The Desired Geisha

Even a single sight of a beautiful woman puts the strongest men under Genjutsu (a visual paralysis). Ha ha! 

It’s my first post, and before we discuss further, I’d like to say that I’m not here to give knowledge to others, especially on platform where Swamiji himself is giving knowledge. I’m a seeker, not a person of knowledge.

Purport behind writing is two fold –

1) Make a few friends who’ve a similar taste of mental health/spirituality on this platform, who are the otherwise hard to find in this big bad world.

2) Assimilate knowledge, which I gain, but lose just as easily, because I didn’t write it down and meditate over it. 

The scriptures are food for our mind, but unless digested well, they can’t fully help us, they might make us feel good when we’re reading them but we find it hard to apply it in the real world. 

Thus it’s important to meditate on the meaning of a verse again and again. Let’s start. 

Often we know that something is harmful for us, yet we do it again and again, why is that? This question has been asked from Swamiji countless times in different forms and Bhagvaan Sri Krishna two times, once in Bhagvad Gita and second in Uddhava Gita. 

Uddhava asked – ‘Mortals often know sense objects to be a sense of danger(pain), then why is it that they run after them like an ass, a dog or a goat?’  UG 8.8

Arjuna asked – ‘Why is a person impelled to commit sinful acts, even unwillingly, as if a force was making them do it?’ BG 3.36

Men often struggle with guilt after activities of self gratification, like masturbation, watching porn, etc. 

Others might struggle with other activities like an addiction to binge watching television series on Netflix, etc. 

” Should you feel bad about doing them ” is out of the question. Because you do feel bad. 

Anything in excess is just bad and if you think it can be moderated, well then, go ahead and try 🦋

I’m not labelling the acts themselves as ‘bad ‘, but how you feel the rest of the day is definitely not so great. 

The overall quality of life seems just the same, or even less. 

Swamiji himself says to not label things as ‘bad’.

Because our ‘ego sense ‘ gets weaker when we think we’re doing something we consider ‘ bad ‘. 

We think – ” I’m weak. I’m a sinner.” In truth, this thinking is the greatest sin as once explained by Swami Vivekananda. 

Sri Ramakrishna, the Avatara of knowledge and love says – Those who continuously harp ‘I’m a sinner, I’m a sinner’ ultimately become one. Whereas those who say ‘I’m free, I’m free’ verily become free. 

Society considers some acts of self gratification as taboo and some as more than acceptable. 

You could be consuming all the sugar in the world and no one would bat an eye. 

So a big boo hoo to modern Indian society 🐦

We can observe that what’s hidden is often more desirable to the mind. When we say the mind not to think about something, then we often find ourselves thinking it more and more. 

These are some facts about the mind. Relatable? Good.

But that’s not enough.

Incomplete knowledge cannot help you. 

We must know what’s the precise cause ?

Thus it becomes very important to understand the nature of mind. The nature of Genjutsu 😂

To understand Prakriti (Nature itself) which is one of the most elaborately discussed topic of the Gita. 

How can we fight an enemy that we don’t fully understand? 

Wait a sec! Who is the enemy? 

It’s desire, born from Rajo Guna of Prakriti. 

shrī bhagavān uvācha – 

kāma eṣha krodha eṣha rajo-guṇa-samudbhavaḥ mahāśhano mahā-pāpmā viddhyenam iha vairiṇam (3.37)

Know this as the sinful, all-devouring enemy in the world. -Says Lord Sri Krishna. 

Why is it an enemy? Why is it sinful? What’s the nature of this enemy? Krishna explains just in the next verses but we’ll discuss it sometime else. 

To put in another way, the untamed monkey mind, that’s the problem, not the sense object itself. 

The problem with most people is they don’t actually know anything about the enemy or it’s nature and the only natural thing that comes to a person’s mind is to physically refrain from the sense objects found desirable by the mind. 

It’s the most obvious thing that comes to our mind yet it doesn’t work. Because we did find some fulfillment in the pursuit  and now (after refraining) you might not even have that.

Hence the person subconsciously or consciously, repeatedly runs to the same source, over does it sometimes after suppression and finds more pain than fulfillment. 

Well that’s what happens to me. 

Coming back to the verse in the heading, which is the main current topic – Krishna’s wisdom tip shared on the very same problem. 

‘ When a man rejects the sense objects by withdrawing the senses, he becomes free from the sense world only. The longing or taste for them still remains in the mind.’ – says Krishna. 

Swamiji also says in his post on Sex and spirituality Sex and spirituality – “Unless you are able to maintain your meditative state at all times, you will have a hard time staving them off forever though.”

Hence, even if you try to suppress your desire to enjoy a sense object or physically restrain, it won’t solve anything but ultimately make you more and more weak in some cases. 

Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over, and expect different results. 

Ha ha! What to do then?

Don’t worry, Krishna says – ” However, even this taste ceases for those who realizes the Supreme.” in the very same verse. 

Let’s read a little from the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna – 

Trailokya: “What is the way to dry up the craving for worldly pleasure?”

MASTER: “Pray to the Divine Mother with a longing heart. Her vision dries up all craving for the world and completely destroys all attachment to ‘woman and gold’. It happens instantly if you think of Her as your own mother. She is by no means a godmother. She is your own mother. With a yearning heart persist in your demands on Her. The child
holds to the skirt of its mother and begs a penny of her to buy a kite. Perhaps the
mother is gossiping with her friends. At first she refuses to give the penny and says to the child: ‘No, you can’t have it. Your daddy has asked me not to give you money. When he comes home I’ll ask him about it. You will get into trouble if you play with a kite now.’ The child begins to cry and will not give up his demand. Then the mother says to her friends: ‘Excuse me a moment. Let me pacify this child.’ Immediately she unlocks the
cash-box with a click and throws the child a penny. “

Meanwhile go ahead, look at the beautiful Geisha, and cherish that beautiful feeling. 

You’re not a sinner, if you do 😂

Jai Shri Ramakrishna !