Today, while walking I observed a dog barking from the balcony of a home at the street dog. The street dog was searching for some food for her kids from the garbage. The barking dog was barking hard and the street dog was busy searching for the food almost ignoring that bark, to the extent of making fun of that barking dog. So what if you are well-fed and have the comfort of staying in luxury, you do not have the freedom to roam around like me.
That's how the people having the luxuries and comforts bully the people who move on the path of detachment and that's how the people moving along the path of detachment do not care. The barking dogs use their power structures, like the balcony used by the barking dog, to bark at the people who do not have such support. These power structures exist in different forms such as money-driven privileges, positions in organizations, and religions, wide audiences driven by huge fan following, being whos and whos of the society, and so on. The people having all these privileges become insensitive to the extent that they keep bullying the people who do not possess these power structures. Probably they become so limited in their outlook towards life that they do not appreciate the wideness of life. They become insecure looking at someone who roams around freely and does not care for the power structures. Such people become potential threats to their existence and out of insecurity, they start bullying these free spirits.
Not so that all the people on the streets are also detached. There are many people without those power structures who aim day and night to reach those balconies. In fact, the majority of the people on the streets belong to people falling in this category. Once they reach the balcony, they too start barking at the dogs on the streets. This cycle goes on and on. People with power structures become powerless and come on the roads. People on the roads gather power structures and become powerful and insensitive. Both the just two sides of the same coin. "Ego" is quite weak and fragile. It wants to cover up its insecurities by gathering more and more powers and money. However, there will always be people more powerful than us. That is the reason why most people have two faces. They behave very nicely with the people whom they consider to be more powerful than them and behave badly with the people whom they consider to be less powerful.
However, a fakir can see through the game. He understands the fundamental reality. He understands that the dog on the balcony is barking because of his hidden insecurities and the dog on the street also has a temptation to reach that balcony. A fakir can see the game played by the ego clearly. Since he sees the entire game, he stays away from the game. Whether on the street or sitting on a balcony, he realizes the temporariness of all these things and constantly remains connected to the divine. He neither seeks pleasure nor resists pain. He just explores whatever possibilities come his way.
This world is a big testing ground for awareness. If we stay aware, this world offers us a wonderful ground to explore so many possibilities. If we do not stay aware, we get into the trap of illusion. We get tempted by these power structures and aim at becoming a part of them and the moment we reach there we realize their futility. However, generally, people do not have the courage to accept their foolishness and in order to hide their shame, they become more aggressive in their pursuit of powers. It needs great courage to accept that we have made enough fool of ourselves and we no longer want to be a fool. There is only one way out to avoid life turning into a disaster. That is to live with awareness and keep asking the most fundamental questions to ourselves. Unfortunately, this society does not encourage us for that way of living and an individual has to be really aware to get initiated on the path. Parents, relatives, friends, and the entire society are so insecure that they can't tolerate someone asking these fundamental questions of life. They feel quite uncomfortable and try to snub such people. They are outcasted and treated as fools. They will be constantly judged and misjudged. However, the moment someone realizes the truth of life, it is impossible to follow the footsteps of society and waste the precious gift of the divine.
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