Emotional Rollercoaster

It’s amazing how we often allow minor things to determine our state of happiness and peace. Life can be a real emotional rollercoaster. You can have a great morning, but by the evening the world looks completely different. Each and every interaction, incident, comment, expectation and frustration seems to significantly alter our sense of wellbeing.

I guess some are more sensitive than others, but we all experience this to some degree. The ancient scriptures explain that one who is in such a state of emotional flux is basically in maya, or illusion. Maya literally means “that which is not”. So how do we deal with the fleeting emotions?

Well, half the game is simply to ignore the mind and all the momentary concoctions that it comes up with. We learn that we can’t always take ourselves too seriously. The other half is to strengthen the intelligence and try to see the world through philosophical glasses. The rational and sagacious approach helps to keep things in perspective. But the ultimate winner is to become spiritually self-realised. At that time, one realises the temporary nature of the mind, the body, its interactions and the events of this world. In the context of the soul’s eternity, one is no longer affected by the hub of emotions generated by the temporary ‘vehicles’ we are driving. The Bhagavad-gita likens the self-realised person’s consciousness to a colossal ocean which is constantly being filled by various streams and rivers, but always remains calm, balanced and never overflows.