You are in the wrong Field

Think about your favourite sport which you love playing or watching, for me its Tennis. Now assume for years, a player has been trying to get better and better at this sport. After years of playing & toiling, he gets a shock: He has been playing on the wrong field all his life. He was playing tennis on a cricket pitch! Seems ridiculous? Well, chapter 13 tells you that you are doing exactly the same. You are playing the game of life intensely & with great vigour but unfortunately you have not realized that you are on the wrong field.

Let us get into why. The normal view of how the game of life is played is as follows: I am the player, the world outside is the field in which I play the game with all my supporters and detractors and the aim of the game is go out in this field and win the game by playing well. Right in the 2^nd verse of this chapter Krishna shreds this myth by saying the world outside is NOT your field. Your field (Kshetra) of life is your body. He doesn’t only mean the physical body but the entire body, mind, intellect combination. This is your field and this is where you play the game of your life. The author Campbell put it well succinctly: “You live your life between your two ears”. As is said often in corporate world, if your problem definition is wrong, your solution will always be wrong or temporary! The problem with our world view is that we spend our life figuring out how to fix the outside world. If only I get the right college, if only my job was a bit better, if only my kids get into a good college, if only my spouse listened to me a little bit more…. Well good luck with that because your spouse is thinking the same about you as well.

So, if your life construct is so wrong, what is the right construct and how do you use it to really “win” in the game of life. Krishna gives a different construct completely. He says your Body (Idam Shariram) which comprises of BMI (Physical body, Mind, Intellect) is your real field in which you play. The reason you don’t understand this is because of the Ego which makes you identified and hence attached to this BMI complex.

Take a pause and digest it as this is completely different from how we perceive our everyday life. All your pursuits, all the changes that you try to make in the outside world and most importantly, all the happiness that you try to seek lies in this kshetra. There is not an iota of a change you can make to anything without this field. Once you internalize this stunning revelation, a second question will emerge: so how do I play my life now? Again, Krishna gives a very simple solution which He has been reiterating over last few chapters. If winning for you is eternal happiness, you have to reduce the string attaching you to this field: the Ego.  It’s the identification to the BMI complex which is the cause of all your suffering as we discussed in the previous chapters. The more closely you identify yourself with this BMI, the bigger the ego and hence more your miseries. The more you look at this field for what it is; just a field to be played in, the happier you will be. 

This is why in Buddhist Zen, the state of Satori (enlightenment) is defined very simply and precisely: “Seeing ones true nature”. The moment you are able to see the true nature of this field two things will happen: Firstly, you will realize it is the only field you have to change versus trying to change the entire world, which is itself a hugely liberating experience. Secondly, there will be a realization that this field is just an instrument & you will start enjoying every moment of your game of life. Krishna ends the chapter with exactly the same message: The one who understands the real field of life will win the supreme (Param). 

So, start playing and start winning!