Twelve Facets of Reality

Author(s): Chitrabhanu
Publisher: New York Dodd Made & Company

Page 42

20 Twelve Facets of Reality leaves. Why? Because they always have that feeling of helplessness. They aren't ready to stand on their own feet.
When you see that on which you were leaning slipping away, watch the fear arise. See how panic overtakes you. This second meditation helps us see that other people, and things as well, are themselves helpless. How can they help you when they too are helpless?
In reality, as long as you have the appropriate karmas, the person or thing will remain with you. You may do a hundred things to hold on, but when the karmas are over, the thing will go. And if you are not ready to see the truth, you may crumble completely. You find that it was a prop, a support, or a crutch. When you completely lean upon a prop or a crutch, what happens when it breaks? You tumble down. The idea is to build your inner muscles. Meditation, if rightly digested, gives you great strength. You start building inner power.
This does not mean you never accept anybody's help. It means you don't depend on it. If any help comes, take it, appreciate it, and be thankful for it. The difference is this: if you are not dependent, and help does not come, you do not mind; but if you are dependent, and help does not come, you wait and build expectation. When your expectation is not fulfilled, you feel fear and panic. “What will happen now? Who is mine?”
There is a meaningful story in Jain tradition about a young monk who had come to understand asharana in his life. One beautiful morning, he was sitting under a tree meditating. In that era the king of that area was Bimbisara, who was also in his youth, and very handsome. At the time, he was full of ego, for he did not know anything about religion, spirituality, or the inside world. He gloried in his own youthful strength and prosperity. He was the biggest king of Magadha, now known as Bihar. On