Our suffering is self-created ~ Atman NItyananda

As long as we think that the causes of our suffering are outside we will never  enquire what happens inside.

By not investigating what happens inside, we will remain ignorants of the very fact that all suffering is self-created and comes from within.

That suffering is created due to our identification with the body and our addiction to fulfill our desires for pleasure through objects. The quality of our desires depends on the gunic constitution of our mind. The rajotamasic mind and the rajasotamasic desires and habits are mainly the cause of suffering, not the sattvic ones. The rajasic desires, habits and actions are characterized by passion, excess, domination, manipulation, power, competition, while the tamasic by perversion, auto-destruction, unhealthy, violence, exploitation, disregard of life. We must abandon the tamasic habits and desires and substitute the rajasic ones with sattvic and finally go beyond sattva as well and identify with our true Self (Atman), the eternal light of Consciousness which is beyond the three gunas always free, complete, peacful and blissful.

Seeking sensual pleasures is the surest way to suffer. Lust and desire are the enemies of peace, Bliss and freedom eternal.

The vicious circle of pleasure and suffering functions like this: Pleasure becomes, lust, lust becomes desire, desire impels us to action in order to experience again the same pleasure. Until now it seems that everything is ok and you could say what the problem to experience pleasure is. It would be nice if this process of seeking and experiencing pleasure had only a 'positive' aspect but this is just impossible. We cannot have pleasure without suffering.

Let’s see how this process continues. By repetition of the same pleasurable experiences attachment and addiction are created. Each time we experience pleasure, lust, desire and attachment are strengthened and on the other hand weakens our will power, our mind become conditioned by these experiences and also our mind is loaded with rajasic and tamasic energies which cloud our buddhi (the intellect) by which our intellect loses its capacity perceive with clarity, to think and reason and decide with clarity (without the distortion that creates the lust, the desire, the rajas and tamas gunas in the mind), loses its tranquility and luminosity and most of all loses its capacity to discern the real from the unreal. When the intellect dysfunctions we fail to control the mind, the senses and the emotions. Let's see what else.

The strengthening of desires and attachments strengthens our identification with body and mind (the desire and attachment are strengthened by repetition and the degree of pleasure and satisfaction we get). Identification with body is related to fear of death, pain etc. Identification with the mind makes us vulnerable to the movements of desire and all other egoic tendencies. Identification makes us lose our connection with our essence which is the source of true happiness, bliss and freedom and make us a prey to compulsive movements of desire. The more we give in to desire the stronger becomes the desire. The stronger it becomes the desire, the stronger it becomes the attachment to the desired object and the manifestation of negative emotions (which I mention below), and thus the stronger it becomes the suffering.

The eternal company of desire are fear and anger; fear not to get or to lose the desired object and anger when someone or something impedes us fulfill our desire.  The strongest becomes the desire the strongest becomes the attachment, the fear and the anger. And if at the end we lose the desired object that we are attached, if we cannot possess or achieve what we want, then desire transforms as disappointment and depression. Fear, anger, impatience, anxiety, disappointment and depression are the primary modifications of desire that make us suffer. Moreover usually after some time the ego is bored by experiencing the same object (due to rajas guna) and thus seeks another similar or different one; this is the main reason that people change very often sexual partners and make many relations. That keeps our mind and vital energy in a continuous state of stress, anxiety, discontent and dissatisfaction.

Like, dislike, attraction, repulsion, love* and hatred, (which are the primary egoic dualities created by desire), fear, anger, jealousy, greed, depression, impatience, disappointment, anxiety go along with desires and attachments; all these tendencies are only modifications of desire itself. As the milk transforms in yogurt, as the water transforms in ice, snow, rain, clouds and humidity similarly the desire transforms as fear, anger, impatience, greed and all others well known egoic tendencies which make us suffer.

Since desire itself modifies and assumes the form of all painful emotions we cannot have only pleasure without suffering which is other face of the same coin (of desire). Suffering also is due to the fact that because of desires we overuse and misuse our body, energy, mind and senses creating energetic and bodily unbalances which make us suffer as well. All diseases are the effect of desires.

Remember also that by nature desire is insatiable, that´s why it is never satisfied; it wants always more, better and different kinds of pleasure. Thus if you think that you can be free from desire by fulfilling all your desires you just fool yourself. The desire only for a while settles down when we enjoy actually the desired object or for a little more and after some time manifests again and compels us to seek one more time a pleasurable experience assuming first the form of painful emotions such as incompleteness, dissatisfaction, discontentment, boredom and uneasiness. In order to overcome for a while these painful emotions we seek again a pleasurable experience. During the enjoyment of the object all negative emotions subside and our mind becomes temporarily calm and focused, and thus together with pleasure we experience in some degree content and happy (not always) because when the mind becomes calm and focus reflects naturally the happiness of our Soul.

The desires make us selfish and egoistic. The egoism increases in accordance the strengthening of desires; because of it those who help us meet our desires become our friends and those who are an obstacle our enemies. We love or we hate others according our preferences, desires and egoistic needs.

Desire is the cause of pride too. When we fulfill a desire the emotion of pride arises making us feel especial, important or superior. When pride arises we feel also some kind of pleasure. Pride is related with our self-image. Thus what enhances our self-image becomes our friend and what makes us feel small becomes our enemy.

Desire as I mentioned above, modifies to all other well known negative emotions which are the causes of our suffering. Behind all these emotions (impatience, anxiety, depression, jealousy, greed, arrogance, resentment, agony, frustration, discontentment, uneasiness, depression, etc..) there is always some desire or 'need'. If you reflect a little on your own experiences you will find easily that behind every situation there is always something that you want or you don't want.

Knowing all this it becomes clear that there is no other remedy to liberate us from suffering but the dissolution of desire, the enemy of wisdom, peace and eternal bliss.
 
By intense longing to realize the truth and live in peace, bliss and unity everyone and everything, by devotion and systematic, diligent and regular practice we can eliminate the desire and all the disorders created by the desire as well as the ego or egoism itself which is only another form of desire.

By turning our mind and heart totally to God all other worldly desires lose their power. Thus by devotion and sincere and constant practice we can eliminate easier all desires and by meditation  we can be established in our essence. Since it is very difficult for the majority to renounce suddenly all their worldly desires and be devoted to God is suggested at first to replace the rajasotamasic desires and habits with sattvic ones. However it is urgent to abandon all destructive tamasic desires and habits as well as to replace gradually the rajasic ones with sattvic. We must also change the way we do things; viz do them in a sattvic mode instead of rajasic or tamasic. For example, we must learn to make love with a sattvic way (tantric) instead of rajasic (passionate), or tamasic (perversions). To do sport with a sattvic mode instead of a rajasic one (competitive). We must eat in a sattvic way instead of a tamasic or rajasic one as well as we must choose eat sattvic foods than tamasic (we must abandon them) or rajasic ones (rajasic are necessary to some degree).

By cultivating and practicing discrimination, dispassion, self-awareness, self-observation, prayer, japa nama, japa mantra, control of senses and mind, pranayama, concentration, meditation and self-enquiry kill this eternal enemy of peace, bliss and freedom eternal.

Dissolve all desires, rest in your own Self (Atman) and drink the nectar of eternal peace and bliss.

NOTE:

love*: love here is not referred to the unconditional love which our essential divine nature, but to the conditioned love which has more an emotional nature and which easily can change under certain circumstances to hostility and hatred.

Peace, love, harmony