Bhuma Vidya Peetham ​
Tensions of life
Tension is the gap between the being and the becoming.
A student who has not studied well feels tension as the date of examination approaches. Tension arises because his present status is not studied well. He clearly knows that is not enough to pass the exam or to get the scores he desired. Required level of study is far more than the actual status. That gap creates tension.
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An artist before a concert feels tension. Even the experienced artist feel it because of the perceived gap of ability Vs expectations. Artist expects loud applause, claps, standing ovation and so on. But a part of his mind doubts himself that whether his innate capacity can trigger such expected response. In this case there is no dearth of capacity like in the example of student. But fear about future.
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Sometimes, some events may make or break our lives. When such even approaches, person involved feels lot of tension. Tension is always with reference to a future outcome and that is felt now. When somebody is running to catch a train that has just started, he feels butterflies in stomach. After entering the train that feel goes away. While running, the idea of getting into train is in future. But there is a gap between the present moment and the future moment.
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People in relationships expect something from others. Others also expect something different from the other one expecting. Always there are gaps between such expectations. This is often cause of tensions.
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In all the above examples, tension is always about a future outcome but felt in present moment. If past, present, and future are related to time our memories, sensual inputs (pains and pleasures), and imagination are past, present and future related to our life. Mathematically speaking tension = becoming - being. If we can live in the present moment, if we are contended totally with our present state of being, or if we can shut down the faculty of imagination temporarily, we do not feel tension. As tantra uses visualisations, dependent arising templates, navigation techniques to past, present and future it can be of help in tackling tensions of life.
