Many Problems One Solution - Swami Tejomayananda

This title may kindle your curiosity, and some of you may wonder how there can be a single solution to the variety of problems in the world.

Let me warn you at the outset that I do not possess any magic potion or instant cure. I can only give you something to work on, the seeds of a solution.

Once a hungry person went to a shop to buy apples. Instead of apples, he was given the seeds that he could plant, that would grow into trees yielding apples in abundance.

In the same way, I shall give you the seeds of thought that can remove all your problems if only you will work on it.

The Nature of Problems: Let us first focus on problems. If we analyze and observe, we will find that the situations in life are what become problems.

If you are comfortably sitting in your own house and begin to feel hungry, the hunger does not pose a problem. There is food in the kitchen; if not, you just go to a restaurant. But if you are in a remote place and food is not available, or you don’t have enough money to buy food, then hunger becomes a problem, because you don’t know how to deal with it.

Whenever there is an inability to handle the situation, then that situation becomes a problem.

If you don’t understand the situation, it becomes a problem. If you understand it, but find no remedy, then again it becomes a problem. If the remedy is there, but it isn't within reach, then also it becomes a problem. If everything is within reach, but you don’t know how to make use of it, then, of course, it becomes a problem.

Human beings have a peculiar ability- whatever we touch becomes a problem. It is the Midas touch- whatever he touched turned into gold, whether it is was his clothes, his food or even his daughter. Even the fulfillment of his wish became a problem!

Variety of Problems: There are problems at every level- physical, financial, emotional, social, national, international, political, etc. All people - children, students, teachers, parents, leaders, followers, doctors and patients - have a problem. There is no dearth of them.

Generally, it is personal problems that seem to overwhelm individuals. During a yajna in Hyderabad, I met with different groups - homemakers, professionals, industrialists and businessmen. Though the topics were different, I was surprised to note that all of them were preoccupied with personal problems, and not problems of the society.

It is interesting to see that most of the problems are related to dealing with people. We have to deal either with people who have difficulties or with people who are difficult. Two friends had a conversation. One of them asked, “Any new problems?” The other replies, “None, I am married to one!”

At the physical level. We try to seek a remedy for our ailments by gulping down medicines, but the real solution is to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

Financially, people try to solve the problem by borrowing money. This merely generates more problems.

One should try to work and earn well, and live within one’s means, without spending indiscriminately.

One should also learn to be content. Gandhiji said that there is always enough for our need, but never enough for our greed. God has arranged the world so that all our needs are fulfilled within minimum expense.

Goswami Tulsidas says in his Dohavali that God has given us all the essential things like food, water and air are free of cost. Inessential things like gold, diamonds, pearls and jewels are expensive. After all, even a millionaire can eat only a limited amount and wear only one set of clothes and one pair of shoes at a time. When people say that they do not have enough money, it mostly concerns their artificial needs.

When we give importance to material things, then problems arise, leading to jealousy and cutthroat competition. Young people work in call centres to earn quick money, but they lose their perspective on life and grow old by the age of thirty. All this leads to the question whether we value values or valuables. If values are lost, problems reign supreme.

In the field of education, there is a lot of frustration. People think that education is only to enable one to get a job. After long years of study, when a person cannot find a job, he feels that the education has been futile.

A lawyer called a plumber to repair a tap. He worked for 15 minutes and presented a bill of Rs. 500. “As a lawyer, I don’t earn that much,” the lawyer protested. To which the plumber said, “As a lawyer, I also did not earn that much money, that is why I switched to plumbing,” Education has higher goals than just providing us with a job.

Parenting is also becoming a problem. Children grow out of their childhood, but parents do not seem to grow out of their parenthood! Vedanta suggests after a particular stage; one should move from grhastha asrama to vanaprastha asrama. But today an 80-year-old father expects his 60-year-old son to obey him. All this is the result of wrong thinking. Parents should learn to let go.

Right Thinking the Only Solution: There are many kinds of problems, but Vedanta says that all problems arise from lack of right thinking alone. It remains the cause of all our bondage, sorrow and problems. Read about surprising impacts of positive thoughts. 

It is said: ‘avicara krto bandhah vicarena nivartate - bondage caused by lack of thinking (avicara), is removed by proper thinking.’ It is the one solution to all our problems.

Three Kinds of Avicara:

1. Lack of thinking: Avicara means the absence of thinking or absence of enquiry. If you don’t think, ignorance continues. Ignorance is not bliss or joy; it is just suffering.

Often we get into trouble because of lack of thinking. We have heard it said, “A moment’s thought would have shown him a solution. But a moment is a long time and thinking a difficult process!”

A mother went on an errand leaving her child asleep. When she returned, she saw a mongoose in the doorway with blood on his mouth. Presuming that it had hurt her child, she killed it. She walked into the house only to find a dead snake lying next to her child who was unharmed. She realized that the goose must have killed the snake and saved her child. She could not forgive herself for her thoughtless action.

2. Inadequate thinking: Some people think but get tired of it soon, and give up halfway without thinking the problem through. People are allergic to serious or deep thinking. They don’t thrash out the problem to find a solution. They begin to think, but end up wishing that the problem would solve itself.

3. Erroneous thinking: Avicara also means virodhi (opposite) or erroneous thinking. Some are habituated to negative thinking, and others are experts in wrong thinking.

There was a man who noticed a buffalo with round horns and was fascinated by it. He kept staring at it every day on his way to the temple. One day, people heard him screaming, “Save me! Save me!” When they rushed to the spot, they found him stuck between the horns of the buffalo. After rescuing him, they were curious and asked him how he managed to get stuck there. He explained that he had stuck his head between the buffalo’s horns. On being criticized for his foolishness, he said that for the past fifteen days he had only been thinking of how to get between the buffalo’s horns!

Many of us invite problems by our thinking.

Categorising the Problem

Firstly, see the given situation objectively and access why it is a problem for you. At this stage, we might find that the situation is simply a situation and not a problem at all. However, if it continues to appear as a problem, proceed to categorize it. It could be any of the following kinds:

●        A factual problem like a financial crisis, a disease of the body, or even a leaking roof.

●        An imaginary problem like the fear of a car crash, a bleak view of one’s career, or imagining a severe illness from the symptoms of a common cold.

●        A subjective thinking problem based on strong likes and dislikes, prejudices, attachments etc.

Identifying the Solution

The next step is to find the solution. It is a factual problem; you can do the following:

●        Sit quietly with a paper and pen.

●        Write down the situation that is posing the problem.

●        Jot down all possible solutions for it.

●        Shortlist the most practical solutions.

●        Further, shortlist and pick the solution that is within your capability to implement.

●        Allow it to happen - implement it.

Methods of Right Thinking

What is right thinking? Every person, even a terrorist, thinks he is right! The capitalist and the communist - both think they are right. The one who believes in God thinks he is right and an atheist also sees only his viewpoint as correct. The old man thinks that because of this experience, what he thinks is right. Young people think that they are alone and right, and their parents don’t know anything. It is said that by the time a man thinks that perhaps his father was right, after all, he already has a son who thinks he is wrong!

Many people are proud of the fact that they are very rational and intellectual, but fall short of it. Taittiriya Upanishad gives the anatomy or structure of the intellect:

●        Sraddha or faith is the head or the crown of the intellect.

●        Rtam is its right hand.

●        Satyam is its left hand.

●        Yoga is in its middle, the trunk.

●        Total intellect or Mahat is its feet.

Sraddha is made up of the words ‘sradh’ and ‘dha.’ Sradh means ‘Truth,’ and dha means ‘that which holds.’ Thus, sraddha is that which holds the Truth. This word has profound significance. It can encompass our entire value system. It implies that our thinking must be rooted in faith.

According to the Bhagavad Gita, there is no one without faith. Is it not true that even a rationalist has faith in his sense organs and intellect? But our rational thinking must be based on faith. Mere logic cannot lead us anywhere. Certain basic premises has to be accepted before we proceed with our enquiry. We must have faith in the valid means of knowledge. If we do not believe in anything, our thinking will go haywire.

With sraddha as a foundation, when we enquire deeply and arrive at a certain understanding of the Truth, it is called rtam.

Rtam should be followed by satyam, the manifestation of that Truth in our lives. Yoga here means absorption; the mind should be absorbed in that Truth; there should be a deep conviction that guides our lives.

Only a person who has conviction enough to apply the results of his enquiry in his daily life is truly intellectual. There are so many intellectuals that are thoroughly conversant with various philosophies and can write and speak eloquently on all of them. But on enquiry, we may find that they have no conviction in any of the philosophies they speak about. They know no peace despite their vast knowledge.

God has made us in such a way that when we do wrong things, we have an inner voice that tells us that we are wrong, but we tell it to shut up. Learn to listen to the inner voice.

Conclusion

To sum up, we face different situations in life. When we don’t understand them properly or are unable to deal with them, they become problems. All we have to do is properly utilize our thinking faculty. We must cultivate right thinking, rooted in sraddha, rtam, satyam, yoga and mahat.

Right thinking is the only solution to all our problems.