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Hari goes to a bar and orders
drinks for everyone around. He has a great time with everyone back-slapping
him and telling him what a great guy he is. As he is about to leave, the
bartender gives him the bill. Rattled, Hari says, I only ordered the drinks.
I didn't order the bill.
Most of us live
our life Hari, just as foolishly, just as brainlessly. We have no
recollection of asking for the bill as we go about acquisitions and
expectations of acquisitions. When the bill does finally arrive we are
startled, and depressed as this is not part of our expectation. There is a
saying: be careful what you wish for, for it many come true.
We are driven all our lives by our samskara.
These are our unfulfilled desires that are deeply embedded in our
unconscious mind. Most of the time, we are not even aware that these
samskara exist. However, they are what determine what our decisions will
be. They become our will. They drive us into illogical and irrational
decisions, even decisions that are harmful to us.
When you drink or smoke once in a while you
enjoy them. As long as you have the freedom to drop them you enjoy them.
When you get addicted to them they enjoy you. Addiction is when you do not
enjoy the habit but cannot do without it. You can get addicted to food, TV,
newspaper, gossiping, so many things. When you are addicted, food eats you,
cigarettes smoke you, and liquor drinks you. When you do not have the
freedom you are used; you are not in control however much you believe you
are; you desires control you and lead you into a vicious cycle of suffering.
Often people tell me that they have good
samskara. These memories help them improve their lives. As long as you live
in the past you cannot improve your life. You cannot drive forward by
looking backwards.
Meditation is the path to dissolve and burn
your samskaras. Meditation leads you into a nomind state where samskaras
cannot exist.
Meditation brings you into the present, the
here and now, where you are aware of what is buried in your unconscious and
have the energy to destroy your samskaras. You become liberated. We can live
our life in joy, without the fear of having to pay the bill. |