What is the thing that nobody needs on earth?

[Jahnu]

The thing on earth that nobody needs is suffering. Someone may say
that we need suffering in order to enjoy happiness, but in any case,
nobody wants suffering. No thinking person actively seeks out
suffering. Everyone is trying to minimize their distress and maximize
their enjoyment.

What few people know, however, is that the amounts of distress and
happiness we shall experience in life are already fixed at birth, so
there is no need to endeavor for either. Happiness and distress will
come to us automatically, according to our karma. The only endeavor
worth-while in the material world is to re-connect with our spiritual
source. Then and only then can we escape all suffering and taste the
eternal happiness for which we are always longing.

Krishna says:

My dear Arjuna, because you are never envious of Me, I shall impart to
you this most confidential knowledge and realization, knowing which
you shall be relieved of the miseries of material existence. (Bg. 9.1)
This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all
secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct
perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of
religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed. (Bg. 9.2)

Narada Muni says:

Persons who are actually intelligent and philosophically inclined
should endeavor only for that purposeful end which is not obtainable
even by wandering from the topmost planet [Brahmaloka] down to the
lowest planet [Patala]. As far as happiness derived from sense
enjoyment is concerned, it can be obtained automatically in course of
time, just as in course of time we obtain miseries even though we do
not desire them. -SB 1.5.18

[EXLEX]

Post by Jahnu
The thing on earth that nobody needs is suffering. Someone may say
that we need suffering in order to enjoy happiness, but in any case,
nobody wants suffering. No thinking person actively seeks out
suffering. Everyone is trying to minimize their distress and maximize
their enjoyment.
What few people know, however, is that the amounts of distress and
happiness we shall experience in life are already fixed at birth, so
there is no need to endeavor for either.

So it is really just rubbish when you tell us that the suffering we
cause others will return to us?

Our distress and suffering is fixed at birth - no need to fear any
consequences of our actions...




--
EXLEX

[Jahnu]

Post by EXLEX
Our distress and suffering is fixed at birth - no need to fear any
consequences of our actions...

Death is going to be a rude awakening for you, farmerboy.

Sustained happiness comes from the soul. The happiness that comes from
the body and mind can never be sustained. The happiness from
sense-gratification always ends in lamentation. In fact, bodily
enjoyment is the very cause of unhappiness.

Krishna says:

An intelligent person does not take part in the sources of misery,
which are due to contact with the material senses. O son of Kunti,
such pleasures have a beginning and an end, and so the wise man does
not delight in them. (Bg 5.22)

Why does God state here that bodily enjoyment is the source of misery?
Most people will say - so what if sense-enjoyment is temporary? It
feels good while it lasts. Why should we deny ourselves pleasure where
ever it’s available?

The reason is that God wants us to be happy, eternally happy, and in
Bhagavad Gita He advises us how to obtain sustained happiness. He does
that by pointing us in the direction of our real selves.

The bottom line in the material world is suffering, for the simple
reason that everything ends in old age, disease and death.

The only way to escape the fundamental suffering of living in a
material body, is to cultivate spiritual knowledge. Spiritual
knowledge begins with knowing the difference between matter and spirit
- the difference between the body /mind and the self.

Only by knowing oneself as an eternal particle of consciousness, can
one gain real happiness. Real happiness is a constant fact. Real
happiness is not constantly interrupted by misery. People in the
modern world are not educated in real happiness. In fact, they confuse
bodily and mental pleasures with happiness.

In the modern Consumer civilization people are indoctrinated into
believing that sense-enjoyment will create happiness for them. Indeed,
bodily and mental enjoyment is the only type of happiness people know
of. But sense-enjoyment is merely a temporary pause in the suffering
of the body and mind.

Sex, for instance, is regarded by most people to be the highest joy
available. But sex-lust and sex-enjoyment are merely an attempt to
escape the suffering of being without sex. It's misery to live in
forced celibacy. Anyone who has reached puberty can testify to that.

Or eating. To eat is considered to be one of life's major enjoyments.
But actually, to eat is just an attempt to escape the suffering of
hunger. People of the Western culture don't know what it means to
suffer from famine, but it is a great suffering experienced by many
people in the world.

And that's how it is with most of the enjoyment we seek and
experience. Eating, sleeping, mating, and defending are the four
activities humans have in common with all other living entities. In
the modern world, however, it has become the foremost goal to fulfill
and satisfy these four needs.

They have been made the standard of happiness and enjoyment in life.
What do we do together with our loved ones, with our family and
friends? We eat, we sleep, we mate, and we defend. The entire
civilization revolves around these four activities. That's an animal
civilization. Humans are expected to have a higher goal in life than
merely satisfying basic, bodily and mental urges.

Millions of tons of iron are extracted from the earth to make pots,
knives and forks. Whole forests are cut down to make serviettes and
napkins. Add to that the industry to manufacture cups and glasses etc.
And for sleeping - beds, mattresses, pillows, quilts, covers, the list
goes on and on. A massive enterprise - all of it, just to eat and
sleep. What to speak of the meat-industry, the second largest industry
in the world, only topped by the defense industry.

So the global culture is basically one giant industrial setup to
fulfill basic bodily needs.

The fact is that the Western civilization is an exploitative
civilization that rapes and plunders nature, and puts her inhabitants
through untold suffering. And it’s proudly called the industrialized,
developed world. It’s a civilization that is basically creating hell
on earth for countless of living entities.

Anyway, the happiness that can be obtained by surrendering to
Krishna's enjoyment is so far superior to the happiness that can be
squeezed out of matter, that sex with the most beautiful women become
like broken glass in comparison.

Krishna says:

O learned Uddhava, those who fix their consciousness on Me, giving up
all material desires, share with Me a happiness that cannot possibly
be experienced by those engaged in sense gratification.

--Srimad Bhagavatam 11.14.12

[EXLEX]

Post by Jahnu

Post by EXLEX
Our distress and suffering is fixed at birth - no need to fear any
consequences of our actions...

Death is going to be a rude awakening for you, farmerboy.

So you keep saying - but as already stated, that does not make it true.
...or even likely...




--
EXLEX