One windy spring day, I observed young people having fun using the wind to fly their kites. Multicolored creations of varying shapes and sizes filled the skies like beautiful birds darting and dancing in the heady atmosphere above the earth. As the strong winds gusted against the kites, a string kept them in check.
Instead of blowing away with the wind, they arose against it to achieve great heights. They shook and pulled, but the restraining string and the cumbersome tail kept them in tow, facing upward and against the wind. As the kites struggled and trembled against the string, they seemed to say, "Let me go! Let me go! I want to be free!" They soared beautifully even as they fought the imposed restriction of the string. Finally, one of the kites succeeded in breaking loose. "Free at last" it seemed to say. "Free to fly with the wind."
Yet freedom from restraint simply put it at the mercy of an unsympathetic breeze. It fluttered ungracefully to the ground and landed in a tangled mass of weeds and string against a dead bush. "Free at last" free to lie powerless in the dirt, to be blown helplessly along the ground, and to lodge lifeless against the first obstruction.
Instead of blowing away with the wind, they arose against it to achieve great heights. They shook and pulled, but the restraining string and the cumbersome tail kept them in tow, facing upward and against the wind. As the kites struggled and trembled against the string, they seemed to say, "Let me go! Let me go! I want to be free!" They soared beautifully even as they fought the imposed restriction of the string. Finally, one of the kites succeeded in breaking loose. "Free at last" it seemed to say. "Free to fly with the wind."
Yet freedom from restraint simply put it at the mercy of an unsympathetic breeze. It fluttered ungracefully to the ground and landed in a tangled mass of weeds and string against a dead bush. "Free at last" free to lie powerless in the dirt, to be blown helplessly along the ground, and to lodge lifeless against the first obstruction.
How much like kites we sometimes are. We all have potential to climb to great heights, but if we act unrestricted then we may find that we lose control of ourselves and our situation. Different spiritual traditions recommend following certain rules and regulations from which we can grow and gain strength. Restraint is a necessary counterpart to the winds of opposition. Without some restriction we may become victim to the material winds in forms like lust, anger and greed, which further deepen our conditioning and prevent spiritual growth. Personally I choose to observe 4 regulative principles avoiding; intoxication, animal slaughter, illicit sex and gambling. These four are said to destroy the four foundational pillars of spirituality; austerity, compassion, cleanliness and truthfulness, which may be seen as the qualities of the humane. To restrict our lower conditionings and urges facilitates our cultivation of higher qualities which are true to our real nature as pure spiritual loving persons, who love all forms of life and simply desire peace for all.
But a person free from all attachment and aversion and able to control his senses through regulative principles of freedom can obtain the complete mercy of the Lord. Bhagavad Gita 2.64
One who restrains his senses, keeping them under full control, and fixes his consciousness upon Me(Krishna), is known as a man of steady intelligence. Bhagavad Gita 2.61
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