This world is full of temptations. Since childhood, we have been chasing one temptation or another. Temptation of money, power, tasty food, social validation, some out-of-the-world experience, comforts, stature, positions, and so on. We chase one thing, get the same, and still do not get exhausted. Then we start chasing something else. Why don't we get exhausted? Why do we keep repeating the same cycle?
Probably because we have never given our 100% attention to anything. If we give our 100% attention to a relationship, why would we want another relationship? If we have even one person with whom we can be bare and discuss everything threadbare, why would we crave for another friendship? When we go to a hill station and do a tough trek that leaves us completely exhausted, why would we crave another trek? Something within us is incomplete and seeks completion from external objects. We will keep craving completion from external objects until we reach the limits of our effort and realise that we can't find that satisfaction in the outer world. Even if we exhaust our limits in one of the endeavours, we will realise that it's not possible to get that completion in the material world. An industrialist who has exhausted his limits with 100% attention would not take time to realise that it is not possible to get that completion through money.
There are two kinds of people in this world. First, producers and second, consumers. Consumers have a certain amount of currency available for exchange. They keep buying whatever producers produce. We don't have to work as hard as a farmer in the field or a cook in the kitchen to enjoy food because we can just go to a restaurant and order it. Money is a widely accepted medium of exchange for buying many goods produced by producers. Similarly, people gather knowledge to exert power over those who know little. Knowledge and positions of authority become currencies to buy that power. We often try to buy social validation with the currency of pretension and manipulation. We release only selected information to those around us and build our social image to get validation from society.
With the advent of technology, it has become all the easier for us to buy these consumer goods. With Zomato and Swiggy, tasty food is just one swipe away. With Paytm and UPI, we can make payments instantly. With flights connecting all parts of the world, we can travel to any destination with little effort or exhaustion. I recall going to Vaishno Devi 40 years back. We will go by train in the 2nd class non-AC sleeper class and then get a bus from Jammu and then after reaching Katra, will find out some dharamshala to stay. Then, after reaching the Bhawan, we will wait there, standing in the queues for hours to get our turn and take a bath in the common bathing ghats. One such journey was exhausting, which is why we used to feel fulfilled afterwards. Nowadays, people go to Vaishno Devi on a picnic. There are direct trains to Katra, with a helicopter service to Bhawan, where you can get VIP darshan. People go there every year or every few months. Will they still feel the same satisfaction as people in the past? No. Because it has become too comfortable.
In the present-day world, almost everything is for sale. We just need to earn the right currency to buy. We can manage our social image by managing our social media handles. We can gain from the world's experiences by following the special courses offered by the Gurus. We can get the right connections and get any work done. We are not putting our 100% attention on anything. That's why we don't have that experience of exhausting ourselves in even one single activity. In the Mahabharata, Bhishma is a character we respect despite fighting on the Kauravas' side. He had the boon of Ichha-mritu, i.e. he will choose the time of his death. He did everything to protect the kingdom of Hastinapur. Since he gave 100% attention and effort to protect the kingdom, he would not have any other desire left, and that's why he would be free after that. Had he not given his 100% attention, time, and energy to that task, some desire would have remained within him, and he would have set another target in his life. That's why giving our 100% attention, time, and energy to the task at hand is the best way to realise our limitations, and once we realise our limitations, we are free.
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