Comfort Zone

    When i saw some sadhus walking almost naked in the cold winter in the Himalayas i was wondering whether this is ever possible for me visiting these places with thick woollen clothes and still shivering! To my surprise, i even found  very young man walking naked in the cold morning and heard that he was a Ph. D. in Science. It was sheer madness or just a firm determination to experience the exotic! However, one thing is certain that these adventurists have taken a jump. Most of us do not want to get out of bed in the morning during winter days without a cup of hot Coffee or Tea.  We all want a comfortable life under any condition!  

  We all are accustomed to live in a comfort zone. We refuse to come out of it and face the harsh realities of life. We want to play safe. We want security and, at the same time, progress. We cannot understand how can there be progress and development if we do not let go our comfort zone take a plunge into the unknown. The dilemma is that we want to run and stay-put at the same time. We don't even know how one can reach to the top by leaving the step of the ladder/staircase where we stand. letting go where we stand at i Even the renunciates who are supposed to be out of this comfort zone seek comforts! This is the problem.  

  The need for leaving the comfort zone and move on to the unknown or the less-trdden arises only if one desires to search what 'lies beyond'. Only those who are tired of repeated births and deaths seek some sort of redemption. The Bhagavad-Gita shows the way! Bhagavan Sri Krishna advises Arjuna about the way out of this bondage, attachment to the worldly objects and craving for the satisfaction of the insatiable desires. He, the Lord says, "Arjuna, your wisom is clouded by the desire for the insatiable. You are full of ego. Your pride itself is a hurdle. Nothing everlasting can be attained here. Any achievement is bound to end in misery since time eats away the happiness of aattainment. There is bound to be some sort of dissatisfaction even after attainment of the so called impossible! Let alone disappointment, failure in these attempts to satisfy the the sensuous, even the power and riches have failed the high and the mighty. Many great warriors, kings and rulers have experienced this. Hence, give up all pride and do your ordained duties and that is ll that you can do!" This is karmanyava adhikaaraste! The Blessed Lord says, "To bestow what is due to you is my prerogative. You will not get anything just like the wages for the labor done! However, I assure you that you get your dues as per the karma, prarabhda, at that! You are assured of the right dues, nothing less or more, nor a little earlier or later! So, do not aspire for the results of all that work you perform. Do your duty with a sense of sacrifice!"

  The adventurists, however, do not bother about all these sayings in the Gita. They are in a mad rush to achieve something what no one has attained, reach somewhere where no one has reached! In fact the elders are crazy and want that their wards should achieve what they could not! They push the young minds to the edge! Lucky if some survive, but many may fall down the cliff.  Parents want their children to be great engineers, scientists, doctors and statesmen little knowing that each jiva comes here to fuldill its unfulfilled desires of its past life. Life of some children are sniffed at the bud due to unncecessary pressure on the young minds. 

  Some play safe and do not venture into the unknown. It is but natural in a protected environment. However, it is necessary to bring out the hidden talent, the potential in one by appropriate guidance. There is a great need for a mentor. It is here that one should leave the comfort zone, go out and search for a Guru. Luck, destiny, elders blessings and divine grace will help the jiva that innately desires to fulfill its aspirations.