
What Provokes You?
Provocation is like teasing a snake. By the time you realize it, it has already stuck. Mostly.
I am often asked if it's possible to remain even under all circumstances and if so, what is the path? Many have tried meditation, yoga, therapies, counselling and everything else under the sun without great results though. Why? Allow me to get you to the root of this issue.
Provocation
In a monastery was a master fond of a certain sweetened herbal drink. It was a concoction of many herbs, mixed with honey. It took him hours to prepare the concentrate. He was protective about it and would keep it in his room, under his watch. One day the master had to go for a sermon in the nearby village. He would be gone the whole day and he well knew that his younger disciples might give in to the temptation.
"This is a bottle of deadly poison," he said to the young disciple in charge of cleaning his room. "Don't touch it and don't let anybody else in my room."
The young monk knew better. He resisted the whole day but in the end the temptation won. With the intention of simply tasting a drop, he opened the bottle. A wild and exotic aroma roused his olfactory senses. Before he knew, he had already finished half the bottle. Greatly worried, he needed a way out of the situation. He drank some more, splattered some on his robe, spilled a few drops on the floor and shattered the bottle on the ground. Presently, he just sat there waiting for his master to arrive. Many long moments of worry and anxiety passed.
"What happened?" the master said as soon as he came back and saw the disciple.
"I'm your culprit, Master," he replied. "I was cleaning your room and this bottle of deadly poison slipped from my hand. Before I could do anything, it broke. I was devastated that I goofed up. Thinking I deserved to die, I drank whatever I could. I even sprinkled it on me hoping the wild smell may kill me. Many hours have passed but I'm still not dead."
At the bottom of provocation sits temptation. It's like the urge to itch, it can be irresistible. And what is temptation? It's a thought that has got us by surprise. Subsequent thoughts, contemplation and actions are only the post-effects, the aftermath.
Om Namah Shivay
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