Dr. Vijai S Shankar MD.PhD.
Published on www.academy-advaita.com
The Netherlands
20th September 2016
Worry and Problem
“Trust and Patience”
Man is worried and it is a problem to him when something does or does not happen. He is equally worried and it is a problem to him when there is something he does or does not do, but yet it happens.
Man is certain that he did not do certain things and believes that they have either happened or somebody has done them. Everyone believes the same. This implies that there is always something, which man has not done, but yet it happens.
Now, is there a definitive cut-off point between what man does not do, but yet it does happen and what he does not do and it does not happen either? There could never be such a definitive cut-off point because, if there were such a point, man would know what would happen and what would not happen.
But man can never know either because he only knows what has happened after it happens and never before it happens. Also, he knows what has not happened only after it does not happen.
If man could know the definitive cut-off point, then he could prevent it if he does not like what will happen and do what will not happen. But he can do neither. Man believes he has prevented it when something actually does not happen and similarly believes that he has done it when something actually does happen.
Therefore, in life, everything happens when it is meant to happen and does not happen when it is meant not to happen. Somethings do happen, which man believes he has not done. Similarly, somethings do happen, which man believes he has done, but actually he has not.
Worries and problems have always been there for man and he has never been able to switch them off. He may focus his attention on something other than his worries and problems and it appears to him that they have gone. They have not gone, but they come back the moment his focus on other things is absent. Man cannot focus on other things all the time because, in daily life, he continues to believe what he has done and has not done. Therefore, eventually, he will be worried and have problems with the other things that temporarily helped him to forget his initial worries and problems. Man will live life patiently and in trust, no matter how life happens and will not expect life to happen other than the way it happens, when he understands that everything, including worries and problems, come and go the way they are meant to come and go.
Author: Dr. Vijai S. Shankar
© Copyright V. S. Shankar 2016
Editor’s Note:
There is a word in the English language borrowed from the ancient Greek – dilemma. It has a more modern equivalent – between a rock and a hard place. The belief that man is often faced with having to choose between two solutions to an issue facing him is founded on the conviction that he is the doer. So he has a dilemma, a problem to solve. Even when he or she, as he firmly believes, has made the decision, he may still be worried as to whether it is the right decision – even years later. Patience and trust are gifted to man in his life for whatever comes his way. This article and this understanding from the wise has come his way. Patience and trust are always present for man, undemanding and silent.
Julian Capper, U.K.
German Translator’s Note:
Worries and problems are everywhere in the mind of man. They hit us suddenly, they linger around and are never completely gone, because when one problem has faded away, the next one surely pops up later. Expectations and hopes about what someone does or does not are the main reason for worries and problems. Welcome life the way it is meant to happen, with all the good things and bad things that happen (and only appear to be done by man!). The enlightened are aware that good and bad deeds are thoughts in the mind, not a reality in life. In order to help the reader understand worries and problems in relation to the illusion of man as a doer, Dr. Shankar gives important clues for pondering in the article “Worry and Problem“.
Marcus Stegmaier, Germany.