Taming Your Trauma?
There is a lot of hyperbole about living a free life but the stark truth is that everyone is bound up in some form of conditioning. The majority of us are conditioned by the mode of Passion which is often sardonically referred to as the “Rat Race.” Going to work, raising children, keeping the car in good shape, paying bills, getting your taxes done and meeting ones social responsibilities all require huge amounts of our energy, time and resources. For the most part keeping all these things properly balanced and in place characterizes one who is in the mode of passion.
Some individuals have been conditioned by very unfortunate events which cause them to act in the mode of ignorance. History’s most evil personalities like Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Pol Pot often come to mind when we consider extreme cases of those dominated by the mode of ignorance. However as the family structure continues to degrade and advertisers strategize on how to break down the willpower of the individual, everything required to hold society together continues to be compromised.
Consequently the rate of mental illness keeps going up proportionately in step with the divorce rate, self-medication, and the raw hubris epitomized by those who believe man has the ability to actually discover the “Theory of Everything.”
Traditionally when a child has become old enough to first venture out into the world on his own, he does so knowing that if he happens to encounter the “Boogy-Man” he can run home to the security of his own loving parents. However in today’s dysfunctional world, far too many innocent children have become severely traumatized by the fact that one or both of their parents are the“Boogy-Man!”
The National Association on Mental Illness (NAMI) estimates that one out of every four individuals in the USA is being treated for some type of behavioral disorder. The severity of our collective dysfunction becomes is even more alarming when we stop to consider how many people are maladjusted but are too conditioned to seek out help because they are in denial about the severity of their trauma.
Where Do You Invest Your Effort?
Those who are paying attention to all the strife in the world have grave concerns about how quickly everything is spinning out of control. Many invest huge amounts of their personal time pursuing political, scientific, or social solutions in a dedicated effort to ameliorate these problems. Deciding which candidate, research, or philanthropy to support is dependent on how one has been conditioned to think and react. How people respond to any given situation is influenced by how much they have been exposed to the various issues of the day such as discrimination, poverty, erosion of the environmental and international war etc. It is hard not to conclude that the escalation in mental disorders must be at least in part due to the fact that all of these efforts to reverse the cycle of ever increasing madness and social degradation have failed. Nothing seems to be working. Our self-destructive trend continues to spin out of control despite how well intended everyone may be.
Some understand the futility of pursuing man-made solutions and turn to their faith of origin in prayer. However the Judea-Christian-Islamic traditions are struggling to remain credible in a world that has become conditioned to believe that Science will solve all our problems. These theologies are also dependent on an intolerant exclusive approach towards spiritual relevance thus making them philosophically impossible to offer a paradigm for world peace.
Those who have been burned out or stood-up by religion find themselves leaning towards atheism. Atheists rebel against the whole concept of “Belief” but struggle with the conundrum of having to concede that they too can only “Believe” that there is no God being unable to prove a negative. No honest individual can definitively assert: “There is NO GOD!” That’s because doing so would require an investigation of every nook and corner of the universe to confirm that the divine isn’t hiding behind an asteroid or within a quantum particle?
(I must point out here that ironically Krishna states He IS EVERYWHERE! “Everywhere are His hands and legs, His eyes, heads and faces, and He has ears everywhere. In this way the Supersoul exists, pervading everything.” – Bhagavad Gita As It Is, Chapter13 “Nature the Enjoyer & Consciousness” Text14.)
The Buddhist tradition identifies “Desire” as the seat of our dissatisfaction but then turns around and teaches we should “Desire” to become “Desire-less?” A similar conundrum occurs with the concept of suppressing the Ego. “Ahh… I finally conquered my Ego!”
The point here is that the quest to end desires, stop the ego, or mechanically shut down ones senses is a popular factoid that collapses under careful observation and philosophical scrutiny. To suggest that any of these things in the age of Kali is a symptom of spiritual maturity is as absurd as suggesting a spiritually advanced soul can read books with his eyes closed. It is simply not possible.
Can’t Kill the Ego Or End Desires
One cannot stop breathing, desires or the ego but what one can do is change the nature of ones desires from selfish to selfless. One can stop egocentrically identifying with one’s body, place of birth, national origin, or physical attributes. When we are proud or even slightly motivated to preserve our mundane heritage we remain under the influence of our false ego which tells us that we are our body, culture, or heritage. When we come to the platform of knowing: “I am the eternal servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna” then we have finally arrived at and found our real ego. We are still an infinitesimally small, part and partial, eternal manifestation of that Supreme Lord, but we see our role clearly as the servant. At that point we no longer prance around thinking everything orbits around my false concept of self and that changes everything!
Let us consider the holiday season which is always peppered with all sorts of songs, illustrations and prayers for peace. We are very vocal about petitioning God to bestow peace on earth. But we are not so vigilante about responding to the simple requests the Supreme Lord makes of us for actually realizing peace.
Although atheism is growing very rapidly the majority of the population still claims to believe in God. But what percentage of the public is dedicating everything they do to the His service? How many people start each day excited to have the opportunity to do something for God? When considered from this benchmark, the majority of the public tends to completely ignore what God wants. So if we are not prepared to do what He asks from us, why should He be so concerned about what we want?
For example if we really want peace, Krishna has clearly given the formula for that, but few even know what that formula is and even fewer strive to integrate it into their life!
The conclusion is that we cannot shut down or avoid being conditioned any more then we can give up all desires, become egoless or annihilate the concept of the self as the Non-Dualists foolishly promote with their Advaita sophistry.
What we can do is strive to develop the qualities of goodness. From that platform we will be naturally attracted to the mode of Pure Goodness which gives us the opportunity to transcend the binding forces of all three of the modes of nature.
Haribolo Friends of the Vedas!
Please accept my respects,
The details for the next Bhagavad Gita As It Is Discussion In Ojai, Ca. Are:
1st Tue, Jan 5, 2016: Taming Your Trauma will be discussed at the Bhagavad Gita as It Is Fellowship: Everyone is conditioned by the 3Modes of Nature. Acknowledging that is the 1st step towards breaking free from the ropes of material entanglement. Learn how the sages transcended the anguish of suffering at the next AVA gathering!
Program Schedule:
7:30pm – 7:45pm – Kirtan(Congregational Call & Response Chanting) – Instruments Welcomed!
7:45pm – 8:30pm – Bhagavad Gita Fellowship Discussion (Sanskrit & Philosophy)
8:30pm – 9:00pm – Krishna Prasad – (Sacred Vegetarian Congregational Meal)
9:00pm – Onwards… Subject Appropriate Questions & Answers, Informal Discussion & Video
Telephone: (805)640-0405 Venue: 687 West Villanova Road Ojai, California 93023
Always Free!
Bhagavad Gita Study Guide – Chapter 14
Q1. What are the 3 modes of material nature? What are the characteristic and effects of each of the
3 modes on the conditioned soul?
The living entity is by nature transcendental, but when conditioned by the material world, he acts under the spell of material nature, which is divided into three qualities, or “modes” (gunas) the mode of goodness (sattva guna), the mode of passion (raja guna), and the mode of ignorance (tamo guna). These three conditioning forces, acting individually or collectively, influence the conditioned jiva’s psychophysical condition and actions.
-
The mode of goodness is illuminating and leads one to self-knowledge and happiness.
-
Conditioning by the mode of passion is characterized by furtive activities impelled by intense desire for material enjoyment, the end result being distress.
-
Those influenced by the mode of ignorance are characterized by ignorance, indolence, sleep and madness. (14.6-18)
I look forward to greeting everyone who can join us at our next gathering on this coming Tuesday!
Thank You!
mayesvara dasa ACBSP