Creating safe zones in our war against temptation

Soldiers in a war zone can get burned out due to the stress of always being on high alert. To reduce such burnout, they need to periodically retreat to safe zones, where the danger is substantially lower. There, they can more easily rest, relax and recover their speed and sharpness. Creating safe zones in our war against temptation

We all are in a war zone whenever we are confronted with some self-defeating temptation. Nowadays, with temptation following us everywhere through our many devices, the war zone often extends everywhere, leaving us feeling constantly stressed and drained. 

To avoid such burnout, we need to create for ourselves some safe zones that are relatively temptation free. The Bhagavad-gita (02.58) metaphorically underscores the need for retreating into such safe zones. For example, if we are vulnerable to the temptation to overeat, we can avoid keeping fatty snacks in our study room. Similarly, if we tend to get distracted by net surfing, we can log off the Internet, even lock off the Internet by using some focus-aiding app. 

But doesn’t our vulnerability to temptation come from within, due to the impurities there? Yes. That’s why just getting ourselves into a safe zone is not enough; once we get there, we need to get ourselves into something meaningful and fulfilling — till we become so absorbed as to forget and transcend outer temptations. However, if we don’t create a safe zone, the unrelenting torment of temptation may make it nearly impossible for us to focus, thus depriving us of the relief that comes from absorption. Being thus thwarted, we will eventually cave in to temptation. 

Therefore, rather than objecting that safe zones don’t guarantee safety from temptation, we can appreciate and leverage the reality that they do provide a helpful passageway to the safety of absorption. 

One-sentence summary: 

Create a safe zone to both avoid burnout due to constantly battling with temptation and to attain the higher absorption that takes us beyond temptation. 

Think it over: 

• Why do we all need safe zones? 
• Why can’t safe zones alone guarantee safety?
• How can safe zones help in reaching to safety?

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02.58: One who is able to withdraw his senses from sense objects, as the tortoise draws its limbs within the shell, is firmly fixed in perfect consciousness.

To know more about this verse, please click on the image