Forgiveness : way to happiness.

Hurt is in the normal flow of life. Events, circumstances, and behaviours are its cause. In normal human interactions, there are times when we get hurt and there are times when we cause hurt. To hurt and be hurt is human. Hurt is the pain of life. The grief of life.

Our actions in this world have motivations. These motivations carry the baggage of expectations. It is these expectations that are the cause of pain, the cause of sorry, the cause of hurt and grief. We expect to receive something. When we do not get it, we feel hurt.Sometimes we are the recipient of hurt. Sometimes we are the cause of hurt caused to others. The more hurt we cause to others, the more we will be punished with hurt in the future. This is karma. This is justice.Sometimes it is in the depth of emotional hurt that we find our true ourselves. We find the people who really matter. We find the values that matter. Deep pain causes melancholy and leads to a reflective state. We reach within our depths to find a solution to our suffering. There are two types of possible reactions to hurt. Two possible solutions. The first solution permanently solves the pain and suffering. The second solution leads to a further increase of the problem.

The first solution or reaction is called forgiveness. The second possible reaction is called revenge.

When we forgive and ask for forgiveness, we broaden our humanity. Our hurt melts in the breadth of our forgiveness. When we forgive, we elevate our spirituality. We rise above the cause. The cause seems to small. We suddenly our standing like a giant with our forgiveness. There is a precondition to be able to act in this grand way. First, we have to drop our pride and ego. Once we can do that with ease, forgiveness comes easy. Hurt becomes only a distant memory.

But there is a second way of reaction to hurt, a reaction which is more popularly practised, termed as revenge. When we are hurt, we suddenly realise that our pride and high status must be defended and protected. We become protectors of our pride. We build a fabled wall of invincibility around us. We try to live upto our invincible image. The protection of pride and ego is the chief reason why people resort to revenge. Revenge is a losing game. Your hurt will only increase. The more the revenge, the more the hurt. You will be pulled into a destructive, emotional whirlpool. Beware !

I have analysed hurt, the cause of hurt, and the possible solutions. This simple analysis has depth of meaning and wisdom. In its practise lies the keys of happiness.

The 3 Gs To Fulfilment

Everyone is chasing fulfilment, happiness and satisfaction. Some seek it in wealth, others in fitness and health, still others in relationships and a few in intellec tual pursuits. Yet nobody seems to have found any of these. The more you gain, the more unfulfilled you seem to feel.

The world has been designed perfectly to fulfil you. The best foods are available yet you stuff yourself with the worst. You are in the ideal environment to feel happy but you choose to be miserable. You have the best people around you, yet you psyche yourself into unhappiness. into unhappiness.

It is the mind that plays tricks with you, misleads you and, in the end, destroys you. Consult your intellect, strengthen it and be guided by it. Nourish your body with dedicated activity . Fill your heart with love. Strengthen the intel lect with knowledge. It is ignorance that creates the imaginary void. You do not need to seek fulfilment. You are already com pletely , utterly, totally fulfilled.

People seek fulfilment in three ways Goal, Glory and God. They set up limited, self ish, self-seeking goals and work incessantly to achieve these ends. As the Bhagwad Gita says, you are engaged in vain hopes, meaning less activity , shallow knowledge, and lack discrimination (chapter 9).

Expand your mind to accommodate the interests of a wider circle of people. Espouse a cause. Get inspired by a higher ideal. Then you will wake up every morning enthused to work.

When you work for a larger purpose it unlocks your potential, makes you creative and ener getic. Drudgery sets in with selfishness.

There are three types of people. Tamasika or lethargic people are just drifting in life with no aim or ideal. They function on whims and fancies of the mind. The rajasika or passionate type are driven by desire and act for a selfish end. They are stressed out and agitated, incapable of enjoying the fruits of their own labour. Only the sattvika one who sacrifice to a higher altar enjoy the world! People also seek glory , recognition and respect. This need emerges from a deep sense of inadequacy . You perhaps feel inferior to a sibling, spouse or colleague. Hence you depend on others to bolster you. This need is so intense that many glorify themselves! Others seek laurels and accolades from the world. Rare is the one who is so immersed in his own field of activity that he doesn't seek recognition from others. He is self-contained and self-sufficient.

The highest motivator is God.

Everyone feels the need to fall back on That which is beyond the world.

There are four types of seekers described in the Gita the wealthseekers, the distressed, the curious and the jnani, wise. Of these only the jnani is truly spiritual. The others are still extroverted, seeking God only for physical, emotional or intellectual pleasures.

y A jnani is acutely aware of his imprisona ment in the body , mind and intellect and is struggling for liberation. His focus is on the k goal of Enlightenment. Nothing in the world distracts him from that ideal. All the e heavenly wealth and enjoyments offered by a Yama did not deter Nachiketa from his goal u of realisation.

. The unintended side effect of spiritual s pursuit is immense prosperity and happi ness, power and enjoyment. So aspire for Enlightenment. The world will be at your a feet!