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110 Twelve Facets of Reality tion. Some residue of matter remains like a cloud over your soul and influences your consciousness. Because of this influence, you think, speak, or act in an unaware or distorted way—with kashaya, passion. In this way, the residue acts like a gravitational force drawing to you particles of matter of a similar quality. If you hold on to this residue, though you try to take off, the overload will drag you down.
This ninth step is the antidote to bandha, or bondage. It is called nirjara. Nirjara means dropping, breaking off, and shedding away the binding elements, the addictions and attachments.
First let us see the mechanism of dropping this sticky residue. We think things are holding us, but in reality, we are the ones holding on to them. There was a monkey who put his hand into a small earthen pot and got a handful of chickpeas. But the mouth of the pot was very narrow, and when the monkey tried to pull his hand out, he could not. So he started shouting, “This pot is holding my hand!” Then a monkey trainer came and gave the monkey a spanking. “Silly monkey! Your hand is caught in the pot because you are holding on to so many chickpeas!” He dropped the chickpeas, and his hand was free.
The same thing happens in our life. We are greedy and we hold on to things. Drop that addiction which is binding you and you are free! No one is bound in the world. What binds you is your own addiction.
Unfortunately, one form of addiction is unhappiness itself. For example, what happens when people don't support your addiction? You think they are not being friendly toward you. Or watch what happens when you come home from work. By the end of the day, what have
