothers ‘Kauravas’, had king Mordhwaja died of the grief of

losing his son, had king Harishchandra defaulted from his

promise lured by greed of the kingdom, had the king Rama

remained in Ayodhya fearing hardships of a forest life, had king

Shibi surrendered the dove to the hawk being afraid of getting

cut his own body, nobody would remember their names today,

and they too might have vanished from pages of history like all

other ordinary men. But their names are alive in the memory of

people even today, just because of their endurance.


Accepting Realities Provides Patience

We become upset on departure of our beloved ones. But

does it serve any purpose? Will he return? If not, then being sad

is useless and unjustified. He, who is born, will die one day. The

creator of the entire universe, Brahma himself will disappear at

the end of his tenure. He has evolved from the navel of lord

Vishnu so he will annihilate into lord Vishnu. It is a firm and

unavoidable principle that everything that is created at a point

in time, will vanish at the end of its life at some other point in

time. Then why to cry over your beloved’s death? He had to die

one day, tomorrow if not today. He went back to the eternity

from where he came and you are also surely to follow him one

day. Hence, whatever life is remaining with you, pass in

worship and praise of almighty God. Accept the reality of this

gross physical body – a house of many diseases, has to undergo

all pain and difficulties which are destined as a result of past

deeds ‘Karma’.

Be kind and benevolent, worship Lord chanting ‘Naam-

Japa’, medicines for your ailing body – do whatever you can, but

never get anxious even if the desired result remains obscure. As

you never know what remedy will finally give you comfort and

when. Hence put efforts patiently, without losing your calm,

thus you will get relief from your sufferings very easily.

Knowledge and Wisdom: Pillars of Patience

We are disturbed when we do not get essential commodities to

support life. There is not a single spoonful of grains in house to

cook, wife’s clothes have worn out to rags, child is bedridden

with fever and no money to buy medicines, now what to do?

Where to go for help? We may lament for the whole night

brooding over such negative thoughts, but none will solve the

problem. The situation will not improve any more by crying. We

must understand that we are not alone to face such crisis; it is a

common fate for all, at one time or other. Even the most

powerful God - Indra had to conceal himself in darkness to

escape from the sin of ’brahm-hatya’ (killing a brahmin). King


Harishchandra had to serve in the house of a lower caste and his

queen had to beg from door to door seeking financial help for

cremating their dead son. The saintly and the most exemplary

man like king Rama had to stay in a forest for fourteen years

and was deprived of performing last rituals of paying homage to

his dead father king Dasharatha.

There is none who did not face adversity and harshness

in this physical body. This is the law of ‘Karma’. So why to be

disturbed? Our anxiety will make our dependents too unhappy.

We have to be patient and support them. That, what is destined

to happen, will happen. That is all. Here is the main difference

between a wise and a stupid. Aging, disease and death – these

are common to all, but the wise man with discretion tolerates

these accepting as unavoidable reality of life, whereas the

stupid, without a sense of discretion, gets upset and increases

the trouble even more. This is very aptly expressed by St. Kabir

like this: “Death, aging and pain are faced by all, but

knowledgeable wise man endures them with awareness and an

ignorant man faces the same weeping and lamenting”.

Those who do not keep patience become pauper and

helpless, undergoing more and more difficulties. Humiliating

own self as a helpless poor creature, dependent on others,

expecting favors from others, begging for support, is the

greatest insult one undergoes due to undue anxiety. Therefore,

keep your calm under any adversity and strive to remove the

root cause of your sorrows and pain. The energy spent to solve

most of our problems is only half of that being wasted

impatiently in lamenting and crying.

Keep Moving Ahead Under Any Circumstances

Human life is meant for ascent on the spiritual path. A

lion, an elephant, a snake and many such animals existing on

this earth are far stronger than a man, but do they possess the

power of discretion between good and bad? They can not

distinguish between what is beneficial and what is harmful.


They just live as per their pre-programmed instinct. It is only

the human being so inquisitive to reach new places and occupy

unreachable heights inventing new paths for important

projects. Therefore, those who do not grab the opportunity to

achieve spiritual growth in this precious human life are really

wretched and the most unfortunate persons.

No Excuse For Your Failure

“I would have accomplished great success only if I had

got enough facility” – these are the words of people usually

under a big self-deceit and illusion. It is their futile exercise to

conceal their incapacity under the name of bad luck or god’s

disgrace. The excuse of limited resources as a cause of failure is

unjustifiable. Even if such a person gets all required facilities

and a favorable condition, he may still not perform and look for

yet another set of excuses, like that famous proverb: ‘an

unskilled carpenter blames his tools’. Those who have got

enough of wealth, education and supportive friends – are many

times observed to be totally disorganized and leading an aimless

life. If one does not have a purpose in life, the facilities become a

burden. How dangerous it is if an inexperienced snake-charmer

is surrounded by hundreds of snakes!

A person, who has not mastered the skills of living, may

find life interesting to some extent under scarcity even. But he

will certainly invite trouble by misusing the unduly acquired

wealth. So, no need to be disappointed, if you do not have a

desired thing in your possession today. Start showing your art

and skill through whatever limited gadgets you have. Always

remember the importance of a small earthen oil lamp in

complete darkness. When the biggest lighting implements fail

and become useless while electricity is cut-off, this small lamp

costing less than a rupee, keeps shining and spreading light so

that people can resume their ongoing work. The tiny lamp never


laments like this: “I would have emitted more light, only if I was

bigger in size, or had I got more oil”. It never cares to show any

excuse, unlike those crazy and lazy men crying on their own

fate instead of putting efforts. It only judges its own capacity,

the surrounding situation and starts doing the best whatever it

can, to make life of other people happy and better. This is the

success of a small lamp. From the standpoint of self-satisfaction,

benevolence and efficiency of performing duty, it is nothing less

than that of a sun or a moon, given their size and capacity.

Thus, importance and success of a tiny lamp is well comparable

with that of a moon and the sun.

Scarcity Is Not A Curse – But a Boon !

It is a fact that, the starved people with scanty resources,

grown up under adversities have become great leaders, saints

and successful guides on the path of liberation. The adverse

situation encourages talents and sharpens one’s skills. The

knife rubbed on a rough stone is sharper and more effective in

its performance. In the same way, a rugged person has a better

experience, skills and clarity that helps him in progressing

successfully. Contrary to this, people born in wealthy families

get basic amenities easily, without much struggle and hence

their skills remain undeveloped due to over indulgence and

luxury. Their life becomes unworthy like a rusted knife lying

idle, unused for a long time. Generally it is observed that

children in rich families remain comparatively less successful,

whereas children with poor family background usually turn out

to be bright and more successful due to struggle they have to

undergo in carving their path to survive in adversities. In

ancient times, kings, emperors and rich businessmen used to

send their children to Gurukulam and Rishi-Ashrams (special

types of educational homes headed by sacred teachers, saints

and spiritual leaders), to educate them with severities of life so

as to sharpen their skills and talents.

Here we do not intend to say that wealth is a bad thing or

that people born in rich families can not lead a life of high


morals. In fact people endowed with God’s favor and all

facilities can make spiritual progress even faster, only if they

decide. The carpenter with best quality of wood and sharp tools

will certainly make the most elegant furniture. We only wish to

convey that if one acquires skills of living, no adversity can

interrupt his progress. No doubt, poverty imposes a limitation

of resources and increases hardship, but at the same time, it

also brings out the latent talent more sharply, which wealth can

not. The abundance of equipment most often spoils skills due to

over indulgence and lavishness. Thus, rags or riches both have

their pros and cons, but anyone firmly determined to move on

the path, whether poor or rich, deprived or facilitated, will

surely make his way happily turning any situation into a

favorable one.

Creativity is Within – Not in Tools

Money, education, facilities, cooperation and good health

are essential for leading a happy life, but not necessarily they

only make life happy. To write a good book we need a pen, ink

and papers, but merely a combination of these three would not

automatically produce a book. The main ingredient in a good

book is the talent of a writer. Ink, pen, paper are merely tools,

not very significant. A capable writer will utilize whatever tools

available to him, and lack of them will not hamper his work.

Have you ever heard that an author could not write a book as he

did not have ink? Will you believe a writer telling: “what can I

do? I had no pen, had I got a good pen, I would have surely

written the best book.” This reminds us the well-known

proverb, describing a person who does not know how to dance,

but blames shape of the stage for poor performance. A perfect

dancer is less bothered about such trivial factors. In the same

way, one who has mastered the skills of life has no time to

complain about hardships and difficulties. Proper tools are

necessary, no doubt, but not to the extent that progress may halt

without them.

Convert the Adverse into Favorable


Clever men can turn even adversities into their favor. They

make nectar out of poison. Experts in ‘Ayurveda’ (the ancient

Indian medical science), possess skills of making life-saving

drugs from deadly poisonous seeds, toxic metals and seemingly

harmful chemicals. People can extract silver from sand, convert

coal into diamond, fetch pearls from the bottom of the sea, get

gushing flow of cold water by piercing hard and dry crust of the

earth. The anti-venom vaccine which is an effective remedy for

a snake-bite is prepared with the help of deadly poison of a

cobra. There is no shortage of such examples, where seemingly

the worst thing is put to the best use in favor of the mankind.

There are uncountable number of artists and experts around us

performing great tasks and making valuable things from trivial

and apparently useless materials. There is no dearth of brave

men who cut through any tough situation and emerge out as

winners like Goddess Seeta who came out unhurt through the

fire test. If you are also a person of a strong will, you can easily

convert your difficulties, grievances, worries and helplessness

into facilities, satisfaction, capabilities, optimism and

ultimately – grand success.

Do not worry about difficulties:

Many people are so much frightened by difficulties that

their lives are gripped by worry of innumerable imaginary

difficulties. By any logic, it is futile to lament over past - which

has already gone, and over future which has yet not come. But

these people, instead of living in the present, usually cry on

events of past or bother too much about imaginary harms of

future events. This shows foolishness and cowardice. Past or

future, worrying about any difficulty is detrimental and drains

our energy, making us incapable to face the real problems of the

present situation.

Worry is a Mental Disorder

Worry is the worst mental disorder emerging from

unpleasant memories of past and fear of unknown future. Worry

destroys our mental, physical and spiritual energy. Once


gripped by this disease, man can hardly ever escape, because it

becomes deep-rooted in the subconscious mind as a complex,

controlling our activities. Once worry becomes a habit, it

induces a permanent pessimism and the person loses interest in

life, devoid of enthusiasm, inviting overall failure. Worry, like a

contagious disease, makes all people pessimistic who come into

contact with a person infected with worries. We hear many

people saying that they are fed up of life and have become totally

useless and better that God may call them back. They also blame

their ill fate, curse the situation and lament that their efforts are

all in vain and with no outcome of any type. But they are not

aware that by crying this way, they destroy their own fortune

and cover their own life under darkness.

Always Live in the Present

A famous wise man has said that our subconscious mind

is filled up with bitter memories of past buried deep, related to

painful experience, bad treatment from others, our own foolish

behavior and absurdity. We have to shut the door of our mind

behind such painful memories so as to isolate our present

moment from their black shadow. Let us firmly decide that past

is past, dead and buried. Let us also close tightly the chamber

containing imaginary fear of the future. This will relieve our

mind from all doubts, anxieties, disappointments and haunting

imaginations of the future. After shutting off the past and the

future, now we are left with only the present - this very moment

- a wonderful treasure of joy! Only the present moment is with

you, under your control, at your service! Make the best use of

this present moment - only this can ensure a bright and happy

future and also can relieve you from pains of the past. Live the

present moment whole heartedly with full concentration and

you will never need to worry for the future nor lament for the

past. This is the secret of the happiest and the most successful

life.

The purpose of this statement is not to forbid the

thinking or planning about future, no, not at all. It only suggests

that undue worry about future will not serve any purpose. We

have only to focus on the work presently on our hand, and strive


to complete it with the highest efficiency, with total attention,

care and expertise. Then you do not need at all to worry for the

future. This is the only sure way to create bright future.

Today’s Prayer for Today Only

In a prayer to lord Jesus, it is said, “O God, Give us this

day our daily bread.” Let us keep it in mind that the prayer is

for obtaining food, happiness, prosperity - all for today. There is

no greed or fear for the future, or no complain for the past. It

emphasizes the importance of the present moment. If we live the

present moment ideally with full awareness, joy and satisfaction

with whatever we do, then progress and prosperity of the future

is automatically secured. We need not worry about that.

Hundreds of years ago a philosopher moving around the

mountain regions, where earning a daily bread was full of

hardships, once addressed all residents, “O Poor souls!

Surrounded by worries of future, why do you destroy the golden

moments of today with fear and worries of tomorrow?” If you

focus on today’s work with the best efficiency and efforts, then

almighty God himself will take care of your tomorrow!

Lord Jesus has said, ‘Never worry for tomorrow’. Very

few people understand its meaning. Most of the people will say,

‘why should we not worry for future? after all we have a family,

and we are surrounded by complex problems of children’s

education, marriage, employment, food, clothes, housing, social

status, old age, health insurance and what not.’ For the sake of

argument, yes, these are OK. Such thoughts are normal. What

we suggest is, plan for the future, make all preparations, get

good social support, but never worry. Advance planning with

foresight to mitigate any future emergency is one thing and to

worry for the future is quite another. In fact lack of planning

leads to worry and anxiety. Worry is a process of negative

thinking that paints everything black and destroys our energy

throwing our mind out of balance. It blunts our natural

capability and endurance hidden in everybody already created

by almighty God.


Positive Vs. Negative Thinking

How to differentiate between worry and positive

thinking? It is very simple. The thought process in which any

difficult situation or an adversity is evaluated logically against

its cause and effect with a focus on our future goal and selection

of the best way learning from our past mistakes and finally

arriving at a solution. This is positive thinking for problem

solving, contrary to worrying, which does not follow any logical

path. Positive thinking is highly creative, energizing to face

any problem head on, it encourages to achieve success, not by

running away from duty but by resolving the complexities of the

life. This is quite opposite to the negative thought process

emanating from fear and confusion.

Most of the sick in mental hospitals and in lunatic

asylums are observed to be victims of mental imbalance caused

by overburden of worries. Their minds are disturbed by painful

memories of past. Events like separation from the beloved ones,

loss of financial assets, social insult, atrocity by government

authorities and other sufferings of many types have made them

so rigidly pessimistic that source of any joy or inspiration has

totally dried up. The first outcome of distorted feelings of fear

and insecurity is worry, and if this is suppressed for a long time,

it strongly emerges out as a mental disorder. The harmful

energy of such negative emotions has to be released by

expressing feelings and channelizing our thoughts towards act

of humanity.

Few Golden Rules to Conquer Adversity

Never get upset while facing hardship. Though it is a

bitter experience, but remember, the medicines that cure fever

and purify our body are also bitter in taste.

Never get disappointed by hardships, remember that the

dark black clouds shower rains to produce good harvest in the

farm.


Difficulties usually harass those people more, who are

afraid of them. People with firm mind, fearless, and having faith

in God, usually enjoy adversities like a bed of flowers and easily

tackle them.

Difficulty, like a mountain on the way, looks frightening

from a distance. The traveler may worry about how to overcome

the mountain looking from a distance, but as he approaches

near, he finds a way to cross over through a zigzag path. In the

same way, adversity also, however frightening it may appear in

imagination, actually turns out to be trivial when confronted

face to face and broken into small steps at a time.

A stone has to undergo painful carving and hammering

before it turns into a beautiful statue. Difficulty is that sculptor

for a man’s personality doing overall development and

beautification.

Adversity is a test for relationship and love. It teaches

you to be compassionate and caring for your near and dear ones

who are put to hardships. Similarly it tries and tests your

friends and relatives also when you are in trouble. Hence,

adversity has so many positive and useful aspects we have to

use them in our favor instead of worrying about it.

Adversity: A Natural Beneficial Remedy

The darkest clouds have silver lining, joy after pain, hope

after dismay, and spring after autumn are all according to the

rules of the nature. In a continuous phase of happiness, a stroke

of severe grief is required to teach us the reality of life. Consider

these five points when you find yourself deeply down in extreme

harshness or adversity:

1: It is a result of your own past deeds (Karmafala), so tolerate it

and get relieved from the bondage.

2: It is a test of your faith in God. If you are frightened and upset,

you will not get His favor.


3: Consider an adversity as a boon sent by God and rest assured

that it will be beneficial ultimately.

4: Accept it as a pre-destined thing that had to happen to you,

and calmly endure it.

5: You are afraid of difficulties because you identify yourself

with the gross physical body which has some name and form

and which is subject of all sufferings while playing various

roles. But in reality you are consciousness - a part of that

“Brahman” - which is ‘Sat - Chit - Ananda’ which is not a subject

of any attribute. The name and form are merely

superimposition on real thing or ‘Atman’. Experiencing joy and

pain is a function of the physical body and you have no

connection with it at the spiritual level, therefore, being afraid

of a difficulty is foolishness.

Like other roles of human life, adversities also come and

go as a natural routine, considering them good or bad, more

depends upon one’s attitude. Most of the adversities are meant

for correcting our mistakes and to put us on a right path. Hence,

under whatever hardship or difficulties, we should perform our

duty, keeping our patience and focusing on our goals. Only then,

the adversity will do us a great favor instead of doing any harm.

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Self Improvement

Patience During Adversities