The bondage of material delusion.
What does that mean to me ?
When I began working with Orgone energy, I found that initially I did not want to give away any pieces I had made, they were all special and I wanted to keep them all.
However, in my general life I always tried to keep clear of material bondage, but never really knew exactly how, or why, I felt that way.
Then I happened upon a book called ‘Kim’ by Rudyard Kipling, recommended to me by Laozu. In the book Kimball O’Hara is a young vagabond in Lahore, now Pakistan, and it focuses on his encounters with a Tibetan Llama, who is intent on freeing himself from the wheel of life.
This concept fascinated me greatly, now I felt there may be an actual reason that I was repulsed by what I saw as the vulgar materialism of my youth, buying things for their show off value and prestige, rather than for any true need.
After reading Kim the thought stayed with me. The Llama reached Nirvana and freed himself of his Samsara (Wheel Of Life) Bondage, the bondage which forces us to be reincarnated again and again, according to Buddhist teachings, until we learn to keep ourselves free of this bondage cycle.
(Buddhist Monks spend days on Samsara artwork, only to destroy it once complete)
When I was a young man, alternative music gripped my sense of right and wrong, there was an indefinable spirit within the music of various genres, which imbued this sense, to reject materialism as a delusional bondage. Although almost every band I really liked adhered to their own version of this mantra, in varying forms, that there was an inner, or deeper, reasoning which could be ascribed to a spiritual stance was lost on me, at that time.
Nothing new.
In recent times, the expansion of this thinking has had a much more meaningful impact upon my life. Now, I try to avoid buying anything new, where practicable or possible. This has long been a loose concept of mine, buying electrical items I have always bought reconditioned, or second hand, again where suitable, all notable electrical appliances at home are second hand.
Lately all my clothes are second hand, with the exception of underwear, it gives me huge satisfaction to find bargains in Charity Shops or online, which I can get years of further use from, for a fraction of the cost from new, plus they do not have the same emotional attachment to me, once their usefulness has run its course.
The urge is still there, still sometimes keeping clothes due to attachment, for example, but understand it is Bondage to do so.
Let go of money worries
This is another key facet of this principle for me, that somehow money makes us happy, is one of the great fallacies of my life. Sometimes we need money to attain quality food, reasonable shelter, to bring people together, of course. But, it is my understanding that more money does bring with it more problems, that it is neutral in and of itself, but we place huge emotional burden upon ourselves to have (or attain) wealth, when in truth it just burdens our souls with materialistic delusions, for most people.
(Above : The Symbol of the eighth fold path, ārya mārga, noble path of the Dhamma, early Buddhism, representing the Dharmachackra)
Let go of all Samsara bondage
In the book, Kim, the Llama is in his finals stages of seeking to attain Moksha (freedom from Samsara – the birth, death cycle). So, the Llama has freed himself from most behavioural bondages and is living the eight fold path. However, for most people the thought of giving everything up (or worse away), is a strongly negative thought pattern.
Most people perceive rightly that they have worked hard throughout their lives, to acquire material comforts, and it is an absurd notion to go about giving it away, to free yourself from some perceived delusional bondage, however that is what I believe we ought to do, if we are to attain a true sense of our spiritual selves, and confirm ourselves as ready to move on from the birth death cycle.
Whether I will be able to give everything away as I grow older, I do not know, or, work enough on the many failings of each aspect of the eight fold path, but, it is my intent to try to do so.
This is not to say that we should all give away all our life savings, security, shelter, that would be another form of delusion, rather to try to ensure we hold no emotional bondage to those things, especially as we mature on our journeys.
Good luck on your journey through Samsara.