Nature's Tug-of-War
The holiday season in Australia last year saw intense heat and terrible bushfires which claimed the lives of millions of wildlife, destroyed homes and created much hardship. This year we see a diametric reversal, heavy rains and flash flooding. This year, a barrage of storms have battered a 1000km stretch of land from Queensland to Northern New South Wales. The weather has been so intense that famous landmarks such as the beaches in Byron Bay are faced with significant erosion issues.
The Bhakti yoga wisdom elucidates that the material world we live in is full of duality. Weโre always faced with happiness and distress - thereโs no significant or permanent period of one or the other. Just prior to an enormous battle, Krishna tells to His dear friend and disciple, Arjuna:
โ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ข๐๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐๐จ๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐จ๐จ, ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐จ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ช๐ ๐๐ค๐ช๐ง๐จ๐, ๐๐ง๐ ๐ก๐๐ ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐จ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐จ๐ช๐ข๐ข๐๐ง ๐จ๐๐๐จ๐ค๐ฃ๐จ. ๐๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ข ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ, ๐ ๐จ๐๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐ค๐ ๐ฝ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฉ๐, ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐ข๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐ก๐๐๐ง๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐ค๐ก๐๐ง๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ข ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ช๐ง๐๐๐.โ (Bhagavad Gita 2.14)
By seeking happiness and contentment in the non-material, the pursuit of spiritual awakening, we can easily bypass the temporary distresses and the temporary happiness that the physical world brandishes us with.
