Freedom from Reactions
Man seems to be a free being. But he is not, although he is under the illusion that he is. He is rather like a machine whose remote control is in the hand of someone else. Many times he does not want to react, but is helpless and that frustrates him. Guilt, stress, anxiety and even depression are born in trying not to be influenced by external factors. Thus we speak of controlling ourselves. How is that possible? We can only try to suppress our emotions, moods or reactions. But these are very subtle and most people are not aware of their origin, thus they are unable to control and suppress them. We are often carried away and thus things fall apart.
We are constantly reacting. A person insults us and we react. We see an accident, we react. The weather is not fine (as judged by our standard), so we react. We hear of things we have not witnessed or known, again we react and then later on try to justify when the information proves to be false.
Reaction forms part of human character. However, character is not the real nature of the individual but of the mass. The genuine individual is free, innocent and spontaneous; he acts and action comes from freedom. Only the slave reacts. The wise man is free from reaction, he simply acts. There are billions of souls each reacting with one another in innumerable ways, visibly or invisibly. So many negative reactions in the form of thoughts, emotions and feelings in the heart and mind of each of us! The whole of social life is enacted here, the outside world being only the reflection of what goes on inside. It is a real mess in there.
But look at the so-called good, religious and educated people and the moralists. They appear to be calm outside, but inside there is a raging battle, a market or the dullness and darkness of the unconscious mind due to suppression, orthodoxy and morality. Let me narrate a small story to show how an enlightened being is free from reactions.
Buddha was passing through a village when some people came and insulted him. They abused him a lot. Buddha stood there listening silently and attentively and then said, "Thank you for coming to me, but I am in a hurry. I have to reach the next village and people are waiting for me there. I cannot devote more time to you today, but tomorrow while coming back I will have more time. You can gather again and if something is left that you wanted to say and have not been able to, you can say it tomorrow. But today please excuse me."
Those people could not believe their ears - this man had remained utterly unaffected and undistracted! One of them asked, "Have you not heard us? We have been abusing you like anything and you have not even answered!" Buddha replied, "If you want an answer, then you have come too late. You should have come ten years ago, then I would have answered you. But after these ten years, I have stopped being manipulated by others. I am no longer a slave, I am my own master. I act according to myself, not according to somebody else. I act according to my inner need. You cannot force me to do anything. It's good: you wanted to abuse me and have done so. Feel fulfilled. You have done your work perfectly well. But as far as I am concerned, I am not taking your insults and unless I take them, they are meaningless."
Buddha was reported to have said, "Somebody can throw a burning torch into the river. It will remain lit till it reaches the river. But the moment the torch falls into it, all fire is gone as the river cools it. I have become a river. You throw abuses at me. They are fire when you throw them, but the moment they reach me, their fire is lost in my coolness. They no longer hurt. You throw thorns, but falling in my silence they become flowers. I act out of my own intrinsic nature."
There is something similar in the teachings of Jesus which is greatly misunderstood. He said, "When somebody slaps you on your right cheek, give him the left cheek too." In his case, it was a spontaneous action, not a reaction. But now if anyone else does the same simply because Jesus said so, it will be a carbon copy of Jesus' spontaneity. He was talking about action and reaction; he was not giving any commandment, therefore his teaching cannot be blindly followed. He meant to say, "Watch your ego which is always ready to react. Don't be a slave; be watchful and act accordingly." But you are unconscious, therefore either you react or you blindly follow Jesus and think that you are a good person.
A person is not manipulated by people alone, but by everything - food, drug, sensuality, wealth, movies, fashion and so on. The remote control is outside him and he is not free at all. He simply reacts to the buttons that are pressed. For example, a woman who is not properly dressed or who displays her sensuality becomes a remote control. And anyone who is not aware enough gets attracted and a rape can take place. Similarly, money, position, name, fame and other things become like remote controls.
With a little more awareness, one can be liberated from such a state of affairs - that is the real freedom. The whole question is how to become more aware. There is a science for it and meditation is that sublime science. Based on scientific methods, meditation leads to an increase in the level of our consciousness by transforming the mind, which is prone to react to almost anything.
Look at the so-called good, religious and educated people and the moralists. They appear to be calm outside, but inside there is a raging battle.
