Page 415 - Silence Speaks
P. 415
The problem of living
Since we came into the world we have never been free from miseries, nor shall we ever be till we have secured our return to the homeland. Even avatars like Rama and Krishna had to undergo miseries so long as they were on this earth. In fact deliverance from pain and sorrow is the main pursuit of life. Mahatma Gandhi is said to have once remarked, ̀³The way to freedom lies through jail!' If we take this world to be a prison-house, the above saying fits in quite appropriately in the spiritual sense also. In utter despair people often wish for an end to life. But in my opinion it shall be far better under such circumstances to pray to God to bestow a life which might be parallel to death.
Sufferings and miseries have their own place in life. Every one has his share of it. Even sages of eminence had their own. Had there been no sufferings in the world, man's thought could never have gone up to the reverse side of it, i.e. the bliss. Thus man's affliction offers him inducement for finding out means of emancipation. In other words they serve as stimulants. We know that coal can be
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