Don’t Hold On – In Gita Verse 17.2 The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: According to the modes of nature acquired by the embodied soul, one’s faith can be of three kinds – in goodness, in passion or in ignorance. Now hear about this.
Krishna says that all your misery is because you are mindful of three kinds – in goodness, in passion or in ignorance; if you are mind-less of them, how can they hold you?
In fact, you are holding them – all your headaches. You are clinging to them. Without them, what are you going to do?
The whole art of revolutionizing your individuality is very simple: don’t hold on to anything that mind brings to you. And remember that mind persuades you – “This is very beautiful. There is no harm, you can hold it.” But once you hold it, soon you become aware that only the appearance is beautiful; inside it is a whole hell. But now you cannot leave it either, you have become habituated to it.
Mind is a great salesman. That’s why everybody is in so much trouble. Mind goes on telling you, “Hold this trouble, it is so beautiful. Go on a honeymoon. Don’t miss this point.” But as you reach the honeymoon hotel, all the romance is already finished. As you look closely at the woman, and she looks closely at you, you know: “My God!” You are carrying all the suitcases – “just married”… and it is the beginning of all misery.
But this is not only about marriage; this is about everything. The problem basically is, the moment you hold something you are no more a witness. You have lost your watchfulness, and that is your authentic being. You become identified with anything you hold.
IF YOU DO NOT TAKE THE TROUBLE TO DIFFERENTIATE AND GRASP APPEARANCES, YOU WILL REALIZE TAO IN AN INSTANT.
‘Tao’ is the Chinese word for dharma, for the truth.
IF YOU FOLLOW OTHERS, AND SUCCEED IN LEARNING SOMETHING BY KEEPING YOURSELVES BUSY WITH YOUR STUDIES, YOU WILL FINALLY RETURN TO THE REALM OF BIRTH AND DEATH.
Unless a deep meditation cleanses you of your mind completely, you are going to be born again and again and suffer again and again. It is almost a wheel which goes on moving – from birth to death, from death to birth – and you are glued to the wheel, crushed by it, but you don’t leave it. You are afraid: “If I leave it, in this vast universe I will be lost!”
It happened to a man who was lost in the mountains and could not find the way back to his home.
The sun was setting and he became more and more afraid and nervous. The night started coming, and everything became silent and dark. Now he started moving very slowly, because one never knows where one is going. In fact he came to the dead end of a small pathway, and he fell from that dead end, but clung to some roots.
The night was cold. His hands became almost frozen, they lost the capacity to hold on anymore. He remembered his god, he remembered even other people’s gods. Somebody may help! He recited whatever he knew of the scriptures but… no way. The hands were getting colder and they started slipping from the roots.
He said good-bye to the world: “I’m finished, I don’t know how deep the valley is in which I’m going to fall, or how many fractures, or how many pieces of me will be found. But that is not my problem,” he thought. “That is others’ problem.”
But such tears! – And he had always thought of leaving the world because it is so troublesome. Now a good chance was there, but he was holding on.
The coldness went on becoming deeper and deeper, and finally he had to let go of the roots. And just as he was surprised, you will be surprised: he was standing on the ground! All the night long, only six inches down was plain ground, his way back home.
But that night he suffered almost a hell. The whole night, the coldness, the every-moment fear, that “Now it is becoming more and more difficult to hold on to the roots.” He could not believe that he would ever see another day, another sunrise.
But when he fell down – just six inches – he could not believe it! He looked all around. Just nearby was his house. He said, “My God! I unnecessarily provoked all the gods, recited all the scriptures that I have memorized – for nothing! Just six inches down!”
Krishna says that is exactly your situation. You are holding so tight. To what are you holding? And Krishna is trying to persuade you not to hold, because just below, six inches down, is your very center of being, your eternity.
Tags: Don’t Hold On
