We are all faced with the cyclic nature of life and are obliged to experience its ups and downs, pleasures and also pains. This is the nature of our reality in the material world. Fortunately there are philosophers in our past who have given us some insights and wisdom on how to handle these “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” as Shakespeare called them in Hamlet.
From our western education we may have the examples of historic philosophers like the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (121 AD), who gave us the wisdom of stoicism. He is known to have shown by example how to remain calm under the pressures and stress of life. He also showed maturity and sense control amidst the allures and potential debaucheries available to the Emperor of the mightiest military nation on earth at the time.
Sometimes there is little we can do about physical pain, suffering or disease, other than tolerate. But there are steps we can take to address mental anxiety because the mind is more malleable and we have more control over it. Stoicism was a tool used by Marcus Aurelius to deal with his mind during times of stress from invading barbarians, natural disasters like floods, and occasional plagues, all of which hit Rome under his reign.
However, way before Emperor Aurelius, we have exactly the same and deeper insights on stoicism found in the ancient Sanskrit text Bhagavad Gita, allegedly spoken around 5000 years ago. Here another emperor of sorts – Arjuna – is about to go into battle against his actual family members who are unjustly attempting to usurp the throne. Filled with doubt, due to the dichotomy of having to kill his relatives and thus facing a hollow victory at best, he refuses to fight, and seeks advice from his friend and advisor, Krishna.
The first words that Krishna says to Arjuna in reply, after the refusal to fight, are found in chapter 2 text 11:
श्री भगवानुवाच
अशोच्यनन्वशोचस्त्वं प्रज्ञावादांश्च भाषसे ।
गतासूनगतासूंश्च नानुशोचन्ति पण्डिताः ॥ ११ ॥
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ
prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase
gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca
nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ
“Krishna said: While speaking learned words, you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief. Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor for the dead.”
Translation by Swami A. C. Bhaktivedanta
This apparently tough approach to life and death, and thus to anything else in between, is based on the mental perception that we actually never die in the first place. Krishna goes on to sate in the following verses that the soul is eternal and never dies, etc. That is the logic behind such a stoic statement.
Besides that though, the interesting word used here is “lament”. In the yoga philosophy of the Vedas – later adopted by Buddha in his teachings – the mind is said to be subject to two distracting conditions, namely “hankering” and “lamenting”. This can also be described as “accepting” and “rejecting”. We hanker for that which we don’t have but desire. And we lament over that which we had but have now lost. And both of these are considered obstacles for the mind on the path of perfection, right living or attaining the goal of life, namely self-realization and transcendence.
Of course in this particular existential crisis of Arjuna’s – facing life or death – the knowledge of the eternal nature of the soul is backing up the ability to rise above lamentation. Krishna spends most of chapter 2 revealing the metaphysical nature of the spirit soul. I recommend it to anyone who wishes to have such deeper insight.
With such knowledge of the soul, one can more easily be philosophical about life and accept the ups and downs more stoically. The profound factor is that much of our suffering we actually imagine for ourselves. The mind conjures up distress by hankering or lamenting. It’s as simple as that. Now of course, for a military general there is great experience in seeing death and the risk of loss of life in battle. And it requires a stoic attitude to handle it. Experience can be the greatest teacher under such conditions.
We may not be soldiers in battle but we all face the gains and losses that come with life. We all lose sometimes, or feel pain as much as the next person, and also long for more. It was the once richest man in the world – J. P. Getty - who summed up his philosophy in one word... “More”. This is the epitome of ignorance and the trap of hankering. After all, there is nobody more free than the person who has conquered greed.
The conclusion is that mental anxiety or suffering is often something we do to ourselves. And we can overcome it by being stoical about life. Your sphere of concern may be the whole world and its suffering, but your sphere of influence may only stretch as far as your own mind, or your immediate surroundings. So begin with your own mind and solve the pain and suffering that you are undergoing by observing the tendency to hanker or lament. Once you can see through the illusion caused by such a mindset, and you replace it with a more mature and stoic mentality, you will have solved half of the problems in your life. And the other half may be outside your sphere of control anyway.
(image pixabay)
Really fascinating. I love the way you talk about a concept very familiar to me, but in a fresh way. 'Lament' and 'hanker' are just wonderful words in themselves - 'desire' 'covet' vs 'regret' 'grieve' - no matter what you label it, it's the mind not being in the present. The mind does all kinds of things that keep it from the 'now' - I'm so familiar with this during the moving meditation I prefer in my asana practice. The practice is always noticing the mind vacillating, hankering and lamenting, and come back, always, to the breath. IT's a practice of noticing what it is your mind is doing.
Yes it seems that the Vedas and yoga traditions speak of these terms with Sanskrit words, and our translations into English attempt to make sense of these terms as best we can. The Sanskrit word for "hankering" is "trishna" which is also translated to mean "thirst" ironically.
Oh love it. I read some comment on HIVE a few days ago that seemed rather contemptuous of 'contemporary' yoga (here, the texts on which some yoga practices draw spiritual understanding from) but I think each age interprets text in ways that they understand best. 'Thirst' makes sense anyway.
I have a whole heap of issues with contempt for modern yoga vs traditional, but I won't go into them here!
Excelente consejo: Cambia tu percepción y cambias el mundo... @julescape . Saludos
Gracias por sus amables palabras. Estoy feliz de estar de servicio.
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