Enjoying Physical Pleasure
Since we are born in human body & we use this very body as a
temple to offer our worships, as a boat to cross this ocean of
maya, we are obligated to address to the physical wants &
needs of the body. Further also as we are born in a society,
which helps us at every step we take towards ‘freedom’, we are
also under compulsion to stay under the rules of this society.
In changing times, the wants & needs of the body have
changed from a minimal few to a lot. In olden days, basic
requirements meant food (enough to provide energy), few
clothings & a shelter. But as the time wheel turns these basic
needs have changed their forms to a modern vesion – Today
basic requirements include good food (for taste & not for
energy); clothes – for fashion & not for covering; Shelter –
for all the luxuries & comforts. Today a man is judged as
success or failure based on how much bodily pleasure, he can
achieve.
The society also has changed its course instead of being a
catalyst to your God Realisation, people around you are busy
making the path more difficult. Some people see leaving all
the material world & sitting in a cave to meditate as a
convenient way out. But I don’t agree to this line of thought.
For me, a place where I can sit in soltitude & close my eyes
is my cave. Also I strongly believe that until you understand
this delusion of ‘Maya’ completely you will not be able to
free yourself from it.
That means until you have experienced this state of
helpless pleasure, you will not enjoy the ultimate pleasure.
Also one of the four purushartha’s is ‘Kaam’ which says enjoy
whatever you do & do things you enjoy. However you must be
always aware that while fulfilling your desires (kaam), the
righteousness (dharma) must not be harmed. The human mind
proposes a thousand desires in every moment & fulfilling all
of them might not be possible for all, due to the life we are
living in. However we can still indulge in material activities
& fulfill a lot of our desires. Most of the people do this &
spend their entire lives in such pleasure.
Indulging in material affairs however can take you away
from the ultimate goal ‘Moksha’. The failure in acquiring
material comfort is as distracting as the success in doing so.
The whim of fulfilling desires can cause heavy damage to a
person & also to society. Thus most of the spiritual leaders &
preachers, tell us to stay away from the pleasure world. But
what if we wish to continue on our path of realisation without
indulging in dualistic material world & still wish to fulfill
our desires – is there a way out ?
Here comes a phenomena termed as ‘Universal
Consciousness’. We must understand that life is two fold –
Internal & External. Externally we might be living different
lives, we are having different experiences, finding different
obstacles, enjoying different pleasures, but internally we are
all connected in one consciousness. ‘Krishna Consciousness’
‘Christ Consciousness’ ‘Prana’ all the concepts point to this
inter-linking. Every individual understands & knows this
connectivity to some extent. What happens when a relative or a
close friend experiences some material pleasure, sheer news of
their happiness pleases us. How? Do we ourselves experience
the pleasure? No, we don’t. But we have realised the
inter-connection of consciousness with that relative or
friend. We feel his happiness or sadness as our own. This is a
part of Universal Consciousness.
Another example of this Universal Consciousness can be
observed in the life of social workers. Lots of people feel
for small children, for down trodden, even for animals to that
extent. This feeling makes them spend their entire lives in
working to help the ones they feel for. What is this feeling?
It is nothing but Universal Consciousness. Experiencing the
problems, the agony, the pain faced by many without physically
experiencing it. Mother Terresa was not a down trodden sick
person, but she still felt the pain suffered by the man she
saw on streets of Calcutta. Baba Amte was not suffering from
leprosy, but experienced the problems faced by people
suffering from this disease. Members of PETA are not animals,
but are still aware of their pain & strive to help animals.
Now, if the Universal Consciousness can make you feel pain
experienced by others, can’t it make you feel pleasure enjoyed
by others? In the sixth stanza of ‘Nirvanshataka’ Adi
Shankarcharya says
Ahm Nirvikalpo, Nirakara
Rupo,
Vibhutwach Sarvatra,
Sarvendriyanam …
The translation of this stanza is ‘ I am without form or face
or shape, I pervade everywhere, I exist in all my sense
organs.’ Considering the broader meaning of this says that I
exist in each & every sense organ of all the universe. That
means I can see, hear, feel whatever an individual or group
sees, hears or feels anywhere in the universe. Only thing
required here is to connect to the Universal Consciousness.
The technology of Internet works on this very concept. Your
computer does not have all the information but once connected,
it has all the information which exists in all computers of
the world. In case you don’t connect to internet but just to
office network, then only the information in your office
computers is available through your PC ( friends or relatives
).
Now the big question which arises is – How do we connect to
this Universal Consciousness? Well in some cases you are
blessed, while in some your good deeds from past assist you in
this process. And for current stage, the answer is Sadhana.
Sadhana is nothing but a continuous effort for uplift of life,
to understand this interlinking. Once you learn this art of
connecting to the universal consciousness all the physical
pleasures are at your feet, that too without the risk of
indulging in ‘Maya’ More about Universal Consciousness in
coming articles.
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