Ramayana is the story of Lord Rama. The battle fought by Rama for dharma. The equanimity of Rama even in the most difficult situations. He will not have even the slightest of worry or angst on his face when he is asked to go to the forest all of a sudden, just a day before he is to be coronated as the king of Ayodhya. Not for one or two days, but for 14 years. It's a story of love and friendship. Rama's friendship with Hanumana, Sugriva, and Vibhishana. It's a story of love among brothers. Lakshmana would go willingly with Rama to the forest, leaving her newly wedded wife, Urmila. Bharata will rule the kingdom as a caretaker.
However, the story of the Ramayana has a very significant hidden lesson that's highly relevant to the present-day world. Ramayana is actually the story of Mata Sita. When Rama decided to go to the forest to honour the words of his father, Sita could have stayed back in the palace among all the comforts of the palace. She decided to go with Rama to the forest. Manthara, representing "Mana" and Kaikeyi, representing "Chitta", under the influence of ignorance, feel that Bharata is different from Rama, and that's why they need to protect his interest. Similarly, our Mana and Chitta create divisions under the influence of ignorance. Sita, representing creative energy, can't stay in this division.
We can easily notice within ourselves that as and when we are driven by that sense of separation, creative energy disappears. The best scientific discoveries do not occur when scientists seek to prove their points egoistically. Rather, they take place when the scientists flow with nature. When there is no sense of separation left between the scientist and nature. The best literature is written when people become instruments and write as if nature is expressing itself through them as a medium. I still remember attending a concert by the late Shri Channu Lal Misra ji, a legend. As he started to sing, he said that I am just a medium, and that whatever Lord Shiva wants to express, he will express through this body. The entire stadium actually felt the presence of Lord Shiva.
Creative energy does not stay in a world of divisions. Love and freedom are its breeding ground. Where actions are driven by a sense of separation and ego, it will disappear. Sita stayed with Rama in the forest for 13 years before she was kidnapped by Ravan. Ravan represents our unconscious mind. We have gathered so many fears and desires across lives throughout the journey of our souls. Ravan represents all those. A river keeps carrying small pebbles with its flow from the mountains, and these pebbles slowly deposit on the riverbed. Similarly, all the desires created by the ignorance-driven illusion of division accumulate in our unconscious mind and feed the "inner" Ravan. That Ravan will stay within us till Rama constructs a bridge. It is very difficult to be aware of the unconscious mind's drive, and it often tries to capture the creative energy in disguise. Ravan kidnapped Sita in the disguise of a sage. Similarly, the unconscious mind tries to capture the creative energy.
We try to be very creative even in the spiritual field. So many people try so many different meditation techniques and claim to have so many different experiences. They fail to realise that most of these experiences are just projections of their unconscious mind's desires. We try so many rituals in the name of spirituality, failing to realise that most of these rituals have nothing to do with spirituality. Most of these rituals, on the contrary, are just different ways of socialisation and keeping the herd of unaware people together. We sing songs in the praise of God without realising that we are just begging for the fulfilment of our desires in the name of Bhakti. The unconscious mind tries to capture our creative energy just like Ravan tries to marry Sita. However, Sita would neither give in to the temptation offered by Ravan, nor would she ever be frightened by the might of Ravan. The creative energy, too, remains untouched by the intrusion of the unconscious mind. That's why all these rituals, visualisations, imaginations, songs, and methods and techniques appear so hollow.
When Sita returned to Ayodhya, she underwent Agni Pariksha. Still, when she comes back to Ayodhya, people talk about her, and she decides to go back to the forest. Creative energy does not stay in an ecosystem full of judgments. That's because essentially all the judgments are based on a strong sense of division. Why would we judge anybody? We would judge only when we are unable to connect with the other person. If we connect with the other person and see that he is driven by his "inner" Ravan or "outer" Manthara, we will understand and try to help him connect with his soul. That's what Rama tried by sending Hanumana and Angad to Ravan. That's why he did not have any hatred towards Kaikeyi, the moment she understood the play of her ego and realised her mistake. Judgements take place when we are driven by a sense of separation. We judge others for being at fault. We hold them responsible. We want to take revenge and use foul words for them. Any person connected to their soul would never judge; at best, they would mention the inner disconnection when they notice it and help the other person reestablish that lost connection.
Human life is full of immense possibilities. We have seen many scientists, artists, painters, architects, doctors, engineers, economists, and, in fact, people from so many different streams using the creative force within us to give shape to so many wonders in this world. Yet the creative energy within most people is wasted. Most people never get to realise their creativity. That's because they do not understand something very fundamental told by the Ramayana. Creative energy does not stay with divisions. We need to connect to our inner core to manifest that creativity. That's why love and freedom will be the fundamental driving forces of the lives of all creative personalities. The best of the books written on this earth will always be inspired by love and freedom. The best of the movies will be stories around love and freedom. The best of the scientific experiments will be inspired by love and freedom. I think we just need to connect our children to love and freedom, and the rest will take care of itself
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