ARANI SERIES
February 26, 2015
Spark 8
SHOULD OTHERS FEAR US?
This may not be visible on the surface but people live in fear of each other in this civilized society. We are afraid somebody will take away from us things that are very dear to us. People are afraid that we will take away from them things that we would love to have. When we hold on to things, we fear others; others fear us too. The spiritual truth is: There is freedom from fear only when we are truly selfless. For then we are neither interested in robbing anybody of anything; nor are we worried that somebody will rob us of something.
We may not generally recognize this. Everybody has some vested interest and is sure to turn violent if anybody endangers that vested interest. We have of course made enough laws and codes of conduct to protect what we possess. The comfort that we experience through our possessions or privileges seems to be not only right but natural too. Therefore we are normally concerned with protecting our benefits. Why should anyone take my hard earned money? How can it be ethically correct if someone takes a family member of mine away from me? How can anybody encroach upon my personal space? How dare somebody step on my toes?
Spirituality looks at life from a higher point of view. From its perspective, a whole lot of our concerns are nothing but psychological attachments. Umpteen laws of the land and countless codes of conduct generally serve to safeguard our comfort zone, and are actually a scheme of convenience. Without meaning these rules or systems need to be scrapped, the science of spirituality urges us to look beyond the security gained by outer arrangements. Can we be secure within us, through uprooting fear itself? Without saying, “Let somebody take away your property,” this insight suggests, “Can you be unattached to your beautiful house, which can pave the way for you to experience the natural and unconditional peace within you?”
A thief once stealthily entered the cottage of a sadhu on a beautiful full moon night. He searched for anything valuable in the hut of the pious man. Finding nothing the thief started moving away quietly. The sadhu was actually awake and understood what had happened. He followed the thief and, when the latter stopped, said to him sympathetically, “I wish I could give you the moon.”
“No one needs to fear me anymore,” says a mantra in the Aruneyi Upanishad1, describing the state of mind of somebody who is all set to renounce and walk free. Renunciation (sannyasa), as indicated in our scriptures, is not mere external change. It is primarily arriving at a state of mind where we derive our sense of security from something intangible, and not from material wealth or valued relationships. Traditionally it is God, Guru or the Self from whom we draw strength. Things of the world then assume secondary importance. Nothing prevents a man of detachment from owning a Mercedes but his heart knows the difference. Like others he would take all the care possible to protect his wealth but, if something were to go wrong despite all that, he would not be devastated. Though he is successful in the society’s eyes, he feels absence of pride in his bosom. He is also free of envy when he looks at what others possess.
This inexplicable inner security, which is irrespective of outer factors, is the state of mind where we can ‘renounce’ and try to grasp the higher truth. If we truly are in such a state of mind, and are not merely scholars, then no one needs to fear us. We would not – nay cannot – harm anybody.
Swami Chidananda
Notes:
1 abhayam sarva-bhootebhyah – mantra 3, Aruneyi Upanishad of Atharva Veda