Suppression leads to disorder subtle or physical. The latter may lead to disease which may induce an unending process of deterioration, if not taken care of properly. Thus, the end result of suppression is always disastrous. This is a process which never comes to an end, because whatever is suppressed does not totally cease to exist, but continues to persist in a dormant form. The suppressor tries to continue the quelling to prevent it from overcoming that state. Otherwise, the consequence may be entirely different and the former could completely eliminate the latter. The solution lies in transformation.
Suppression of thoughts is very dangerous. Ideally, they should be transformed. But, instead of this, if they are merely suppressed, they give rise to a sort of psychological pressure. When this pressure becomes intolerable, it causes such a build-up that after analyzing the damage caused, it is felt that it would have been better had they been let out. It is the inherent nature of the mind that it becomes curious to think in the direction restricted for it. For instance, when people meditate, they try to contemplate only on pious thoughts. But, if this is done by subduing malicious thoughts without inculcating purity from within, then these thoughts begin to create a psychological pressure and are later expressed as useless imaginations, which distract the concentration. If someone is prevented from eating sweets, then he would crave for them even more. Similarly, when kids are prevented from doing something, they become impatient for doing it.
The process of suppression has a similar impact on everyone. When the threshold limit is reached, the suppressed feelings and thoughts get expressed in an aggressive manner. Then it really becomes difficult to control the flood of emotions. Suppression is not only harmful for the mind, but even adversely affects the body and its various biological processes.
The physiological processes have a limit. For instance, hunger could be restrained only up to a certain limit, beyond which, one begins to ingest anything he gets. Then he would not think whether it is hygienically proper to eat it or not. Then no exposition could stop the person from eating even impure things. So, it is rightly said that one cannot pray with an empty stomach. The same rule applies to all other somatic processes.
The suppression of emotions proves to be the most harmful. This is because expression is their natural tendency. Prevention of this expression gives rise to various psychological disorders.
In fact, suppression of emotions is the root cause of mental disorders. Revered Gurudev has even said that mental disorders are the ill-consequences of suppressed feelings.
The sole remedy lies in transformation. Transformation means complete change like the seed changes into a tree and the waste becomes the fertile manure. But, this remarkable change occurs in the life of a person only when one has intense devotion and dedication for the Almighty. This is the process, which leads to the reformation of one’s personality. Repression involves unnecessary employment of force, while transformation only requires contemplative devotion to God. The former leads to deformities, while devotion and dedication change them to power. For example, lustful life leads to decline, but after its positive transformation to devotion it leads to upliftment.
The spiritual reality of life lies in its transformation rather than suppressing thoughts and creating distortions. Suppression causes the divine to lose its divinity, the pure, its purity and the worthy, its worth. There is a dividing line between suppression and transformation. One side of this line has disorders and distortions, while on the other side lie refinement, amelioration and purity.
Devotion and dedication towards the Almighty bring a complete change in our thought process. Then we find nothing to be antagonistic or loathsome. This is because who is a beast at one end becomes the Omnipotent at the other. Spiritually, there is no difference between the two. They are just two different ends. Thus, a barbaric beast could be developed and transformed into its creator. This is not an imagination, but a reality, because within the animal, Divinity lies in a hidden form. When the outer covering is removed, the divinity is unleashed and the animal attains the status of God. Once a person understands this truth, then suppression and strife become irrelevant to him. Then he realizes that no one could be happy by splitting himself into pieces. He understands that the process of suppression could only cause pain, but it cannot take us to the eternal source of bliss. Further, it makes us arrogant rather than humble and wise.
Undulating devotion and dedication towards God is the sole medium through which hate could change into adoration, distortion into development, decline into progress and suppression into transformation.
Akhand Jyoti Magazine 2016 May-Jun