I don't know why but probably the most inspiring stories in this world are all about the shifting of the frame or about the breaking free of frames. The story of Mahatma Gandhi is so inspiring because he decided to become an advocate and when he was thrown out of the train by a British officer in South Africa, the frame of his life underwent a significant change. He decided to fight for the oppressed and exploited and stand for them. That shift in the frame changed his entire life. It is difficult to believe what Mahatma did can be done by a single person in his life.
Sri Aurobindo was living the life of a freedom fighter. He was imprisoned by the British Government for his involvement in the freedom struggle. He was kept in solitary confinement. While inside the prison, he underwent certain experiences that made him break free of all the frames of life. He underwent a lot of experiences and wrote many of his experiences in his wonderful books like "Savitri", "Life Divine" and "Letters on Yoga". Generations of human beings across the world have been inspired by his writings. J Krishnamurti was found by the Theosophical Society and they took him for further training and to expose him to the theosophical studies. He underwent all these studies for quite some time when he realized the limitations of all the frames and broke free of all the frames. He left theosophical society and started talking to people on different issues. His speeches and writings guide the entire humanity after so many years of his leaving the body.
Any and every story we love and admire involves the shifting of frames of life or breaking free of the frames. What is so interesting in the story of Rama. The most attractive thing in the story of Rama is his equanimity at the shifting of frames of life. He is about to become the king of Ayodhya and just a few days after the announcement, he is asked by his father to go to the forest for 14 years and he accepts the shifting of the frame of his life without any reaction. Take the story of Krishna. He is a boy who is quite naughty and plays with his friends. Suddenly he is told that his parents have been imprisoned by his own Mama Kansa. He gets to know that Yashoda and Baba are not his biological parents. Suddenly the entire frame of his life changes and he gets so flexibly adjusted to the new frame of life. In the battle of Kurukshetra, he breaks free of all the frames of life and helps Arjuna also break free of his fixed frame of life.
What to speak of the Mythology and history, even in any movie, we appreciate that shifting of the frames. We love Shindlers List because the hero, who initially enters into the business to make a profit out of the prisoners of concentration camps by hiring them as cheap laborers, gets to empathize with their sufferings and then helps them survive by hiring the weakest of the prisoners who are sure to be killed otherwise even by spending the whole of his wealth and yet having that feeling that "I could have saved one more by giving away the button of the overcoat". We see a huge expansion of his frame of life and probably that is what attracts us towards that character.
Life, within a frame, is quite boring and monotonous. Yet, we keep living our entire life within frames. Probably afraid to leave the security of the frame, unable to see that the frame itself is dying. We may seek security within the frame of our skills but the AI-equipped robots can do that far more efficiently than human beings. We may seek security within the frame of relationships, but we could see that nobody stood with us in the times of COVID. Aren't these fixed frames of life like the rat traps, that we enter to get a piece of bread and give away our freedom to roam around. No doubt that piece of bread is needed but are we happy paying the price by letting go of our freedom? When we admire the shifting of the frames so much in the movies and stories, why do we spend our entire lives confined to a fixed frame? Is it a result of laziness or inability to see outside the frames? I feel that by the time we see these frames as frames, we are already trapped. Unfortunately, our society frames us at a very early age and most people do not see the frame as a frame. The very few who can see the limitations of the frame do not have the energy and courage to break free by the time they realize that they are trapped. It requires awareness at quite an early age or absolute disaster to break free of these frames. That's quite rare and that's why people who could break free of the frames inspire generations.
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