We human beings are great believers in stories. Each culture and civilization has its own stories and all the civilizations believe in their stories equally strongly. Some believe in capitalism and some in socialism and both have equally strong beliefs. Different people believe in different Gods. Strangely, if a child born in a Hindu family is brought up in a Christian family, he would be an equally strong believer in Christ. It appears that we have a very strong network of mirror neurons and tend to mirror whatever we see around us. That's the founding pillar of the society. Societies are formed when people believe in a common story.
One person wishes a birthday or puts a congratulatory message in the group and all of us start putting the same message in the group. A video goes viral and everybody starts watching the same as if the critical mass of an atomic reaction has crossed and the reaction is out of control very soon. Societies and communities have a tolerance range for individuality and unless a person shares the fundamental beliefs of the society, it is quite difficult for such a person to be a part of the society. In a gang of friends, there are some fundamental rules. Only when these basic rules are agreed to, one gets entry to the group.
Where is the place for truth in all this? The movie should be full of entertainment. Who cares about the truth. That's why most movies depicting the biographies of famous personalities add a flavor of lies to satiate the needs of the audience. Nobody is interested in the truth. That's why not many are interested in meditation. Why sit for an hour to see what's going on inside us and what is the truth of this creation when we can listen to songs, watch videos, or interact in a virtual world of social media.
Gautama gets vairagya from his world because he sees the falsity of this world. He sees that eating the best of the food in this world can't save us from diseases. Even the strongest people in this world become weak with old age. Even the richest and the wealthiest people die. Most people do not want to see the reality and set their targets ignoring the wider reality and within the limited frame the world and society show them the reality. However, if somebody sees the wider reality, it is no longer possible to believe in stories. All ghosts are the creations of darkness and once a person understands that, he looks for light and not the cure for the ghosts. All the entertainment on the screen is the creation of a director, camera, and projector and once somebody knows the truth behind the screen, he can not continue to watch movies throughout his life.
However, it is not easy to get out of the movie hall even if the movie is really bad. In the case of an entertaining movie, it is almost impossible. It's difficult to see the reality even in "bad times". In "good times', it is almost impossible. There is complete darkness in the hall and the walls are soundproof to disconnect us from reality. However, there is always an "exit" sign. Some use this exit sign to get a hint of the reality and exit while others are busy watching the movie. Others wait for a catastrophe or disaster to happen. Some are so engrossed that they do not run out of the movie hall even in case of disaster. The entire movie hall celebrates watching the movie and laughs out loud and cries together to make the movie experience more real. But another way of looking at it is that probably we have bought the movie ticket to enjoy the show and not to worry about the reality. Producers want to make money by selling stories and people are happy watching the movies. Who cares about reality when the illusion is more entertaining than reality? Reality should be faced by the people who do not have money to watch the movie ticket. The "show must go on"..
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