Saying "No" to being used, with a compassion

This world is a wonderful place. The more insights one gains into the human psyche the more wonderful it appears. All the good things are available for free in this world, yet human beings keep running after the most useless things. Water and air are free for all in this world. With little effort, one can ensure enough food to feed oneself and clothes. Yet we keep running after the things that make our lives complicated. We have "developed" at the cost of the destruction of the environment. Now we are forced to take packaged water and move away from cities for clean air. We eat processed food which is a major cause of the widespread illness. Thus, we compromise health for the temporary pleasure of taste. The most expensive clothes are the most uncomfortable. The cost of the accumulation of wealth is paid with mental peace.

We all know all these things and yet follow the social trend. Many of us, moving along the spiritual path, do not feel comfortable with the loud music at parties and marriage ceremonies and yet go to attend all these functions, do not feel comfortable with the shallow talks in social gatherings and yet become a part of these social gatherings, and do not feel comfortable with the burden of handling the wealth and yet accumulate wealth, do not feel comfortable with the insensitive office routine and yet go to the office each day, do not feel comfortable with the self-centered relatives and yet placate them, do not feel comfortable with what is generally considered to be the "aim of life" by the society and yet do not live their life as per their own conviction.

The problem is that we are not able to say "No". What is the reason for this inability to say no? I feel that there are two fundamental reasons for the same. Firstly, though many of us have started moving along the spiritual path, that inner connection has not grown strong enough to provide active guidance. The feeble inner voice is overpowered by the materialistic DJ. Secondly, since the past conditioning has not completely dropped, and one has so many fears still, there is a FOMO (Fear of missing out). Though one is not sure of the reasons for following the path paid by society, one is not able to gather the courage to say "No".

I feel that the ones moving along the spiritual path will have to learn to say "No" sooner or later. As the inner voice gets clearer, one will automatically gather the courage to say "No" to many things. However, while saying "No", there will come compassion. Compassion with an understanding that the people around are still caught in ignorance. A gratitude towards the inner voice has guided us to move away from that ignorance and compassion for those who are lost in the loud sound of the DJ ignoring the inner voice. 

One will be able to appreciate the blessings of that inner voice and understand how pitiable life would have been had that inner connection not been established. As one understands the pain of being disconnected from that inner voice, one understands the pain of fellow human beings, disconnected from the inner voice. That realization gives us the courage to say "No". This "No" comes with the same compassion that we have while saying "No" to a young daughter while she is trying to touch fire. At the core of the heart, there is a wish for well-being with a realization that though this "No" may appear to be temporarily unpleasant to that person, such unpleasantness is the key to his inner connection. The "DJ" has to be stopped to be able to listen to the inner voice. 

As our inner connection grows stronger, we realize its value and naturally develop a wish that no human being should be deprived of that inner connection. That wish gives us the courage to say "No" to the demand of dancing to the tunes of the DJ and at times help others to stop the DJ and listen to that inner voice. Stopping the DJ is difficult most of the time because of the obsession of society with the DJ but one always has a choice to move away from the DJ to be with that inner voice or to be with the inner voice even mentally even while being around the DJ physically.