Believing in the Struggle of Life

 Question:

I sometimes think that deep within myself I have a belief that life should be a struggle, that peace, joy, comfort etc are somehow secondary to hard work, toil, and grief.

I think this comes from my father who, although brought up in a loving environment, had to go out to work when he was fifteen years old to support his mother (my grandmother) who had been widowed at a young age.

My father is now retired and is healthy and happy. I never faced any of the struggles that he did when he was young as he and my mother provided very well for me and my brothers and sisters. However, I think his strong work ethic and background instilled this (perhaps limiting) belief within me.

How can I explore this further and perhaps create a new belief in it’s place?

 
Answer:
 
You are not alone in holding the belief that life is a struggle. This is the nearly universal belief of the human condition reinforced by  the  experience of humanity unaware of their  true nature. You don’t need to look far to understand how you have internalized this idea—it is everywhere all around us. If we don’t know who we really are as spiritual beings, then we mistakenly identify ourselves by our actions and circumstances. By that measurement, we typically find ourselves weak and victimized by forces beyond our understanding and control. That leads to a conception of life as suffering, pain and struggle.
 
Instead of simply trying to replace this idea with the idea of peace and joy, apply yourself to discovering your real essence, your foundation of Being.  This is most efficiently done through meditation.
 
 Let the self-knowledge of that presence radiate its own truth to your mind. That understanding of who you are will  reveal itself as your new belief about life. It may display its quality as peace or joyfulness. For others it may have more of a flavor of universal love and compassion. To other types of people it may present as divine light, creativity, or  intelligence. Or that truth of the Self may be a straightforward “isness.” 
 
 In any case, it will lead you to a conception of life that is not externally based, but one that arises from your inner truth.
 
Love,
Deepak

 

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Deepak Chopra

About Deepak Chopra

Time Magazine heralded Deepak Chopra as one of the 100 heroes and icons of the century, and credited him as "the poet-prophet of alternative medicine." Entertainment Weekly described Deepak Chopra as "Hollywood's man of the moment, one of publishing's best-selling and most prolific self-help authors." He is the author of more than 50 books and more than 100 audio, video and CD-Rom titles. He has been published on every continent and in dozens of languages. Fifteen of his books have landed on the New York Times Best-seller list. Toastmaster International recognized him as one of the top five outstanding speakers in the world. Through his over two decades of work since leaving his medical practice, Deepak continues to revolutionize common wisdom about the crucial connection between body, mind, spirit, and healing. His mission of "bridging the technological miracles of the west with the wisdom of the east" remains his thrust and provides the basis for his recognition as one of India's historically greatest ambassadors to the west. Chopra has been a keynote speaker at several academic institutions including Harvard Medical School, Harvard Business School, Harvard Divinity School, Kellogg School of Management, Stanford Business School and Wharton.His latest book is "Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul."

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6 Responses to Believing in the Struggle of Life

  1. LilyS March 9, 2009 at 8:50 pm #

    "Awaken each day in joyful anticipation, with great expectancy, allow the day to unfold in its perfectness, gifting you with new delights, releasing you from shackles of the past. As we have stressed, over and over, stay in the event of the NOW or in the Still Point of perfection, and in doing so, you are focusing on what is occurring in the moment. Each moment, each thought, each event is of vast importance, for the treasures of new wisdom, new insights, new powers of reasoning, new gifts are pouring forth at an astonishing rate and you must be open to receive them". – Archangel Michael

    Enjoy!

    Lily S.
    http://messagesfromarchangelmichael.ning.com/

  2. rajeshmsharma March 9, 2009 at 8:53 pm #

    I agree Deepak! Am in tune with you!

    Love

    Rajesh
    http://rajeshmsharma.blogspot.com

  3. mydomainpvt March 9, 2009 at 9:43 pm #

    beautiful deepak,

    thanks again.

  4. ardverk March 10, 2009 at 7:52 am #

    Pray to St. Ruggle. He'll bring it home to you in between the crossed lines ;)

    There is St. Ruggle and St.Rawman.

  5. Aviv March 10, 2009 at 10:14 pm #

    Yes and

  6. arun raghuwanshi May 17, 2009 at 9:20 pm #

    Dear Deepak ji

    Namaste!

    Splendid indeed!

    Wah,wah!!

    @run