I do not want anyone to read this. It is groteque and may affect you adversely. This is not just an idle warning, something we read in fine print in anything you buy. I am quite serious. I even used the word macabre. Seriously.
You have been warned..
There is a big rift between what our logic says and what our desires want. Most people are foolish and they think desires and the heart are the same. But that is not true. They like to say it is the same – desires and heart. That way they can follow words given by more foolish people – follow your heart. And go down the rabbit hole of desires
So why is it we cant see things for what they are. Let us start with – you are watching TV. Like this is so common in USA (not so much in Europe) a great show is interrupted by …advertisements. Many different types. And during election time – we have the pleasure of watching mud slinging. But the advertisements are often directed towards food. They show some pretty popcorn or pie. Looks delicious. They often use vivid colors to enhance the effect. They show an oven and show a few people taking a bite and they go…oooooh! Now, sitting on your sofa or bed you know the reality. The reality is the pie was fake, and the people going ooooooh…did not really like it…they were acting. For them it was not anything joyous, just a job for making money by going with a fake ooooh !
However, what was the effect on you? They planted seeds of wanting popcorn or pie..or whatever it was…But it was not real. And you got….conned. And this will happen a million times over. You are quite defenseless. You may not succumb to it…but still you wanted it
The same thing when they show a vacation spot. People enjoying it…so happy, so many fun activities ….and we want to go there… The sad reality is we are controlled by money and jobs and cant do it…but we now have a list of things we want to do, often part of a bucket list. Lets say we go there. It was fun, but may not match the fun we thought it would be. Maybe it does.
Here is the catch – why do we love it so much? We love it a lot because, we dont have work, household chores, dishes, cooking etc and away from responsibilities. The place may be nice but the things that we really loved is the absence of the stressors of life.
While we are at it, – this is a common dating trap. People go on a date, they have a wonderful time. Once again, the good time is from the meals and the activities but we give credit to the date and end up marrying. Wrong and most certainly defective thinking. However, these subtle problems eludes the mind.
What I have exposed is our innate desire for things in life. We may love to travel, see wonderful things. We love music. We love to be admired and to be liked. We love food. And then we love sex. We are unwilling to give up these pleasures. When we turn to spirituality, we try to control it and say we want to go beyond it, but just cant. And then we justify it by being a “karma yogi”. Now mind you, spirituality does not say it is wrong. What is wrong is we are constantly identified with the body and not the pure free wonderful spirit. If we were not identified with body, we would not have the strong desires for food and sex and travel.
So far, I have talked about TV and how we get conned. The same is true when we see glamour of the rich and famous and of the actors, actresses. And then how we get conned by a great date. So foolish. And we mistakenly think it is love. Now, to the macabre part
What about in real life. You go to the beach. Or go just to the mall. (Hey, wait a minute, do malls still exist?). And you see – someone. I wont give gender. Whatever your cup of tea is. The person is well dressed, Perfect figure. Has an awesome smile. Suddenly, your hormones kick in. Your mind now, paints an imaginary image that this person (am I doing ok with being gender neurtal?). In your mind, the appearance of the person, is associated with the person being just awesome. You know that your mind and emotions are not co operating, and you know it is irrational, illogical, but you really cant get past the strong emotions.
So what happened? Hormones? This is where the skin, conned you. If you can go past the appearance, the person who you thought is awesome, underneath the skin, is nothing more than flesh, blood, and filled with urine and feces. Reminds me of the movie, from Disney, flight of the navigator. The UFO calls the kid a bag of water (the human body is 98% water??). So how quickly did we get conned by appearances! But remember, the same person you found attractive, is filled with desires. Often irrational. Selfish, and willing to go to extremes to get the desires filled! Plus often have personality issues of anger, laziness, and an unnecessary addiction to TV, booze, etc.
I drew a macabre picture. Often times in the Vedas they suggested this technique to somewhat control your attraction to people. However, if you are married, you must fulfill your responsibility also.
However, somehow, someway, the attraction to the world should be curtailed. If you truly want to know your true atman. You cannot know your atman, when your mind dwells on the body and the world. The Atman is a self sufficient, elegant, incredible, wonderful..(sorry I cant use any other noun after this). We loose our connection from it – so quickly from the power of Maya, especially when we succumb to her, from the attractions of the world, totally unable to look beyond the skin!
Bhavin