Wearing Mask

These are the days of wearing a mask. Sometimes it is a wonder why we fuss so much about wearing it when we have all been wearing this mask all through our life, except in childhood. As we grow up, the size and the number of our ‘mask’ increases. We need to observe in a day how many times we are pretentious. We say one thing, we feel something else within, and we do some third thing. When I did this observation on myself, I was shocked. We wear this mask in our personal life, professional life, and social interactions. Of course, we defend our self most of the time by using pretty names like etiquette, or a word used by us Gujaratis ‘vyavahar,’ social norm (of course created by us only). And then, we get disappointed when we see through the ‘mask’ of someone we loved or trusted, not realising that we too sail in the same boat. We go by ‘labels’ (parents, children, friends, in-laws, relatives, husband/wife) & expect the person to live up to their label, not realising that he/she will act according to his ‘level,’ not ‘label.’ And what to talk about the mask we wear while dating the other, pre-engagement, post-engagement/wedding. We are at our very best here and yet we want the other to be transparent. These masks soon wear out and so does the relationship leaving us high and dry. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says it all in caution, “No worldly husband, wife, father, son, etc. can love another person for the sake of that person’s happiness. Everyone loves the other for the sake of their own self or happiness.” But, we say to each other ‘I love you.’ The minute the other person does anything that is unfavourable or objectionable, our mask gets removed, and we dislike or even hate that person. We are angry or hurt. Our veiled ego comes out of its mask demanding justice/return/payback. Our label is removed, our level exposed. Saints/spiritually awakened souls are an exception to this. Sister Shivani said “We are so bothered about what we will leave behind, that we hardly feel the need or have the time to think about what we will carry forward ahead post this lifetime.” The mask we wear today protects us from the virus, but the one we wear inside is self-destructive. Those beaten by their own ‘Swabhav’ (nature/conditioning/beliefs) try hard to show their ‘Prabhav’ on others (try to impress others). Recently I read, “Who says we don’t exercise? We ‘jump’ to conclusions, we ‘throw’ our weight around, we ‘twist’ the truth, we ‘stretch’ lies, we ‘bend’ rules, we ‘push’ our luck, we ‘lift’ our egos, we ‘run’ without any direction. We are so fit, but still, we’re fat since we eat our words ever so often…”