56. Sorrow appearing asure.
One person asked Vivekananda sarcastically regarding Guru-bhakthi, devotion towards the Master: Why it is that disciples are so submissive towards the Master? What sort of slavery is this?
Vivekananda said without any hesitation: If you don't wish to be submissive to the Master become slaves for your senses.
- Man has entangled himself within his senses. Meditation, wisdom, devotion are effective methods which release him from these entanglements.
- All things which give joy that fades over a period of time or saturates one are all pleasures of short durations only.
- The one that gives joy is bliss. The one that destroys joy is petty pleasures.
- The mind will like petty pleasures very much. The reason is that if the mind takes bliss just once, that is enough, mind will get destroyed. For its own self-defense, the mind will drive and ask man to enjoy, only by showing petty pleasures.
- So, experience and enjoy what all you wish to enjoy satisfaction and real joy. At least after that, understand that they will not give you satisfaction and bliss.
It seems two friends were talking about a third person in this manner:
Friend 1: Who got the Pongal (Harvest festival) bumper prize of ten lakhs (10 million)? Is it this man?
Friend 2: Yes, Why do you ask?
Friend 1: Why is he sitting like this as if his ship has sunk? Should he not be very happy...?
Friend 2: Oh! Don't you know that? He did not get even one rupee for the other lottery ticket he bought for which the prize amount was one crore (1 billion) rupees.
For the sake of very great expectations, do not punish life which is a child adorned with small pleasures.
The person who goes beyond expectations, and lives by experiencing everything deeply and totally will get happily drowned in bliss even with small incidents. If a person does not know to live in such a manner, even very big happenings will only take him to petty pleasures.
Pleasure is the one which is not dependent on outside things. It is concerned with ones' inner feelings.
People have understood pleasure as a thing related to outside objects only. These only are petty and small or rather inferior pleasures.
For the doubt whether the petty pleasures are right or wrong, so far no enlightened Master has decisively said it is either right or wrong.
On the other hand, they only say that these are not necessary and we can go beyond it.
The enlightened Masters strive only to insist on the truth. When already in possession of gems, why search for ordinary pebbles. Even after accumulating pebbles with great difficulty and carrying sack after sack of pebbles, it finally results in back-pain only.
Even the comfort and happiness that we get due to the petty pleasures are not true or real ones.