Types of Sorrows
Man has to encounter sorrow from three sources while here on earth. The scriptures mention these and warn men against them. They refer to them as: Adhyaatmic (individual, personal), Aadhibhotic (external elements), and Aadhidaivic (super natural). Here atma means the corporeal self and so, the first group of sorrows afflicts man through physical and mental illnesses. The second is derived from bhuta, which means ‘that which is created’ and that group of sorrows is derived from living beings like snakes, wild animals, worms, insects, etc. The third word is Aadhidaivic, where daiva means a deity presiding over a force or phenomenon in nature. So the third group of sorrows trouble man through calamities like floods, drought, and storm.
The human body—the home of countless microbes and other parasitic beings, causes adhyaatmic sorrow. No one can be free from these disease-inducing causes. But one can easily overcome this sorrow by developing feelings of compassion toward all beings and thoughts that thrive on love and spread love. Illness, both physical and mental, is a reaction on the body caused by poisons in the mind. An uncontaminated mind alone can ensure continuous health. Vice breeds disease. Bad thoughts and habits, bad company and bad food are fertile grounds where disease thrives. Good health and bliss go hand in hand.
Man can justify his existence as man only by the cultivation of virtues. Then, he becomes a worthy candidate for Godhood. It is progress in virtue that announces the progress of man toward Divinity… Virtue alone will bring to you the grace of God.
Aadhibhotic sorrow is caused by lower living beings, like flies, ants, mosquitoes, bugs, etc. It may be difficult to get rid of these, but one can practice mental restraint through yoga (divine communion). Yoga is explained as the prevention of the agitations of the mind. When the mind is withdrawn from contacting the outer world through the sense-media, no anxiety or agitation can affect the persons. The mind has to be withdrawn from both praise and blame, for they make you either proud or angry. Pride is deplorable and anger is disastrous. Be always the same and watch with a balance mind the ups and downs of life.
Aadhidaivic sorrow is the result of natural calamities. In order not to be affected by these, one must practice samadhi. Dhee means ‘the intellect,’ sama means ‘equal.’ Attaining samadhi does not involve falling flat, shaking the limbs, or losing consciousness. It is not a dramatic trance. It is a characteristic of the mind, an outlook one has developed, to observe all events and persons without any attachment or aversion. This stage of the consciousness of man is also called. Nir-vikalpa, that is to say, devoid of vikalpa (reaction, response). The person who has mastered vikalpa is free from wish, want, and desire. So, he has consciously trained his mind not to respond to attraction and/or react to repulsion. When the mind reacts, favorably or otherwise, to external or internal urges, it undergoes slight vikaaraas (distortions). Therefore, it cannot achieve transformation into divinity.
Source: Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol.15, Pp. 287-289
