FEAR acronym – How to find inner security
So, I'll be speaking today on the topic that we all will have felt the need for some time or the other. Security is an innate human need. And we seek security in various ways.
The first time in my life when this need for security was felt was, I had gone with my parents in 1984 on about to a tour of a tourist place, and when we were coming back at that time, the Prime Minister of India was assassinated. And it led to riots all over the country. And then we were at one railway station, we were going to catch a transit to another railway station.
And that was the place which was the hometown of the Prime Minister. And it was on fire at that time. So, at that time, we just, when we were in the train, this was 1980s, we didn't have internet, we didn't have mobile, so we had no idea what had happened.
We got down at the station, and then we panic all around. And then we somehow managed to get into another train. The train was, you may have seen some pictures of trains in India, that the capacity is 50, but there are 250 people in the train.
So, it is like that. And at that time, as I was just a very small child at that time, but my enduring memory was that, when I was trying to move as fast as possible, as inconspicuously as possible, with my parents and all the other passengers also waiting in the transit. What struck me at that time was, how vulnerable our existence is.
At that time, the thought was, the security is, if you just get into a train, and then we'll go away from here. The place where I was, I was thinking, this is a very insecure place, just get out of this place, and we would reach our destination, and we'd be safe. And yes, fortunately, we did reach, we did reach safely.
But then, a day after that, the same train by which I had travelled, that train went with an accident. So, then it struck me that if that had happened the previous day, the very thing that I was thinking would give me security, would actually have taken away my security. I might have been safer on the platform than in that train.
So, where exactly do we get security? So, the world around us is a place of constant change. And amidst this change, we are constantly trying to make some arrangement by which we can have some stable ground to stand on. So, the search for security, now from, we may have bolts to our houses, to backups for our data.
We may, when we form relationships, we may have, we may seek assurances from others, and we may get insurances for our various possessions. And, of course, at a broader level, if we have physical threats, we may wear armours, national level, we may have armies. So, all these are ways in which we are searching for security.
And every need that we have, there is a, there is a authentic way in which that need is fulfilled. And there is an artificial way by which the need appears to be fulfilled, but actually things are made worse. It is like food is an essential need.
There are some foods which nourish the body. And there are some foods which actually are junk food. They appear to nourish the body, they may taste good, but then they ruin the health.
So, similarly, with respect to security, there is, based on our need for security, a whole security theatre. That means a lot of dramatic activities that are done, which we think will provide us safety. But whether they actually enhance our safety or not, for those who are in the know, it is a debatable question.
One of my friends is a pilot and he told me that the airport security, especially after 9-11 and other incidents, has been tightened significantly. And at one level, it is an advantage that things have been made much more careful. But he said that very increased appearance of security can cause insecurity.
How? Because people will become complacent. We have such vigilance, nothing can sneak in. No, there is no security as vital as simply caution.
If the illusion of security makes us feel there is no need for caution, then that may cause insecurity. So, there are many activities in our life, which we normally think are safer, but they may not be. So, here are two common examples.
When we have a little control over things, we feel that we are safer. So, if we are travelling in a plane, we are just a passive passenger over there, there is no control. But if we are driving our own car, we think, okay, I am in control.
If something goes wrong, I can steer my car to safety, I can stop the car, I am much more in control. So, we feel that when we are having some control, that is safer. And after the 9-11 attacks for some time, people were so fearful that they tried to avoid air travel and use alternative means.
But statistically speaking, actually travelling by car is much more dangerous than travelling by air. Because air traffic accidents are so visible, that is why we come to know about them much more. Car traffic accidents are so common, normally for us on the horizon of our consciousness, car traffic road accidents basically come as simply as delays in our roadmap.
Apart from that, we do not think much about them. But air accidents are much more visible. Now, normally, if we are staying at home, maybe sitting comfortably and watching TV, I think I am safe at home.
And if we go out jogging in the morning, and we might be having a little fear, maybe somebody might attack me, somebody might steal something from me. Yeah, it is possible that at home we may be safer, and outside we may be in more danger. But again, statistically speaking, people who stay a lot at home and are sedentary, the probability of them getting a heart attack and dying is more than the probability of somebody in the streets who has gone out for walking or jogging being attacked.
So, here the point I am making is that there is an authentic need for security. And consciously or subconsciously, we do many activities to seek security. But often the activity that we seek due to security may not actually increase the security.
They only increase the illusion of security. And often the illusion of security can be the greatest enemy of security. So now, how do we deal with the situation where change is constant? Where do we find security? So, one of the insights which you could use here is that, actually, the world is in a constant state of flux, and we are a part of the world.
So, seeking security as our topmost virtue, as our topmost goal, is like trying to hold breath. Breath is precious for our life. But to hold the breath is to lose the breath.
The way we protect our breath is by letting it flow. Breath is precious, but breath is of no use if it is not flowing, if it is not moving. So, similarly, the world is in a constant state of flow.
There is a famous Greek philosopher, Sophocles said that, actually, we don't enter into the same river twice. I may go for swimming one day, I may go one hour later, but the river is constantly changing. So, if seeking security becomes the driving purpose of our life, then we miss the purpose of life.
A society that, or an individual whose purpose of life, I want to be safe, I want to be safe, I want to be safe, if that's the primary purpose, then it becomes like a person trying to hold their breath. And a society that is centred on seeking security constantly, where everybody is seeking more and more security, it's like people entering into a breath retention contest. The more breath you retain, the more we are actually suffocating ourselves.
In one sense, we could say a high security prison is a safe place. But it is not, unless, of course, we consider there are gangs in the prison also who may attack each other, but otherwise safe, but we want security, but security is not our only need. It's just like food, it's a vital need.
But if we make food our only need, our driving need, defining need, then we miss the point of life. So, with this, understanding that things are always going to change. And to seek security, we need to learn to move with the flow of life, just as breath is of use to us when it is moving, not when it is held.
Similarly, for us, security is to be found within the moment of life, not by trying to control the moment of life in a way that we feel safe. So, to make better sense of this, this need for security and the reality of change around us, it is normally this change which causes insecurity, whether it is change in our health situation, change in our financial situation, change in our job situation, change in our relationship situation, that's what causes insecurity. And especially with the world no longer being structured the way it was in the past, in the past the family structure was stabler, people's professions were more or less well defined for life.
But now things have changed so much that seeking security through externals has almost become a recipe for living insecurity. Because the externals are changing at a very fast pace, and we don't even know what change will come next. One of my friend is a psychologist, he is telling me about the level of insecurity.
He said that today, if people go to office, there's no guarantee they will have their job. If they come back home, there's no guarantee they will have their spouse. So, that way, there is, where do we find security? So, the yoga texts of ancient India explain where our longing for security comes from, and where it can be fulfilled.
So, they offer us a model of the self, which is three level. So, we could say that the self, we are not just our body, it's the body, the mind, and the soul. That is like the hardware, the software, and the user in a computer system.
And the body and the mind, the body can broadly refer to physical reality. The mind can refer to our thoughts, emotions, desires, attachments, aversions. So, these are in a constant state of change.
The physical reality around us changes, and the mental reality, the mind also flickers, much faster than the physical reality also. So, as long as we are seeking security at these two levels alone, we will stay rooted in insecurity. So, it is when we learn to recognise our essential spirituality, that we can find security.
The search for security is ultimately the search for spirituality, whether we know it or we don't know it. Now, some of us may say, is this spiritual stuff really real? Or is it just something which some people believe? Yeah, it could be just the belief of some people, but there are inferences that we can make from our observations. So, if you look around us, as I mentioned, nothing lasts forever.
And yet, all of us have an innate and deep rooted desire to live forever. So, where does this come from? If our entire being is simply a product of our environment, then in an environment where nothing lasts forever, why do we have such a strong longing to live forever? Suppose there were a remote African tribe, which has no connection with the rest of the world. And one day, the child there comes home and says to his mother, mom, I want a pizza.
What do you think the mom will ask for the first thing? What do you think she'll ask? Yeah. What is a pizza? And where did you hear about it? There's nowhere in the environment, there's any idea of a pizza. So, similarly, there's nothing in our environment, which we'll talk about, which lives forever.
So, why do we have this longing to live forever? Could it be because there is a core within us, which is indestructible, and which is eternal, which lives forever. And it is that we are seeking externally instead of internally. It's something to think about.
Now, here, I'd like to do a thought experiment to further illustrate this point of how we could have a personal understanding or glimpse of this three-level model of the self. So, wherever you are, you can sit comfortably and close your eyes and you can take three deep breaths. One, two, three.
Now, as you're taking deep breaths, try to notice your own body and check which parts of your body are tense. And try to make a conscious effort to let them relax. Often, the way to notice and get relaxation is to first do the opposite.
So, you could clench your fists as tightly as possible and then take a deep breath and then as you release the breath, release your fists. As the breath goes out, as your body relaxes, you can start feeling yourself more at ease. Once again, become aware of your hand as you tighten it into a fist, as you clench it and tighten it as much as you can, breathe in deeply and release the hand, release the fist and release the breath.
Now, we'll do the same action again but with one important addition. Instead of just being aware of your fists clenching and unclenching, try to visualise your fists. So, you could visualise one fist, whichever hand you use the most, say the right or left and in your mind's eye, try to visualise that fist as you clench it.
As you release it, visualise all the stress, the tension going out of it. Once again, try to visualise that fist as you clench it now on your inner screen. Focus your attention not on the hand now but on the image that you are seeing on that inner screen, the image of your clenched hand.
And as you take a deep breath and release, keep your attention on that image of the screen, image of the hand. Take a deep breath and let go and unclench your fist. As you let your body relax, you can see at one level, you can sense your body relaxing, you can sense your fists and hands relaxing.
At the same time, you can see the image of that hand, the unclenched fist on that inner screen. That inner screen on which you see your fist, that inner screen is your mind and you, the seer of that inner screen are different from your mind. You are the soul.
In the first part of the exercise, you, the soul were conscious of your fists as you clenched and unclenched them. In the later part of the exercise, when you focused on the inner screen, you, the soul were conscious of your mind. And the mind was reflecting, depicting what was on your body, what was happening in your body.
So, there are these three distinct dimensions to your being, the physical, the mental, and the spiritual. And you, the soul, can be conscious of the physical, of the mental, and the spiritual. You can take one deep breath and open your eyes.
Thank you. So, normally, when we function, the way we function is that this outer scene, which you could say, where the hand is there, which I am clenching it, the inner screen, which is the mind, where we perceive things, and the inner seer. Normally, these three come together in one line, and that happens so quickly and so naturally that we are not even aware of it.
So, right now, you are looking at me, I am looking at you, and you are seeing me. So, as you are looking at me, a replica of me is appearing on your inner screen, and you are responding to that. But when we did this thought experiment, we could see that the physical reality and the mental reality are two distinct things.
They could be connected, but still they are distinct. Say, when we are daydreaming, the physical reality is one thing, sometimes we are talking with someone, and then sometimes we can make out from the people's eyes that they are going somewhere else. And then we say, earth to you, earth to you.
They have gone on a space travel. So, when this happens, basically, the outer scene and the inner screen, they start showing two different things. This understanding is critical for us to recognise how we can find security.
When we are overcome by fear, essentially, what is happening? Actually, when we are overcome by fear, we, the seer, are observing something which is threatening either the physical reality or its image is coming at the level of the mental reality. The outer scene is having something threatening or the inner screen is showing something threatening. And more often than not, the inner screen can distort what is there in the outer scene.
When we, most of the times, when we get worried about things, especially severely fearful, panicky, what is happening at that time? In terms of this model of the inner screen, essentially, when we are looking at the outer world, the inner screen, instead of being like a window to the outer world, becomes like a TV screen. And it starts displaying different kinds of images. So, it may start displaying a horror movie.
This may go wrong, that may go wrong, that may go wrong, that may go wrong, that may go wrong. And in this horror movie, we are not the spectators, we are the victims. So, we may be physically not in a very dangerous situation.
But when the inner screen starts showing us all kinds of dangers, we become fearful. So, worry is often the interest that we pay on loans we haven't yet taken. The problems may not have happened actually at all.
There may be some problem right now, but our mind imagines so many other problems. And that is what makes things much worse. So, for dealing with such fearfulness that comes upon us, I will talk about an acronym which will be these four points, fear, f-e-a-r, focus, engage, arise, and release.
So, let us look at this acronym now in terms of the metaphor of the inner screen. So, as I mentioned, when you focus, at that time the inner screen becomes like a TV and it starts showing a horror movie. The problem is that when we are watching a horror movie, we know we are watching a horror movie.
But in this case, we do not know there is a horror movie and it is a movie, we start thinking it is a reality. I was at a friend's house last year when I had come to California here. He had a house with a view of a forest in the background, nice greenery, and we were sitting looking through a big window at the forest and chatting.
And suddenly, I saw a huge gorilla appear through the wilderness and charge towards the house. This gorilla was of the kind you might see in Planet of the Apes, huge. And it started charging towards, raising its arms to smash the window.
As I started becoming a little alarmed, I looked at him, I found him grinning, trying to conceal his laughter. I looked again and noticed he had some kind, something in his hands. It seemed to be something like a remote.
And then as this gorilla was about to hit the window, he clicked the button and the gorilla disappeared. I said, what was that? Then he told me he had designed that window in such a way that it could double as a TV screen. And just for entertainment, he had got a movie clip with animation made in such a way that there was a gorilla appearing in the same background as the background that was seen from his window.
So, for somebody who doesn't know that it's functioning as a TV, that person will get alarmed. Similarly, for us, when we start becoming fearful, today's problems can always be dealt with today. But it is when we start piling on top of today's problems, yesterday's problems and tomorrow's problems, then it becomes unbearable.
If, say, we had to carry our suitcase while travelling, we can do it, even if we had to lift it. But suppose all the passengers of the plane came and put their suitcases on our suitcase and now carry it, we will not be able to move it one bit. Similarly, for us, life determines our problems, but our mind determines the size of those problems.
When we magnify those problems, that is when we become overwhelmed. So, focus means, as soon as this inner screen starts becoming like a TV and starts showing a horror movie, we pause it. How do we pause it? By asking the question, what exactly is the problem right now? What exactly is the problem right now? Yes, there could be many problems, but what exactly is the problem right now? I remember the first time I gave a public talk, it was almost 35-36 years ago, I was a small kid, and I was so fearful at that time.
I was going on stage and I was supposed to recite some verses from a sacred text and explain those verses. So, just before I went there, something inside me said, you are going to make a fool of yourself. And then, so I went there and I started speaking.
Generally, for me, the more nervous I get, the faster I speak. So, that I had prepared for about a five-minute talk, six-minute talk, and I started speaking fast, and I was speaking so fast, nobody could understand it. And because nobody was paying attention, I became more nervous, I started speaking faster.
And in three minutes, I had finished the six-minute talk. I didn't know what to do for the next three minutes. So, at that time, when that happened first time, the second time when I had to give, I couldn't speak for almost a year after that in public.
But the next time when I went, one of my mentors told me that, don't worry about the speech. Don't worry about the audience. Just focus only on the next thought that you have to speak.
Just focus on the next thought. What is the thought I am speaking right now? Just finish it, go to the next thought. And I found that very, very effective.
There is one secret over there. If you are focussing on one thought only, then what happens, even if you forget the next thought, you can come up with some other thought at that time. But if you think of the whole speech, okay, after this, this, after this, this, this, and then if you miss one, you just get completely lost by that.
So, basically, when the mind starts making it into a horror movie, at that time, pause it. What exactly is the problem right now? When, see, usually fear comes like a mist. When it's a mist, it just creates an inner blank.
We can't see anything. And we can't even fight mist. What do you do? On the other hand, when we ask this question, what exactly is the problem right now? That mist which is covering the whole space in front of us, that mist gets reduced to one manageable chunk.
Okay, this is the exact problem right now. There may be many problems which I have to deal with in the future. But what exactly is the problem right now? If we come to office and we find a boss looking at us in a strange way, the train shoots off.
Why do they look at you like that? Maybe they're going to fire you. Oh no, if you're fired, what's going to happen to you? How will you pay your mortgage? Where will you live if you're evicted from your house? It's so cold. And we may be sitting comfortably in AC right now, but we'll be trembling thinking we'll be in the cold future.
So, at that time, okay, what exactly is the problem right now? Oh, my boss look at me in a strange way. But what exactly is the problem right now? I'm going to be fired. What exactly is the problem right now? Oh, you know, I had to meet a deadline and I have not yet made the deadline right now.
Okay. So this way, when we get the first point of focus, then we get to the second point of engage. Engage means we ask ourselves the question, what can I do about it right now? So we, the inner screen is becoming like a movie and shooting off in a particular direction.
We pause it and then we direct it. Okay. This is the problem.
What can I do about it right now? Just by asking these two questions, we start connecting with things as they are and not with things as we imagine them to be. When this happens, we engage. These two questions basically help us to live in the present.
We often say we should live in the present. How do we do that? These two questions can help us. What is the exact problem right now? What can I do about it right now? Basically, we interact with the world in two ways.
We take in information from outside and we do action on the outside. So in both these, we bring both these interactions to the current situation by these two questions. And thus, the huge mist of fear that seems to be enveloping and paralysing us becomes reduced to one actionable obstacle that we have to deal with, one manageable obstacle that we have to deal with.
So I said earlier that life determines our problems. We determine their size. So these two points, focus and engage, what they do is they make sure that the mind doesn't exaggerate, doesn't expand the size of the problem.
The size of the problem right now, we ensure that it is what we have to deal with right now, not what we deal with in the future. So there is this inner seer is here, the inner screen is here, the outer scene is here. So we make sure the inner screen doesn't go off in the past or future and make the present scene appear more scary than what it needs to be, than what it is.
But even if we do this, we may say, still I have that problem out there. I can't just wish away that problem. It is there.
So now that after we deal with the mental aspect of the problem, now for dealing with the physical aspect of the problem, the next two parts will be, we will talk about it now. So the next is arise. Arise means that we realise that we exist above our situations and above our emotions.
The situation is there, but the situation doesn't threaten us immediately. Because we do not, although the physical level of reality is a level of reality and we have to deal with it, but we do not belong there. We belong at a higher level.
And this is the understanding of ourselves as the inner seer. We could, I talked about this hierarchy of screens, of scene, screen and seer. We could turn it vertically.
There are three levels of reality. So if we are caught completely in the physical level of reality, then we will be overwhelmed. This is terrible.
If say, if there is a huge stormy wave in the ocean, and we are caught in the ocean, we will be battered, not only battered physically, but really panicky internally. But if we are lifted above by a helicopter, then the wave is there. But we understand, I am not there.
I am concerned about the wave, but I am not threatened by it. So the various processes of spiritual growth and meditation and mantra chanting, they're all meant to raise our consciousness to the spiritual level, to arise, to rise to this level by which we can perceive things from a detached, not uninvolved or unconcerned, but detached in the sense of being secure perspective. When I travel across the world, I have normally pleasant experiences at immigration, but sometimes they're not that pleasant.
About a year and a half ago, when I had come to America, I, at the immigration, I was just going through, I had to catch another connecting flight to go to another city. But as I was going through immigration, suddenly a loud alarm rang. And I usually use a wheelchair assistant to go along.
I said, I, I had gone through and my luggage was going through. So suddenly, as I was sitting on my wheelchair, from nowhere, four or five security guards appeared with their guns pointed at me. They said that, one of them, they picked up my, I use crutches for walking.
They picked up my crutches. They said, we have, we have found a high level, we detected a high level explosive in your crutches. I said, really? So then, one of them, who was obviously their boss, he said that, what do you have in your crutches? I said, I don't have anything.
Just carry me. I don't carry anything inside the crutches. He said, no, there's something inside.
I said, no, there's nothing. He said, we'll have to break your crutches. I was a little annoyed initially.
I thought, what can you put in the crutches? And I had to catch another flight also. But now I started getting alarmed. I said, if you, if you break my crutches, how will I walk? He said, that's not my problem.
So, as I was trying to reason with this person, but he was maybe in a foul mood for whatever reason. And as I started, I could see my, at a conscious level, I could see my alarm was rising higher and higher. I was feeling more and more alarmed.
And suddenly, I usually have a habit of memorising sacred verses from wisdom texts and reciting them in my mind. Try to do that as much as I can. So at that time, I just happened to be reciting a verse from the Bhagavad Gita, which is an ancient yoga text.
And that verse says that there is a higher force that guides our wanderings through life, life after life. Now, as I just recited this verse, it, I suddenly started thinking that I've gone through so many, or 100, 200 flights I have gone through. So many times I have cleared through immigration.
If something were to go wrong, it would have gone wrong so many times. Whatever it is that has guided me through all those situations, that will guide me now also. So when I was thinking, as I was thinking like this, I felt as if I was rising above.
I was looking at myself. You've gone through so many situations in the past. You'll go through now also.
So, I felt myself calming down. And as I was wondering what to do at that time, when I felt myself calming down, I didn't feel that threatened by it. And this brings us to the advantage of, when we arise, we realise that failure is a practical problem, not an existential problem.
Existential problem means that I feel my very self-existence is threatened. If we are too invested in the physical level of reality, if I think that my self-worth is based on my net worth, if I lose my job, if I lose my money, what am I living for? Who am I? So failure, when it becomes an existential problem, that means the fear of the problem, the insecurity threatens our very identity. But when we rise to a higher level, then what happens? We say, okay, this is a problem, I have to deal with it, but it is a practical problem.
It is not an existential problem. And then we come to the last part of it, release. F-E-A-R.
R is release. Release means let go of the things that are not in our control. And this was the, I will come back to that story once again, but release is based on understanding that actually we are parts of a whole that is much bigger than ourselves.
Our very existence is sustained by factors that are beyond our existence, that are beyond us. We are living right now, we may, we work hard to arrange for our food, maybe our water, but what about the air? What about the light? What about the heat? Right now, when we are breathing, so much is happening inside the body that we do not know anything about. Normally, we think I work hard and I earn money and I get food on my table.
Yes, you may do that, but what after that? We do not convert the food into energy. Researchers are trying to create substitutes for various organs when they do not function. We may have prosthetic limbs, we may have pacemakers, we may have dialysis units.
Now, when we have digestive problems, researchers are trying to create an artificial digestive machine, which could digest the food for us. It is an effort, but it is a serious research endeavour, but the problem is digestion is such a complicated phenomenon. We want, a machine would not suffice.
We need a factory over there, a factory. If we consider work as force into displacement, the amount of work that is required and as the diastolic movements of the body happen, alimentary canal happen, the amount of work that is required for digesting one morsel of food is actually more than the amount of work most sedentary people do throughout their day. We are not doing that work.
At least we are not consciously doing that work. Actually, the only time we think of our digestion is when it does not work. So, we are all actually doing parts of something much bigger than ourselves.
And there are certain things in our control, there are certain things not in our control. By releasing, we focus on what is in our control. When we go to catch a flight, at that time we do not worry whether the flight will have enough fuel or not, or whether the pilot has drunk too much alcohol.
We worry about what is our part. Have I got my ticket? Have I got my ID proof? Am I reaching on time? And there is a whole system that will take care of other things. One reason why fear increases is when we think that we are meant to be the controller of everything.
And to some extent, unfortunately, technology increases this illusion. Technology often gives us more control than what we had in the past. And that makes us think that we should have complete control.
And when we release, what happens is we accept. I am not in control of everything. What is not in my control? I let go.
So, going back to that story now, as I just let go, saying okay, whatever is that divine power that will take care of me, just calm down and let go. Then at that time, the security officer who was threatening to break my crutches, his boss came over there. He says, what is going on? He says, we found some explosive alarm over in his crutches.
He looked at me, he looked at my crutches, then he picked up the crutches, he looked around, he says, can we open this? I said, I don't usually open the crutches. I said, yes, they are openable. Then we don't need to break them.
And he opened it. And he opened it and then he put some kind of prong inside it. He said, he tried to pull something out and he found something dark substance over there.
He pulled it out. He said, what is this? What does it look like to you? I said, it's mud. He said, that's mud.
He pulled further inside and said, it's mud. He pulled once again, it's mud. And then he put it down.
He says, cleaning your crutches is not my business. So, what had happened was before coming to America, I had gone to a pilgrimage site in India. It's Vrindavan and there I had gone near a sacred river.
The river is spiritually sacred, but materially it is very polluted right now. So, when I was walking on the banks of that river, the sedimented soil on the banks of that river is also having a high metallic content because of the pollution. And the ferrules, the crutch tips that are there at the bottom, at that time got worn out.
So, some of that dust, which is wet because of the river, that got inside the crutches. And then when I replaced the ferrule, I just replaced the ferrule and put a new one, but I did not notice the dust at that time. So, it was a delightful anticlimax.
So, it was nothing. It was just some dust, which was feared as a bomb, as an explosive. But the point I am making is, as soon as I did, conceptually these things arise and release, I felt myself calming down.
So, release often we feel if I let go of things, then how will I control? How will I manage? I have to be responsible. Yes, we have to be responsible. But part of being responsible is knowing the limits of our responsibility.
We cannot micro control everything. So, once we recognise that, the more I try to control the things that are not in my control, the more I end up losing control over the things that I do have control over. And the first casualty, when we try to control things which are uncontrollable is our thoughts.
What do I mean by that? The more we try to control the uncontrollable, the more our thoughts become uncontrollable. The more our thoughts are going wild, this should not happen, this should not happen, this should not happen. But we have no control over whether this will happen or not happen or not happen.
So, the more we try to control the uncontrollable, the more we lose control on our thoughts which are controllable. So, actually in that sense, release is empowering. Because by releasing, we can get back our focus on that which is in our control.
That is our thoughts and thereafter our actions. So, this release is based on understanding that I talked about two distinct points here. As an inner observer, we are separate from the things that are changing around us.
So, earlier I also said that trying to hold breath is to lose the breath. So, the concluding anchor for our thought would be this that, be not apart, be apart. Be not apart means, do not think that we can stand apart from the whole world with its constant change and seek security by attaining some position that will be impregnable.
Whether it is financial or emotional or political or social or relational, we can never be apart from the changing nature of the world. But be apart means understand that even the changes that are happening in the world, they are under some higher power and we are a part of something bigger than ourselves. So, as a part which is spiritual, we stand above the physical and the mental.
But we are not just, we are not the spiritual whole, we are a spiritual part. So, by understanding our spirituality, we can get security amidst the constant changes that happen at the physical and mental levels. And that means these changes, they won't threaten me, they won't destroy me because I am the inertia above all these.
But what about these changes creating problems for me? Then we understand that I am a part of something bigger and that bigger has some plan, things will work out in due course. So, by letting go, by seeing ourselves as a part, not as the whole, we can learn to find security amidst the insecurity that is inherent in this world. I will summarise what I spoke today.
I started by speaking about the theme of how to find security in insecurity. The whole of our life is largely a search for security from bolts to backups, from assurances to insurances. We are all looking for security.
But there is a security theatre which creates the illusion of security and that illusion can often be the enemy of actual security. So, trying to gain security by creating a secure position for ourselves in the world is like trying to hold breath. Breath is precious, but to hold the breath is to lose it.
To make security the sole purpose of our life, that is to strip our life of purpose itself. We cannot do it. Then how do we find security? That raises the question, why do we long for security? Why are we so disconcerted by change when change is inherent to the world around us? Why do we long to live forever when nothing lasts forever? That longing itself points to an indestructible core within us, just as an African child's longing for a pizza, from nowhere the pizza is talked about, that indicates something peculiar, something unusual.
I talked about the three-level model of the self, the body, mind and the soul, which is like the hardware, software and user. And to understand this three-level model, we also do this thought experiment in which the physical level of reality, the body is the outer scene, mental level of reality is the inner screen and we are the inner seers. So, we can sense our body through physical sensation and that is we the seer becoming aware of physical reality.
And we can say a image of the body of the hand on our inner screen and that is we the seer becoming conscious of the screen. So, whenever fear comes or fear overwhelms us, that is because the inner screen starts becoming like a TV showing a horror movie. So, for dealing with this, I talked about the acronym fear.
Does anyone remember what is F? Focus. Yeah, thank you. So, when the screen starts showing a horror movie, pause it, asking the question, what is the exact problem right now? So, when fear seems to blind us like a mist all around us, this question gets the fear down to some tangible, actionable issue.
And then the next E is engage. What can I do about it right now? This way, we get something tangible to focus on and engage with. And that way, when life determines our problems, we ensure the mind does not increase the size of those problems.
Then to deal with the actual physical problem, once we are dealt with the mind's distortion, we talk about the next two steps. A was arise. If our consciousness is caught in physical level, then we will feel threatened, existentially threatened.
If we think my self-worth is based on my net worth, then losing our money will not just be a practical problem, it will be an existential problem. But we understand that I am an inner seer beyond this, then we can react more maturely. So, I talked about my experience about being caught in immigration, that when we perceive ourselves as the inner seer, which can happen by meditation, by mantra chanting, in that case, it happened by recollection of a wisdom verse.
I raised, my consciousness rose up. And then, along with that, the last part of the hour was release, let go of the things that are not in our control. By letting go, we are not actually being irresponsible, rather, we are just recognising the limits of our responsibility, of our ability and our responsibility.
And thereby, we can focus, if we try to control the things that are not in our control, then we get our thoughts also out of control. But by understanding that we are part of something bigger than ourselves, our very breathing, our very respiration, our digestion, none of these things we control in their whole ourselves. So, when we understand that we are parts, we have to take, we have to play the part of a part.
And the whole will take care of the whole. That way we can let go, release and thereby empower ourselves to deal with the situation as it is. So, by focussing, engaging, arising and then releasing, we can ensure that our life's problems, that even amidst insecurity, we can find security by situating ourselves in our spirituality.
Thank you very much. Are there any questions or comments? How the story ended of your meditation and also the point, like how inner screen, right? A lot of times the mind shows us a horror movie. So, how we can consciously at least remember that this is a horror movie being shown by inner screen and realise and rise above that we are not there.
That's true. Thank you. Yeah.
Yes, please. Do I have a question? So, we use this framework and release ourselves. We did it once.
And then the mind starts to wander again. Probably I reminded myself again. It happens again.
And then it becomes like such a routine, such a normal thing and probably I forget to even this thing about next time. And I was at least stuck at arise part. How do you motivate? So, first two parts of the question is a tool for us to bring our mind down to something intangible.
But arise is something, it's like motivational. And how do you motivate yourself to arise? So, normally, how do we raise ourselves, raise our consciousness upwards when we have to do that? As I said, there are practises for that. And say, for example, mantra chanting.
The mantra chanting is like an elevator for the consciousness. So, when we get into elevator, the elevator will raise us up. Similarly, when we chant the mantras, our consciousness will rise up.
So, similarly, we could contemplate on some spiritual wisdom texts, some memorable quotes. And that contemplation can direct our consciousness upwards. So, there are practises.
Now, even these practises can simply become rituals. And if they become rituals, it is like we activate the elevator button, but we do not get into the elevator. The elevator goes up and comes down, it goes up and comes down, but we stay where we are.
We do not go up. So, ritual becomes spiritual when we invest it with our spirit, invest our consciousness with our emotions. Then that practise won't stay ritualistic, but rather it will become spiritual, it will transform our consciousness.
So, generally, we have to commit ourselves to some kind of practise, which will elevate our consciousness. So, in the Bhakti Yoga tradition, we practise the chanting of the mantra Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Ram, Hare Ram, Ram Ram, Hare Hare. And we find it beneficial.
In different traditions, there can be different means, which can raise our consciousness. Thank you. Any other comments or questions? That is one of the strongest pointers, this incompatibility between the reality around us and the longing within us.
This incompatibility is the strongest pointer to something within us that does not belong in the world around us. Say, we have a carpet over here, we have a wall around us. If suddenly we found a golden ring fallen over here, the question would come, where did it come from? It doesn't belong here, but still it's such a dramatic, so dramatically different from everything around it.
So, similarly, if we consider that we are simply the products of nature, in general, whatever are our deepest longings, nature has provided a fulfilment for that. We have thirst and there is water. We have hunger and there is food.
So, actually, just as deep-rooted, if not more deep-rooted, as is our longing for food and water, is our longing to live and not just to live on and on and on. Where does this longing come from? It's like gold in a place where there's no gold. So, that, just as the gold may belong to someone who had it or the gold has come out from somewhere, from the treasury of someone.
Similarly, this indicates that there is an essence to us which is spiritual, which is different from the material things around us, and that belongs to another level of reality. Thank you. Yes.
So, thank you very much for your attention, participation. So, we would like to thank Chetan Charan for giving such an inspiring and wonderful talk. So, we at the Bhakti Yoga at Stanford have these talks regularly.
We also have conscious.