Tension of the Opposites

Sometimes we ask:

"For years, we have been coming to Satsang, listening to beautiful inspirational discourses, and doing seva and other things but yet we have not achieved the peace of mind. We don't feel that bliss. Why is that?"

Perhaps it is because of the 'Tension of the Opposites'. 

We hear and say one thing, but in reality, we do the opposite - and see the others also doing the opposite.

We constantly hear and even preach ourselves that Maya is Mithya – meaning money, world and its luxuries are simply illusion, false and useless. 

And yet, we all want more money and worldly things and pleasures. 

We preach:

"Kabeera garb na keejiye ooncha dekh aavaas"

"Do not be proud of your big and magnificent houses"

But at the same time, we take pride in building grand, marvelous and splendid Churches, Temples, Gurudwaras and religious places. 

We say that God is Almighty, all powerful. 

“Raakhaa ek hamaara swami” (Almighty God is our savior - protector)

and yet we think that we are the protectors of our Gods and want to guard them with maximum personal security. 

We believe and preach that we should be content with what we have – that we should live a simple spiritual life by fulfilling just the needs and necessities of life -

“Saain etta deejiye - jaa me kutumb smaaye

 Main bhi bhookha na rahoon aur saadh na bhookha jaye”

and yet – in reality - we want to have a luxurious life style – for ourselves and for the loved ones - including our gods,  idles or deities in the temples, churches and Gurudwaras etc.

This difference in speech and action causes imbalance and ‘tension of opposites’ in our sub-conscious mind. 

Its like the tug of war – a contest in which two teams pull at opposite ends of a rope. The center of the rope gets too much tension from both the sides - it keeps on moving to one side or the other, until it eventually gets pulled towards one side, which is stronger.

Similarly, our mind also gets stuck between the two opposite characteristics of our speech and action. Therefore, we are unable to attain the peace of mind and do not feel that Bliss which we want. 

The only way to attain that blissful state of mind is to be consistent with ‘speech and action’. 

If we really believe that the Maya is Mithya, then it should not play any major role in our life.

But if we want to enjoy both the worlds – spiritual and materialistic, then we should at least accept the reality of both and should not speak or preach so strongly about the Maya being just an illusion and useless. 

The inconsistency in our speech and action causes confusion – not only in our own mind, but in the minds of the listeners as well.

                                    ‘Rajan Sachdeva’