Life Problems

We will spend a little time on a question which does not appear very meaningful: ‘Who am I?’ The answers are: immediately giving your name, pointing out to your own body and a little bit about the family. We have not gone very deep.

- Dr. Jayadeva Yogendra in Parisamvada

The body can be seen; a name can be given. These are superficial things. These kinds of questions troubled our ancestors. So they withdrew from active life to meditate and find out the answers. Buddha left his royal palace, his wife and his new-born child because he wanted to understand the ultimate question: ‘Why is there pain?’ They have definitely given the answers and they are available. Unfortunately, we don’t have that inclination. So we don’t read these answers. And even if we read them, we just pass them off.

These are questions which should be considered as very important, because, with every turn in life, such things come before us. A young widow in a village lost her only child. She was terribly disturbed since she did not have anybody else in this world. People tried consoling her but they failed. So ultimately they asked her to go to Gautam Buddha. She went to him taking along the body of her dead son and asked him to revive her son. Buddha said, “I will. Get me some sesame seeds, but make sure you get it from a home where there have been no deaths.”