“The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 15.7)

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ममैवांशो जीवलोके जीवभूतः सनातनः
मनःषष्ठानीन्द्रियाणि प्रकृतिस्थानि कर्षति

mamaivāṃśo jīvaloke jīvabhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
manaḥṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi prakṛtisthāni karṣati

In our story today, we have a man who has made it in life. According to their own standards, matched up against the expectations they previously set, in assessing the progress in attaining goals that were written down, everything has gone according to plan. Every accoutrement that can be thought of for playing the game of life successfully, in the modern sense, is there. A wife. Children. A home with an abundance of space. The picket fence might not be coated in white paint, but a picture could certainly be drawn to depict the happy family of the times.

On occasion, this man can’t help but remember his past. Thinking of the place from which the family came, in how humble were the beginnings, and the struggle that was constant. During his childhood, this man’s father worked long and hard. It could be weeks until the father saw any of the children. This is because the father left for work early in the morning and returned home late at night.

The mother managed everything related to the home. She was tired but didn’t show it. There was no eating out at restaurants or throwing lavish parties. The children sometimes would go without dinner. Money was scarce. There was trauma in the events that took place in school. There were so many hardships. They had to be endured; there was no other way.

Now an adult, this man accurately attributes his success later in life to those early difficulties. If everything had been easy, then perhaps the hunger would be lacking. If everything was handed to the children, they would have become spoiled. Instead, they grew up to appreciate everything and everyone. They can handle adversity since adversity is all they knew.

Today, this man wonders how his own children will fare in adulthood. Those children have so much. There is no hardship. The father is not absent. There is so much love offered, in the form of both companionship and resources. The father does not have the heart to torture the children or to make them suffer needlessly. He wants them to do well in school, to be responsible, but how can they ever learn the same life lessons in the absence of hardship? He wonders if the children require some sort of trauma in order to gain strength in character. He wonders how to intentionally inject that trauma, to create a sort of right of passage, a test that needs to be passed.

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada describes the Supreme Personality of Godhead as satya-sankalpa. The desires, sankalpa, are in truth, satya. Whatever God wants, He gets. He is never frustrated. Due to the lack of frustration, there is never a cause for anger. The depiction of Vishnu lying down in the spiritual world, creating universes while in the restful position, is accurate.

“It is said, ‘Man proposes, God disposes.’ Thus a person may desire many things, but unless these desires are fulfilled by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they cannot be fulfilled. Fulfillment of desire is called satya-sankalpa.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 8.16.22 Purport)

Since only God is satya-sankalpa, everyone else is vulnerable to suffering. The basis for that suffering can be something that everyone agrees upon to be torture or trauma-inducing. For instance, the lack of food in the home to feed young children. The basis for that suffering can also be something that everyone thinks is foolish to complain about, such as the internet going down for a few minutes while the family is watching a movie on television in the evening.

The reality is that the suffering in both cases is the same. The trauma is real, though someone might judge the situation differently. The trauma is due to illusion, which is known as maya in Sanskrit. The man in our story does not have to worry about inducing trauma in his children for the very reason that maya will take care of everything. The living beings are struggling in this world. Though they are by nature the superior energy, para-prakriti, they fall victim to illusion.

The distance from a peaceful state to a disturbing state is not lengthy. I could lose my temper as quickly as being stuck in a traffic jam on the highway. My initial desire was to arrive at the office on time. That desire is now in jeopardy. I am facing frustration. I am angry. I am upset. If enough of these potential outcomes go in the direction of failure, I will experience a kind of trauma.

For building character, for ascending the standards of living, which are based on consciousness, there is tapasya. This Sanskrit word refers to austerity and penance. Tapasya is for the human being. Tapasya is the way to bring desires under control. Tapasya is ultimately for reaching a state of happiness, ananda.

“By tapasya only can one get the profit of human life, and not by a polished civilization of animal life. The animal does not know anything except sense gratification in the jurisdiction of eat, drink, be merry and enjoy. But the human being is made to undergo tapasya for going back to Godhead, back home.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 2.9.6 Purport)

The best form of tapasya today happens to simultaneously be a positive engagement. I can bring my desires under control, maintain a safe distance from maya, and avoid constant frustration and agitation of the senses through a single process. That process is chanting the holy names, in a dedicated manner, dridha-vratah, such that the satya-sankalpa individual will see to it that I succeed in life in the truest definition: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

सततं कीर्तयन्तो मां
यतन्तश् च दृढ-व्रताः
नमस्यन्तश् च मां भक्त्या
नित्य-युक्ता उपासते

satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ
yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ
namasyantaś ca māṁ bhaktyā
nitya-yuktā upāsate

“Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.14)

In Closing:

So much trauma I had,
My childhood painful and sad.

But see where I am now,
To ascend the spectrum how?

Maybe from needed possessions to forsake,
A proper life perspective to make.

If tapasya forcing for children to be blessed,
Then sankirtana remedy the best.

Categories: bhagavan

Tags: children, dailyprompt, life, parenting, poem, poems, poetry