The pressure in the pressure cooker is tight and hard. On one side there is the pressure of advertising from corporations. On the other side there is the pressure from journalism in terms of social justice. There is pressure being added from both sides on the common man. In the middle the common man is cooking between the conflicting messages. And in between all the common men are the ones that are the most sensitive that are feeling the pressure the most. They are quaking and cracking between the pressure of the diammetric forces between corporate advertising and journalistic morality. They feel that someone should be doing something about it. And those that can't swallow that resentment, accepting this is the nature of the world, end up reacting to it. People will tell this individual, "You can't change the world, just do your duty." And those that can't swallow the notion of duty, suffer.
The popular rhetoric is that change is inevitable in the world. And we are told to pick sides on which way things are going to change. We label ourselves as liberals or conservatives and pick a side. And we join the political global tug-o-war. We push or we pull to make our side win. We try to do our part to tip the balance on the side that we think should be favorable.
The pressure on the world is increasing. It has been increasing. It will keep increasing. Pressure keeps getting tighter and tighter. The more sensitive things that can't bear the pressure break in the process. And that which doesn't break, becomes stronger.This is known as survival of the fittest. There is nothing good or bad about it. It is the way the world has always been and will always be. Nature produces differences in all living creatures, not humans.
Communication is the top valve of the pressure cooker. Every once in a while, through all the pressure, communication happens. Communication in the system is like the drinking bird taking a sip of water. Without the water the colored fluid in the drinking bird keeps rising and rising. It functions like a pressure cooker with high heat under it. The colored fluid keeps rising and rising until it makes the bird tip. Finally when the drinking bird takes a sip of water, equilibrium is reached. The bird is upright and rocking again.
So this sipping of water by the bird functions like the top valve of the pressure cooker. It cools down the system. It decompresses it. This process is communication. When everyone in the system agrees upon the paradigm and understands the pressure cooker the same way and has similar expectations, then harmony happens. But this is idealistic. Things rarely operate this way in the Western world.
In the traditional East there is the notion of duty. The notion of doing your duty is almost like being a professional. The professional does his duty. He is not worried about what the whole corporation is doing. He simply does his duty. He executes his profession as well as he can, not worrying about the whole world.
In a corporation, the notion of duty is that you are a cog in the wheel of the car. The CEO is the driver. And let us say that you are supposed to function as the head-lights. Well since your job is to function as the head-lights, your eyes are on the road. And you see an up-coming car. And you know that your job is to provide the light for the car. But unfortunately the driver is not paying attention to the road because he is fiddling with the radio knob. So what do you do? Do you freak out for the love of the car? Do you do what it takes to avoid an accident? Do you try to signal the CEO even though your job is only to function as the head-lights? Should you feel that "someone" should be doing something about it? Do you impose your own morality that 'accidents should be avoided at all costs' on the car? Or do you do your duty as serving as the head-lights?
To feel conflicted in the midst of all of those questions while you see an up-coming car while you are racing down a road, is called pressure. Arjuna in the battlefield of Kurukshetra felt all these conflicts. And the instructions from Krishna try to put everything in context for him so that Arjuna doesn't feel conflicted. Krishna tells Arjuna to just do his duty.
As long as you are doing what you are meant to do to the best of your abilities, even if a collision happens, you are not responsible. Social morality will disagree with this. Social morality will say that no one should ever get hurt. But this is wrong.
Pain is inevitable in this world. And you cannot avoid it. You have to be able to digest the heat of pressure. You have to focus on the job at hand and swallow the rest. It is tough. You may feel that you are being insensitive. People will accuse you with all kinds of things. But all you can do is your duty. Pain is sewed into the DNA fabric of this world. It is the source of growth. Without pain there wouldn't be any worthwhile realization or maturation. There would only be cliche superficial wisdom.
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