A thought that haunts many people in the world is – “Why should there be so much unkindness in the world? Many people wonder why life is so difficult. Is there a hidden purpose behind this or is life simply a series of accidental events?” My simple response to these questions would be to see life as a purposeful phenomenon and not as a random sequence of accidents. But to do this we have to understand that life has challenges and to see the meaning of difficulties in life. The only way we can erase the pain faced by the so-called difficult challenges in life is by converting unkindness to kindness. This is an eraser we need to hold on to, one we should not lose. You may immediately ask, “Swamiji, how will I erase these difficulties?” But please understand, life is not going to be according to your likes and dislikes. The river is not going to flow according to your wishes. The rise and the ebb of sea waves are not determined by the wishes of those using its waters. The sun is not going to rise or set according to your imagination. The real wisdom of life lies in choosing to swim or surf when the waves are favorable. It lies in working and resting, in harmony with the day-night cycle. The waves are not cruel or unkind to the surfer or swimmer. In fact, the higher the waves, the greater is the surfer’s joy. But these high waves can be seen as dangerous by a swimmer. It all depends on how you look at it. Look around and you will realize that nature by itself is neither kind nor cruel. A beautiful way to look at life is to thus look upon difficulties as nature’s acts of kindness. In the face of difficulties, we develop survival skills that otherwise would lie dormant. It is much like the sweat and fatigue of weight-training that leads to people developing tough muscles. In fact, life would be terribly dull if everything went according to a pre-written script. Most of the negative feelings we associate with difficulties are of our own making due to a lack of wisdom about life. We perceive a situation as difficult, and thus the situation shows up as difficult. But to a hunter who associates a sense of adventure with venturing into the forest and encountering dangerous animals, hunting appears as a fun activity. The thrill appeals to him! Similarly, we need to develop the skills to work with difficulties and challenges to make life work for us. Swami Sukhabodhananda
