Question to Radhanath Swami: Is this beautiful world really anxiety ridden as the saints say?!!!!
Radhanath Swami: Srila Prabhupad, our Guru, often expressed in his writings how material life is actually full of anxieties. And the less selfish we are, the more we understand that reality.
Sometimes we maybe so happy and it may seem that there is no anxiety in the world, “I am happy. I am living in such a nice house and I have such nice people around me. I have such nice food.” So is it that because Srila Prabhupad is in anxiety that he says the world is full of anxiety? No. Srila Prabhupad is not looking at himself. He is looking at the whole world. For a saintly person, another person’s anxiety is his/her anxiety; another person’s suffering is his/her suffering; another person’s happiness is his/her happiness.
So, we maybe having a nice little place, we maybe happy, and that’s good. But what about the people in Africa? What about the people getting killed in Afghanistan? What about the people who have been suffering from Cancer, from Aids, from Hepatitis, from heart diseases, and from mental depression and mental illness? What about the children who are starving and can’t even concentrate on their studies? What about the children who are abused? What about the women who are abused? What about the men who are abused?
The world is full of anxiety. It’s very real. And for people who are actually quite happy in this world and satisfied with their happiness, a saintly person will grieve for them too. Why? Because, blinded by the temporary happiness which is going to end soon, they don’t strive for the real happiness obtained through connection with God.
But at the same time, the same spiritual person whose anxiety is about everybody else is free of anxiety, because of his/her connection with God.
