Shraddha: Coming out of the emotional trap of likes and dislikes

 In the post "5 Ss to Get the freedom back", we discussed the following 5S to get the freedom back which is lost due to our fixations:

1.        Swadhyay
2.        Shraddha
3.        Samvedana
4.        Swadharma
5.        Samadhi

In the posts titled "Swadhyay: A Ray of Light into the Well", "Swadhyaya: the Books showing limitation of the Well", "Swadhyay: Astrology definite proof of the Sea", "Swadhyay: Guidance from the masters living in the sea" and "Swadhyay: the sea itself entering the well", we discussed different types of books that may help us coming out of the well of the fixations. these books help our rational mind to appreciate and understand the wider reality. As the rational mind becomes aware of reality, it loses its fixations on the rights and wrongs and the center of our rational thinking changes significantly from these fixations to infinite possibilities.  

Our fixations exist at 3 different levels. Firstly, in the rational mind, in the form of rights and wrongs. Secondly, in the emotional mind, in the form of likes and dislikes, and thirdly, in the unconscious mind in the form of pleasant and unpleasant sensations. We need to work on all these 3 to realign our center of existence from fixations to the world of possibilities.

Generally, our likes and dislikes drive our life. They are of 3 types:

1. Tamas: Tamas means the desire to continue with what we possess. We want to live in our homes, have our health intact, live with the same family members, stay in the same city, not want any disturbance at the workplace, and want our social status to remain as it is.
2. Rajas: Rajas means desire to achieve something. We want a better home, to have better health, to marry, to have kids, to shift to a better city, to have a better workplace, have more wealth, to have name, fame, and knowledge.
3. Satva: Satva is the desire to have harmony. We want to have harmony in our investments, our family, relationships, organization, and society. We want to set up systems to bring about this harmony. 

All 3 desires are based on likes and dislikes. Some of us have more tamasic desires and some have more rajasik or saatvik. That depends upon our nature. However, at the center of all these desires exist an illusion. Strong identification with the object of desire. That object may be health, home, wealth, relationships, name, fame, or knowledge. Our motivations are driven by that object. As we grow in physical age and keep taking almost all our life decisions centered around these likes and dislikes, we get more and more fixated on them. We forget the true nature of the self. 

As our rational mind recenters to reality with Swadhyay, we get some tiny windows to peep out of the world of these likes and dislikes. We slowly develop "Shraddha". "Shraddha" is different from belief. Belief is just another like. "Shraddha" is the conviction that "I" do not know the reality and there exists a wider reality. It is founded on the realization of the limitations of our own intellect and conviction in the existence of wider reality. It is based on experience. While on the other hand, belief is a mental conviction in some possibility that we have not experienced. We may believe in the existence of God or heaven or hell, based on what scriptures say, without actually experiencing them. That acts as another like and does not really help much on the spiritual path. Spirituality is all about experiencing the real and there is no place for imagination or belief here.

Generally, we keep reacting to situations as per our likes and dislikes. We become happy, excited, and full of joy, whenever the situations are favorable and we become sad, unhappy, stressed, anxious, and shocked, whenever the situations are unfavorable. Most of the time, we get so engaged with the emotions that we lose the awareness of our true selves. We make mental stories and keep repeating the same. We plan a trip to a favorite place. Even before reaching the place, we reach there mentally. Even after coming back from the place, we keep recalling the fond memories. Similarly, the memories of hospitalization and the pain we undergo keep haunting us. Each time we mentally repeat these experiences, we make mental stories of the experiences. 

Thus, we get fixated on certain emotions like a child who gets fixated on a certain toy. As we grow up physically, we realize the limitations of our perspective and become free of these childhood fixations. But the fixations that we form in adulthood carry with us lifelong. We stop growing after that. Coming back to Shraddha, it helps us observe. In the moments, when the emotional drive is too strong, probably not much can be done. However, in the moments when emotional drive slows down a bit, Shraddha helps us realize the limitations of these fixations. It helps us reconnect to the true self. 

On the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjuna encounters two conflicting emotions. One to fight the battle to bring harmony to Hastinapur. The other is not to fight his relatives. In this state of confusion, he approaches Krishna with Shraddha. Krishna guides him to observe his emotions carefully and he realizes his limited perspective. He reconnects to the self. As the center of activity changes from emotions to the true self, he starts performing his duties with Swadharma.

Shraddha helps us observe the wideness of our true nature. We start exploring the depth of the sea, rather than surfing on the waves at the surface. It blesses us with precious moments wherein, we connect to the true self rather than endless travel in the reaction loop of the likes and dislikes.