I eyed the help button as I travelled up and down the elevator. In truth, being stuck in a small space makes me nervous and I am always relieved when we reach the landing floor. If the elevator got stuck I would jump on that help button. I would likely press on it many times, with an anxious prayer for rescue.
The balance between independence and dependence is one we all walk. The goal of parents and teachers is to bring a child to independence – so they can function on their own and not need our help with everything. Of course, a healthy independence is really interdependence, knowing that we cannot function on our own without the help of others. Where would we be without food? Where would we be without the sun, or rain, or salty seas? Where would be be without friends and guides?
We take things for granted, which is never good. We get comfortable, expect unchanging dependability, and then when it’s disrupted we get all bent out of shape. We make ourselves the small king of our own small world and are offended by those who don’t support it, getting angry instead of asking for help.
Sadly, asking for help is sometimes seen as weakness and we often don’t do it until it’s too late and the pain or broken relationship has gone past the point of repair. Being able to say “I need help” takes courage. It takes humility and honesty. It takes looking up and looking ahead and knowing we want change. It also takes some risk to depend on the goodness of others and the greatness of Krishna. And it takes listening to ourselves and acknowledging fear.
We are told in the Gita that the greatest fear we should have is the fear of taking our next birth in an animal body. The human form of life is so valuable, and so important for self-realization, that we can’t risk losing it. Without a human form, we cannot make spiritual enquires that get us out of this world and back to the spiritual world.
Fools don’t get this. They think that being a dog, lounging around at home in a big house while the master goes to work, and having someone clean up after you would be a great boon. Of course, that depends on where your dog life is; some dogs are not so lucky.
And that’s really the point. We are caught in a world of inevitable suffering. While some are happy and peaceful others are suffering and miserable, be it humans or animals. It goes round and round, and though we may be determined to be happy ourselves, we cannot avoid being affected by the pain of others.
We may fear so many things in life but unless we deeply fear the suffering and pain that comes from being in this world and being disconnected from Krishna, we will not have the motivation to ask for spiritual help. Unless we value this human body, we will tend to take our spiritual practices casually. It’s a nice sweet at the end of a meal but it’s not the main course. Sometimes we may even push it aside – too full for even a morsel.
To keep our practice in focus it is recommended that we chant in a mood of a child crying for his mother. Especially for japa meditation. As a child totally accepts her dependence on her mother, we need to fully accept our dependence on Krishna: “I need help Krishna. I can’t fulfill the goal of life on my own. Please engage me in your service so that the bonds that tie me to this world are loosened. Please free me. Help, I am stuck in this world of birth and death and I want to get out. Help!”
We have to get to the point of an ardent cry for help. We have to feel it and call it. That’s the mood of a chanter. That’s the big ask from the rock bottom depths of our heart. If we can get there, to that spiritual call for help which is way beyond the mind and false ego, that’s when we will touch life and really begin an authentic spiritual journey. And that’s when we will also truly begin to live.
Source: http://iskconofdc.org/help/
Comments