How many times do you find yourself feeling sad and depressed about things in your life? A lot I would presume.
I read a story narrated by Shree about Ramkrishna Paramhansa. One day a devotee came to Ramkrishnaji and said “Guruji I am full of sadness and despair. My life is full of suffering, Please take it away from me and make me happy.” Ramkrishnaji asked the devotee to come to Him the next day early morning. Next day when the devotee came, Ramkrishnaji got up and hugged a tree and started shouting “Leave me, please leave me. Help! This tree is not letting me go.” The devotee was startled to see this. He rushed towards Paramhansa and tried to help Him. The devotee said to Him “Guruji, the tree is not holding onto you, you are holding onto the tree. If it is hurting you to do so, please let go.” When Ramkrishnaji heard these words, He let go of the tree and turned to the devotee and smiled. He said ” This is also the case with our lives being sad. Life is not making you sad, you are holding onto sadness and are complaining that it hurts you. If you learn to let go, it will go away. It is because you cannot let go, you make your life sad and painful. So let go of these negative thoughts and make room for light and you will find happiness.”
Our life is so full of negative emotions like greed, hatred, fear that we cannot find space for happiness. The moment we decide to let go this negativity, we can find love, compassion, happiness in our lives.
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