Everyone has problems. A difficult boss, an ill parent, a relationship under strain, money worries, a decision that will not make itself. What differs is how we meet them. Vedanta, the philosophical heart of the Upanishads, offers a framework that is surprisingly practical for everyday life.
On Platonix, a sequence of three talks in the Jiva Balance Make Impossible – Possible journey (Days 210 to 212), inspired by the teachings of Swami Tejomayananda, explores exactly this. Here is the framework, step by step.
Start with what is yours
Day 211 is titled We Cannot Control Everything. Its message is simple and often forgotten: there are factors over which we have no control. Our sphere of control is limited to our attitude, our choices and our actions. Do what is yours to do, accept what is not yours to control, and recognise the wisdom of the larger order.
A practical exercise:
- Write the problem at the top of a page.
- Draw two columns: mine to influence and not mine to control.
- Fill them in honestly. You will usually find the first column shorter than you hoped, and the second longer.
- Put your energy into the first column. For the second, practise acceptance.
This alone can lift a great deal of stress, because much of our suffering comes from struggling with the second column.
Three tools for facing problems
Day 210, Facing Problems in Life, offers three Vedantic tools.
Viveka: right discrimination
Viveka is the ability to discriminate between the permanent and the impermanent, the essential and the non-essential. Faced with a problem, it asks: how important is this really? Will it matter in a year? What is at stake, and what only feels at stake?
Karma yoga with prasada buddhi
Act sincerely and do your best, then accept the results as prasāda, a gracious gift from the larger order, Ishvara. This combination of full effort and calm acceptance is the heart of karma yoga.
Shraddha: faith
Śraddhā is often translated as faith, but in Vedanta it means something closer to trust: trust in the teaching, in the order of things, and in the goodness behind life. It gives the steadiness to keep going when results are slow.
Solved, resolved or dissolved
Day 212 builds on a saying of Swami Tejomayananda: if we think well along correct lines, problems can be solved, resolved or dissolved. The talk describes three levels.
Solved: through right action
Some problems are practical. A leaking tap needs a plumber; a missed deadline needs a conversation and a plan. These are solved by appropriate action. The mistake is to agonise over a problem that simply needs to be dealt with.
Resolved: through clarity and understanding
Other problems are not solved by action alone. A misunderstanding with a friend, an inner conflict about a career choice, a recurring argument at home. These are resolved when understanding grows: seeing the other person's view, clarifying our values, recognising what we really want.
Dissolved: when mistaken perception disappears
The deepest level is unique to Vedanta. Some problems are dissolved when the mistaken perception behind them falls away. The classic Vedantic image is a rope seen as a snake in dim light. The fear is real, but the snake never was. When a lamp is lit, nothing needs to be solved; the problem simply disappears.
In the Vedantic view, much of our deepest suffering, the sense of being small, incomplete, separate and threatened, is of this kind. It rests on a misunderstanding of who we are. Self-knowledge does not fix this sense of limitation; it dissolves it.
Applying the framework
Next time a problem weighs on you, try asking three questions:
- Can this be solved? If so, what is the next concrete action?
- Does this need resolving? Is there something I need to understand better, about the situation, the other person or myself?
- Could this dissolve? Am I assuming something that may not be true? Is my sense of threat based on a misperception?
Often a single problem has elements of all three.
A worked example
Suppose you have been passed over for a promotion.
- Solve: ask for feedback, identify skills to develop, make a plan.
- Resolve: reflect on what you actually value. Is it the title, the money, recognition, the work itself? Clarity here may change what you pursue.
- Dissolve: notice the thought "I am a failure". Is it true? Your worth was never the job title. Seeing this clearly, the sting of rejection often loosens on its own.
Grief, fear and their root
Elsewhere in the Jiva Balance series, a talk on understanding grief, stress, fear and anxiety (Day 117) traces these back to a deeper root: in the Vedantic analysis, ignorance of our true Self creates moha (delusion), and from moha arises śoka (grief). That is Arjuna's state at the beginning of the Bhagavad Gita, and Krishna's teaching moves him from confusion to clarity.
A note on wellbeing
These are philosophical tools for reflection. If a problem involves your health, safety or legal situation, seek appropriate professional help. And if you are struggling with persistent anxiety or low mood, talk to a qualified professional alongside any spiritual practice.
Listen to the talks
The three talks, Facing Problems in Life, We Cannot Control Everything and Solved, Resolved or Dissolved, are each about ten to eighteen minutes long on the Jiva Balance channel on Platonix. Listening to them in sequence over three days makes a thoughtful short course.