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Observation is the key

Why do people refuse to grow in a country where Krishna, Mahatma Gandhi, Sri Aurobindo, Buddha, J. Krishnamurti, Kabira, and so many great personalities were born? There is a discussion on one or the other personality in each home. We learn about these people through our textbooks, and yet we grow as self-centered human beings operating within a very limited frame of life. Why do we refuse to grow as human beings?

Observation reveals that there are three reasons for not growing. First, "intoxication of pleasure", Second, "laziness to act", and Third, "loss of awareness of the larger picture of life". Most people get intoxicated for pleasure. In today's world, the means of pleasure and entertainment are available in abundance. We can watch YouTube videos and movies on the OTT platform almost all day long. Social media is at our fingertips. The departmental stores are full of products of many types. Zomato is ready to serve the food at our doorstep. Amazon and Blinkit are so quick to deliver the products. ACs have been installed everywhere. Vehicles are comfortable. Roads are comfortable. People frequently travel abroad, and there are opportunities to settle down abroad and have more such pleasures. 24*7 our minds are full of pleasant sensations. We have become so used to these pleasant sensations that we become restless if there is a power cut even for a few minutes. We are so intoxicated by these pleasures that even a thought of their discontinuance results in "withdrawal symptoms". We behave like drug addicts, and probably at a neurological level, there is hardly any difference.

We also develop the laziness to act. Laziness to act is primarily due to two reasons. First, due to our intoxication with pleasures, we do not have any time, energy, or willingness to think beyond getting the next dose of pleasure. We are constantly craving the next dose of these pleasures. The second reason is that we have lost awareness of the larger picture of life. We have lost touch with reality. We refuse to read literature like the Bhagwad Geeta, the Mahabharata, Commentaries on Life written by J Krishnamurti, Life Divine, and Savitri by Sri Aurobindo, or, for that matter, any other book written by a realized soul. We refuse to observe life due to our intoxication. When we refuse to observe reality, we are happily trapped in our limited frame of life.

Unless all these three conditions are fulfilled, it's difficult to grow. Some people work hard, but their intoxication with pleasures and lack of awareness of the larger picture of life keep their efforts confined to that limited frame. Some people read the books and contemplate the larger reality, but again, their intoxication with pleasures and laziness restricts this quest to just intellectual discussions. They will form WhatsApp groups and discuss "spirituality" and "philosophy" that will lead them nowhere because they do not wish to take even the first step due to the fear of discomfort. Some people will pass through tough situations and therefore want to come out of their limited frame of life, for example, when they have a difficult relationship, but just to enter into another frame. Unless all three elements are satisfied, there will be no growth as a human being. With little observation, we can see the toxicity of the pleasures and realize the fun and joy of pure action uncontaminated by desire for results, and also get to know the larger picture of life. Observation is the key. Without observation, the intoxicated mind will not be able to see reality, and all our actions will be limited to the frame we have been living in. 



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