YouTube, social media, and book stalls are full of spiritual content, and yet the world is becoming more and more self-obsessed. We see thousands of people attending the camps and talks organised by the spiritual teachers; people even spend money to get into these camps. There is a huge demand for the VIP darshans at the temples. People pay money to get the Aarti darshans. On the surface, it appears that more and more people are inclined towards spiritualism, and therefore, the world should improve. In reality, we see hatred, jealousy, and weakness everywhere.
The ego is like a marshy land. Once we are caught in that, the more we make an effort, the more we get down. If two people are trapped in a marshy land, they can't save each other because neither of them has ground beneath their feet. Even if one of them throws a rope at the other, he will not be able to take him out of the marsh because he himself is trapped. That's why most of these videos on social media, the lectures, the preachings, and camps do not work. The ego very smartly divides itself into two parts. The first part holds on to, and it challenges the second part, changing it. Thus, we undergo many changes in our lives. We feel that we have grown spiritually. However, the fact of the matter is that we become more obsessed with the first part and become more egoistic. On top of that, we develop a sense of spirituality and acquire the label of being right, and therefore, it becomes all the more difficult to conduct a reality check.
Then, what is the way out? It requires constantly challenging our belief systems, framework of life, thought process, instincts, and decisions. The problem is that the first part is very smart, and it will smartly reject the challenges that do not suit it. It will find hundreds of justifications for the same. A rich person would justify the greed for money in the name of the need for the business, and will donate a little bit of money to shed his feeling of guilt. A bureaucrat will justify his weakness of character in the name of practicality and would claim to have done some good work that was actually the duty assigned to him. We will try to justify being good parents by taking care of the children for their physical needs, while in fact, we may keep passing our fears and insecurities to them unconsciously through our knee-jerk reactions to life situations. Whatever the first part likes, it justifies by compromising on the second part.
We can pretend to the outside world, but not to ourselves. If we get obsessed with the go, we are bound to be fearful and insecure. We may pretend to be bold, practical, and intelligent while reacting in a knee-jerk manner to life situations, but the fact of the matter is that we are trapped. It's not very difficult for us to reinvent ourselves. But that can't happen until we keep justifying what we are. The moment we experience fear, insecurity, greed, or jealousy, we have to be immediately alert and examine the mental story behind that. It's not easy and requires constant vigilance. However, the moment we start doing that, we will soon notice that there are always two voices within us. The first comes from the ego, the second comes from the soul. The first one is often louder, but if we give a little space to the second, we can listen to it quite clearly. If we start reacting after listening to the first voice, the noise will increase, and it will not be possible for us to listen to the second voice. That's why we need to just step back when we feel like reacting. The second voice will always be full of love and compassion. It will always promote freedom. It will always be inclined towards exploration. Because it comes from the domain of oneneness where there is no division. It's like flying in the air, where space is not divided among the beings, unlike living on the land, where everybody claims their territory and tries to protect that territory. Flying in the sky, while holding on to the ego, is not possible. It is also true that when one experiences flying in the sky, nobody can tie him to the land. That's why the freedom fighters will even sacrifice their lives for freedom. Socrates will drink poison for that freedom of thought. Meera will choose to die rather than give away her love for Krishna.
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