Does suffering cease after self-realisation?

In a very interesting TED dialogue on Nationalism vs. Globalism, the historian Yuval Noah Harari said, "I think we don't need to find our role in the universe. The really important thing is to liberate ourselves from suffering. What characterises sentient beings in contrast to robots, to stones, to whatever, is that sentient beings suffer, can suffer, and what they should focus on is not finding their place in some mysterious cosmic drama. They should focus on understanding what suffering is, what causes it and how to be liberated from it." That is a very powerful thought and, in some sense, has been the central theme of almost all spiritual teachings across the world. Many of these spiritual teachings, specially those that originated in India, offer great philosophical insights into this fundamental question and also show the path that eventually leads to end of suffering. The most iconic story in this regard is perhaps that of Buddha who was so moved by the suffering of other people that he gave up all his royal pleasures to search for an answer and eventually propounded an eightfold path to liberate people from their suffering. The final step in this process is an experience of samadhi or self-realisation after which the individual is claimed to be finally free from all suffering. Whether it is humanly possible to reach such a state of meditation is a deep question in itself, but even if a person is able to achieve that state, does it really lead to an end of all suffering?

There are mainly two ways of examining such a question or concept. One can either take recourse to logic or take recourse to personal experiences. When it comes to the question under examination, logic naturally fails because the state of self-realisation is said to be beyond the limitations of logic. But thanks to modern technology, many experiences of many self-realised beings are now available to us for study and analysis. We may not have access to their deep states of meditation, but we surely have access to many of the events in their lives and their reactions to those events. And a lot can be learnt by a careful study of these events and reactions. Two self-realised beings whose lives has been closely recorded in lot of detail are Ramakrishna and Vivekananda. The lives of these two great saints are actually full of suffering, though there is also an under current of ecstasy or divine joy.  And of course, we shall consider only those events which happened after they had the experience of highest samadhi.

In Chapter 52 of the Gospel, it is mentioned that Ramakrishna once said this to his disciples, "I used to climb to the roof of the kuthi and cry: 'O devotees, where are you all? Come to me, O devotees! I am about to die. I shall certainly die if I do not see you.' And the Divine Mother told me, 'The devotees will come.' You see, everything is turning out to be true." Why would a self-realised being suffer so much due to lack of disciples? Why does he care whether someone wants to learn from him or not? Is he not supposed to be forever in a state of bliss after having attained the state of samadhi? And interestingly, Ramakrishna's suffering didn't really stop after sincere disciples started coming to him. There were times when his most beloved disciple, Narendra (who later became Vivekananda), couldn't come to meet him for a few days and that was enough to throw him off-track. To one of his disciples, Ramakrishna once said, "Look, I have not seen Narendra for a long time, and I feel as if my heart were being wrung forcibly like a wet towel. Please ask him to come at once to see me. His is a person of pure sattvic qualities. He is Narayana himself. I cannot have peace of mind unless I see him now and then." And when Narendra would come to meet him, the Master's joy would know no bounds. The Master would make him sit near himself and sometimes even feed him with his own hands, often making the other disciples feel a bit jealous. Bob Marley was perhaps quite right when he said, "Truth is everybody is going to hurt you: you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for."

Vivekananda's real suffering began after Ramakrishna left his mortal coil. After having experienced samadhi, Vivekananda's only desire was to be immersed in that experience day and night. But his Master had other plans and wanted him to take up the enormous task of rejuvenating India and making the countrymen awaken from the slavish mindset they had gotten so used to. And this tug of war went on till the end of Vivekananda's life. In a letter to one of his disciples, Vivekananda once wrote, "Every ounce of fame can only be bought at the cost of a pound of peace and holiness. I never thought of that before. I have become entirely disgusted with this blazoning. I am disgusted with myself. Lord will show me the way to peace and purity. Why, Mother, I confess to you: no man can live in an atmosphere of public life, even in religion, without the devil of competition now and then thrusting his head into the serenity of his heart." And in another letter, he wrote, "This nonsense of public life and newspaper blazoning has disgusted me thoroughly. I long to go back to the Himalayan quiet."

A very simple way in which this dilemma can be resolved is by saying that perhaps Ramakrishna and Vivekananda had not experienced the highest samadhi and had merely reached high states of meditation. To put it less bluntly, "How do we know that Ramakrishna and Vivekananda were self-realised?" Let us not get into answering this question and proceed with the assumption that they had in fact experienced the highest samadhi. Those who have a doubt can either assume that self-realised beings do not go through suffering (and rest in peace) or can see if ideas discussed in this blog can apply to other self-realised beings whom they know to have gone through suffering.

A partial resolution to this dilemma is provided by Vivekananda himself. In a letter to one of his disciples, he once said, "Suffering is the lot of the world's best and bravest — yet, for aeons yet — till things are righted; if possible, here — at least it is a discipline which breaks the dream. In my sane moments I rejoice for my sufferings. Some one must suffer here; — I am glad it is I, amongst others of nature's sacrifices." What this implies is that for the world to progress and for human beings to rise above their current levels of existence, someone has to take up the suffering on their behalf. We see a clear example of this principle also in the life of Jesus Christ. In Ramayana also, we see Sita go through immense suffering in many phases of her life without which perhaps Rama would not have been able to accomplish his mission. Victor Frankl has written a beautiful book titled Man's search for meaning, which gives a very interesting perspective on the constructive role that suffering can play in one's life. 

If we believe that human suffering doesn't end even after self-realisation, what then is the use of striving so hard to attain that state? May be that's a valid question and needs an in depth analysis. In a letter, Vivekananda once said, "If in this hell of a world one can bring a little joy and peace even for a day into the heart of a single person, that much alone is true; this I have learnt after suffering all my life; all else is mere moonshine." This is a very deep statement and in some sense, captures the entire philosophy of Vivekananda's efforts in alleviating the masses. He would often use a verse from the Rig Veda which says, "Atmano mokshartham jagat hitaya cha" and essentially means "for the salvation of our individual self and for the well-being of all on earth". What this implies is that personal suffering and our efforts towards self-realisation are perhaps not antagonistic and can actually go hand in hand. One thing that must be understood is that in order to endure suffering and to use it for our positive development, it is essential to inculcate a deep sense of detachment. We must be involved with everything around us but be entangled with nothing. Very hard to attain. Lets at least make a sincere beginning. Good luck!