There seems to be a deep sorrow pervading the universe. But before we deal with the sorrow of other beings, it is imperative to dissolve sorrow within us, human beings. This sorrow is a pile up of centuries of struggle, both for physical survival and psychological security. Each impinges on the other. Food, clothing and shelter are absolute necessities. Living is impossible without them.We can see an endless toil and strife going on in all parts of the world to fulfil these basic needs because of the limited food and land resources. The same approach operates in the psychological space too. In order to feel psychologically secure,we always want to hold on to or belong to something. Otherwise,we feel terribly unsafe. But unfortunately there is no such security.We imagine a land of fantasy in marriage but soon it is on the rocks.We expect children to love us in return but they have their own ideas of leading life.Friends turn foes, neighbours keep a distance, colleagues in the workplace try to pull you down, relatives prefer to stay aloof, and when you smile at the stranger on the road, he misses your smile as he is preoccupied with his own worries. So marriage, relationship, community, nationality, friendship, profession – nothing seems to guarantee happiness. In fact, every interaction with another human being becomes sorrowful. Since human relationship is centred around ‘selfishness or what’s-in-it-for-me’, there will obviously be unfulfilled expectations, the consequence of which will be unhappiness and sorrow.
It is not possible to hide our craving and longing for a relationship with another person. Knowing this weakness, the other person exploits.The other person could be your husband, wife, friend, neighbour, colleague or a stranger. This angst has been piling up in the human brain with every generation. It’s like the garbage that’s going on adding without getting cleared or flushed out. Thus the human consciousness is filled with layers of negativities embedded on a thick deep layer of sorrow and suffering. It is easier to endure physical pain. But psychological wounds and hurts never seem to heal. The constant accumulation of insults, blame, fear, envy, greed and such debilitating feelings create a substratum of sorrow in the human mind. And when actions spring out of sorrow, there can only be hatred, malice and dissatisfaction. How then will a human being have that perfume of affection? Where then is the space in the mind for care and companionship? When the deep sorrow wipes itself away, it takes with it all the other unwanted filth of harmful emotions, leaving the psychological vessel of consciousness clean and clear.There comes a quality of psychological nothingness. Then love gushes in to fill up that nothingness.
