What is this life all about.

       We find ourselves, at a very early age,becoming conscious of the fact that life could be much better. Usually we can consider that "If I were wealthy, or talented, or both, then I could be more content." This gives us some hope so we can persue our life and hope that at some stage we will win a fortune and then our troubles will be over. If we were to become wealthy or otherwise endowed with some opulence, we would notice that we would still crave satisfaction, despite having so much facility to enjoy our life. In fact, being wealthy means that we have little to look forward to in life. A poverty stricken person can at least dream of being wealthy, but a distressed wealthy person has no such luxury.

Deficiency.

       Srila Gour Govinda Swami often pointed out our situation, "Deficiency, deficiency, deficiency!"
      Even when we have all facility to enjoy, we still cannot eliminate suffering. We are usually conscious of a deficiency in our lives. Life can be good at times but it still leaves much to be desired. Due to our past choices and actions we are now experiencing our life in the present, just as we will experience our future based upon our choices and activities in this, our present existence. This is karma; life goes on no matter what we do to ameliorate our difficulties, or else the cost of ameliorating our dificulties is just as difficult as our difficulties. We cannot escape our karma. One person is distressed by not having enough to eat whilst another is suffering from being overweight.

Summer follows winter.

        matra-sparsas tu kaunteya
      sitosna-sukha-dukha-dah
       agamapayino nityas
      tams titiksasva bharata


                                          Bhagavad-Gita 2.14

      TRANSLATION
      O son of Kunti, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.

What on earth does that mean.

       The basic translation of this Bhagavad-Gita verse is that the amount of happiness and distress that any individual experiences during a lifetime is predetermined at birth. If we travel to the ends of the earth, we cannot escape this.

What to do.

       If we start considering the needs of the spirit soul, rather than simply the needs of our body, then we can begin to get in touch with the infinite. As stated above, we have nothing to lose as the amount of happiness in our life is preditermined so we may as well spend time in spiritual pursuit. In this way we will experience a detatchment from both happiness and distress, such that neither will be overly important to us, as we soon recognise that our real satisfaction lies beyond the karmic experience.