Part III — Insecurity

Liberation from insecurity

Insecurity goes away when we acquire the capacity of identification. Let us use the example of mothers and daughters. In America we see that the mother is often jealous of her daughter because the daughter is more beautiful or has a better education and job. No one adores the mother’s beauty, knowledge, wisdom or university degree. Her jealousy takes the form of insecurity. She says, “Nobody appreciates me. Only my daughter is being appreciated.” But if the mother is spiritual, she will immediately identify herself with her daughter’s achievements and say, “I brought my daughter into the world and she is mine, all mine.”

A mother has every right to claim her daughter as her own. And when she claims and identifies herself with her daughter, there can be no insecurity. If she feels that her daughter is but an extension of her own consciousness, then how can she feel insecure? The spectators may see a person put the shot very far with his right hand. Everybody has seen that he threw it with his right hand, but no one will say that he has used only the right hand and not the left. Of course not! The right hand has thrown the shot, but immediately the left hand will feel that it also should get some credit. Even if someone says, “He has achieved this victory with his right hand,” the left hand will not be jealous or insecure. The left hand did not throw the shot, true. But if that hand or any other part of the body had refused to cooperate, then there would have been no co-ordination of the body. When throwing the shot with the right hand a counter movement from the left hand and balance from the feet are necessary.

When someone has stood first in shotput, immediately all parts of the body will feel that they have contributed by offering their capacity to bring about this achievement and success. This principle applies in team sports also. If a team wins, the captain or leader often accepts the trophy, but the other players also get tremendous joy. They feel that it is their success, their achievement, for which he is receiving the award. In any activity, when the leader receives something, immediately the other members of the group should feel that it is their success, their combined achievement. When there is the capacity of identification, there can be no insecurity. But when we can’t identify ourselves with anything other than what we call our own, we are bound to feel insecure.