This morning, while walking in the park, a thought suddenly struck me. We can see people of all kinds in the park. Some kids, by no means, will appear to be quite happy, while many people well dressed and appearing to be quite well off will appear to be quite sad. If not resources, what makes a person happy or sad? Probably, all of us dream of a golden cage for ourselves and make efforts to acquire the golden cage throughout our lives. We feel that we will be comfortably happy inside the golden cage. A few get the golden cage in their lifetime while most die dissatisfied unable to get that golden cage.
We all undergo different experiences, and our response to these experiences defines our seeking. Some of us are born into families with an acute money shortage. Parents have to work hard to get the fees for our education, food, and basic facilities. We also undergo exploitation by the privileged members of society. We make mental stories around money and power. We feel that if we work hard, get the desired job or set up a business, and get a lot of money and power, we will be able to make the lives of our parents comfortable and live a happy life. Apparently, there is nothing wrong with this. However, if we examine a little deeper, are we not trying to buy a golden cage for ourselves? In the process, we have made money and powers the center of our lives, which will act as a motivator behind most of our actions.
Firstly, we will keep struggling for almost the whole of our lives to get the golden cage. There would be immense frustration during the process, more so because the desired size of the cage would keep increasing with the experiences. A car is sufficient in the beginning, but then we need a better car, then Mercedes and BMW, and then a Rolls Royce, and then many such cars. There is no outer limit to the golden cage. It seems almost impossible to acquire the golden cage we desire since the desire keeps increasing with every new interaction and exposure.
Secondly, even if we get the desired golden cage, the cost is living inside the cage is always freedom. Since we have never been aware in our lives, we take freedom for granted. When we experienced a shortage of money and being exploited, we could have had a very different experience had we been little aware. We could have seen the frustration and insecurity of the exploiter behind the exploitation. Had we seen that, we would have never been tempted to acquire the powers. Had we seen the dissatisfaction and hollowness inside the wealthy and resourceful, we would have never been tempted to acquire wealth. We can't see the other side of the wealth and powers, because we close ourselves. There is a strong desire for comforts and pleasures that makes us blind and we see that the wealthy and powerful are having all the fun and we are suffering from pain. That is the reason why we madly run after money and power.
That is the reason why awareness is the key to a fulfilled life. If we stay calm, and in that state of calmness observe inside and outside and examine reality, we will soon notice that true happiness lies in freedom, freedom from the cage. Any cage, whether silver or golden, can never make us happy because that takes away our freedom. A free soul would love to explore and create. Exploration and creation do not require wealth and power rather they just require freedom of action, thought, and expression. The best scientists in the world have made new scientific discoveries in the worst of situations. The best philosophies have been given by the mystics who survive on the bare minimum. In fact, every experience in our lives gives direction to our lives based on our own desires. These desires make the cage appear golden and tempting, else every cage is just a cage. Until we are ready to observe the true nature of these desires and what they do to us, we will keep giving away our freedom for one or the other golden cage.
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