Rigidity causes suffering Swami Sukhabodhananda

Rigidity causes suffering

Swami Sukhabodhananda

I find my sister sticking to her point of view. If someone appreciates her, the best in her surfaces. But if someone finds fault with her, she is so self-protective and rationalising that in the whole process, she carries the pain of differences for long. That affects our relationship. Why is it so? Rigidity is a part of identification. One of the important aspects of spiritual teaching is non-identification. If identification is our pattern, then we identify ourselves with everything. This identification is mechanical. Thus one develops rigidity and fails to see other variables in life. One gets upset that one’s point of view is not respected. This creates pain. The hurt body creates an imaginary self as a part of survival. This imaginary self has a great skill of justifying. Thus, one gets lost in a field of vicious negativity. Why do people carry the pain of differences for long? This is a part of a mechanical mind. Unless we transform our mechanical centre into a magnetic centre, these negative patterns will continue. In my workshops, I wish the participants a good morning. Then I question them as to how many of them meant for the morning to be good? Most of them would have said it mechanically. ‘Mechanical behaviour’ resides in the part of the mind where consciousness is relatively less. The more we bring in our ‘presence’ to whatever we do, the greater is the chance that consciousness would give rise to a magnetic centre. Once a magnetic centre is opened in us, we see the foolishness of carrying pain. It is like mixing bread with cement. People are living miserable lives because they function mechanically. They are victims of their programming. One of my relatives, who is a multimillionaire, leads a poor life as he is unwilling to sell part of his property. It is against his concept of family dignity, but he lives a life of poverty. This is how one becomes a victim of one’s programming. For more details, kindly visit www.prasannatrust.org