Superstition always leads to fear and worry. Or just the opposite
may happen too.
The
other day a friend visited us. The conversation hovered on Vaastu and Feng Shui for
a while. Then we talked about the merits and demerits of following rituals and believing
in superstitions. After my friend left, I reflected, with amazement, on how I
had grown out of “investing” in Vaastu
and Feng Shui. I have nothing against
these practices – I strongly believe they are sciences in their own way – or
those who follow them. To be sure, I was, until a few years ago, very
superstitious and heavily reliant on Vaastu
and Feng Shui to determine how – where
and with what – I must live.
Over
time, with the practice of daily silence periods, I realized that relying on “external
reference points”, however scientific they are or may have then appeared to be
to me, are signs of a weak mind, one that is not self-aware. The ones with
courage, I discovered, are the ones that know themselves. And if you know
yourself, I soon learned to ask myself, why do you need to lean on a crutch __
a talisman, a figurine, a ring or a number? All these crutches are ostensibly
to help you navigate better through Life. But Life is not the issue. It is your
fear which is weakening you. And the best way to deal with fear is to look it
in the eye and face it! These crutches cannot possibly help you face your
demons, your fears. Never!
My
evolution and learning has also taught me that what scares you often has the
power to liberate you. Almost all of us have a good luck charm, a lucky number,
and believe in something, often absurd, that we have been conditioned to.
Nobody wants to do anything with the number 13 for instance. Or we prefer our
favorite colors or numbers. There’s a view some people hold that if you bang
into a piece of furniture when you are leaving to get something important
accomplished, you must treat that as an early warning sign of something
terrible that’s on its way. People that champion a scientific temperament will
reason against this, intensely. And which is why those who want to believe in
superstitions and premonitions will resist all rational arguments, however
reasonable they may be. But here’s a simpler take. If everything is an event in
this lifetime, a mere data point, including your birth and your impending
death, and since the soul is imperishable, eternal, then what consequence does
a furniture that comes in the way or a cat crossing your path or a mere number
have?
In
anyone’s Life, three things are absolutely inscrutable: birth, death and soul. Now birth is without
choice, death is unavoidable and the soul is not visible. What else is
important when these three dimensions of your Life are beyond your control? When
I look back, I feel that being superstitious, being ritualistic and being
wedded to mere methods does make you fearful. And lonely. When I let go of
whatever was controlling me, I felt free.
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