To Feel Safe and Secure

Have you seen how peacefully a child sleeps in the lap of his parent, even in a noisy, crowded local train? The hustle-bustle disturbs everyone, but not the child, due to his implicit faith in the protection of his parent. All of us strive diligently to overcome our many fears: financial, familial, social, academic and physical. However, the necessary security measures like insurance, helmet, buzzer alarm and health check-up fail to free us from a disconcerting sense of insecurity within us. Why? All fear originates in an unbalanced, unrealistic material conception of life. The material aspect of our life has its importance; we need to feed, clothe, house and provide for us and our loved ones. Krishna says in the Bhagwad Gita that when we seek our sense of identity, self-worth, security and pleasure exclusively from our material positions and possessions, we open ourselves to fear. How should we overcome fear? The more things change, the more we need to embrace the things that don’t change, “Of the material, there is no endurance, and of the spiritual, there is no cessation.” When we make our life’s work a devotional offering for His service, we focus more on the object of our service. This shift of focus releases large reserves of mental energy, which are choked by our worry about the future. Chanting the names of God gives us the calmness to see that almost all fears are more perceived than experienced. The more we become free from fear of the future, the more we can fully absorb ourselves in our present duties.

Source: Economic Times, 17/07/2019