The external factors disturb us so much because of our
identification with them. Some objects, persons, power, or positions become part
of our personality, rather sometimes, the centres of our personality. We feel
that we are lost when they are lost. We get alienated from our personality.
We become slave to the wealth we have created; we get
imprisoned in the house we have built; we sell ourselves to the institution we
have originated; the book we have written becomes our very soul; similarly,
power becomes the centre of our personality. We alienate from ourselves by
identification with something other than ourselves. This is called
self-alienation.
 |
| Sun Temple At Konark - Odisha |
The things we identify ourselves with are always subject to
change, because they are part of the changing environment, and these changes
will enkindle different kinds of feelings within us.
In Vyasa’s commentary on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra we come across
this following passage: ‘Identifying oneself with seen and unseen objects, one
rejoices feeling one’s self enhanced by possessing them, and by losing them one
grieves feeling that he himself is lost. This is quite natural for the
unawakened.’
There must be spiritual awakening in us. We must constantly
contemplate on our true nature, the Atman, beyond body, mind, and the senses.
This will weaken our identification with the body and thereby with external
objects also. During meditation, we must feel our separate existence
dissociating ourselves from the mental states.
Source - The Psychological Aspects of Spiritual Life Swami
Nityasthananda – From Prabuddha Bharata Feb 2016