I don't know whether the human mind can truly comprehend feelings like love and compassion. An insecure mind gets programmed by society to follow the majority view. It looks safe to believe in what most people say. This "safe option" takes very deep roots in our minds. We look for validation of our actions and views, and that's why we are absolutely certain, the moment our views and actions are validated by our friends and relatives. We choose the most popular (and therefore most competitive) streams of education, career options, and jobs. We choose to marry because almost everybody in society tells us to marry. Even while choosing a life partner, we go by popular criteria.
Actually, we are never sure of what we want. Understanding what we want requires listening to our "heart". Not so that we do not have examples of the people who followed their hearts. We have thousands of examples who listened to their heart. In fact, all our mythological heroes listened to their hearts and made many decisions that were against the widely prevailing social norms. Krishna is the greatest example. Right from stealing the clothes of Gopis while they were taking bath in Yamuna to teach them a lesson about personal safety, to running away from the battlefield and being called "Ranchod", to asking Arjuna to take the shield of Shikhandi to kill Bhishma, to making a plan to kill Dronacharya, to convincing Arjuna to kill Karna when his chariot is broken. We call these "lila" of Krishna, and then convince ourselves that he was God and therefore did all these "lilas", but we have to follow the social norms blindly.
Since childhood, our conditioning to follow the norms of society is so strong that we either term people who dare to defy the social norms as God or demons. We either pray to them or criticise them. Our existence is limited to our family, and therefore, we just need to close our eyes to what happens outside. There are social reformers and the government, and it's their job to take care of that. Our responsibility is limited to our family. We will try to give our kids the best of the resources and accumulate wealth for our old age. That's it. That's the sole purpose of life.
I think unless we get exposed to the light, we are used to the darkness. A pig is happy in dirt. Even if we take it to a clean place, it will not feel good initially because it has gotten used to that dirt. Similarly, we have strong habit patterns to be confined and limited, and set the purpose of our lives with that limited awareness. When we remain limited for quite a significant portion of our lives, we become quite resistant to any fundamental change. Most people just mindlessly mirror the goals set by society and spend the first 25-30 years just to prove that they are the best students and achievers. In the next 20-25 years, we will just keep revolving in the "orbit of routine". Going to the office, working for the targets, setting targets in terms of buying a home, having kids, and worrying about their education, and accumulating some wealth. In the remaining life, we feel purposeless, but since we have never contemplated the fundamental questions of life, we do not dare to rethink life, and most of us just spend the rest of our lives either taking pride in our achievements or repenting for our failures, as if life is a profit and loss statement.
Few are exposed to light. Few experience true love, compassion, freedom, or find the courage to say "No" to the majority view of being confined to family and mindlessly following the crowd. I don't know where this "light" comes from, probably due to constant observation of falsehood. Falsity appears very attractive to a weak mind. However, if someone recognizes falsehood as false, it becomes dull and boring. Many are tempted by medals, prizes, and positions, but when they see their fragility, they develop a subtle disdain for them. Similarly, the ideas of family, relationships, and bonds seem very attractive, but once one sees through the nature of these bonds, disdain grows. Once someone sees through, they become attracted to true love and compassion. Freedom and truth naturally become choices. What society believes and says no longer matters much.
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