This is when the input from our senses leads to obsessive compulsions, cravings and addictions instead of selfless desires. This may even generate unethical thoughts and habits in us. Often, when we feel, “By hook or by crook, I must accomplish this”, we may be tempted to use even devious means to achieve what we want. Such obsessive desires frequently take us to two extremes, making us either too aggressive or too submissive.
We may become completely insensitive and tyrannise and trample over the feelings of others in order to fulfill our desires, or when these desires are not fulfilled, we may be overcome by deep dejection and hopelessness. Then we feel very lonely and think that nobody cares for us and there is nobody to understand, support or help us. We may even go to the extent of contemplating suicide as our willpower declines further. If we get such feelings, we should immediately realise that our desires are driven by inertia or excessive expectation and whatever we are doing at that time is contrary to the divine will. Such feelings arise only when our thoughts, desires and actions are not in tune with the divine will. The remedy for this lies in the mind itself. The problems that arise in the mind should be resolved by the mind itself through meditation, but to do this we require a lot of vitality. Meditation will gather this vitality, and give us a thinking mind that is sensitive, open to caring, sharing and learning, so that it spontaneously heals the needs of others. Then our minds become pure, soft and flexible.
‘See no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil’ is a very famous saying. When we use our senses to tune in only to the good and divine qualities in everything around us, the mind will also automatically stop thinking evil or negative thoughts. Then, even when we see or hear things which are bad or unpleasant, they also become sources of learning for us. They show us how not to be. For example, if we see someone who is rude, overbearing, a gossip or a sadist, we understand how detrimental this can be to inner growth and outer progress and eliminate or avoid such shortcomings in ourselves. And when we see an object of great natural beauty like a tree, hill, river or ocean, we think, “If this is so beautiful, how incredibly beautiful the divine being who created it must be!” When we smell a fresh rose or jasmine in our garden, we think, “By meditating more and more I must make my mind so fragrant that it selflessly spreads the fragrance of love to all beings.” When we hear, touch or taste something lovely, we think, “I want to hear the song of my Soul, touch its softness and taste its sweetness all the time.”
Even when we look at wonderful man made gadgets, vehicles, buildings or anything else, we think with awe and wonder of the creativity, intelligence, inspiration and motivation that has gone into its making.
It is because the inventor of that object made this invention his life’s mission with selfless dedication and sacrifice that we are enjoying his creation in our lives today. We also recognise the fact that the Soul of the inventor was the source of his creativity and selflessness. So, when we use our senses in the right way which is the divine way, everything we see, hear, smell, touch and taste links us to the Soul.
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