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The Way to Freedom from All Anxiety

Question: "There are dreams which express anxiety, and probably there are subconscious forces which produced the dreams. How can we conquer these states of anxiety if we don't know the causes?"

This is a beautiful question because it is in the experience of most of us, and also because it falls within the field of psychological studies, and yet also because it has an intimate relevance to what we presumed to be the subject of our day, the psychology of spiritual unfoldment.

Now, let us take the problem of anxiety itself. Why are you anxious? For instance, supposing you have plenty of jewellery on you, you have plenty of money with you, you are alone walking in the forest. Perhaps you feel that you are conscious of yourself as a woman. You are also conscious that your jewellery is worth millions, and that you have also plenty of cash on hand. Now there rises an anxiety in you, a fear in you, a worry in you, you might think that in this lonely place you could be a wonderful invitation to the tendency to rob in some wild, uneducated, uncultured person of the forest. That is to say, to reduce it into simple terms: you have something with you which you do not want to lose. There are many forms of possessions with us which we do not want to lose. Anxiety is founded upon this awareness that there is the possibility of our losing them.

For instance, you may have small children, they may be playing carelessly in the streets. There is an anxiety in you. This anxiety is founded upon the knowledge that there may be the possibility of some accident and the children may lose their lives. This anxiety here, in this context, is founded upon your awareness that you may lose your children, or that your children may return home with injuries to themselves.

Come back to another form. We have bodies, we are ageing. There is also anxiety, - anxiety born of the awareness that there are old-age infirmities, anxieties born of the awareness that we have to die and leave behind our possessions and dear and near ones. In this manner there are a number of anxieties. Some of you who are employed in shops may be also under some form of anxiety. You may be labouring under the anxiety or the fear that you may one day lose your job. A very wealthy man with many houses may still be full of anxieties, because he has problems, worries, anxieties in relation to maintaining those houses and keeping them and that wealth, too.
Not only here, in relation to possessions, but anxiety may be there even in relation to emotions and emotional longings. Supposing a young girl is in love with a young man. It may be she has her anxieties in relation to that man. She is worried perhaps that the man may not return her love. Even if he returns her love there are other problems which worry her and cause in her anxiety. And this anxiety may be founded upon her knowledge that that person may not respect her views, her ways of life. In this way there are numberless, almost an infinite variety of forms of anxiety and worry. So, anxiety is a universal feature.

The Prime Minister of Britain, England, is also full of anxieties and worries. The President of America is full of his own anxieties. In this manner everybody is full of one or the other anxiety. So, anxiety is something characteristically accompanying human experience everywhere. In this way, everywhere human nature is ridden by one form of worry or anxiety or the other.
Take the example of great artists. First there is anxiety in them that their product may not come out all right, that they may fail in their performance and their creative activity. And if they succeed in producing something valuable and wondrous, then this very earlier anxiety can take another form, and persist in the form of the fear that it may not be bought by the right person and at the right value. In this way anxiety can assume infinite number of forms.
So, how to conquer anxiety?

Psycho-analysis does not give you right methods for conquest of anxiety. No form of modern knowledge, modern psychology presents to you very valuable methods for conquering anxiety. Where a few principles or techniques or ways or methods of conquering anxiety are presented in psychological literature, they seem to succeed now and not succeed later, and the relief they bring also seems to be very precarious. Therefore there is no resource either in psychological wisdom or psychological experience or psychological content, for a total conquest of phenomena of anxiety.

Let us take the first example. A lady is passing through the forest, a lonely forest, richly adorned with most precious and costly jewellery. Someone might advise her, "Why don't you go in a car, and with a few other members, or why don't you go accompanied by your bodyguards?" Conquest of anxiety by these measures is only a temporary measure. There are other forms, other methods, more sure, more wonderful.

When you are increasingly conscious of the Divine, when you are increasingly aware of your relations with an imperishable, absolute, all-perfect, all-luminous Godhead, when you more and more exceed your awareness that you are only a petty human being harassed, troubled by many forces in life, you acquire a strength and a power which cannot be easily affected or troubled. You manifest an inner peace which cannot be assailed by any force of anxiety or worry.
At this stage, even if you become very old, none of the anxieties that accompany old people will ever dog your footsteps. Even at the age of 84 you begin to be conscious that there is something in you which does not die, which does not age. You begin to be conscious that there is in you a divine Consciousness which is not affected by the infirmities of age or the accidents of death. You begin to accept this natural unfoldment of the physical nature, this ageing process, as something external, something inevitable, something flimsy, fleeting, inconsequential. This is so because you are more and more convinced that your real Self is neither dying nor ageing.

There is in you that Consciousness which is all-wonderful, all-powerful, - as it was when you were a baby, and when you were a young person. Your body may become weak, but no corresponding weakness is produced in your divine Consciousness. That Self, that divine Consciousness in you is as young as it is in a very young baby. And now when your consciousness of the Divine Principle in you, consciousness or awareness of the Godhead in you, the Self in you, the deathless, indestructible, ageless, timeless Self in you, pours into you new energies, fresh strength, even at the age of 88, you - even your body - will have something of the sparkle of youthhood. You begin to demonstrate, manifest a joy, a peace, a grace that can belong only to youthhood. You will be an eloquent commentary on the truth that the body is nothing and the mind or the spirit or the consciousness within you is everything. And if you make further progress upon this path, it is most likely you will laugh at death, and while the people carry your body in a coffin you are there standing, altogether in your divine body, watching the people carry the corpse!

So, what is the best remedy for conquering these anxieties? A little wisdom, a little love for God, a little faith in the divine Principle within us, a little more awareness of the immortal, infinite, deathless Self within us.

All right, you have conquered the anxiety that accompanies the old age and the consciousness of coming death. How will you conquer anxiety in relation to your kith and kin and grandchildren? You may be full of anxiety that you will be leaving them behind. This anxiety will also disappear in corresponding growth in your knowledge of the Divine. As your love for the Divine grows, as your intimacy and relationship with a deathless, timeless, all-seeing, all-beautiful Principle increases, as your knowledge, experience, awareness of the Divinity in all beings matures and ripens, the strength and force of your animal attachment to the children and grandchildren is lost, and in its place a genuine divine love and divine understanding is implanted. You begin to see in the children and the grandchildren, the Divinity. You will begin to entrust the welfare of those children to that God who had brought them on earth. You will be placing their welfare, their progress, their happiness, their growth, their development and their future in the palms of that infinite Power which is their real parent. And there will be no more the play of human relations with them but the play of strong, divine, all-blessing relations.

You will be loving them, not for the sake of their beautiful bodies, not because they belong to your family line, not because they have received from you your affection and your services, but because they are bearers of Divine Consciousness, manifestations of God's Power and Light and Life. And your familiar relations with them will be governed by profound respect for them, reverence for them, love for them. In your presence they experience a strange power and peace and joy. You become more and more dear to their hearts, and in your presence they find inspiration, enlightenment.

Then, in this manner, when our whole inner state, inner view, inner knowledge are transformed, elevated, exalted, we become completely free from all forms of anxieties.

Anxiety as we have seen is always a manifestation, or finds its expression, only upon the ground of great ignorance. When your knowledge or wisdom grows, anxiety disappears.

Now, let us take the case of the President of the United States. His anxieties will diminish when he grows increasingly conscious of the fact that anxiety is something common, that the presidents that had preceded him were also full of anxieties, that anxieties are almost unavoidable in a position and a status of life that is his. And having understood this, if he seeks to eliminate some of the sources of anxiety which are easy of elimination, then he conquers some forms of anxiety.

Then, some other forms of anxiety can be avoided by an increasing exercise of the very best of his energies, by a continuous exercise of the best of his abilities, the best of his resources of wisdom, and far-sighted statesmanship. This is not sufficient. He has also to take resort to a genuine love for his people, and a genuine passion for peace among nations. This is not sufficient. To crown all these he must have also trust and faith in that Power which is maintaining millions of universes. He must have faith and trust in that Power which is keeping the oceans within the limits of their boundaries, that infinite divine Intelligence and Mind and Being which is keeping every planet in its orbit, that all-magical and wonder-working infinite divine Being which is methodically, rhythmically releasing the seasons into operations, that Being and Intelligence and Consciousness which has peopled even the empty spaces with invisible entities; which does not allow the birds and the beasts to starve and die, and has made provision for every form of life on earth and in the oceans, that Power which is the supreme Governor, Ruler of all that is manifest.

If the President has this awareness, this inner spiritual equipment, he will be not only a very great president, distinguished by unusual exceptional qualities and excellences, a man of unusual energy and dynamism, but also a person completely devoid of all forms of anxiety.
So in this way, everywhere, where we see a little growth in wisdom, a little love for God, a recognition of an all-conquering Principle within us, there is the cure for all forms of anxiety.
In the absence of such an equipment and such a great love for the Divine and faith in the Divine, there is nothing wrong and everything desirable in our taking resort to psychological and other human methods and measures for conquering anxiety. It is wise for you to have everything insured - go to the life-insurance company, and other insurance companies, and lessen some of your anxieties. Use a little of psychological knowledge, and lessen some of your anxieties. Isolate best resources from human shrewdness, cleverness and intelligence, and create for yourself circumstances in which there will be few forms of anxiety.

Supposing if there are a number of glass vases on the table, in your house, and if you feel that they are very expensive, rare, and your home is full of little kids who are mischievous, jumping and so on, there will be naturally anxiety concerning those breakable things. In order to be free from that anxiety, you can keep them beyond the reach of the children. Or if you find that some of the cables and wires are not in order and that there is a leakage of electrical current somewhere, and you are full of anxiety that the children in their carelessness might step on those cables and wires, then use your intelligence and try to remedy the matters at once and relieve yourself of the anxiety - if you have an insulation tape try to wrap the portions where the wires are leaking, or phone to some electrical shop and ask their mechanic to come and visit and examine them. These ways are also good in trying to see that we eliminate forms of human anxiety.

Now, let me crown this with another statement. There is no disease on earth, no trouble, no pain, nothing whatsoever which has not a remedy, a solution. There is a solution, a way out for every problem, every riddle, every form of difficulty. So, there is always with us something which can conquer, rule. Whatever may be the limitations, weaknesses, pains, suffering the world may throw on us, yet there is in us something which can reduce them to nothingness.

There is always a solution to every problem, always a remedy for every difficulty, always a way out of every prison. But we must choose the best way, and the best way may be a difficult way. But if we want the best results we must take the pains, exert, be industrious, be vigilant, make sacrifices, struggle hard. Great will be your rewards.

The Unique Blessing of a Human Life on Earth

Question: "Why is there no evolutionary possibility after death?"

There is an evolutionary possibility after death.

Question: "You said that only in this life we have the possibilities..."

The point is this. Not in animal life, but only in human life there is the possibility of divine evolution. The animals are denied the richness of conscious resources that are available to human individuals. Can you expect a dog, or a cat, or a tiger to read books, enrich its knowledge? This is a possibility open to human individuals. Even the speaking, speech, is a gift given to human individuals. Such a speech is absent among the animals. These are not the only aspects which reveal the rare value and worth of human existence, there are a number of factors and aspects.

Supposing the cat or the dog wants to live a holy divine life and achieve perfection. How will it unfold its inner powers, in the absence of fields for growth, love, service? Whereas a human individual has many fields for unfolding many of his powers, inner faculties. The human individual may be born ignorant, but he can conquer that ignorance by visiting institutions of learning, by hearing wise words from wise men, by gathering information through the printed paper. Do you think that these possibilities are open to animal life?

If the human individual wishes to grow in goodness, it is possible for him to render selfless services to others. He can work for the welfare of other individuals. Where is such a possibility for the animal? If the human individual desires to express his inner personality and some of the unusual factors in his inner being, - it may be that he wants to be an artist, a painter, or a musician, - he can exercise his inner excellences, attitudes, faculties for these artistic activities and expressions. Now with regard to animals, where is such scope, possibility, field?

Supposing if a person wants to grow in holiness, and is in a mood of questioning and interrogation in relation to the field of experience, if he wants to know the why, wherefore, how of all creation, - he would succeed. Such an experience, such a growth and development are denied to the animal. Intent upon spiritual experiences, given over to a burning passion for achieving divine perfection, it is possible for a human individual to associate himself with men of spiritual experience, or devote himself to prayer, meditation and other forms of exercises; or read the lives of saints, and discover therein ample guidance and inspiration needed for patterning his own life along the lines of holiness and saintliness. All these possibilities are denied to the cats and dogs and birds and beasts.

So, now do we recognise the glory of human life? The greatness of human existence? The worth, the value and dignity and divinity of human life? What a shame, what a foolishness, what a great blunder it would be to waste away our precious existence in petty and fleeting things. What a great wisdom it would be if we pursue higher aims and make meaning and value and glory of our life. What a marvellous opportunity is given to every individual to seek the Kingdom of God and inherit the earth and heaven!

Is not man the most blessed among all creatures? Is not there before man the possibility of becoming a superman of endless divine powers, wisdom, strength, peace and happiness? What prevents you from becoming a saint? What prevents you from composing like Bach or Beethoven? What prevents you from working hard and aiming at something high and achieving increasing perfection in life? If you have the will, and the love for the Divinity which is the source of all powers, you will also be given divine guidance and assistance and grace to achieve great things in existence.

So, we see the endless value of the human life.

Progress on Earth and Elsewhere, and through Rebirth

Question: "Why can we not obtain some further progress in the life after death?"

It is possible for us to continue our progress even after death. God's Kingdom is not irrational. There is no disorder anywhere except in the ways of human individuals! God's nature is perfect - a law, an order, and numberless principles rule each aspect of the manifested nature. There is reason, rhyme, sense and meaning in every activity of the universe.

Evolutionary nature is also conditioned to specific laws and rules. Therefore everything that you do, everything that you think, everything that you feel, has its specific reaction and result. Nothing that you do, nothing that you think, nothing that you achieve, is ever lost. It may be that as a small child you learnt cycling, bicycling, and you left it off for 30 years now. If you try bicycling now again it comes back, automatically. That ability which you developed once, for continued neglect, may not be as efficient as it used to be earlier, but that ability itself is not lost. In the same way, every thought that we raise has its reward, its result, its effect.
The world-famous violinist, with every stroke that he gives to the strings, has behind each stroke the resultant effect and reward of millions of such strokes that he had resorted to. So, everything that we exercise ourselves in, is preserved, reserved and given back to us.
 
All the small prayers that you said as a little baby and a child, though they may not have been - according to your view - answered then, are still with you with all their results and effects. And even if you do not take resort to acts of prayer all through your life now, it is most likely in your next life those small acts of prayer taken resort to while you were a baby will again assert themselves, and thus cause in you a love for prayer, a desire of prayer, an inclination to love God.

No effort as I said is ever lost, much less the spiritual efforts and exercises. That's why there is a beautiful statement in the Bhagavad-Gita from Lord Krishna, which says that each individual is given back all the results of his spiritual efforts, and that individual, should he die, will continue in the next life just from where he has left. All the results of spiritual growth are retained, and are given the individual the moment he is born in the next life.

That's why we find child prodigies, child geniuses, child saints, child artists, painters. How do you explain all this? It can be accountable only on the fact that this psychic entity in this individual has struggled along these lines in his past lives.

There is also a phrase in the Gita which is, Yoga-bhrashta. Yoga-bhrashta means a person who has fallen from Yoga. This has two specific connotations or meanings. In this context I give only one meaning, that is: a person who is in Yogic contemplation, a person who has divinised himself, purified himself, transformed himself by his acts of devotion and concentration and meditation and contemplation upon the Divine, who has had many preliminary spiritual experiences, but who has not yet become one with God, has not yet achieved the perfection of God, not yet sought continuous, unbroken union and communion with the Godhead Supreme - what happens if such a person dies? In the next life he is born as a Yogi, a full-blown, fully mature, ripe Yogi, and under favourable circumstances, in families which afford the needed environment and background. Being born, he continues his spiritual endeavour just from the height and the level of inner spiritual evolution that he had attained in the previous life.

So, let us be fully aware of the fact that if we are praying at any time, the results of it are given back to us one day or the other. If we are growing, evolving, if we are manifesting or achieving inner perfection, all what we gain thereby is conserved, reserved, given us. Evolutionary nature's function and duty is to retain the gains of each perfection we achieve or attain.

Meditation as the Supreme Act of a Human Being

Writing poetry, thinking highest philosophical thoughts, composing music, working many wonders with technical and scientific knowledge, demonstrating the highest powers of human reason, or exercising our abilities and talents for building for ourselves a glorious civilized life - these are not the highest activities of our inner being. There is yet something more wonderful that we can attain to or rise to. That is, meditation - the way or the means by which we seek to establish conscious communion or oneness with the Infinite Being.

It is only by this meditation that we are in touch with That which has created everything. It is only by meditation that we are in intimate relations with that absolute, all-perfect Power.
If we want immortal life, if we don't want any imperfection in existence, if we wish to be given mastery over all that is created, if we wish to possess a peace that passeth understanding, or obtain a knowledge which is illimitable, or show a power which is equal to the power of the Supreme Godhead, - it is only possible for us in and through meditation. It is only in this inner condition of the soul, consciousness within us, that there is the possibility of our complete opening of ourselves to the Divinity. It is only in this radiant, all-luminous inner condition of consciousness that there is the possibility of all the Godhead slipping away into us, and all in us slipping away into God's Nature and Light. Every meditation is in the nature of a baptism, a new birth. In every meditation we are above the body, above the mind, above the world, and in, of, for, by God.

So, this is the grand way by which we can pay our homage to the Supreme Reality.
Meditation was resorted to by every prophet, mystic, saint, sage. Even a few moments of conscious communion with the Divine Presence through meditation, is sufficient to relieve us of all anxieties, worries in daily life; sufficient to fill us with new energies and peace to conduct our daily business more successfully, peacefully, efficiently; to order our human relations more harmoniously, and live our lives with greater inner strength and joy.

By meditation also we can release most beneficial purifying forces and vibrations.

We can combine also a little prayer with meditation. So let us meditate and pray and also let us pray for the health, happiness, long life of all beings who are suffering, unhappy, ill. Let us put ourselves in conscious communion with the Divine Presence and direct vibrations, currents of God's Power and Grace in all directions of the world. Let us direct by our prayers and communion with the Divinity, God's Grace to all hospitals, to all prisons, all asylums and seek relief for all of them. Let us also direct our love, our spiritual vibrations to all houses on earth, and seek from the hands of Godhead, illumination, peace, joy, prosperity for every home on earth.

Swami Omkarananda