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By Sanjib Mukherjee,

Never tell the divine how big your problems are…rather tell your problems how big your divine is!! The root cause of everyone’s misery is our unfulfilled expectations of happiness and perhaps a lack of awareness of the infinite nature of our very self.

What is it in life that can really trouble you? Let’s take a look at life’s major concerns and deal with them from a yogic perspective, starting with death.

Death
Death will become us all, whether your a sinner or a saint, rich or poor, black or white, man or woman, none of us will escape the claws of time…so why even bother worrying about? It’s like saying I’m upset because the sun has gone down this evening…so what? ..it will rise again in no time at all. The body is just a coat or instrument to house our true inner being (our mind, memory, intellect, ego and higher self) and over the course of time, many bodies will come and go, but only the self will remain eternal. Contemplation of death should actually invigorate us to become fully aware of every precious moment we have in this life on earth. When someone dies, we should celebrate their existence and then bless their souls to continue its journey onto a higher path.

In the vedic ceremonies, for 10 days after a person’s death, many beautiful and ancient customs are observed where one is encouraged to mourn and release any sadness from their system. After the 10th day, there is a highly significant ritual where you release the ashes of the departed being into the river (normally the Ganges) and then turn your back. You don’t turn your back on the person, you are turning your back on the body and any miseries you may have felt towards their death. All you are then left with, are the memories of the times you had together which one should relive with joy and happiness. Besides, we will all meet again one day anyway..death is a temporary separation of the body, but our souls remain forever intertwined.

Money
Now lets look at the concerns for money and wealth. Every day the sun rises to give energy and warmth, rivers  flow to give water, gravity keep us rooted to the floor, the earth provides the fertile grounds for our food, air give us vital panic energy supplies, the divine looks over us at every given moment in time (whether you believe in God or not is immaterial, he still believes in all of us), people around us give us companionship and a sense of belongingness, books, scriptures and learned people give us an opportunity to expand our minds and learn about the deeper meanings to life, flowers give us such wonderful fragrances and beauty to observe.

The list goes on and on, nature is continuously showering us with so much love and affection, yet what does man do?…continuously worry about money and work! Of course everybody should strive to become the best they can be in whatever field they pursue, but why base your whole identity and self worth on your work? As you can see from this paragraph, money is such a small and minute treasure on this earth in comparisons to all the natural wealth already surrounding us. Wake up and realise what you already have,and forget any notions of lack in your life. The divine is always providing more than we could ever fully appreciate, we all simply need to look up and see what we already have.

Relationships
OK, the next problem we face in this world, Relationships. How many of us understand our own minds before even trying to understand others? When we see people, we all form immediate judgements about them by only looking at the surface of what we see. Someone may be angry, but how do we know what is really going on inside their heart? When we view life from such a basic and simplistic perspective, all we notice are others limitations and problems, but yoga teaches us to go much deeper. In understanding yourself, you automatically understand others (as we are all inherently connected as one divine consciousness). Consequently, quite often seeing problems in others is a reflection of how we really see ourselves. This may be difficult for many to accept, but then yoga is meant to challenge all of our concepts. The truth doesn’t bend for anyone.

In romance, never mind loving another person, how many of us really love ourselves? If we don’t see perfection in ourselves, why we do expect so in others? The key to any successful relationships is to drop such immature expectations of perfection and simply accept everyone for what they already are. If this proves to be too difficult, no problem at all…nobody said you need to be friends with every single person on this earth, just simply make sure you don’t become enemies with them. Everyone has their own flavour in life, together we all make a wonderful tapestry of colours when mixed together. Rejoice in our differences and diversity, it’s what makes this world such beautiful to live in.

I could continue dissecting every perceived problem in life, and be assured yoga will have an answer for everything. Life is not always meant to be understood, but simply experienced, enjoyed and viewed as a learning path for our soul to follow. Jesus, Krishna, Buddha and so many enlightened masters have graced this earth, and overcame so much pain and misery through their knowledge of the higher self. They have all shown us very practical ways of living our lives,  living yogic knowledge with a full 100% commitment.

Problems are there to merely challenge our own limitations of what we believe we can or cannot handle. Take everything that comes your way as a challenge, refuse to ever let your spirits to fall. Sure life may knock you down from time to time… butjust make sure it doesn’t knock you out. No situation will ever be given to you, that you cannot already handle…if a burden appears to heavy, rest assured the divine will one of two things…either strengthen your back or lighten your load. Either way, through faith, persistence and courage, nothing will ever keep you down.

There is a beautiful saying in Hindi “Zindagi Ho To Aisi Warna Na Ho”…which roughly translate to, “life should either be like this, or it’s better not to have a life at all” !! Whatever lies in front of you, never forget the power you have inside and behind you. Yoga produces warriors of the highest calibre…go forth and live life to the fullest…it is your divine birthright to receive nothing but the best… the only problems we truly face are those in our minds. Control your mind,and you control your life, thats the mantra of a true spiritual yoga warrior!