52. दुःखमेव सर्वं विवेकिनः

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So said Patanjali in his Yoga sutras (2.15). "For the one with wisdom, everything shall be [realized to be] misery" (duḥkhamēva sarvaṁ vivēkinaḥ). The first Noble Truth of Buddha is "The existence of suffering". Saankhya philosophy begins by elaborating on the suffering of life. The first couple of chapters of the great Yoga text Yoga Vāsiṣṭha elucidate how Rama finds every pleasure of life inherently filled with misery.

This is not pessimism. This is realism.

We have become insensitive to our own dirt. And therefore everything appears clean. And we therefore proclaim "Ah, life is so beautiful". We have mostly confused 'external circumstances' to be our life itself. And since the ambiance of life is experienced as favorable at certain times, such hasty statements are blurt out.

This is really the great disease in spirituality. Uttering the final conclusion without really going through the process systematically. Buddha can say that life is beautiful, not us. He can say that because as Siddhartha he acknowledged the misery in his fundamental experience of life; he saw how weak and ineligible his mind was to do even a simple activity; he realized how everything around him disturbed his mind. And thus the intense desire arose to overcome misery permanently. Only then could the world have a Buddha. Not just by spreading out the hands open in a beach and uttering in a filmy style "Life is beautiful" This beauty is going to vaporize in a few minutes when we don't get a cup of good coffee at the beach stalls :-D

We have to become deeply sensitive... to our mind. We will then see tons of dust hidden within, which is only waiting to come out. We will then see that a small disturbance outside is disturbing our mind. Even a simple task is not done with complete ease. Some friction is felt at all times. "I am not at complete ease with existence" is acknowledgement of misery. We should realize that mind itself has become our greatest misery. Good or bad - all thoughts should be acknowledged as disturbance. "For no thought is contented" (Shakespeare, King Richard 11) This should be realized so intensely that going through life in this state should become suffocating, even if the ambiance of life is favorable.

Only then is a Jijnasu born. One who cannot go on with life with just some recreation and procreation. One who wants a permanent solution. One who wants to be perfectly eligible to live. One who wishes to be at absolute ease with everything around him. Only then will he attempt to seek something more. And the more intense his seeking, nearer is the solution (rather dissolution) - तीव्र संवेगानाम् आसन्नः (tīvra saṁvēgānāṁ āsannaḥ) (Yoga Sutra - 1.21)

When life becomes suffocating due to recognition of misery, it is not a helpless situation leading to depression and suicide. The same scriptures which ask us to recognize misery, also give a solution. After uttering about suffering, Buddha's authoritatively said in his third and fourth Noble truths - "Suffering can end. And my dear, I know how to end it. If you come to me I shall show you the path" The more you recognize the misery, the more will you understand and eagerly adopt the solution. Else the solution will not be given its due value. Yoga will then only remain as a hobby or health booster. Therefore the emphasis to recognize misery in everything. It is a prerequisite for real Yoga.

Only a person really sleeping can be woken up. Someone who is pretending to be asleep can never be woken up.

Only when there is genuine acknowledgement of ignorance (vacuum), can there be flowing in of true knowledge (light). When there is a pretence of knowledge, real knowledge can never dawn.

Only a person really aware of the misery can be given a solution. Someone who is assuming to be happy with life can never be given any solution. For he is not even seeking anything more.

Let us not forget that, Krishna, the enlightened one, did not utter a word of spiritual teaching to his closest pal Arjuna (for around 40 years!), until the latter genuinely felt the pinch of misery at the battlefield (although he had already undergone so much misery by then) and collapsed at the former's feet asking for a solution. And Dhritarashtra who heard the same Gita through Sanjaya exclaimed at the end - "After all, Krishna provoked Arjuna to fight!". Evidently he had not acknowledged his ignorance even a bit.

May the acknowledgement of misery, and the pain of ignorance thrive in us and bring tears of genuine frustration! The ocean of sweet water is then ours to seek and own.