We often feel stuck with an emotion. We feel fearful because exams are approaching, and the constant fear of failure or scoring less does not let us sleep. Sometimes we feel anxious about a meeting, and our stomachs are full of butterflies. We feel hurt and are not able to pardon the person who has hurt us. We feel insecure about our future, and the thoughts of an uncertain future come back to our minds again and again.
Why does it happen so? The more we think, the more disturbed we are. Why? When we are stuck in a marsh, the more we try to come out of it, the more we get stuck. Why? When we make an effort to come out of the marsh, it creates more space beneath our bodies, and we get down deeper into the marsh. That's what we do when we think over and over about our anxieties, fears, and insecurities. The mind has created some stories about the past or future that are not to our liking. That's why we feel fearful, anxious or insecure. What we fail to realise is that all these are just stories and have nothing to do with reality. All these stories are like a marsh. The more we think about the same thing, the more these thoughts will haunt us. If we continue to think, we will have to visit a psychiatrist. A little more and we will end up in a mental home.
If we are stuck inside the marsh, a sensible thing is just to cry for help, and someone who is outside the marsh will throw a rope and pull us out. That's what we are supposed to do when we are caught inside the marsh of thoughts. We just have to find a person who is standing on a stable platform and seek his advice. He will help us come out of the marsh. There are two critical aspects here. First, a question as to why the normal efforts do not work in these situations. Normally, when we get stuck, we make efforts and come out because we can push the ground, and as a reaction to that force, we get pushed upwards and come out. But there is no ground in a marsh. That's why it doesn't work. Similarly, when we are caught in a loop of thoughts, there is no solid ground to push.
Generally, we get stuck with one thought, and when we think deeper, we find solid ground beneath our feet. The solid ground of the framework of life. For example, we face financial trouble. We do not get bogged down because we have a framework of life wherein we have defined ourselves as a father, mother, sibling, son or daughter. When we face financial trouble and the thoughts of uncertainty surround us, we push our feet against that solid framework of life and get the required push to work harder, and we come out of the thoughts. When we face health issues, we again have a solid ground beneath our feet. We have a framework of life wherein there is a desire to live longer, and when we push our feet against that ground, we get the desired push and start exercising or doing Yoga and become fit again. However, when there is no such ground beneath our feet, it is a problem. That may happen due to two reasons. First, the situations have challenged the fundamental framework of our lives, such as the loss of a child or a terminal disease. Second, when we were so comfortable all through our lives that we never cared to build a framework for life. In such situations, whatever we try, our thoughts are not going to help us, because there is no ground against which we can push ourselves.
The second critical aspect, which is equally important, is how we believe the person standing outside the marsh for help. He may manipulate us. I feel that we just need to watch the platform on which he is standing. When we read the works of J. Krishnamurti, Sri Aurobindo, or Gautama Buddha, and learn about their lives, we gain insight into the rock-solid foundation they established. Their platform will remain stable even in the most challenging circumstances. They are all standing on the same ground. The ground of truth. We can all reach that ground by observation with awareness. Once we start examining our lives, we will naturally drop the shaky platform we are standing on, and there will be no occasion to get trapped in a marsh. Even if we get stuck for some reason, we will have awareness of a person standing on rock-solid ground and the moment we get hold of that person, we come out of the marsh. That's why I find it very important to introduce the children to philosophy in their early childhood. That will help them avoid the marshes, which they are otherwise very likely to enter, and even if they enter, they will know how to come out of the same.
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