We all want to be "comfortable" in life. We want to have a comfortable home. We buy a home loan to buy a comfortable home, and spend almost 20 precious years of our lives just to repay the home loan. We want a "comfortable lifestyle" and become almost slaves of our employer due to our dependency on our salary. We want "comfortable relations" and to maintain that "comfort", we become quite inauthentic in our behaviour. We have a lot of grudges against our relatives and friends, and yet do not express them, and remain inauthentic. These inauthenticities make our relationships hollow like the termite spoiling the wooden furniture. In the moments of crisis, these relationships shatter, and we feel cheated. We want "comfortable talks" and therefore everybody avoids telling "uncomfortable truths". We never get to see our reality, and we continue to live with our own mental stories about ourselves until some crisis strips us of our mental stories and we become "naked".
We often do not realize the "hidden cost of comforts". We eat tasty food full of carbs and fat. It tastes yummy. What is this food doing inside us? We are often not aware until we get some stomach pain and get the ultrasound done, and realize that we have a fatty liver. On the surface, we appear to be fit, however, the internal organs get sick in the long run. They somehow manage the show till a limit and give up beyond that. Not so that with the first spoonful of sugar we eat, we get diabetes. When we constantly remain unaware of the inner world, slowly, the internal organs get damaged. Similarly, not so that every stress brings depression. But when we do not stay aware and remain under constant stress, it results in depression. Similarly, not so that every greed makes us "compulsive" and "obsessive," but when we lose awareness of what greed is doing to us, our minds slowly and gradually become obsessed with our greed.
All the comforts have a hidden cost. The problem is that we get an instant pleasant sensation while we have to pay the cost later. We enjoyed sweets in our childhood, and while we are adults, and suffer from diabetes in our old age. We enjoy fast food till we get to realize the problems with our liver and get reports of high cholesterol. It's difficult to leave that "instant gratification" for the "long-term loss". In fact, there are all sorts of justifications in the market. Let's enjoy till we can. Why become old at a young age? It's time to have fun. All these thoughts suit senior citizens.
On the other hand, we may enquire into the phenomenon of "attraction of comforts". Why are we so attracted to comforts? What happens to us when we eat junk food? What happens to us when we stay in a comfortable home? What happens to us when we maintain "comfortable silence" to hide the discomfort in relationships? What happens when we maintain our "comfortable false image" among our peers to have a "comfortable social life"? What happens when we live with a "comfortable belief" that we are never going to die? What happens when we just accept the "comfortable beliefs" that our society believes in or the organizations we belong to promote?
Any person who asks these questions would never be comfortable with these "false comforts". Any person who is diagnosed with cancer can't be assured by a false promise from an astrologer about their good health. On the other hand, a person who has cancer and does not get his tests conducted may remain comfortable for many more years till the symptoms of cancer surface. There is no doubt that the early detection and cure is the best way out. The problem is that we do not enquire and observe until it is incurable. We stay comfortable in our homes, while the whole of the world outside is burning in the fire of hatred, greed, and aggression. Not so that the smell of the burning bodies does not enter our noses, but we close our windows and doors to avoid an "unpleasant encounter" with reality. Not so that we do not see what these "comforts" have done to us, and have made us fearful and insecure, but rather than confronting the reality, we want to gather more and more comforts. This is like eating fast food and having medicines for a heart attack.
That is the precise reason why mental disorders are rapidly increasing. People in their old age are facing depression. Young children are committing suicide. People in their 30s and 40s are taking sleeping pills. Unless we see the "dark side of the comforts, " we will be ready to pay the "hidden cost of comforts. " Fixation on the comfort of any type will always fill us with fear and insecurity. Fear and insecurities will always make us inauthentic. Inauthenticities complicate our lives and make us prone to all types of mental disorders. The moment we realize the "dark side of the comforts, " we become aware of the cost. We think ten times before being inauthentic for a comfortable relationship or self-image. We know the cost and therefore dare to tell the truth. We become aware of the cost of a comfortable and cozy bed, get out of it, and start walking. We understand the dangers of "comfortable beliefs" and challenge them. We invest our precious time and energy not in running after these false comforts but in the exploration of nature and reality. We are no longer "comfortable," but we are "contented" because we live 100% in every moment. Our minds are free of the fear of "losing comforts," and a free mind is quite attentive. That attention brings exploration, and exploration fills our lives with joy. Thus, "comfort of the known pleasures" gets replaced by the "joy of exploration of the unknown. " Once somebody gets a taste of exploration, the pursuit of comforts appears quite sub-standard.
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