THE INADEQUATE SELF

[Guest guest]

THE INADEQUATE SELF

Baba said, "Though I am a Fakhir, have no house or wife, and though, leaving off

all care, I stay at one place, the inevitable Maya teases Me often. Though, I

forgot Myself but she cannot forget Me. She always envelops Me. This Maya

(illusive power) of Lord (Shri Hari) harasses even Lord Brahma and others,

then, what to speak of a poor Fakhir, like Me? Those, who take refuge in the

God, will be freed from Her clutches with His grace" in Sri Sai Satcharitra

Ch.XIII.

To be born a human being with the unique faculties of discrimination and choice

is both a great blessing and a terrible curse. This is because exercising one’s

choice often creates conflicts.

One can neither live with conflict nor solve conflict through suppression or

desensitizing the mind temporarily the conflicts simply resurface. So it seems

that there is no permanent solution to conflict, hence in this matter we are

left with no choice. But should we give up easily? Don’t we deserve to be free

from conflict?

The source of all conflict is the feeling we get of being incomplete of being

inadequate and wanting. This wanting, inadequate self, the only self of which

one is aware, is like the sruti in Indian music. The singer produces various

melodies, but always keeps her voice in tune with sruti, the constant

back-ground drone of the tanpura. Similarly, there is constant sruti in our

hearts which drones on: "I want this ... I want that ..... " This constant

wanting finds articulation in various specific wants, each an expression of the

conclusion that one is an inadequate being.

A woman with a small pebble in her shoe, even if she is in a great hurry, has to

stop and remove it in order to be comfortable. Similarly, there seems to be in

the mind of each one of us an irritating bug that makes us strive to gain a

sense of ease. To achieve this, I do exactly what others do, with a small

variations: I acquire certain desirable objects in order to be comfortable with

myself, or I get rid of something undesirable, hoping that I will be happier in

its absence.

What one does to achieve comfort varies from person to person. What is common is

that everyone wants to acquire or get rid of something. A person’s desire keep

changing – something which was once desirable, may no longer be so. What never

changes is the "I want" sruti in the background.

I long to feel at home and to feel at peace with myself. Nowhere do I find that

peace. Because I am conscious of myself as an inadequate being and I cannot be

at home with inadequacy. Solving this problem is the purpose of life. One

cannot be indifferent to it. The experience of life make one think: What I want

is not these things. I want to be at ease with myself. How? When the problem is

identified, one knows exactly what one should look for, and life becomes

purposeful. Then alone it is worth living.

The Bhagavad Gita can help us deal with our inadequate self. The Gita does not

talk of population explosion or population control, because it is not meant for

solving topical problems. It addresses the eternal problem of inadequate self,

because of which we are unable to face topical problems.

Arjuna, too, was faced with the problem of inadequacy. He was an accomplished

warrior-hero and intellectual; yet, he was overwhelmed by personal conflict

which left him feeling helpless. Krishna taught him to know the adequate self.

Once Arjuna understood himself to be complete, all conflict and sorrow were

resolved. This is in fact the theme of the Gita.

The essence of the Gita applies to all human beings. It unfolds the solution to

the fundamental human problem of conflict and want. Then, like Arjuna, you too

will say, "My delusion is no more."

(Courtesy: The Ideas Exchange, 30-10-2003)

 

Finance: Get your refund fast by filing online