Gita 14.11 Don’t chase the objects in perception – clean the doors of perception

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Bhagavad Gita 14.11 Sarva Dvareshu Dehesmin Prakasham Upajayate Gyanam Yada Tada Vidyad Mruddham Sattva Mithyuta Chase not the objects in perception clean the doors of perception chase not the objects in perception clean the doors of perception the objects in perception refers to the many objects that we see through our senses now see we can use an inclusive sense to refer to various senses it can refer to our eyes through which we see certain objects it can refer to our tongue by which we taste certain foods it can refer to our nose by which we smell certain substances certain fragrances it can refer to our ears by which we hear certain sounds now the objects of perception are often desirable we might find ourselves captivated by certain objects we might find ourselves irresistibly drawn towards certain objects when we are thus drawn at that time it may be extremely difficult to make sense of anything else in life because just like a captivated person is pulled towards wherever the captor is pulling if a person has a noose thrown around them then whoever is holding the noose wherever they pull that is where the person gets pulled similarly when we are captivated by this sense of disorientation in our life when we are captivated by some temptation it makes us obsessed with that and that alone and nothing else matters we feel as if this is the one object I must get and if I don’t get it I can’t live without it thinking thus we end up getting caught, getting consumed getting captivated so Krishna says desires are like nooses that drag us and there are hundreds and thousands of such desire nooses that drag us so when we are chasing the objects in perception that means we see a particular object and we get captivated by it and we start chasing after it then we have come under the control of those objects we come under the bewitching spell of the sense objects and we are doomed to misery because we are bound to be frustrated sense objects can offer at best limited pleasure whereas what we long for is unending happiness so the way ahead for us is by the practice of self restraint now we may say that if a rope has if a noose has fallen around us and if the noose is dragging us then it is not a matter of self restraint we are just being pulled and we can do nothing about it that of course is true but that is not the only truth that means that there is more to reality we at our core are not just helpless victims or helpless captors captives rather dragged along by nooses you know we can choose whether the noose falls around us and we can prevent it from falling and that is where cleaning the doors to perception, doors of perception comes into the picture when we see certain objects and when we get captivated by those objects we are not realizing that we are actually being led or misled with a false conception of pleasure we don’t realize that we are being victimized by a sense of illusion which leaves us with nothing but desperation so we are not able to see when we are captivated by a sense of object that the pleasure here is very limited and after the pleasure there is a long tail of misery to the extent we are able to see that to that extent we will get at least the impetus to try to resist so when the noose is falling on us we can try to escape, we can try to prevent it from falling on us so basically the more we give in to the idea that the sense of objects are pleasurable the more we let the noose fall around us the more we give in to the idea that sense of objects are pleasurable more we let the noose of desire fall around us when we are captivated by sense of objects we become the captives of those sense of objects this might seem like a tautology but it is actually serious sobering insight into the nature of human psychology how do we avoid getting captivated that is where we need to have a clearer vision a cleaner vision so just as if we have a transparent door a see through door and we see who is out there if the door is not clean then we get a distorted picture of who is out there when we clean the door then we can see clearly who is out there but with respect to our day to day conduct with respect to our perception of the worldly objects something opposite happens normally dust in a see through window distorts what we see on the other side it makes it look more unclear and more unattractive but dust on the door of our perception the dust of worldly contamination in our mind and senses it makes the worldly objects appear more attractive than what they are that is the dangerous nature of the illusion to which we are all vulnerable so for all of us cleaning the doors of perception is extremely important to the extent we can clean these doors to that extent we can move forward towards purifying ourselves towards elevating ourselves towards preventing ourselves from being captivated when the doors of perception are cleaned then we see everything in perspective attractive we see that yes the objects of this world are attractive but their attractiveness is temporary their attractiveness cannot lead to anything lasting their attractiveness cannot provide any enduring fulfillment their attractiveness cannot take us to the state of joy that we are dreaming of that we are aspiring for and that these objects are promising but they cannot deliver so there is nothing more important for us than cleaning the doors of perception but everyday we need to begin our day with cleaning the doors of perception otherwise the the dirt in the doors of perception will mislead us will make us misperceive things and we will end up getting captivated by worldly objects and the more we are captivated by those objects the less we will have the freedom to think of whether those objects are desirable whether they will really give us pleasure and thus we will end up chasing pleasure and finding ourselves drowning in trouble by cleaning the doors of perception we can save ourselves of enormous trouble and we can direct our endeavors towards that supreme lord who is the reservoir of all pleasure and who can grant us the happiness that we are always looking for