Attaching yourself to non-existent beliefs

Attaching yourself to non-existent beliefs

A caravan was on a journey in a desert that took almost 35 to 40 days, was progressing. Along with people there were 100 camels that were used to carry people and other stuff. An official was in charge of all the animals that were in the caravan. Every time the caravan rested the animals were to be tied down with ropes so that none of them wanders away. Once it so happened that after tying up 99 camels, the official fell short of rope for the 100th camel. He consulted his friend for advise and his friend said, “Go in front of the camel, move your hands as if you are nailing a spike, then act as if you are tying a rope to the spike and then to the camels leg. He won’t move after that.” To the officials surprise the camel actually sat down and did not move the entire night. In the morning, all the camels were untied and they got up to start the journey except for the one which was tied with imaginary rope. The official asked his

friend for his help again, “That camel is not moving.” His friend asked him, “Have you removed the rope? Like you tied a rope in the night, you also need enact removing the rope.” The official did that and the camel got up to move along with the caravan.

We are also living in a world of illusions, wherein we have associated ourselves with non-existent relationships and have tied ourselves down with false beliefs. We believe that our happiness is dependent on our possession of things and that our being in love means getting attached to those we are in love with.

The truth behind love and happiness is detachment, but our mind can’t process things like these and find it wrong. When we get attached to someone, we start fearing; we fear ignorance, disloyalty, loss of interest etc. from the person we are in love with. What we don’t understand is that love and fear can’t exist together just like day and night. Like the camel, at the time of rest, our mind starts tying us with false thoughts, invoking fear; that could be of losing power, money, people etc. We lose control of our feelings and thoughts and exhaust our mental energy.

What we need to do is, at the time of rest, we need to look inside us and let go of the strings that pull our mind in all directions, strings of responsibilities, strings of relationships and strings of all the attachments. We need to give ourselves that moment that helps us view the situation like a detached observer. When we understand detachment, we free ourselves of limitations and boundaries; and will feel that now we can be happy and love in a better manner. We also find ourselves growing spiritually, leaving fear, worry, anxiety and tension behind.