Human
life is marked by sufferings; they start with the birth and haunts man till death. Man
continues to try to get rid of the pain and sorrow throughout his life, but leaves this
world without tasting success. One does not find a single person in this world who might
not be suffering from one trouble or the other. There is very little difference between
suffering and disease. While disease affects the body, the suffering engulfs the mind. The
word 'disease' is composed of 'dis' and 'ease' (dis-ease), which means the absence of ease
or comfort. In case we treat the state of being uneasy or uncomfortable as disease, then
every human being will have to be counted as a patient. This is because man is never found
satisfied with the status or the position he commands. Almost everybody seems to be
worried, disturbed and strained. In other words, every human being is sick physically or
mentally.
As
regards the physical disease, one gets often relieved if the ailment is diagnosed
properly, one takes the correct medicine regularly and observes the prescribed precautions
strictly. Physical diseases come and go. It means medicines may relieve man from the
diseases related to the body, but fail to provide relief so far as the sufferings of the
mind are concerned. This, however, does not mean that pain and
sorrow are the perpetual companions of man and there is no way out for his mental agony.
Neither it implies that man should become desperate and accept or bear with everything as
it comes, and cease to endeavour to get rid of his troubles. Man must continue his journey
of life with steadfastness and perseverance, using all
his qualities of head and heart. He must make constant efforts to find relief from his
sufferings.
Not
to be satisfied with what one is, is not a bad attitude. It is this spirit that keeps man
moving, inspires him to strive. This is the spirit that opens up the avenues for man's
progress. But since the likelihood of defeat and disappointment is inherent and can’t
be ruled out, it calls for some kind of relief or make up. It is true that the apparent
reasons for mental suffering vary from person to person and it is impossible to discuss in
detail the factors responsible for the same. But if we go deeper, we'll arrive at the
conclusion that man is haunted by a constant fear of 'What will the people say?' In other
words we can say that man spends his whole life to safeguard the delicate image of his
false personality in the society. Apparently this fear lurks on the surface, but it is
deep rooted in the human mind; it is closely linked with man's own perceptions. Ego is one such factor. Ego is generally
aggravated by the false praise one receives from the people with vested interests. These
elements keep man in delusion and he continues to nurture, wittingly or unwittingly, his
egotism throughout his life.
It
is in the nature of man to invite one trouble or the other instead of looking at life
through the mirror of truth, knowing it, understanding it, keeping it under constant
observation and remaining grateful to the Almighty for whatever comforts are available.
This attitude makes life complicated and difficult only. The result is that man gets into
the habit of cursing his fate. If man admits that his ego is the root cause of his
sufferings, it becomes imperative for him to know: What is ego after all? Does it really
exists or it is merely a mirage, a delusion which man tries to nurture by sacrificing
without any solid reason the most pleasant moments of his life, allows the sufferings and
hardships to overwhelm himself just by giving place in his mind to negative thoughts and
feelings?
In
fact the spirit of 'I am' is a symptom or sign of ego. Ego is just another name given to
one's being conscious of the existence of one's entity. The feeling of 'I am' or the
consciousness of the existence of one's entity is however baseless. It can be called only
a delusion; because human entity is divine gift only. Man owes his existence to the
Almighty. But guided by worldly considerations, he declares himself as the owner of what
actually has been bestowed by God, gifted by God. Once man understands this reality,
realizes this truth at any turning of life that he owes his entity to the Creator, the
moss of ego stands removed from his mind automatically. His mind becomes as bright as a
mirror. He rises above pain and pleasure and starts leading a peaceful and blissful life.