In recent years the term “safe space” has been utilized by young people at tertiary level educational institutions to demand they be free from hearing political and social debate that they disagree with. Some find this view exceedingly immature and unrealistic because we live as part of a society with differing world-views and to force upon everyone a monolithic view would be oppressive and totalitarian.
However, this desire, at its heart, is spiritual in nature. In this talk we explore the spiritual principle of “taking shelter”, real shelter and false shelter.
One of the quotes I used comes from Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada:
This world of maya is called durasraya, which means “false or bad shelter.” One who puts his faith in durasraya becomes a candidate for hoping against hope. In the material world everyone is trying to become happy, and although their material attempts are baffled in every way, due to their nescience they cannot understand their mistakes. People try to rectify one mistake by making another mistake. This is the way of the struggle for existence in the material world. If one in this condition is advised to take to the path of self-realization and be happy, he does not accept such instructions.
