The human body has a wonderful immune system that fights any foreign cell that enters the body. It fights any bacteria or virus that enters our body, which our bodies recognise as foreign elements. During COVID-19 times, many patients developed autoimmune disorders wherein the immune system becomes over-aggressive and starts attacking various of our own cells. The doctors had to administer many medicines that would suppress the immune system by administering steroids.
This sense of "I" within human beings also works like an immunity system. It protects us, "me" and "mine", from the foreign elements that may be dangerous to the survival of "me" and "mine". Like the immune system, it also has many layers. The first layer is the skin, which prevents foreign elements from entering our body. Similarly, we ignore many people who may be dangerous. For example, we often tell children not to join a group of druggists and criminals because they may be dangerous to their existence. The second layer of immunity is in the form of a "filter" which works in different organs such as the nose and mouth. Whenever we pass through a dusty area, we start sneezing so that the particles of dust do not enter our lungs. That's what we also tell our children as parents. We tell them to keep their mind open and whenever they feel that any of their friends is not on the "right" path, they need to exercise caution.
The last layer of immunity is in the form of antibodies, which attack the foreign cells after they enter the blood. Antibodies can recognise the antigens and attack them. What did the COVID-19 vaccine do to us? It was a small quantity of the same antigens that entered our blood, and once they enter the blood, they build our immunity by helping our antibodies to recognise the antigens and get trained to attack them. We too recognise the harmful and self-limiting thoughts that have somehow entered our brain with mindfulness. We clean them out of our minds by examining and observing them. The moment antibodies recognise the antigens, they will naturally eliminate them. Similarly, the moment we observe our thoughts, we can discriminate between self-limiting and self-expanding thoughts. Sometimes we are not mindful enough to recognise these behaviour patterns, and that's where we come into contact with the realised souls, and discussions and contemplations with them act like a vaccine which enhances our capacity to discriminate.
When this immunity goes into overdrive, it starts attacking the healthy cells. That's what happens with many human beings. They become so self-obsessed over time that they start harming their own near and dear people. In more extreme cases, the "cancer of ego" starts gulping the healthy cells. We start damaging the near and dear ones. I feel that the fundamental cause of this condition is an inner disconnection from the rest of the world. When we deprive ourselves for a long time of love and compassion and keep attacking any and every foreign element indiscriminately, our immunity goes on overdrive. There are all types of people in this world. Yes, we need to fight battles in this world sometimes to protect ourselves, but there is so much goodness around. If we become goody-goody and accept cruelty and violence in the name of love, that's stupid. Similarly, if we reject the whole of the world and get confined to an island, as if fighting a battle against the whole of the world, that's equally stupid. We just need to observe and discriminate. Immunity has to be intelligent to discriminate. Otherwise, we will not be able to explore this world and will be restricted to our limited frame. Exploration is impossible without intelligence. Intelligence brings openness to all ideas because we are confident to discriminate between "good" and "bad" when we enter the domain of the "unknown".
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