There was a time when seeing an accident tragedy on the road, hearing news about a child starving in a drought-hit region, or anything of that sort, could leave us disturbed for days. But today, these images and news do come to our feed, but the impact has diminished a lot. We pause for a second, maybe feel a bit sad but then swipe up. Along with time, somewhere between compassion and convenience, something in us has gone numb.
The Times of Endless Empathy
Empathy is what makes us humans unique. It’s an emotional bridge connecting one’s pain to another’s heart. But, today, empathy is not being used, it’s being manhandled – pushed to its limits. Unlike previous generations, who witness grief and suffering occasionally, today our social media feed is flooded with stories of war, injustice, heartbreaks, disasters and others. This continuous exposure to empathy hasn’t deepened it, rather it has drained it.
The most common term used by psychologists to describe this — ‘Compassion Fatigue’. This term is earlier denoted to healthcare workers, who were seen to be emotionally disconnected to every other patient, after caring for a lot of patients in distress. This Compassion Fatigue is now applicable to all of us.
The Illusion of Connectivity
In this ever-evolving age of technology and social media, even if we appear to be connected, still we are not. We share posts on social media about the cause, say any flood hit region, some of us send help as well, some of us become emotional after seeing a short emotional film on instagram as well. This empathy is often limited to social media accounts only.
For example, in a flood-hit region, immediately under a selected viral campaign, social media is flooded with help posts within an hour. A week later, the algorithm moves on. The suffering remains the same, our attention moves on. It is not that people are not ready to see these kinds of things or they are heartless but the social media’s algorithm has made us emotionally numb by overexposing things in a short time.
The Price of Emotional Numbness
Emotional numbness comes at a bigger cost than we could even imagine – our behavioural cost. Real empathy isn’t about likes and shares, it develops with genuine and sustained connection between people.
Every other tragedy we witness today, first gains traction on social media for sometime and then another trend comes in. When emotions are diluted due to overexposure, even the strongest movements lose their power. The result is – society sees everything, feels little and changes nothing.
This numbness even enters our personal lives as well. We even start to take important things less seriously, begin to lose patience with loved ones, and even call the struggle of others as ‘drama’. This behavioural change is because of emotional numbness we have developed because of overexposure and is making us even more stronger with each passing day.
Emotional Numbness and Missing Depth
We have become emotionally numb to suffering and have it considered to be a natural process. But if this emotional numbness isn’t a malfunction, rather related to our spiritual accounts? Why do so many of us feel disconnected even having love and success around us? Can any medicine or therapy truly bring back the lasting joy of the soul? These pressing questions establish a connection to the solution of emotional numbness and its root cause.
The Spiritual Root of Suffering & Disconnection
Jagatguru Tatvdarshi Sant Rampal Ji Maharaj has explained in His divine spiritual discourses that we are living in this mortal realm of Satan (Kaal Brahm). This realm is based on the characteristics of suffering and illusion. Everyday we see people suffering around us with no option – but now He has given an option to end this suffering.
He further explains that there is an immortal realm called Satlok, where there are no diseases, no mental trauma and everything in abundance. We are decaying here but in Satlok we remain immortal forever. This decaying nature and continuous suffering is the cause of disconnection.
Our emotional state is an outcome of our karmic bondage and it can be settled by suffering, unless we come into the refuge of Supreme God Kabir. The true path of worship to Supreme God Kabir through His Complete Saint, Who is currently Sant Rampal Ji Maharaj, can end our physical and emotional stresses. By following the worship guided by Sant Rampal Ji Maharaj, we can comfortably keep ourselves busy here through the true worship of Supreme God Kabir. Also, He (God Kabir) paves the way for the soul, guiding it to Satlok, the realm where everlasting joy and peace is a reality.
Discover this eternal path of happiness which ends the suffering of physical and emotional stresses by watching discourses at ‘Sant Rampal Ji Maharaj’ YouTube channel. You can also visit www.jagatgururampalji.org for more information.
