News reports we receive through TV, newspapers, magazines, blogs, the internet, smartphones, tablets, or other devices, always contain breaking news about a catastrophe in some part of the world. There are always difficulties and problems receiving attention in the local, national, or international news.
It’s hard to go through a single day without hearing of the suffering other people are undergoing. Even in our own lives, we are always hearing of someone close to us—whether family or friends—who is facing challenges.
As the world turns, each moment carries some sorrow for someone somewhere in the world. Some often feel that every moment of life is filled with sorrow, except for a brief break here and there where we are happy
The news seems to be filled, one moment after the other, with the tragedies people face.
It seems that life brings nothing but sorrow. People facing these challenges accuse life of bringing only suffering.
Is that all life is but a series of disasters strung together? Is there any cure for the sorrows of life?
Here’s some breaking news that’s good: there is a place of safety where you can find refuge from the sorrows of life.
There’s a life raft to make it safely through the stormy seas of life. You can sail away from the sorrows of life to attain the happiness that’s your birth right. There’s a place you can go to relax far away from the sadness and suffering of life. You can renew your spirits and come in contact with a place free from sorrows.
Where can you find that place free of sorrows?
That place free of sorrows is within you. It’s a place where you can connect with the peace of your soul.
You can find relief from the sufferings of life. You can find the peace within you by sitting in meditation.
In meditation, you have a period of time during which you are not bombarded with news of the sorrows of the world. It is a concentrated time when you can focus on your soul, on the spiritual treasures within. Immersed within, you are filled with peace and joy.
In meditation, you can experience calm and bliss. You can realize that within you is a place where there is no pain and suffering. Meditation can help you awaken to the realization that your existence is more than the outer world in which your body and mind undergo suffering. You have a spiritual side which is connected to the peace and happiness within you.
When you emerge from meditation, you see the world in a different light. You know that the outer sorrows of life are temporary. They will pass. When you see for yourself there’s a place of peace and joy within, you are strengthened with fortitude to pass through the difficult times knowing that happiness is accessible to you within.
Through meditation you can find relief from the sorrows of life. While the wheel of life keeps spinning, you can take some moments to jump off the wheel to enjoy relief during the time you meditate. You can enjoy a few minutes, a half hour, or an hour or two, free from breaking news of the world’s sufferings. You will get a boost to help you soar above the realm of suffering, in order to experience realms free of pain and sorrow.
The upliftment we receive in meditation stays with us throughout the day. This may not change the outer suffering of the world, but we are able to spend some time daily in a place of joy that we can spread to others. Our own spirits are lifted and we can then make others feel good.
When we realize there is a place free of sorrows within, we can help others to access that place. We see life from a different angle, and are motivated to help and serve others. Our life becomes a song of service to help relieve others of suffering. We are filled with strength to do what we can to help make the world a better place, freeing it of sorrows.
I hope that each of you finds a cure from life’s sorrows by experiencing the place of peace and happiness within you through meditation.
The author is the head of the international non-profit organisation Science of Spirituality.