On any given day, our emotional state changes many times. One moment, something good happens to us and we are joyful. The next moment we receive a bad news and we start feeling sad. Then, we get a cheque in the mail unexpectedly and we are happy again. Next, on the way home, someone cuts us off on the highway and we are enraged. When we get home and find our children received honours in school we are overjoyed. Thus, if we select any one day in our life, we will find a variety of moods and emotions playing out.
Sometimes we go through longer periods of depression and sadness. Some lose all hope. Many try to drown their pain in self-abuse and take to alcohol or drugs. Often we feel that we will never be happy again.
How are saints and mystics different than us? Saints realise that the soul is eternal and changeless. Life is passing show and the soul is an observer. Sometimes we see happy periods and at other times, sad periods. When we identify with the passing illusion or show, we experience ups and downs in life.
There was once a seeker who would meditate in a room for several hours each day. He wished to solve the mystery of life. He would not speak to anyone but would
stay in the room, meditating almost all day.
One day, a dark cloud passed above the building, darkening the room. Once the cloud passed, the room became light again. Suddenly, the seeker came out of the room, went into the street and began dancing and singing with joy. Seeing this, the master asked, “What has made you so happy and full of laughter today?”
The seeker said, “I have just figured out the secret to life. All life is maya or illusion. One day the sky is clear. Then a cloud comes and darkens the sky. Then, the cloud passes and the sky is clear again. Such are the events of our life. All the ups and downs in life will pass away also.”
This simple realisation brings forth a calm approach to life, revealing the fact that our true Self is the soul. The soul, a mere traveler in the physical world, wears a physical body and is given a physical mind even as we experience maya and the transitory nature of existence.
Life is like theatre. As the play progresses, there will be ups and downs in our role. We will have happy events and sad events. The key is to realise that each of them is like the clouds that too will pass. Although no one likes the sad parts, they will also pass. We should recognise their transitory nature and then move on. We should not become so caught up in them that we can no longer function. We need to be patient and wait for them to go.
Instead of reacting to happy and sad moods as the play of our life unfolds, we can learn to remain calm. We can avoid the ups and downs of life by realising they will all pass. We should instead keep our attention on God and spend time daily in meditation. In this way we can remain in a calm state. Then, like the seeker, we too can experience joy and laughter because we know that whatever happens is but a passing dark cloud that will blow away to leave the skies clear once again.
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