The Spirit Of Spirituality: Snakes and ladders in our lives

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Snakes and ladders in our lives

Chapter 2 - Bhagwad Gita - TEXT 62

dhyayato visayan pumsah sangas tesupajayate
sangat sanjayate kamah kamat krodho 'bhijayate

While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises.

Chapter 2- Bhagwad Gita- TEXT 63

krodhad bhavati sammohah sammohat smrti-vibhramah
smrti-bhramsad buddhi-naso buddhi-nasat pranasyati

From anger, delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost, one falls down again into the material pool.

All of us have played snakes and ladders in our lives and enjoyed the time when we got a ladder, and felt distressed when we encountered a snake. Let us look at a new snakes and ladder game that we encounter daily in our lives.

Imagine a situation where on the path we take, there are several ladders, each of different sizes and shapes and totally entangled, such that one ladder almost merges into another. Several people have told us that as we reach the top of the ladder, there is a pot of gold waiting A small set of people have told us that we may or may not get the pot of gold and that a snake will push us down. They have advised us not to get on the ladder, but showed us another road which appears thorn filled and dirty, but they say there is a bigger source of happiness on that road. Even when we get on the ladder, they tell us it is better to jump on to the dirty thorn filled road than continuing on the ladder.

If most of you are like me, I would prefer to take the ladder and hope I can get the pot of gold. If the snake were to push me off the ladder, I would probably go mad, curse the snake and possibly carry a gun to kill it the next time. I probably would not stop on getting my first pot of gold and would keep going up. Nor would I stop, if I get pushed by the snake and I would keep on trying for that pot, till I collapse.

Let’s apply this game to our lives. Our life appears hollow because we have separated from our true nature. To fill this gap, we go after external objects. These objects could be physical objects like wealth, emotional objects like love or intellectual objects like status. These are the pots of gold, we hope to get as we climb the ladder. Not all objects appeal to everyone obviously. A new advertisement for whisky, for example, will have no impact on me, but could have an impact on someone else. Depending on the individual proclivities which are driven by the inbuilt nature of an individual which in turn is governed by the vasanas, our thoughts will go to several objects simultaneously. These represent the ladders in the game. Of the several thoughts of objects, some thoughts stick and we decide to pursue that thought, which is equivalent to us taking the first step on the ladder to get the object. As we think more about the object, we feel an attachment for the object and this is our second step on the ladder. As the thinking continues, a binding desire builds up for the product. At this stage, we have to get the product because a lack of it makes us feel incomplete. Have we not seen the frenzy of people wanting iPhones, iPod’s etc.?

Now as we reach the top of the ladder, we may get our object of desire. But will we stop? After our iPhone we want iPod and what next? So after reaching the pot of gold at the head of a ladder, we will climb another. But what happens if someone or something prevents us from getting that object of desire? This thing that prevents us accessing our object of desire is the snake in my example. It could be my boss who gives a bad review and a bad bonus preventing me from acquiring that brand new BMW or it could be that old man who is preventing me from marrying the girl of my dreams. Once I am prevented from getting the object I desire, my first reaction is anger towards the entity preventing me from getting the object. The anger gradually turns into bewilderment or agony or a hopelessly lost state of mind towards the person/entity which is between me and my object. As this continues, emotionally I am lost and forget myself, my manners, and my standards of behavior. In effect, I am cut off from the source which tells me the right thing to do and the wrong things to avoid. In the final stage, my intellect also leaves me and I may take a hasty action like shouting at the boss or hitting out at the man opposing my marrying his daughter. Thus the snake that prevented me from getting the object has pushed me down completely with disastrous consequences.

So a small thought towards an object became an attachment and finally a binding desire. On the downside, when we do not get the object, it leads to anger which manifests as helplessness/bewilderment which leads to memory loss of good/bad and finally to destruction.

One may ask, what if I get the object? Then there is a constant worry about preserving the object and the fear of losing it.

So, what is the way out? Can we stop thinking? This is impossible. The nature of the mind is to be wavering and always looking out for sense objects. Only when we become aware of the pitfalls of continuing the thought process, we have a chance of avoiding the ditch we will fall into. A good driver who has knowledge of the curves of a road can avoid an accident and the same good driver, without knowledge can cause an accident. In the same way, each of us, if we do not have knowledge of the destructive power of thoughts of objects can lead ourselves to decline.

In the game, I mentioned about a dirt filled thorny road. This is the spiritual path where the desire is to understand my true nature and realize I am happiness incarnate and I do not have to go out to the world to keep myself happy. This path appears difficult in the beginning and that’s why very few people want that road. But once we are on the road of spiritual awareness with the only desire being to achieve that permanent bliss by awakening my true nature, the road gradually becomes better and leads to bliss.

As readers may be aware, 3 of my books on spirituality are available on Amazon.com.

I invite readers of my blog to try any of the books and give me feedback so that I can make changes in the next edition.

1. My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality

My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality