Cravings

 My wife brought me a new deodorant a while back and I had the most horrific allergic reaction. For weeks I had large red spots on my body and a constant need to scratch myself.

The issue is gone now and I am fine other than that my sensitivity to deodorants has gone up. What I observed was that itching, snacking, watching, browsing, drinking have a similar psychological drive.

 

Start itching and you can’t stop. Have one glass of wine and soon it becomes two. Ramana Maharshi was once asked if the fulfillment of desires is the way to end them and he responded that we may as well pour gasoline on fire.

 

Call it restlessness, loneliness, boredom, unfulfillment—all these states denote a state when we are not at peace. Yet, we all know that we are peace, we are love; so, what to do when the craving to be somewhere else other than here kicks in?

 

Observation is the tool at our hand to end this disagreement with the moment at hand. It could be as simple as becoming aware of our surroundings and just listen and seeing life as is for a moment. On the inside, it’s actually quite interesting to zoom into the feeling of unfulfillment. That’s when it changes and something entirely new arises.

 

Try it!