Miseries Attack

In Bhagavad-gita it is stated that the spiritual energy (internal) is covered by the material energy (external). It is this covering of material energy that is the cause of all miseries and sufferings. It is our natural position to experience full pleasure and knowledge. In Teachings of Lord Caitanya it is said that the more we identify with and are attached to this covering, the greater is the degree of our suffering. In the material world, "those who are a little enlightened suffer less, but on the whole, everyone is subjected to material misery due to being covered by the material energy." (TLC, pg. 50)

The miseries which attack these material bodies are from three main sources: 1) from the very nature of the body, 2) from the nature of the environment, and 3) from other living entities.

These bodies are under the stringent laws of material nature, and this nature is undergoing a continuous process of transformation. We have all noticed the seasonal changes and have heard them glorified in various literatures. The entire material nature, including these bodies, must always evolve through six stages of existence: 1) birth, 2) growth, 3) duration of life, 4) transformation, 5) deterioration or old age, and finally 6) death. Nowhere in the entire material world is anyone free from this cycle of birth and death.

The first source of misery is contact with these material bodies. These bodies are always suffering in so many ways, but due to the illusory nature of the material energy, we sometimes think that we are enjoying. In Teachings of Lord Caitanya our existence in this material world is compared to sitting on a dunking seat: "Formerly a king used to punish a criminal by dunking him in the river, and then raising him again for a breath, and then again dunking him once more in the water. Material nature punishes and rewards the individual entity in just the same way." Sometimes we are above water and it seems that we are enjoying, and sometimes we are submerged and therefore suffering. Neither position is very desirable. Every embodied being goes through birth, death, disease and old age due to this material body. If we identify with this birth and death cycle, we are immediately placed upon the dunking stool, sometimes up and sometimes down.

The environment in which these bodies live is the second source of material misery. Sometimes the weather is too hot, and sometimes too cold. Portions of the planet have no rainfall at any time during the year, whereas in other places it rains every day. These bodies are very delicate and are constantly being cut, bruised, broken or smashed by different calamities within the environment. It is impossible to make these bodies completely comfortable at all times within this material environment.

Finally there are those miseries inflicted upon these bodies by other living entities. Examples of this are the insects such as mosquitoes, lice and poisonous spiders. On a larger scale there are snakes and other wild or tame animals: even dogs and cats may sometimes inflict pain upon us. In human society the continuous wars that we are fighting is a great example of misery from other living entities. Thousands of men, women, children and other living entities have been maimed or destroyed by the weapons of war.

Thus the entire material world is full of intense danger in the form of the threefold miseries.