A Snake and Chachhundar

A Snake and Chachhundar

We live an awkward life.

We bite what we cannot swallow.

We swallow what we cannot digest.

And we digest what we cannot expel.

Usually, our focus on the spiritual path is fighting our desires, but it takes work.

Eliminating our desires will help us secure the heaven for us.

But fighting desires is a challenging task.

Every step of that is filled with suffering.

Running after desires – stressful.

Handling what you already have acquired after running – stressful.

Trying to get rid of what you have already acquired – stressful.

This condition is like that of a snake which has shallowed a chachundar ( a rat-like animal with a needle-like fur coating).

The snake feels very uncomfortable after it bites and brings the chachundar into its mouth.

Then, it cannot swallow it down, nor can it spit it out—and eventually, both die, in the process.

We are that snake and we are walking around with the chachhundar of desires in our mouth.

In our interactions with desires, we are missing one significant fact: knowing which can smoothen our spiritual journey.

What is it?

After having a bad experience with the Chachhundar , what would a snake do?

o, a survived snake would be a wiser snake.

As you said, he would at least avoid going after Chachhundars.

But the nature of the snake is to bite and swallow.

Without this nature, it cannot survive.

So, yes, he will avoid Chachhundars, but will continue with other more benign animals.

So far so good.

Similarly, in our life, once we realize that desires are like Chachhundars, we will stay away from them, but, can we really stop desiring completely?

If we stop certain desires, some other desires will spring up ( more benign looking ), and we will run after them.

So, where is the problem lying?

Now that we know where we are wrong, what’s the solution?

What does the snake represent for a spiritual sadhak?

Our Ego ( identification ) is the snake.

The ego is the GENERATOR of all desires (biting and swallowing ).

It doesn’t matter whether desires are good or bad, lower or higher.

(Whether the snake eats the Chachhundar or a rat doesn’t matter.)

Just the way, the snake finds out myriads of ways to keep doing what it has been doing and survive, Ego finds thousands of ways to survive.

As long as the snake survives, preying will continue.

As long as the Ego survives, desires will keep arising.

Our focus should be on the snake ( the Ego ), not the desires.

Annihilate the snake ( the desirer ), and desires will evaporate.

And how do we annihilate the Ego?

I am slowly realizing that the path of WHO AM I?, that Rama Maharishi has given us can still fumble you for a long time.

The question “Who am I?” still keeps “I” in the center and believes in “I” as a reality.

The most challenging thing to come out of is “I.”

I think a better path is –

“ Am I ?” – which will start doubting “I” right from the beginning

In reality, there is nothing like “I”; it just doesn’t exist.

On inquiry, one can sooner or later conclude that there is nothing like “I.”

What I believed to be “I” is just existence itself ( just like a wave does not exist, but the ocean does).

What does not exist cannot be removed or eradicated.

The ignorance of such a depth can only be superseded with the proper knowledge realized through sincere inquiry.