Philosophy and spirituality are most valuable to us when they improve our lives — an easy measure of this improvement is the level of stress. On this subject, Swami Vivekananda writes:
“Misery comes through attachment, not through work.”
The nice thing about Swami Vivekananda’s writings is that it’s easier to dissect them than, say, the hymns of the Rig Veda. Vivekananda wants us to question what he is saying, so that we can make sure that we are learning everything we can from what we read. Without analysis, a statement on a page is just blots of ink on the blended corpse of a tree.
So here he says, “misery comes through attachment, not through work.” That is, misery stems from our attitude, and not the specific work that we do. It is not the midterm week that is killing us, but our attachment to something. It is not the problem set or paper or thesis that drives us to despair, but our choice to be miserable. That’s my interpretation of what Vivekananda is saying to us students.
But is this true? Let’s think about it — when was the last time that you were miserable? For added interactivity, I will now make this a numbered list.
- When was the last time that you were miserable? (e.g. problem set)
- What were you doing at that time? (e.g. problem set)
- What were you thinking about? (e.g. problem set)
- What goals did you have at the time that, if discarded, would have alleviated your moment’s misery? (e.g. doing well on the problem set)
- How can you discard that goal? (e.g. I can’t.)
- Why not? (e.g. I don’t know.)
- Is it a choice, then, to be attached to your goal? (e.g. Yes.)
As you can see, I tagged each question with my own personal answer. These answers can be refined — questions can be pondered, meditations meditated, and an eloquent treatise on the nature of happiness written. But my goal with this post is to get you to consider the things that depress you in college, to confront the sources of that misery, and to overcome them, in order to help you better achieve your dreams.
I repeat — think about the last time you were miserable, or, if you’re miserable now, think about why you’re miserable. At the same time, think about the last time you were happy, or, if you’re happy now, think about why you’re happy. Both can come from attachment. So ask yourself this question — what are you attached to, where you are right now? And is that attachment constraining your fullest, sage-like potential?
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