There is a beautiful story in the Bhagwat Puran in which Narad Muni is travelling with Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu realises that Narad has developed arrogance of being a bhakta. To help him see reality, Lord Vishnu sends him to bring a glass of water. Narad reaches home and asks for a glass of water. A beautiful girl comes out, and Narad falls in love with that girl. He forgets the task assigned to him and proposes to marry the girl. He marries the girl, and they have kids. He "loves" his family very much and makes every effort to make them happy. A massive flood hits the village, causing Narada to lose his wife and children. As he is drowning in grief, Vishnu appears and asks, "Where is my water? I have been waiting for hours."
What is the meaning of Narada's "love" for his family? What is the meaning of "happiness"? We go to a multiplex to watch a movie. The projector sends a beam of light to the screen, and we watch something happen on it. Soon, we identify with the characters on the screen. If it is a comedy, we start laughing; if it is a tragedy, we become pensive. Do we call the experience of a comedy movie "happiness"? Will somebody be happy if he keeps watching comedy movies all through his life, one show after another? What a stupid thought. It will, in fact, be torture. What is the reality behind the "happiness" of Narad while he stays with his family? Isn't that the same happiness we're all craving for? What is the reality behind Narad's " love " for his family? Isn't that kind of "love" idealised and worshipped by society?
How is the "love" and "happiness" of Narad different from the "love" and "happiness" of Lord Vishnu when he takes birth on this Earth as Krishna? The whole of the difference lies in the level of "awareness". While Narad forgets the "task". He was sent here to bring a glass of water. Krishna remembers the "task". He came to the earth to reestablish Dharma, and that's what he did all through his life. What makes the movie more enjoyable? When we lose the awareness of "self" and are completely engrossed in the movie, or second, when we are in our senses and experience the direction, acting, storyline, and editing unfolding before our eyes on the screen? The experience of watching a movie with these two mindsets is quite different. In the first case, we experience pleasure or pain depending on the storyline and become passive audiences. In the second case, we actively participate, and often watching a well-directed movie becomes a meditative experience.
Living life with awareness is quite different vis-à-vis living life with ignorance. I am right now in my 40s and meet many people almost every day. I see so many people suffering. Somebody is suffering because their husband passed away, somebody worries that their spouse has some other relationship and therefore may disappear from their lives. Somebody worries that children may not be as "successful" in their careers as they want them to be. Somebody takes a bad comment from the boss to heart. Everybody is suffering from one reason or another. At the same time, each one of these people would like to "enjoy" the "spikes" of pleasure as if that is the "end of the world". As if there is a deep "hollowness" within, and they desperately want to fill that vacuum with the spike of pleasure. Some are "lucky" to get that spike at their will, while some are not. I am really unsure whether the "lucky" ones are really "lucky" because that defers their "tryst with reality". In today's world, many people are seeking that "spike" through "so-called spiritual practices," where they gain the "inner justification" to pursue that "blissful state".
Change is a beautiful reminder of reality. When we experience the loss of a dear friend or family member, we get to see that "all of us are travellers in this world". Every time we go to the crematorium, we wonder where that "departed soul" has gone. But post that, even a hungry stomach demands food, and we become busy satisfying it. Because our hunger to know reality is not strong enough to prompt inquiry. Every time we visit the hospital, we get a reminder of the fact that the body is constantly fighting a battle to survive. That's why each and every moment of this "wonderful gift" is to be "intelligently" utilised. Every time we get to read about the survivors of an "acid attack, "" cancer, or "war" and see the scars on their bodies, we get a reminder about the temporality of beauty. Every time people speak ill of us, we get a reminder of the temporality of the self-image. We get all these reminders almost every moment. Why do we have "Ostrich Syndrome" that we somehow want to avoid difficult questions and run away from reality? Because, just like a drug addict, we live under the false hope that the next dose of the drug will make us happy, while the fact of the matter is that "inner hollowness" deepens.
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