In reality, total trust towards existence is a door to the eternal. It has no preconditions, writes Pratiksha Apurv. Published in Speaking Tree, July 21, 2018.
Life is a paradox. All elements that form an inherent part of our very existence create a certain rhythm of balance and variation in our life. They also indicate an undercurrent of illusions that we are often subjected to and yet fail to recognise as the root cause of our fears and insecurities. One such illusion is trust.
Trust is deeply rooted in the heart. It wraps us with purity of life, erasing all fears and conflicts. Yet, there exists a deceitful kind of trust within us. Such a trust usually arises in our hearts because of a sense of insecurity, either in life situations or in relationships. In such circumstances, when we either come across or go out looking for a guru or a master, it is generally with certain preconditions – that our trust might be able to secure our life from whatever we are feeling insecure about. If trust arises in our heart because of fear and insecurities, it then just reflects the illusion that we have been living with, created by virtue of our being members of the society we live in. This innate fear and insecurity has been responsible for creating various communities, groups, and religious institutions where that illusion is masked as trust and is kept viable.
Our ancient scriptures are full of descriptions of trust that we nurture in our lives. In fact, the highest quality of trust is a bridge between human beings and existence; it is considered as the purest form of love. But were the sages talking about the trust as we understand it in our daily lives? Our total trust in existence or in a spiritual master may well be true and pure but only momentarily, because in real life that trust inherently contains certain preconditions from our side. We develop certain expectations as if the trust is about bargaining. This situation is likely to end up shattering hearts and triggering a web of pain and illusion for us.
Most people lead their lives by trusting only in their money and nothing else. It is rather strange that one cannot trust a living human being but has more trust in money which is lifeless matter.
The higher quality of trust, however, is the ultimate form of human experience. It is like gold. It is as pure as our very soul. But the kind of trust that we understand and invest in a relationship in our daily lives is like seeking fragrance from plastic flowers. Such trust will end up in disappointment, pain and frustration, because here the very desire of trusting is misplaced. We have certain preconditions at the time of trusting and so does the other.
However, the trust that our sages talk about is totally different. It is trust of the highest quality; it is addressed towards existence itself and is without any preconditions. We need to understand this type of trust, if we don’t want to be subjected to disappointments and failures time and again.
Osho says that the trust which arises because of our fear is of a negative nature. “People who trust, do so because they are afraid, because they want somebody to hang on to, to cling to. They look at the sky and pray to God just so as to not feel afraid. True trust is always born out of love, and if you find that you cannot trust, then you have to work hard,” says Osho.
And, that is the problem. Something that is not natural and born out of efforts, out of our understanding and awareness, has all the potential to recede into its original state. We are not really interested in trust at all, rather, we are only trying to escape from our fears and insecurities and so trust has forcefully been created as a placebo. In reality, total trust towards existence is a door to the eternal. It has no preconditions.
But, our desires are very intense and we keep on moving from one object of desire to another. Hence, the illusion results in disillusion, fear and insecurity.
In the Bhagwad Gita, Krishna talks about total trust towards existence: Shraddhaa-vaallabhate jnaanam tatparaha, samyatendriyaha, jnaanam labdhvaa paramshaanthim achirenaadhi-gacchathi – ‘The trust in existence can conquer all our obstacles. Realisation of God will not come easily to the one who is not free from doubts.’ Krishna is saying that only those who can experience life in its totality are able to live trustfully, or else life will always remain an illusion.
Pratiksha Apurv – www.pratikshaart.com
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