Non Attachment 10

Life is very complex, it is vast and deep. It is like an ocean of consciousness which is constantly creating waves. If we say a word here and now, do we think it will die soon after it is uttered? No, we may not be here tomorrow, but this single word uttered by us will continue to affect the world till the end of time. And if we don’t say a word, if we remain silent, then our silence too will continue to affect the world endlessly. Who will be responsible for it when we are gone? Perhaps the wave that gave rise to the wave which drowned the man in the ocean is no more in existence, and we will not hold it responsible for the man’s death. But Krishna will definitely hold that wave responsible. Krishna will never let it go blameless. Krishna will say that both our being and non-being have hand in creating this great web of life on earth, and in no way we can escape involvement and responsibility. In fact every wave is a member of every other wave and is responsible for every other wave. Sannyas affirms that everyone is inseparably involved in this vast world of action and we cannot run away from it. Therefore it is good to know on our own, that we do even when we don’t do anything, we are responsible even for our inaction. 

The other side of the coin, according to Krishna, is to know I am not doing even when I am doing something. Ordinarily this side seems simple, but knowing the side of total involvement in the whole pattern of action, we cannot say it is that simple. It is very difficult. Some of us can say glibly that we can do things as if we are acting, but it is easier said than done. The truth is that even professional actors often forget they are actors and they become doers. They become so involved in acting that they think they are the very roles they are expected to lay. They become so conditioned by long acting that they forget altogether their reality, they begin to identify themselves with their roles. They become what they are long accustomed to act. So when actors become victims of deluded identification it is really difficult for us in real life to conduct ourselves as if we are actors on stage. To take life as playacting is arduous, but not impossible. If we carefully watch the way we live, if we closely observe our daily life, it will not take long to know that we are really acting. When someone asks, how are you? When we say at meetings to someone, we are happy to see them.  Whenever we do something and think our self to be a doer- and such moments are many- reflect inside if what we have done is real. Even when we say to our beloved one, “I love you with all my being and I cannot live without you.” We must look back and examine our self and the comment.  “Is it true that I cannot live without my lover?” and we will clearly know how we act in our day to day life. We must watch every step of our life, every single thing that we do, every word that we say, and we will realize that is different from playacting. 

Wishing you good health and happiness,

Dr. Dwarakanath, Director, Mitran foundation- the stressmanagement people