Locked in a Cage: Good or Bad?
Cages we find ourselves in can be protecting us, or holding us back. People are imprisoned and restrained for all kinds of reasons: punishments, a means to protect themselves, others, and so forth. It can be voluntary, and involuntary.
All creatures naturally want to be free. And domestic animals are a good example. They don't understand the dangers of the "civilized" human world, especially if they are very young. As they get wiser, some may come to this understanding, and accept their constraints, and surviving in the world, such as it is.
As human beings, it's important to gain some understanding of the importance of boundaries and limitations. Of course, at a certain point, we want to consider our potential as "unlimited", but no potential can be realized until and unless it is channeled - or directed - and that requires the paradoxical application of limit, and constraint. This is focus. Focus is the realization of power.
Therefore, if we find ourselves constrained or "caged" by something either conceptual or physical, perhaps there are better questions to ask ourselves first, before reacting adversely to our limiting circumstances, and trying to reflexively figure our how to just get out of the "cage" or off our chain.
Is this limitation - my cage - protecting me from some kind of danger? Can I distinguish what that danger might be? Is it possible it is a danger I don't know about, or cannot even conceive of yet? Can I give myself some time to grow and expand my understanding, so that I can safely leave my confinement, or cross the boundary?
There is a good reason we have the ancient adage "out of the frying pan and into the fire." However unpleasant our current confining situation may be, the other side of the "wall" might be much worse.
We may be in excellent circumstances that may present us with limit, loss of power and potential, and dissatisfaction as well. This is like being a prisoner in a palace as many throughout history have literally experienced. Great rulers and celebrities are particularly susceptible to this, since this sort of confinement is rarely a deliberate imprisonment, and most commonly merely a "side effect" of their elevated status.
We'll talk more about limitation, density, boundaries, and how to work effectively with these aspects of material reality, by adding additional dimensions of awareness and metaphysical practices.
So what might our cages be protecting us from? How might they be holding us back? Are they keeping us in a state of suffering, or helping to prepare us for the next steps in our hero's quest? Once we leave our confinement, where do we go from there? How do we stay protected, and receive guidance and preparation for the next stages of life and personal evolution?
Delaying gratification
Without this skill, a person is doomed to live at the mercy of impulses. Higher aspects of mind are in the backseat, helpless passenger/observers on a wild, destructive ride.
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