Pretensions

Truth has immense power. It is so immense that it's probably difficult for us to face the naked truth. Death is the most fundamental truth. We do not wish to face the same and therefore create all sorts of pretensions to run away from the same. The first time a baby sees death, he or she knows that every life is going to end sooner or later. Yet soon after the death ceremonies, everybody starts pretending as if they are immune from death.

Some of the pretensions are due to fear while some others are due to greed. Though, from a distant perspective fear and greed are the two sides of the same coin called ignorance. We are all pleasure-seeking people. Pleasure is the fulcrum of our lives. We seek pleasure because we always feel discontented and incomplete and we feel that these pleasures will make us contended and complete. Therefore we become greedy for these pleasures. Slowly and gradually our greed increases to an extent that we do not shy away from pretensions to get these pleasures.

We pretend to have an interest in the education being imparted at the schools in order to get good marks in the examination because we are greedy for a good pay package. We pretend to be enjoying the way our friends enjoy because we fear losing their company. We pretend to have fun in socialization because we are afraid of the disapproval of society. We pretend to be happy in our marriages because we are afraid to lose the spouse. We also pretend to be happy with our relations because we feel a sense of security and do not want to lose the relationship.

The worst outcome of these pretensions is that we lose the force of the truth. They suck our energy and we feel suffocated. The more suffocated we feel and the more we pretend and slowly our entire life becomes a pretention. We do the job that we do not like. We live in relations where there is no transparency. We spend money on pleasures that actually are quite painful. The worst part is that we seek a similar life of pretensions for our kids consciously or unconsciously.

The strongest of characters in history and mythology have been the ones whose life was centered around the truth. Even in the most challenging times, they did not take support of pretensions. That is why they did everything with a lot of conviction. When Akrura ji came to call Krishna to Mathura, Krishna knew very well what was his priority. He did not pretend that he was being forced to Mathura. He did not pretend such a thing to either Ma Yashoda Nandbaba or the Gopis. None of the decisions of his life was taken under disguise or pretension and that is the reason why he is so strong in each of the phases of his life. Similarly, when Mahatma Gandhi got disillusioned by certain ways and means of freedom struggle and developed a strong inclination to work for the downtrodden, he did not pretend to continue as the president of Congress. That's the strength of truth and weakness of pretension.

The moment we realize the cost of these pretensions in our lives, we shed them immediately. It relieves us of the conflicts and we regain authenticity. That authenticity is a great boon and does something wonderful to us. It releases so much energy that was trapped in the conflicts due to pretensions. That makes life beautiful. That gives us the energy to explore the beauty of life. Mind is no longer trapped in the web of thoughts travelling into the past or future rather full energy is available in the present moment. That makes life so wonderful.