Where does our heart find shelter?
In today’s hangout, we will discuss how the intrinsic individual desire for shelter gets realized. Further, we would discuss why there is a desire to seek shelter- unfettered by the ebb and flow of extraneous factors like break-ups, failures, and the ever-ticking time.
The urge to seek shelter can be reified in our achievements, in our relationships, in our possessions, or even in our profession. We have all experienced how the human psyche; is intrinsically wired for pairing with 4 network domains- physical, relational, intellectual, and transcendental.
Let’s briefly un-layer each domain and see which could possibly serve as a tangible, lasting, and compatible bonding to our nature.
Transcendence is something quite far from human experience in terms of time invested to the dawning of realization. And, for relationships to work out, there is a lot of effort required to make sure that; we are at peace with the other person. Sometimes the sacrifice takes a toll. And even if, the relationship is all roses and rainbows, we have the mortality factor kicking in. And, then we have the intellectual domain where imagination triggers innovation which in turn stimulates the intellect. The intellectual sphere is quite sustainable to conceive our love towards a field of study, but it oft ends in complacency/work addiction.
This is an ubiquitous phenomenon once you are into academics, or in the corporate life. Finally, we are at the bottom of our network domain- the physical level. Here the pairing can manifest through anything ranging from having a posh villa to a cruise or a chopper, but the romance with possessions soon fades away due to lack of reciprocal relation, or plausibly the programmed AI robo’s might fill this space. Possibly, you can build a fortune in this field.
No wonder the Gita states that the world is a place of fleeting happiness and our endeavors towards finding a tangible shelter, soon run out of steam (BG 9.33).
Thus, circling back to the beginning of our discussion: Why there is an intrinsic need to seek for shelter?
Before diving deep, let’s have some surface observation. From the day we are born, we have found shelter on a relative level from parents/society and an absolute level from the planet- what a nice habitable place for human life to blossom! Even in nature, we observe every living being and non-living entity finding shelter from the earth, and the solar system sheltered in the mystic overarching universe. Being in a shelter resembles the very nature of existence on a macro scale and also reflects in each individual on a micro level.
Incidentally, the Gita states that in the inert material world (made of matter) there are conscious beings that struggle to find shelter (BG 7.5). Therefore, the network linkage at the physical, mental, and intellectual domain has relatively less bonding with the individual self, compared to the spiritual domain. Because at the core- every individual is transcendental and spiritual in nature, that is above the other three domains (BG 3.42).
Bottom line:
Our effort to seek shelter arises from the very core of our nature, resembling the creation outside. As we link the physical, relational, and intellectual domains along with spiritual devotion, there builds a stronger internal connectivity with the divine, thus finding our eternal shelter (BG 11.54).
With that, we leave you with few questions to reflect on:
- Where do you find shelter and which domain do you naturally pair with?
- Where does the desire for seeking shelter spring from?
- Why there is relatively less bonding with the other 3 domains, when compared with the spiritual domain?
Until then…
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