Why was Hitler unable to change himself? Not so that Hitler was stupid. All of us have habit patterns. I like sweets. I know it is not good for my health, and yet when there is a craving for something sweet, I give up and take something sweet. Obesity is so common nowadays. Not so that an overweight person does not want to be slim. But he surrenders to his craving for food. Somebody surrenders to his craving for food, somebody to sweets, somebody to money, and somebody to powers. Isn't this one and the same thing? When it comes to decisions, we just follow the directions of our unconscious minds.
We have all heard of classical conditioning, wherein some mice are kept in a box with a low boundary wall. As scientists switch on, a light electric current flows through the box, and the mice become uncomfortable and jump out of the box. Then the scientists increase the height of the boundary slowly, and the mice are not able to run away due to the height. Slowly, the mice get used to the current, and even if later scientists reduce the height of the boundary, they decide not to make efforts. We also give in slowly and get used to the routine. At a young age, we have a lot of enthusiasm and take many initiatives. However, we give up as we grow and become fatalists.
Is there any difference between the two habit patterns? The first, getting used to some pleasant sensation like sweets, tasty food, money, or powers, and the second, getting used to the routine, even if we do not like it. In both cases, we are not in the present moment, and the past is driving our decisions. The mice are sure that they will not be able to jump out of the box. We are sure that a good life means a lot of money and power. Mind is certain based on certain experiences. However, that mind which is so certain operates within a limited frame. There is a whole lot of life beyond that frame.
We are so sure of many things as children. We want to be in the same school forever. We want to have the same friends forever. Our worldview is limited, and that's why we are so sure. Swami Vivekananda compares it with the frog in the well, which is very certain of the meaning of life. Another frog who has travelled beyond the well wants to explain that life is so grand outside the well. But the frog in the well is quite certain of the meaning of life; it knows. Aren't all of us conditioned, and a conditioned mind can't see reality?
What is the first step in the journey of awareness? It is examining that "certainty" itself. That "certainty" has been our strongest weapon while fighting the battle of survival within the well, but that's the biggest burden when we make efforts to come out of the well. The journey outside the well is in the domain of the unknown. Unknown, not only to us, but to almost the whole of humanity. The very tools and weapons that helped us survive and stay comfortable within the world become our biggest burden, and that's why most people never even commence this journey in their lifetime. It requires absolute awareness to see the "relativity" of that "certainty". Once that doubt is created in our minds, we are no longer comfortable inside the well. We keep questioning the rewards and punishments. The more we are aware, the more "unrest" grows, and the more we become desperate to come out of the well. We see an urgency. We may easily accept staying inside the well in the name of destiny. I feel that everybody becomes curious to know where that ray of light is coming from inside the dark well. However, most of us become so busy with either fighting for survival or living a comfortable life, or charting our territory and protecting the same, and conveniently ignore that ray of light.
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