Fall, Find and Rise

                Do you think war happens only outside? If you think so, then you got it wrong. War happens both inside as well as outside. Deep beneath our subconscious mind, we are in a constant ‘state of war’. This war is fought for ‘self-determination’, as all other outside wars are fought. But there is a difference. The war is to find out that whether we are a ‘finite-self’ or an infinite self’. The finite-self is nothing but the body and its associated objects, whereas an infinite-self is that which transcends the body and its associated objects.

war

            How can we understand this state of war? For example, I have forgotten the answer to a very familiar question. I try by all means to recollect it, but of no avail. And, therefore, I ask my friend. I know very well that my friend too doesn’t know the answer, but still I ask him so that I may get a sudden hint of the answer. Similarly, we too, to find out our ‘real-self’, project the so-called ‘conflicts’ in our life, so that we can determine our real ‘self’. From our childhood, all the conflicts of love, hatred, and anger etc. that we have experienced are nothing but our ‘projections’ to deduce our ‘real-self’.

               So, what are these conflicts or forces that bring about the self-determination? In physics, we remember, we have read the so-called centrifugal (outward) and centripetal (inward) forces. Similarly, we too have these forces in our mind. The centrifugal force is the attraction of our body in relation to the outside objects. All beings constantly attract these objects. Particularly the so-called ‘sense-objects’. This makes up the so called love and affection towards the objects. As soon as the centrifugal force acts, the centripetal forces also come to play.

              The centripetal force takes away the objects in relation to the body. This we call detachment and withdrawing ourselves. This withdrawing from objects happens because of the limitations of sense objects. These two forces play a major part in our self-determination.

          There are three phases involved. The first phase involves the quest for sense objects. The centrifugal force makes up the maximum. But the forces cannot dwell on the objects constantly, because of the defects and, therefore, a man falls back or fails. The man fails repeatedly again and again in this centrifugal projection towards the outside objects. This is the first phase which I would like to call it as ‘fall’.

            The second phase involves withdrawing from the body and its associated objects. The centripetal force makes up the maximum. This is the phase where man begins to question everything and this is the phase where he transforms from a finite self to an infinite self. This phase is called ‘find’.

            The third phase is the glorious phase when man shines in his infinite self and the action that he does in the conscious of infinite self, becomes a legend. This phase is called ‘rise’.

             The comic Dark Knight Rises is one such example where we can find this ‘state of war’ for ‘self-determination’. Batman aka Bruce Wayne goes through these phases of ‘fall’, ‘find’, and ‘rise’.

Fall:

       In this story, Batman comes out of self-imposed exile to counter the increasing menace of Bane, a mercenary. Batman fails to halt the illegal transaction of his business by mercenaries. Batman is chased away like a criminal by Gotham police. Batman is betrayed and led into a trap by Selina Kyle. Batman is badly bruised and battered by Bane. Batman’s armory is robbed. Batman’s fusion reactor is lost. Batman is lodged in a well-prison.

         In this phase, batman fails in everything. He loses his fortune. He loses his spirit. The action that he does is not accompanied by his spirit. He always lags behind Bane.

fall

             This phase happens when our actions don’t have the proper backing of our spirit or the strength behind. This happens when there is no philosophy or a proper goal behind our actions. There is complete disorientation between action – goal – philosophy etc. A stage comes when we were suddenly knocked out and confronted by this centrifugal force. This knock-out may be due to ailments or diseases, physical and mental. There are so many ways we get challenged. And the important thing that we have to note is that these challenges are brought only by ourselves. At one point in time, everyone has to confront this reality. It is altogether self-made. So at the end of this phase, we have brought a challenge to ourselves.

Find:

          Batman is down in prison. There is nothing else to lose in his life. Slowly he recovers himself from bruises and injuries. He tries to scale up the wall and cross the platform in the well (a symbol of triumph over spirit). He fails many times but, at last, succeeds without tying a rope. He regains his lost spirit. In prison, his concern is not about his fortune anymore, but in saving Gotham from Bane, a psychopath, who plans to detonate a nuclear bomb in the city.

           This is the transformation phase when we come out of this finite-self. This may take many years. One is alone in this phase. The world doesn’t need that person anymore. The world moves ahead. One moves into oblivion and obscurity. One is away from all sense objects and the body idea. The transformation takes place with the persistence in the idea of non-body-objects. This we call it as meditation.

Rise:

            The dark knight now rises. He comes out and bangs Bane. He carries the nuclear bomb by himself, out to a safe are. He ultimately carries the bomb and ‘BOOM’. Batman is gone. He has become a legend.

Rise

       When men rise they don’t care for themselves anymore. They just sacrifice themselves for the good of all. They become a legend forever.

            So, whenever there are conflicts in life, know that you are creating them to find out your real self. Once you have found out your infinite self, there is nothing, which is going to stop you. A child falls down only to rise.

Thank You.

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