(The principal of a large school in Bombay gave us a list of frequently asked questions by 13 year old children in her school and asked us whether we can prepare answers in the light of a spiritual perspective. When we looked at the question we found that they are not mere “kid-stuff.” Most of them are either fundamental and existential questions related to world and God or psychological problems faced by most of us. This series is an attempt to answer these questions from the children’s perspective in the light of a spiritual vision of life. We don’t know how far we have succeeded in communicating to the children. Nevertheless, we hope these answer may be of some help to teachers and parents who have to deal with children. There are around thirty questions with answers given in the light of a spiritual vision of life. We will post these questions at regular intervals.)
Why People Can’t Keep Secrets
There are many reasons why people are not able to keep secrets. First is that when we have a secret it gives us a sense of self-importance. Our ego feels it has something which the others don’t know and it becomes a burden. And most of us have this urge to display and show off. When we have a secret, we want to show off to others we have something they don’t know. And finally in most of us our tongues cannot keep quiet for long. This faculty of speech is something unique to human beings which the animals don’t have. So as we evolved from the animal to human beings and acquired this new faculty, we want to use it as much as possible. Thus when we combine all these factors, the sense of possessing something others don’t know or have, carrying a burden, urge to display, and the wagging tongue, it creates a condition in which no secret can stay for long.
So if we want to keep our secrets we have to conquer the four factors we have mentioned earlier. However, it is not merely a matter of keeping the secret. These four factors are big obstacles to our inner growth and become better human beings. So if we want to grow as human beings we have to conquer these obstacles.
