WHY THIS CONTRADICTION?
Desire Versus Fulfillment
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) was a renowned English poet. In one of his poems, To a Skylark, he writes:
Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.
IT is a matter of common observation that most people seem to be fascinated with tragic stories and poetry more than happy ones. The most popular novels are tragedies, not comedies. Those songwriters and singers receive greater recognition who write and sing soulful, sentimental melodies. What is the reason for this peculiarity?
Why are sentimental melodies and tragic stories more successful in stirring the human heart to profound emotions?
It is because every individual practically lives with a sense of loss and deprivation. Tragic stories and songs strike a chord in the heart. One can relate personally with them. This psychology then becomes second nature. A person with such a psychology doubts the occurrence of a happy event. In comparison, news of misery appears closer to the truth.
Humans have been given an infinite sense of pleasure, but the culmination of their delight is placed only in the next world, after death.
Analyzing this matter deeply, man appears to be a pleasure-seeking being. Man is an exceptional creature within an incredibly vast universe. Man is the only creature who has a sense of pleasure. It is a unique characteristic of a human being that he feels and enjoys a variety of pleasures. There are countless creatures in the vast universe, but the privilege of enjoying pleasure is found only in humans. Man gains pleasure from the acts of thinking, watching, listening, touching, speaking, eating and drinking. The simple act of walking bare feet on a lush green lawn gives one an incomparable joy.
But there is a strange contradiction here. Human beings possess the sense of pleasure at the highest level, but it is not possible for them to enjoy this fully in this world. In Kashmir, there is a mountain river in Pahalgam formed by springs released by melting snow of the mountains. It contains pure water. When I first arrived in Pahalgam and saw the clear water of the river there, I could not hold myself from drinking it. I filled a glass of water from the flowing river. It was more delicious than any other drink. I gulped down one glass after another until I had enjoyed six glasses of water.
Even after the sixth glass, my appetite for water had not quenched, but I could not drink any more. Now my head started to ache. The pain was so severe that I had to return immediately to Srinagar. A Kashmiri businessman in Srinagar had arranged for my evening meal there. Many people were invited to the occasion. When I got there, I was in such severe pain that I could not partake in the meal, but went to another room and lay down.
This is the case with all the pleasures of the world. Man earns wealth, gains power, marries according to his choice, builds a magnificent home for himself and hoards items of luxury. But when he has done all this he realizes that there is a barrier between him and all these pleasures. He cannot enjoy any of the pleasures he desires. All those things intended to please man fail to offer him lasting contentment and joy.
The human desire for pleasure is infinite. But man possesses limited capacity to enjoy pleasures. This limitation of man acts as a barrier between him and the pleasures.
The human desire for pleasure is infinite. But man possesses limited capacity to enjoy pleasure. This limitation of man acts as a barrier between him and the pleasures. Even after receiving everything, he continues to feel a kind of loss. The physical weakness of man, the end of adolescence, illness, old age, accidents and finally death are constantly neutralizing his wishes. Despite having all the articles of pleasure at his disposal, when man seeks to relish them, he finds that all his energy is exhausted even before his desire is fulfilled. He is like a spent force.
Further study of this contradiction reveals that it is not, in fact, a contradiction, but, rather a consequence of the difference of order. The difference is that under the system of nature, it is destined for human beings to have only a preliminary introduction to their desired pleasures in this pre-death period. They are meant to truly and completely fulfill these delights only in the post-death period. This order or arrangement is not random. It is part of nature itself. It is found in the whole system of nature. Human beings can succeed in this world only if they follow the same principle. No success in this world is exempt from this principle.
In agriculture, sowing is followed by the harvest. You can enjoy the fruits only after you have sowed them. Iron is first subjected to melting and then made into steel. So is the case with everything else in the world. Everything goes through its initial phase, and then reaches its peak. There is no exception to this principle of nature.
This is the case with human beings also. Humans have been given an infinite sense of pleasure, but the culmination of their delight is placed only in the next world, after death. In the present world, man discovers the ability to seek pleasure, and in the next world he will receive all that is required according to the limits of his discovery of pleasure. Feelings of pleasure can be experienced in the life before death, but truly relishing them is only in the post-death phase of life.
According to His creation plan, the Creator of the universe has only given man an introduction to all conceivable pleasures in this world. In this way, He is sending a message to man that if you want to be eternally and completely satisfied with these pleasures, then you must prove yourself worthy of them.
Human beings possess the sense of pleasure at the highest level, but it is not possible for them to enjoy this fully in this world.
How can man prove himself worthy of everlasting pleasure? The answer is that man should make himself a pure soul. He should purify himself of all negative emotions. He should make every effort to protect himself from all corrupt emotions, such as greed, selfishness, envy, misconduct, lying, anger, revenge, violence and hatred. He should develop within himself a superior human personality which is a completely positive personality. This positive and elevated personality will make him capable of living in the neighbourhood of God.
The life of a human being is divided into two stages: the pre-death stage, and the post-death stage. A relatively short portion of this phase of life is placed in the pre-death period, and a much longer, in fact eternal, portion in the post-death period. If the period before death is seen as the whole life of a man, it certainly appears as tragedy. But if the human story is seen including the eternal post-death period, it will present a thoroughly satisfying end.
According to this creation plan of God, man stands at a critical juncture. He is at a point where he has to choose one of two possible outcomes: using the opportunities of the present world according to the plan of nature and proving worthy to live in eternal bliss, or living a life of neglect in the present world and losing eternal enjoyment in the afterlife.