Into or Out of?

‘Out’ of Living Hell
Swami Chinmayananda
Pujya Gurudev said of his early days before Sannyas:
Menon was supremely confident as he strode out to meet life. He was sure that he could, just for the asking, fix himself up comfortably in one of its ‘Luxury flats’. But at the guarded entrance to life, none is admitted who has not a healthy character, a good disposition, a charming friendliness and a bending knee. At the gates of life alone did he realise that he was poor in real wealth.
However, there is a ditch door in the backyard, through which few had crept in to live later on successfully in one of the ‘luxury flats.’ Slowly Menon bustled his way onto the crowded verandah of life where men and women were busy doing nothing; and from there, without much difficulty pushed himself into the very stinking hall of life. A roaring welter of immaterial values! Impossible behaviours and stupid vanities ! All around him, he saw the sick and suffering life of people with made – to – order laughter concealing their sighs of voiceless regrets, stormy hatreds, grudging sympathies and poisonous rivalries. Each suffered and contributed lavishly to the total suffering. This was sufficient for Menon, as he saw what a godless animal could be at its best. He decided to gatecrash and come out of this living hell, and go out in search of that which is permanently joyful and peace rendering. He decided to seek for himself the meaning of true life; that which would lead him to the brilliant domain of perfection.”