Suppose we are playing an arm wrestling match with someone. If our opponent is much stronger than us, they will force our arm down. On seeing that we can’t resist them for long, we may start thinking, “I will be overpowered eventually. Why undergo the pain of resisting till then?”

But suppose the match featured timed three-minute rounds. Timed rounds would mean that the pain of resisting wouldn’t go on forever and that resisting wouldn’t be pointless; by holding on for a few moments more, we can survive. And then we can resume the next round with our arm vertical, not nearly horizontal.
A similar principle applies to our inner struggle with our sensual urges. When we strive to resist them, they sometimes grow stronger. Thinking that they will keep growing forever, we give up. However, our urges are temporary, like everything else in the world – we need to resist them only for a finite time. 

Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (02.56) recommends that we stay equipoised among life’s dualities. Such dualities can include the arrival and departure of our urges. Whenever an urge arrives, we needn’t get delighted or dismayed: delighted thinking that they pave the pathways to our enjoyment, or dismayed thinking that they are bullies who will force us to succumb. Instead, if we see an urge’s arrival as the beginning of a timed arm-wrestling match, then we can remind ourselves that the round will end with the urge’s departure. 

Though we don’t know how long the round will last, just knowing that it won’t last forever can inspire us to keep resisting. And if we simultaneously persist in focusing on higher spiritual reality, ultimately on Krishna, then outlasting those urges will become easier.  

 

Think it over:

  • Whenever our urges hit us, what misconception makes us succumb to them?
  • How can we treat urges as a part of the world’s dualities?
  • How can outlasting urges become easier?  

 

***

02.56  One who is not disturbed in mind even amidst the threefold miseries or elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind.

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