“The fundamental negative thinking is thinking that happiness is to be found only inmatter.”¹ – Chaitanya Charan
Rhiannon wishes she could turn away from watching the news, like many of us who find it depressing. “We now live in dark, depressing, Godawful times,”² she writes, regretting that it is not an option for a journalist to stop watching the news. A little piece of good news such as the discovery of a new dinosaur species keeps Rhiannon going through the gloom. Such positive news is her go-to shelter from the bad news.
No doubt, positive psychology and optimistic attitudes can enrich our inner world and control the impact of seemingly endless bad news in the troubled times we live. But is this outlook a progressive solution or just a mental escape?
Applying her logic, Rhiannon writes, “The cognitive behavioural therapy technique of countering, which involves contradicting a negative thought with opposing evidence, can, with practice, become an automatic reflex. So while Pope Francis might claim that ‘the Earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth’, I could equally say: ‘Well, that might be, but in Ramsbottom, near Bury, a woman called Mary Bell just celebrated her 100th birthday by flying a plane over her care home.The glow from that should, I hope, get me through the winter.’”³
A positive attitude, as shown by Mary, helps us see opportunities rather than obstacles.
Do you see the rose on the thorn bush or do you complain about the thorns on the rose bush?
Is the glass half empty or is it half full?
Can the power of positive thinking create substantial solutions to real problems in life?
If we apply this way of thinking rigidly and without thought, we may prevent ourselves from finding solutions. Let’s say we get lost while driving in Auckland because we have been viewing a map ofWellington.Although a positive attitude may prevent us from feeling discouraged, “Just be positive! Keep on going!We will get there!” that attitude may also prevent us from asking the fundamental question we need to ask to help us find our way: “Could my map be wrong?”
In the same vein, the bhakti-yogi would suggest that we ask ourselves about how we are navigating our lives in our complex situations: “Could my map of reality be wrong?” In the language of the Bhagavad Gita (described as a map of how to become free of the material context), this would translate into asking: “Am I sat or asat? Am I material or am I spiritual? Temporary or eternal?”And how does Krishna (one of the names describing the Supreme all-attractive personality, the source of both matter and spirit) respond? He says, “You are an eternal being, trapped in a temporary body in a temporary world.The problem is that you identify with matter. If you think that you are matter, you have the wrong map of life.”
We long for a life full of love and positive experiences. And when they are present we want them to never end – we want eternal happiness. Gita wisdom explains that this longing comes from our spiritual core: the eternal soul, which longs for eternal fulfilment. Material reality, being perishable, is incapable of living up to our expectations of happiness.
We all know that matter cannot satisfy us.Not deeply, truly, fully.How long will the pleasure from that newly acquired suit or dress last? Does the latest iPhone model make you feel that yours is lacking something? The niggling anxiety deep down when you’re in that perfect moment with the perfect person doing what you love the most, reminds you it won’t last. By giving matter monopoly over our conceptions of happiness, we lock ourselves in a doomed pursuit—seeking the lasting in the fleeting.
When we recognise the nonmaterial dimension to life, we take positive thinking to a higher level.Only then can we use positive thinking as a tool to transform our inner world, for good.Otherwise, how much can positive thinking really help in the face of life’s most testing circumstances such as the sudden death of a loved one or the news of a terminal illness? At these times we may use a positive attitude to reduce mental suffering, but inevitable death will present a brutal reality and rip everything away.
Positive connections
Changing our map of reality to one that explains both matter and spirit will give us a clearer, more complete picture of the intricacies of life. It will help us understand who we are, what we are meant to be doing and why we sometimes enjoy and sometimes suffer. By gaining knowledge and experience of our spiritual self we can address and fulfill our deeper needs. What the soul really needs is a complete understanding of reality, lasting loving relationships, ever increasing happiness, and real security—the lack of fear in the face of temporariness. Fulfilling these needs, we can truly raise ourselves to a new level of positivity. One that is not shaken by external turmoil.
To experience eternality even while living in the world of temporariness sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? But Krishna explains it is possible, with yoga. Yoga means connectivity. In this age of smart phones andWi-Fi, we may feel constantly connected—and that we have never been more connected throughout history. But our connections tend to be superficial. In yoga—or more specifically in bhakti-yoga, a crucial connection is established with Krishna, our original source.
This connection between the individual soul and Krishna is one of love and devotion. By engaging our intelligence and emotions in the scientific process of bhakti-yoga we access a deeper level of happiness and satisfaction, beyond that gained from material experiences. Inspired by higher spiritual happiness, we therefore use material things without being enamoured by them. In this way, we not only think positively about reality, we connect to the positive nonmaterial reality. No matter what life throws at us, the strength and vision gained from being connected to that higher reality empowers us to deal with it from a place of true positivity.
Are you satisfied with the odd piece of good news or do you want to go deeper? True positivity begins with asking yourself, do you have the right map for life?
₁.Caitanya Charan GitaWisdomThrough Quotes 6 May 2018
₂.https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/06/good-news-glow-why-im-searching-for-positive-stories-in-these-dark-times
₃.Ibid
