The holy texts say that suffering is a necessary part of the lives of all human beings. The only aspect of it that can be controlled is the degree to which one lets it affect his/her goals as a being, says AJIT KUMAR BISHNOI

Yes, it can be to a certain extent but not entirely. Because this is material world where everything has a date of birth and a date of death, except we, souls, who are eternal. But, we are not here in our spiritual forms. Rather, we are covered by material bodies which are subject to lots of changes, some of which are quite painful like getting seriously sick.

Lord Krishna has described our planet as an impermanent place of miseries. In the same verse, He informs one about those who are not forced to take rebirth here. These are achievers of supreme perfection and have attained God. Such persons go to the supreme destination which is known as Vaikuntha. We are here because we did not qualify.

What should we do to cut our losses? There are three parts to it. One, we do what makes us deserving to not take birth here. Two, we don’t do what forces us to be born here again. Three, we tolerate what we must while we are here. Let me go into the details of each step. Gita provides ample details to guide us.

The first and natural requirement is to have faith in God. To gain faith, I have collected thirty facts which help me. You can do likewise. I have referred to them in my earlier articles. One must gain spiritual knowledge; Gita is an important source. One should clear one’s doubts by asking questions and discussing things with spiritually wise persons. In short, one’s intelligence should be connected to God. Gradually, consciousness should become godly. Progressively, one will begin to depend upon God. This happens when we do spiritual practices like meditation. Slowly, our senses will come under control. Our minds are likewise controlled. Sinful tendencies need to be eradicated, and spiritual nature achieved.

Now, we turn to what we shouldn’t be doing besides getting rid of sinful tendencies. The first step should be to avoid the three gates to hell. These are lust, greed and anger. Lust is of many kinds, the most common being lust for eating. What is the single most cause of bad health? Improper eating. Then, there is lust for power, fame, etc. They all cause lots of trouble. Greed is not far behind. One seeks more than one needs and gets oneself into all sorts of problems. Also, anger has suffering written all over it; one helplessly invites trouble.

Being jealous of others can take one step further down. One may end up in demonic species. What brought down Ravana, who was very knowledgeable and powerful? His ego, as he admitted when he was lying mortally wounded in the battlefield. We can do all of the above if we know what is appropriate to do in various circumstances. We can do so by reading Gita. Good sanskars are important, and humility helps greatly.

Now, we come to the third part — being tolerant. As mentioned earlier, misery is an integral part of this material world. In Gita, Lord Krishna states that in spite of being appropriate in eating, recreation, and sleep, one can only reduce one’s suffering which must still be tolerated. Therefore, one should not be surprised if problems come. Then, we are humans, susceptible to make mistakes, which according to the karmaphala principle will bring sufferings. Saintly persons maintain their equanimity even in the face of adversities. Suffering is unavoidable, but it can be reduced and tolerated if one has higher consciousness.

Bishnoi is a spiritual writer and can be reached at spiritual@ajitbishnoi.com