Why is there a pinch experienced in doing right?
Question:
I have a question regarding the previous knowledge on Apaatra Daanam!
We have faced that situation many times with extended family. Using my Viveka, it’s obviously ‘apaatra’! But why I still feel a pinch? Just the feeling that someone was not happy with me – pinches me.
But now I realize – that I could not please a certain person, the pinch is to the ego !! That my relatives are not happy with me. The same feeling is when I say no to kids for sugar or say no to myself for unhealthy food or excess food.
Am I getting it right? Are there two kinds of pinches?
1. To consciousness.
2. To the Mr. Ego.
The ego tries to cover the pinches to the consciousness by justifying its wrong actions. Consciousness always knows what’s right & what’s wrong.
Answer:
Beautiful realization, dear. This understanding is the result of hard work put into the act of being aware! Kudos to you. Keep going!
Let me clarify this ‘pinch’ business in detail:
Pinch is only of one type dear. It is a pinch/pang/punch of doing/thinking about something UNWHOLESOME.
Then why did you feel a pinch while doing the right thing?
That is because even while doing the right thing, our Ego can manufacture several unwholesome thoughts about the person/situation/thing.
How?
Our minds don’t function in a linear manner. It is never as simple as single thought -> single action.
There is, in reality, a cobweb of analysis, a cobweb of justifications, a cobweb of intentions and a cobweb of reactions.
And then from the multiple cob-web systems, you pick the right action if you are in an overall wholesome state.
You pick the wrong action when you are in an overall unwholesome state.
What determined the overall state?
If the maximum of the cob-web system thoughts are wholesome and only a few unwholesome, then your balance of power tilts towards wholesomeness.
If the maximum of the cob-web system thoughts are unwholesome and only a few wholesome, then your balance of power tilts towards unwholesomeness.
Are the pinches determined by the individual analytical thoughts, individual justification thoughts, individual intentions, and individual reactionary thoughts?
Absolutely! Each has its own POA and depending on its strategy being wholesome or unwholesome, we experience several pinches/punches/pangs…. not just one or two 🙂
So what determines the pinch that you thought comes from the Ego?
The pinch of the Ego that you are saying is actually just a pinch of the consciousness for one of the unwholesome analysis/justification/intentions from the entire cob-web system of thoughts.
As you become more and more aware, you will start recognizing that there are many such pangs. Simple and yet so complicated are our minds. That’s why Buddha stressed on becoming more and more and more wholesome in every aspect of our lives. Then only will the balance of power shift to wholesomeness completely. Wholesome-ness has to win all the seats of both the parties in the election, so we have to start working now for that victory!
More power to you!
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In my experience, even if I Witness a bad thought ( or the memory of a bad thought), while staying aloof from it, I still feel a pinch. Is that normal? Or does it mean that I was not actually being a pure Witness, but was getting involved in the thought? Thanks!
Here is something I found that may be useful to somebody:- an example of a pinch while doing right. Suppose a negative thought enters a person’s mind. The normal person will experience a pinch, and he will think, what a weird thought and forget it. But some people are obsessive in nature. They will not forget the thought. They will get anxious thinking often about the possibility of this negative thought. If they try to repel the thought, it comes back with greater force. They will experience many subsequent pangs even while doing the right thing. Their obsessive nature, fear and anxiety is the cause of this problem. We can Google: Intrusive thoughts and anxiety/ OCD to know more about this.