From Boredom to Samadhi.

From Boredom to Samadhi.

We will take this in 3 questions –

1. Why do we get bored?
2. Is boredom good or bad?
3. What can we do, that we never get bored?

Why do we get bored?

All activities make you bored sooner or later, as enjoyment coming out of it starts waning.

The main reason for this is that – the FACT is that, this is the nature of Sansar.

It cannot deliver perpetual ( permanent ) pleasure.

Just like Sansar itself, all its products are also gonna be impermanent.

If a mango tree is perishable by nature ( which it is ), the mangoes it will produce will also be perishable.

This is a common, well-known phenomenon.

Not just physical matter is perishable (because it is always in a changing mode ), but even its subtle products like relationships, pleasures from objects of pleasure, the pleasure of being famous, etc, are also perishable. Sooner or later, they come to an end.

So, our pleasure coming out of our interactions with Sansar ( objects people situations ) will always be short lasting.

First gulab jamun ( an Indian sweet ), gives a lot of pleasure, but after 3rd or 4th, you start hating it.

And yet that’s all we do all our life.

Is boredom good or bad?

Boredom is bad for the people who are going through it.

These are the unconscious people ( most of the world ). Everyone is under the spell of Sansar – a collection of material things – objects, people, and situations.

They are caught up in a repetitive cycle of “ boredom-seeking pleasure – boredom again – seeking pleasure again”.

They can and will wake up from their boredom only to the level of Sansar, looking for more and more pleasures from Sansar to keep their minds occupied – that’s all.

They will wake up with boredom, and fall asleep again once they get pleasure from another activity.

Fortunate are the ones, for whom boredom can be good because that will give them a signal to seek something that does not repeat, something that is perpetual.

What can we do, that we never get bored?

If there were no outlet from this grueling cycle of Sansar, then the whole path of spirituality would be meaningless.

But there is an outlet.

If we analyze boredom and its mechanism correctly, we can learn how to escape from it also.

As we discussed earlier, the mind gets bored after continuous exposure to the same activity.

Such a mind is primed to become happy but needs a stimulus.

( Only unhappy people can BECOME happy. HAPPY people are already happy ).

E.g., at the end of your office day, you are tired, but suddenly your grandchildren decide to show up at your home unexpectedly.

Your fatigue disappears, and you become fresh and enthusiastic to play.

So, the truth is – you did not have physical fatigue but only mental fatigue.

If you were physically tired, you would not have chosen to play with the grandchildren.

With this sudden, unexpected change, your mind stops thinking about the office and starts going towards grandchildren to for playing.

But while jumping, for a short time, the mind has no thoughts – a thoughtless state, which shows on your face as happiness.

It’s almost like a fish, while jumping from one bowl to the other, stays in mid-air for a fraction of a second and experiences short-lived freedom.

Similarly, the joy you experience on seeing the grandchildren is, in reality, the joy of experiencing the freedom from thoughts of the office and experiencing the thoughtless state of consciousness.

Grandchildren were only a nimitt ( an incidental cause ), but the absolute joy was coming out from your within.

This moment of thoughtlessness is so tiny that we miss it.

We miss because of our unawareness.

Unawareness of what?

Unawareness of the awareness within us.

That happens because, for us, Sansar is the only reality. We don’t know anything else.

If we start becoming more and more aware, we will be able to silently observe “us”’ working in the office, “us” finishing the work, “us” staying in that thoughtless state, and then “us” playing with grandchildren – all in a state of blissful awareness.

This way, we will create our own one continuous, unbroken state of existence, the existence of awareness, which is above and beyond our mind, body, and Sansar.

And eventually “live” in that state, playing the game called Sansar.

The path of awakening that awareness is MEDITATION.

Meditation helps you become aware of the awareness within you, as a real and a separate entity.

And in this state of awareness, you never get bored, because it is coming out of the spirit – your soul ( which is unchangeable, permanent ),.

So, its joy ( its product ) is also perpetual.