mobile phones

Many of us have become addicted to mobile telephones, cell phones. Even before the invention of mobile phones, gadgets – electronic gadgets usually – had a great appeal for many people, especially men. There was something appealing about these technical things. There was a great urge to go out and acquire the latest gadget. But mobile phones are the quintessential gadget. They are the gadget plus plus, and they appeal equally to women, as well as men. And what’s the reason for this? It is of course a communication aspect of the phone.

In a way of course there is a positive side to this communication. Talking and writing are very useful ways of communicating. So there is a great practical utility to mobile phones. If they were used merely for essential communication, then all would be well. But have you noticed how many people use mobile phones, perhaps yourself included? It’s the idle chatting, either talking about inconsequential things, or texting even more inconsequential things quite often. And even this there would be not much harm in, if it were not for the hidden cost, and that is that the mobile phone, when used in these ways, is taking us away from the present moment. In fact that’s often the reason why the phone is used. We are rather bored with our current environment. Perhaps it’s that tedious commute home on the train, or we’re sitting on a bus. Whenever we are in a familiar environment, the danger is we don’t bother to really look at it. We don’t bother being present to it. We assume that we know it. It is not so. In every moment there’s some new mystery being revealed to us, in our immediate surroundings. It may be a tiny thing: an ant crawling along the ground. It may be a huge thing: a meteor flying through the sky. But we will miss it all if we are not present.

And why is this of significance on the spiritual journey? It’s of great significance. Presence, present moment awareness, is key to the transformation of our being. And then, the other aspect is, our incessant communication, especially with mobile phones, is an indication of our reluctance to be alone. We so easily feel lonely. We feel being alone as a negative condition. It need not be so, and indeed, to make any progress with spirituality, we need to become very comfortable with being alone. And we avoid this aloneness with the mobile phone. And this is why the simple act of forgetting one’s phone can cause a great sense of unease in some people.

If you want to explore this particular addiction, then try some simple things: switching off your mobile phone for one hour a day. It’s no different to having no reception or running out of battery power – I’m sure this has happened to you from time to time. But now we are consciously choosing: for one hour I’m not going to use the mobile phone. Communications can wait, and I will be more present with what is around me, my surroundings, the human beings who are actually in my physical vicinity. I could try talking to them. They may be strangers, but I might make a new friend, who knows? So this is one thing one can try. Or you could take it a step further; perhaps one day a week, don’t use your phone. Switch it off, leave it at home. See how you get on without it. And see also the feelings that brings up: of exposure, of isolation perhaps. These are all indications of the addiction to the mobile phone.

I should stress that I am not against the practical utility of mobile phones. It’s this addictive aspect that one should be wary of. And we can learn from the things that it is pointing out to us, particularly this reluctance to be alone, or the feeling of vulnerability if we cannot call for help at every possible moment. But I stress again, that to progress on the spiritual journey, we cannot afford to avoid feelings of aloneness and feelings of vulnerability. We have to look into them. And to do that we have to experience them: sit in these uncomfortable states until they reveal their secrets to us. But to do that you have to switch off that phone.