Dr. Vijai S Shankar MD.PhD.
Published on www.academy-advaita.com
The Netherlands
22th August 2018
Boredom
“Lack”
Boredom implies a lack of interest or a lack of enthusiasm. Only the human mind experiences boredom. The human mind is excited when it likes its surroundings, situations, circumstances and relationships.
When the human mind is excited, it has interest and enthusiasm in its surroundings, situations, circumstances and relationships. The human mind is happy when its conditions are fulfilled.
The human mind has conditions of how its surroundings, situations, circumstances and relationships should be and expects them to be in order to accept them. When the human mind’s conditions are fulfilled, the human mind is happy.
When the human mind is happy, it is excited. So, to the human mind, happiness is a state of excited mind. When the human mind is excited, the human mind does not experience boredom.
The enlightened are not bored in any moment, hence they do not experience boredom.
The enlightened do not experience boredom primarily because they do not have any conditions to be fulfilled for them to be happy. The enlightened are happy with life as it is and their mind as it is.
The enlightened mind does not need to be excited to feel happy. To the enlightened life, as it is in every moment is happiness. Therefore, happiness to the enlightened is not a state of an excited mind.
So what is the understanding of the enlightened, is the question?
The enlightened understand that every moment is fresh and whatever is within the moment is fresh and never stale. They also understand that the freshness cannot be other than what it is in the moment.
This signifies that the freshness of surroundings, circumstances, situations and relationships cannot be other than what the freshness is. By observing the freshness of the surroundings, situations, circumstances and relationships of every moment, man and woman will not experience boredom.
Man and woman need conditions to be fulfilled in order to be happy and, when the conditions are not fulfilled, man and woman experience boredom. When man and woman live the freshness of surroundings, situations, circumstances and relationships, they will not experience boredom.
Author: Dr. Vijai S. Shankar
© Copyright V. S. Shankar 2018
Editor’s Note:
Man depends upon a level of stimulation in daily life. The experience of boredom may be felt when, as it seems, there is nothing to do to engage his or her interest or involvement. Doing has become the primary condition in a life. The enlightened, however, reveal in this article the quality of living in which there are no conditions, where every moment is lived as it is.
Julian Capper, UK.
German Translator’s Note:
Life is movement. In the mind this movement is evaluated and interpreted according to one's own ideas. Boredom is the consequence of the interpretation of the movement and is not based on the movement of life itself. Children and adults are bored when, for example, in their free time, they feel they need to experience something special. Or when they have to do things in school or at work that they do not enjoy. Who understands how valuable every single moment in life is, does not give any real importance to the idea of boredom.
Marcus Stegmaier, Germany