The worldly life, at every step, presents us with many tempting and lucrative goals that we consider very important in life; and therefore sincerely work towards and strive for it, sometimes out of need, sometimes out of want. For example - a loving family, a good house, stable income, lot of fame, good health, etc.

But do you know, every worldly desire eventually will cause some or the other kind of suffering?

As explained by Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan, an enlightened being, every aspect of the world has the potential of ultimately causing us suffering. Things do give us momentary happiness. But very soon, we reverse its influence by becoming engrossed in it. For example, if there is a dish we love, and we eat too much of it for a long period of time, there will come a day when the mere mention of the dish will make us shudder, because we no longer find happiness in it but are instead repulsed by it. That’s the natural law, for Nature always works to bring back balance.

Now, while Nature’s nature is to maintain the balance, our worldly nature is to keep swinging endlessly between a state of attachment and that of abhorrence. And both attachment and abhorrence inevitably lead to the station of endless suffering.

Attachment leads one to claim a sense of ownership over the person, thing, situation or belief to which we are attached to. This causes expectations, and when they are not fulfilled, it causes hurt and disappointment. Likewise, abhorrence causes a bind of enmity with whosoever you dislike or hate, which makes the condition, of all of those involved, miserable.

Thus, this is an endless trap of suffering. Until we consider this materialistic world to be important, no matter how much we try to run after the worldly things or try to mend ways to eliminate sufferings, it does not become possible. There is only one way to escape from this trap of suffering, and that is: We switch over to the path of eternal salvation.

Thus, there is nothing more important than our eternal salvation.

On the path of eternal salvation, one practices equanimity i.e. harness neither attachment nor abhorrence for anything whatsoever in this materialistic world. We do this with the help of the right understanding that whatever good or bad I am receiving or experiencing today is a result of my own past deeds, and that no one is to be held responsible for the best or the worst that may befall us.

By practicing equanimity, we make sure we do not invite any more suffering by binding further causes of attachment and abhorrence. But there is an important station we must reach before that, and that is the station of Self-Realization because only after Self-Realization, it becomes possible to establish victory over one’s ego.

There are two different routes to reach to this station of Self-Realization:
1.The Kramik and
2.The Akram.

In today’s age, the Akram route is more conducive as we can attain Self-Realization directly, with the grace of the Living Gnani, the Enlightened One!!!

And we are fortunate that we have such Gnani, present amongst us. So let us attain Self-Realization and under His guidance progress on the path of eternal salvation and ultimately achieve this most important thing in this world.

To know more please visit: https://www.dadabhagwan.org/self-realization/

Author's Bio: 

Ambalal M. Patel was a civil contractor by profession. In June 1958, spontaneous Self-Realization occurred within Ambalal M. Patel. From this point on, Ambalal became a Gnani Purush, and the Lord that manifest within him became known as Dada Bhagwan. A Gnani Purush is One who has realized the Self and is able help others do the same. Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan used to go from town to town and country-to-country to give satsang (spiritual discourse) and impart the knowledge of the Self, as well as knowledge of harmonious worldly interactions to everyone who came to meet him. This spiritual science, known as Akram Vignan, is the step-less path to Self-realization.