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Monks 'Dilemma
Monks' Dilemma
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life. It is natural for not only human beings but all life forms to get attached and develop innate liking, even infatuation for situations and conditions they live in. There are creatures that enjoy living in excreta. People living in filthy slums for years enjoy living there and they do not exhibit any sign of grudge. Women forced to live in veils of various sorts get so accustomed to it that they even resent abandoning the practice. There are cases of human children left in a forest and brought up by jackals or other animals and when brought back continue their animal habits and it requires considerable effort and time to train them back as humans. There is no fault of your parents. It is natural rule of adaptability."
Deepak, "I feel guilty. They are suffering because of me and I am enjoying an enviable cosy life style and married life. I want to subject myself also to the similar sufferings as a penance till they are liberated."
Deepti, "You are already suffering from the same pangs of monkhood rather more than your parents. It is well established that mental suffering is more painful than physical. Your parents do not have any sort of mental agony and as a matter of fact they are mentally satisfied and over the years have developed liking for life style of a monk and are reluctant to leave. They will remain unhappy for sometime even after their liberation. There is a story of a prisoner who got so much infatuated with getting twenty lashes every day that after his release he kept begging people to beat him with lashes. This is how the human psyche works. People attached to harmful and even dangerous superstitious beliefs and practices continue them at the cost of their own life or their children and will not take medicines and will remain under the influence of quakes and other cheats including saints who promise cures
and gains, financial and other successes by their hymns or rituals or occult performances. The religious and superstitious beliefs are opiates and like addictive drugs that affect neurons strongly and it needs concerted efforts and therapy to get rid of them. The wily crooks, the soothsayers, astrologers, saints and others of their ilk take advantage of the ignorance of gullible people and exploit them. You are a student of science and highly educated and should not fall into a psychological trap."
Deepak, "Whatever you are saying may be right but I am unable to bear separation from my parents. It will not be possible for me to come out of gloom unless my parents are liberated."
Deepti, "We shall compel the Acharya to convene the conference he has promised to finally decide about the relevance of monkhood within next three months else I shall threaten him with legal action as I have enough evidence to prove that in a majority of cases monkhood is forced. I know that these religious people are very coward. It is out of cowardice and fear of facing the challenges of a household life that they run away into the safe cocoon of monkhood."
Deepak "Let me experience the life of monkhood till you succeed."
Deepti, "You are already a monk I can vouch from your very birth. Monkhood is encrypted in your genes. There is no need for you to become a monk in physical attire and form. According to scriptures it is the mental state that is more important than physical. By becoming a monk you will weaken our case. It will prove contrary to what we are trying to prove that monkhood is invariably forced rather than voluntary. If a person of your status and education adopts
