Dr. Vijai S Shankar MD.PhD.
Published on www.academy-advaita.com
The Netherlands
26 April 2020
Hope (5)
“Expect”
Children and teenagers are fine as they are. At a certain age man begins to hope and he clings on to hope. Man and woman cannot identify at what age and at what phase in his life he or she begins to hope.
When you begin to hope, it is a sign that you have lost faith in yourself. You are not certain about yourself. Hope is a declaration by man and woman that they are not certain about life.
But man clings on to hope. He hopes for a better life. He hopes for a better tomorrow. He hopes for a better marriage. He hopes for a better job. Better education.
Man is also advised that it is good to hope for the best. Is it not so? So he begins to hope for enlightenment too. Has any hope put an end to hope? When is hope going to end then?
Are you going to hope right through your life? If you are going to hope right through your life, it only means that right through your life you are going to remain uncertain.
If you keep hoping right through your life, it only means that right through your life you are never certain. You are never peaceful; never contented. As long as there is hope, understand that you will be anxious.
Anxiety is the shadow of hope. If you are anxious, you will not be in peace. That is why a man is edgy. Man gets upset. Man gets angry because he is anxious, because he is hoping. He is in a hoping state. All the time.
Now the question is, why does man hope at all? Man hopes because he wants. Would you hope if it did not lead you anywhere? Once you understand that every moment and its contents cannot be hoped for with certainty, you are free of hope.
Thoughts of want will be there. Understand that it is just a drama. Hope is just a drama a thought makes. Hope plays a game in the mind. Once you understand that every moment in life and its contents cannot be other than what it is, you are fine with it. You enjoy the game of the mind. It keeps you entertained right through the waking state.
The enlightened realise that daily life is a drama which cannot be other than what it is.
Author: Dr. Vijai S. Shankar
© Copyright V.S. Shankar 2020
Editor’s Note:
Even to read this article is a blessing for man as he journeys through life. The enlightened are revealing their understanding of the minds of men and women with thoughts. Understanding cannot be taught or learned at academic schools or colleges. It does not yield to any man’s effort or determination, nor are awards of merit presented for understanding. Knowledge is taught and learned by qualified teachers and students at schools and colleges which present awards for effort and achievement. Understanding is the gift of the school of life; knowledge is the gift of schools and libraries. The way of knowledge reveals records and memories, no matter how significant or meritorious, of deeds, events and studies already known. This way has a long and respected tradition. The way of understanding reveals what cannot be known: life as it really is. Live life as it happens - without hope or expectation.
Julian Capper. UK
German Translator‘s Note:
Hope in the mind is meant to cover up life's inevitable insecurity. This is the insight of the Enlightened, as here in this article. Hope, while reading, becomes an opportunity to examine one's own mind more closely. The feelings of anger, disappointment, fear and jealousy, and many more, are closely connected with the thought of hope. In the end, it all boils down to the simple but deep insight: the now, every moment, cannot be different from what it is. Acceptance without conditions in every moment is the end of real appearing hopes and the feelings connected with them.
Marcus Stegmaier, Germany.