Each of us likely has “mental shelters” that we often take refuge in. In difficult time, these shelters might disappear and this loss may create distress. It helps to cultivate “spiritual shelters” as these are more resilient.
On observing my thought patterns, I see that my mind often takes refuge in “mental shelters”. Such shelters can be anything that provides a reassurance to the mind. Examples of mental shelters could be wealth (imagining being rich or taking solace in the fact that one has money), health, youth, good-looks, ego (e.g. being top-dog), physical wellbeing of self or others, a relationship, thoughts of possessions… and so on. Mental shelters can provide a refuge from reality and sometimes they may not be very far from it. We may become aware of their presence only when they are threatened.
These shelters can tell a person a lot about himself. Where I mentally shelter gives an insight into my thinking, priorities, and comfort-zones. And the same shelters also provide insights into my spiritual vulnerabilities. At times of distress, one or more of my mental shelters get threatened or even destroyed.1 Suddenly, I have been made mentally “homeless”, and forced to confront a new reality. Like a child who has just lost a toy, I keep trying to find my way back into the very shelter that I have just lost. While there may be other mental-shelters available to me, I stubbornly look to regain the one shelter that is not. Perhaps the mental edifice stands upon pillars of multiple shelters and the loss of any one of them brings the whole structure crashing down. Or, perhaps this distress is because we value loss more than we value gain.
In contrast to mental shelters, there are “spiritual shelters”. While mental shelters can vanish, spiritual shelters are resilient and can remain standing no matter what.2 An example of such a spiritual shelter is the practice of meditation done right.3 Of course, just because a spiritual shelter has been developed by a person does not mean that he will take refuge in it at a time of crisis. He may still keep trying to push back into the ruins of a mental shelter he has just lost. It takes time and sometimes a person needs to be cornered by events before he takes refuge in a spiritual shelter.
The problem with mental shelters
Mental shelters probably serve an important emotional-support function for us. They implicitly reassure a person that s/he has things of value. And, if one mental shelter is irretrievably lost, a person may take comfort in the ones that remain. When the mental shelters are not at risk, they may provide a “go-to place” for the mind to “rest” when the world looks hostile.
Nonetheless, mental shelters also pose a spiritual impediment.4 The problem with them is similar to the spiritual hurdles posed by desires5 (see article). Quite simply, spiritual happiness is unconditional while mental shelters make happiness conditional to their existence. And, mental shelters are usually snatched away by the passage of time, brining misery with their demise.
Arguably, spiritual progress may be jump-started with the loss of a very valuable mental shelter.6 Such an event can render a person distraught and desperate to try anything, including spiritual shelters!
Reducing reliance on mental shelters
The meditational practice of TAME provides a shelter too. The advantage of this shelter is that once it is in even rudimentary state, it will be always available. For this important reason, it is a spiritual shelter and one that I would encourage the reader to develop. Furthermore, development of spiritual shelters like meditation also reduces the importance one places on mental shelters.
We may convince ourselves that we are not very attached to some of the shelters we actually use. But we often become aware of our attachments only when the shelter vanishes or is at risk of doing so. We may thus live under the false impression that we are spiritually more resilient that we really are.
Endnote: God as a shelter
Atheists may be at a disadvantage, when it comes to building shelters that withstand the test of time. God can be the most resilient shelter a mind can have. An entity that is perfect, does not change with time, and will always be there ….cannot be done away with. TAME borrows from this idea and uses a Deity as the focus of its core meditational technique. Casting all problems away into the fire that represents the Diety appears to effectively both do away with the problem (at least momentarily) and provides psychological strength.
Recommended Readings
The Advanced Meditational Exercise (TAME): a meditation technique prescribed in Bhagwad Gita.
Desire is the root-cause of all suffering: There is a toxic tendency within us to reflexively never be satisfied and always want something more. This prevents us from being happy. Spiritual techniques weaken this tendency and make us happier regardless of what is happening around us.
Footnotes
[1] Sometimes, this may be the first time a person becomes conscious of these shelters. And that may be a measure of how unaware we are of all the shelters we use.
[2] This may need some training in spiritual techniques first.
[3] In my view, TAME is probably the right way to do meditation because despite my experiments with several meditation techniques, TAME is the only one that worked well for me.
Also note, a version of TAME can be practiced with no other requirement other than a conscious mind.
[4] Bhagwad Gita, for example in Chapter 4, Verse 20, talks about the importance of abandoning attachment to shelters in order to achieve unconditional happiness.
[5] There is a difference between mental shelters and desires. While mental shelters provide a resting place to a mind, desires often spur a person into action.
[6] See this article for more on this subject.
