VBT – Meditation 36.4
Meditative State
In the search for a meditative state of mind, that peril always exists. In the search of one’s own self, there is always a danger that you may choose the inner against the outer – then the withdrawal becomes schizoid because you become lopsided, you lose balance.
Balance is health. To lose balance is to lose health. And balance is sanity – to lose balance is to become insane. The fear is always there. The danger is always there. The danger comes because of your mind.
It is always easy for the mind to change its diseases. Somebody is mad after women; sex is his obsession. One day or other he will be fed up with this, tired of it all. He will start moving to the other extreme. He will start thinking of brahmacharya, celibacy, of becoming a Catholic monk or something.
There is danger. It is as if you have been eating too much and then one day you decide to fast. Eating too much is bad, but fasting is not better. In fact, by eating too much you are not going to die so soon; you may become heavier, fat, uglier, but you will linger on, you will drag on. But by fasting, within weeks you will disappear; you cannot survive more than three months. Both are dangerous.
Eating too much is neurotic. Fasting is the opposite of neurosis, but still neurotic. Have a balanced diet. Eat as much as is needed by the body; don’t go on stuffing your body. But this is how it happens. I have been watching people: whenever a society becomes very rich, fasting comes as a cult.
In India, Jainas are one of the richest societies – fasting is their cult, fasting is their religion. Now America is becoming very rich – fasting is becoming more and more fashionable. It is difficult to find a woman who is not on a diet. People go to nature clinics to fast.
A poor man’s religion is always of festival, feast. Mohammedans, poor people, feast when their religious day comes. They starve the whole year so of course on the religious day, at least on that day, they change their clothes – new clothes, colorful – and they enjoy. At least for one day they can enjoy it.
Jainas feast the whole year, and when their religious days come, they fast. That is logical. A poor man’s festival is going to be a feast; a rich man’s festival is going to be a fast. People move to the opposite extreme.
So when you start meditating, there is a danger that you may become too attached to this introversion. Meditation is an introversion; it leads you to your center. If you lose your elasticity and you become incapable of coming back to the periphery, then it is a withdrawal – and a dangerous withdrawal. It is schizoid. Be alert! That has happened to many people. The whole history is full of such people who became schizoid.
Tags: Meditative State
