Fearlessness vs. familiarity
The only way out is through.
Vedic lore tells of a poor man who was one day visited by officials declaring that it had been discovered he was actually the heir to the throne.
They whisked him from his meager hut and into a regal castle, draped him in royal fabrics and fed him the finest delicacies.
The new lifestyle was easy to get used to at first, and a welcome contrast after a lifetime spent impoverished.
Soon the king, who had grown quite old and was nearing death, told the prince to prepare a speech for the people, introducing himself and his plan to grow the kingdom once he rose to power.
The idea that he would need to allow himself to be seen, and while doing something new and unfamiliar to him nonetheless, was terrifying.
He longed for the simpler, more familiar times of his life as a pauper.
Pacing nervously outside on the royal balcony, he spotted the familiar shape of his old hut in the distance.
Longing for the safety of the known, he decided to go spend the night in his old home.
Upon re-entering the hut, he remembered how tiny, cramped and uncomfortable it was—it felt like he had to shrink himself down just to get inside.
His physical stature hadn’t changed, but his outlook on life had.
While it didn’t feel like he had quite “grown into” his new status as royalty, he had certainly “grown out of” that old way of doing things.
He knew the only way forward was to grow into the castle, rather than shrink back into the hut.
Nature has one objective, and that is “evolve”.
Trees only grow taller; they don’t shrink back into the safety of the soil when the weather gets dicey.
Retreating into to the ever-repeating known of our old ways seems so much easier.
The known is comfortable, and we feel secure. We have control there.
But comfort is the enemy of growth, and control is opposed to evolution.
True security doesn't come from control, but from the courage to remain open-hearted and fearless.
Discomfort then, is not a sign of failure, but an invitation to evolve.
Change can be scary, but not as scary as staying the same forever.
That’s why Siddhartha Gautama gave up his comfortable life as a prince to pursue enlightenment and became the Buddha.
That’s why Ashtavakra, who had lived his previous life as a handsome playboy, chose to reincarnate into a deformed leper in order to grow out of his comfort zone.
Polish psychologist Kazimierz Dabrowski coined the phrase “positive disintegration” to describe how personal crises, emotional intensity, and inner turmoil are often signs of transformation, rather than pathology, and can lead to the emergence of a more authentic self.
The difference between a positive disintegration and a breakdown is in our ability to remain open to change instead of resist.
The word vulnerability has become quite popular, but vulnerability really means we are susceptible to outside influences.
What we’re really after is a fearlessness to remain open.
“You can’t be fearless or invincible if you’re not challenged and taken way out of your comfort zone.”
—Shri 1008 Mahamandaleshwar Maharishi Vyasanand Giri Maharaj
We can’t feel peace if we run from conflict.
We can’t develop courage if we avoid fear.
We can’t bond without openness.
We can’t experience true love without risking our heart.
We can’t dodge death by avoiding life.
To live fully, we’re called to embrace the edges of discomfort instead of running back to our huts.
The only way out is through.
And the reward of being open is so much greater than the risk of staying closed.
Let’s discuss these and other ideas during Collective Effervescence, our online group meditation series, this Sunday February 23 at 12PM ET. Drop in for meditation only (first 30 min) or stay for discussion + Q&A on this and other life topics from the Vedic perspective. Join the WhatsApp group to receive reminders 24 hours before each session, or use the below links to have all upcoming dates automatically sync to your calendar.
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Music today is Rhye’s breakout 2013 single Open, which appeared dutifully when I typed “o-p-e-n” into my Apple Music library and fits today’s theme perfectly. Stay open.