Worry Is A Voluntary Form Of Suffering

Oct 8, 2009, 12.00am IST
Swami Sukhabodhananda.

What is it to be a witness, to just be?


The Buddha was once meditating. His mind started creating problems and distracted him from the path of enlightenment. It was as though hundreds of horses were galloping through his mind. But the monk remained a witness and did not identify with fear. His mind turned into thousands of elephants tempting him to identify with them, but again Buddha was just a witness... he saw through the mind's game. His mind became a loving deer but still Buddha remained a witness. He did not get tempted.

Finally, his mind turned into a loving child drowning in the ocean, seeking his attention. Buddha, out of compassion, merged with his thoughts and stretched out his hands to save the drowning child. At once, the child turned into a monster and started pulling Buddha to the ocean. Buddha realised his folly and left the monster and continued being a witness. The monster turned again into a child and started pleading for help.


Buddha continued his meditation of being not participating but being a witness. The child drowned in the ocean and emerged as an enlightened mind, reflecting Buddha's mind. This is a play narrating Buddha's effort towards enlightenment.


Is the shunning of identification an important aspect of meditation?


Learn to be a witness to your thoughts and feelings. In the witnessing consciousness, there is no identification with anything. Identification leads to misery. Worry is a form of identification. Literally, worry means twisting and tearing. Have you observed that when you worry, your moving centre gets twisted? Negative state of worry depression or fear... shows up strongly in the form of twisting one's body-moving centre.

Just be a witness and do not get identified. Relax your body, your mind and then finally just be a witness. Let not your 'I' get identified with your body and mind. This de-identification is meditation.


What about emotions in a state of worry?

Firstly, negative emotional states like that of worry and jealousy must be observed and recognised. Generally, we do not see them. Instead, we become them. While a negative emotion is happening, be an onlooker. Then the emotion will be like a cloud that comes and goes.

To stop a negative emotion that comes out, create a new will through the intellectual centre. This is not suppression as you are doing it with an understanding that if negative emotion is let loose, it will create a hurt body. In turn this hurt body will take control of you.

Worry is a form of identification. It is useless. Unfortunately, many of us think it is right to worry about someone we love. Give up this voluntary form of suffering. By worrying you exhaust yourself. Your energy gets depleted. In a depleted state, one cannot perform to the optimum level. Learn to take small steps, stop worrying. Weed out the worry as it emerges. Do not allow the other centres to support and nourish it.

What do you mean when you say we live in two worlds ?
One is visible and outer while the other is invisible and inner. The outer is your body that is visible. The inner is your psychology. The object of spiritual teaching is to lead a person from unconscious being to conscious being.