Conquering the tongue -Free Solo
YOU FACE YOUR FEAR BECAUSE YOUR GOAL DEMANDS IT……WARRIOR SPIRIT (Alex Honnold)
Recently I saw the documentary Free Solo by National Geographic. This documentary was of Alex Honnold who climbed El Capitan in Yosemite,California. El Capitan’s iconic granite walls dominate the west end of Yosemite Valley. At more than 3,000 feet (900+ m) above the valley floor, it is 2.5 times as tall as the Empire State Building, or more than 3 times as high as the tip of the Eiffel Tower. Source
Alex climbed this straight edge climb without a rope and with bare hands. Quite a feat but definitely not one that I am planning to attempt, or any such dangerous acts. This human body is far more precious and valuable and is the only means to attain God consciousness. But this documentary got me thinking about fears, facing them, and putting the necessary demands on ourselves to achieve our goals.
Our goal is Bhakti yoga and reaching the stage of prema, love of God. When we read scriptures we can see many places it is mentioned control of the senses is the first step, so to speak, to climb the ladder of bhakti. Among the senses, the tongue is told to be the most difficult to control. The tongue speaks and it tastes food.
My battles with my tongue and trying to control it seem to be a climb up the steep El Capitan, a straight edge climb, no ropes, no one to catch me when I fall, free and solo. When the hurdles of lust, anger and greed attack us we get bewildered and then we are alone with our mind. In our mind when trying to control the tongue we are solo. Only me and my mind. It bribes me, entices me to do things I don’t want to do. It’s a fearful climb against lust, anger and greed. But we must do it, just climb. Just like in the documentary, one wrong move and we slip and fall into oblivion, back to earth. Facing those fears can only happen if we take shelter of the super soul within us. Within us we have this guiding voice of the super soul, who tells us where to place our next step in this monumental task of climbing the El Capitan free solo.
As I watched the documentary I could see the focus and I could see that he was being guided by the super soul where to place his next step, else this kind of feat is not possible. Similarly, when we are trying to control the tongue, from eating nonsense and speaking nonsense, unless we take shelter of the Lord Hrishikesha (master of the senses), it’s not possible. In a split second we make a decision in our mind to speak something. At that point it’s us alone with the mind in this battle should I or should I not do this.
The dialogue in the mind tends to go like this: The first voice we hear is the super soul guiding us and we need to listen closely. But this is followed closely by the second voice, of the mind, trying to give us some justification of why we should or should not do this or that. In order to become tuned to the first voice we require focus on the goal. If we are clear of our destination then this is just a journey. Define the goal in your mind very clearly. Then the mind will back off and not misdirect you. This kind of focus is required in bhakti and comes after lifetimes of cleansing and moving towards this spiritual goal.
SB 3.9.24 The path of spiritual life is stated in the Vedas to be like the edge of a sharpened razor. A little inattentiveness may at once create havoc and bloodshed, but one who is a completely surrendered soul, always seeking protection from the Lord in the discharge of his entrusted duties, has no fear of falling into material contamination. Source
Controlling our mind in the spiritual pursuit and Alex Honnold’s material feat have similarities and differences. He was so focused on his goal of climbing, his super soul was guiding him where to place the next step. If you watch the documentary you will know what I mean. This being a material achievement it does not need lifetimes of cleansing but it needs this lifetime of intense focus and practice for sure. A little inattentiveness will cost him his life.
DURING ANY CLIMB OF LIFE LISTEN TO THAT VOICE!!
Here are this week’s tunes !