Jahnu
2020-08-09 04:16:09 UTC
Sustained happiness comes from the soul. The happiness that comes from
the body and mind can never be sustained. The happiness from
sense-gratification always ends in lamentation. In fact, bodily
enjoyment is the very cause of unhappiness.
Krishna says:
An intelligent person does not take part in the sources of misery,
which are due to contact with the material senses. O son of Kunti,
such pleasures have a beginning and an end, and so the wise man does
not delight in them. (Bg 5.22)
Why does God state here that bodily enjoyment is the source of misery?
Most people will say - so what if sense-enjoyment is temporary? It
feels good while it lasts. Why should we deny ourselves pleasure where
ever its available?
The reason is that God wants us to be happy, eternally happy, and in
Bhagavad Gita He advises us how to obtain sustained happiness. He does
that by pointing us in the direction of our real selves.
The bottom line in the material world is suffering, for the simple
reason that everything ends in old age, disease and death.
The only way to escape the fundamental suffering of living in a
material body, is to cultivate spiritual knowledge. Spiritual
knowledge begins with knowing the difference between matter and spirit
- the difference between the body /mind and the self.
Only by knowing oneself as an eternal particle of consciousness, can
one gain real happiness. Real happiness is a constant fact. Real
happiness is not constantly interrupted by misery. People in the
modern world are not educated in real happiness. In fact, they confuse
bodily and mental pleasures with happiness.
In the modern Consumer civilization people are indoctrinated into
believing that sense-enjoyment will create happiness for them. Indeed,
bodily and mental enjoyment is the only type of happiness people know
of. But sense-enjoyment is merely a temporary pause in the suffering
of the body and mind.
Sex, for instance, is regarded by most people to be the highest joy
available. But sex-lust and sex-enjoyment are merely an attempt to
escape the suffering of being without sex. It's misery to live in
forced celibacy. Anyone who has reached puberty can testify to that.
Or eating. To eat is considered to be one of life's major enjoyments.
But actually, to eat is just an attempt to escape the suffering of
hunger. People of the Western culture don't know what it means to
suffer from famine, but it is a great suffering experienced by many
people in the world.
And that's how it is with most of the enjoyment we seek and
experience. Eating, sleeping, mating, and defending are the four
activities humans have in common with all other living entities. In
the modern world, however, it has become the foremost goal to fulfill
and satisfy these four needs.
They have been made the standard of happiness and enjoyment in life.
What do we do together with our loved ones, with our family and
friends? We eat, we sleep, we mate, and we defend. The entire
civilization revolves around these four activities. That's an animal
civilization. Humans are expected to have a higher goal in life than
merely satisfying basic, bodily and mental urges.
Millions of tons of iron are extracted from the earth to make pots,
knives and forks. Whole forests are cut down to make serviettes and
napkins. Add to that the industry to manufacture cups and glasses etc.
And for sleeping - beds, mattresses, pillows, quilts, covers, the list
goes on and on. A massive enterprise - all of it, just to eat and
sleep. What to speak of the meat-industry, the second largest industry
in the world, only topped by the defense industry.
So the global culture is basically one giant industrial setup to
fulfill basic bodily needs.
The fact is that the Western civilization is an exploitative
civilization that rapes and plunders nature, and puts her inhabitants
through untold suffering. And its proudly called the industrialized,
developed world. Its a civilization that is basically creating hell
on earth for countless of living entities.
Anyway, the happiness that can be obtained by surrendering to
Krishna's enjoyment is so far superior to the happiness that can be
squeezed out of matter, that sex with the most beautiful women become
like broken glass in comparison.
Krishna says:
O learned Uddhava, those who fix their consciousness on Me, giving up
all material desires, share with Me a happiness that cannot possibly
be experienced by those engaged in sense gratification.
--Srimad Bhagavatam 11.14.12
the body and mind can never be sustained. The happiness from
sense-gratification always ends in lamentation. In fact, bodily
enjoyment is the very cause of unhappiness.
Krishna says:
An intelligent person does not take part in the sources of misery,
which are due to contact with the material senses. O son of Kunti,
such pleasures have a beginning and an end, and so the wise man does
not delight in them. (Bg 5.22)
Why does God state here that bodily enjoyment is the source of misery?
Most people will say - so what if sense-enjoyment is temporary? It
feels good while it lasts. Why should we deny ourselves pleasure where
ever its available?
The reason is that God wants us to be happy, eternally happy, and in
Bhagavad Gita He advises us how to obtain sustained happiness. He does
that by pointing us in the direction of our real selves.
The bottom line in the material world is suffering, for the simple
reason that everything ends in old age, disease and death.
The only way to escape the fundamental suffering of living in a
material body, is to cultivate spiritual knowledge. Spiritual
knowledge begins with knowing the difference between matter and spirit
- the difference between the body /mind and the self.
Only by knowing oneself as an eternal particle of consciousness, can
one gain real happiness. Real happiness is a constant fact. Real
happiness is not constantly interrupted by misery. People in the
modern world are not educated in real happiness. In fact, they confuse
bodily and mental pleasures with happiness.
In the modern Consumer civilization people are indoctrinated into
believing that sense-enjoyment will create happiness for them. Indeed,
bodily and mental enjoyment is the only type of happiness people know
of. But sense-enjoyment is merely a temporary pause in the suffering
of the body and mind.
Sex, for instance, is regarded by most people to be the highest joy
available. But sex-lust and sex-enjoyment are merely an attempt to
escape the suffering of being without sex. It's misery to live in
forced celibacy. Anyone who has reached puberty can testify to that.
Or eating. To eat is considered to be one of life's major enjoyments.
But actually, to eat is just an attempt to escape the suffering of
hunger. People of the Western culture don't know what it means to
suffer from famine, but it is a great suffering experienced by many
people in the world.
And that's how it is with most of the enjoyment we seek and
experience. Eating, sleeping, mating, and defending are the four
activities humans have in common with all other living entities. In
the modern world, however, it has become the foremost goal to fulfill
and satisfy these four needs.
They have been made the standard of happiness and enjoyment in life.
What do we do together with our loved ones, with our family and
friends? We eat, we sleep, we mate, and we defend. The entire
civilization revolves around these four activities. That's an animal
civilization. Humans are expected to have a higher goal in life than
merely satisfying basic, bodily and mental urges.
Millions of tons of iron are extracted from the earth to make pots,
knives and forks. Whole forests are cut down to make serviettes and
napkins. Add to that the industry to manufacture cups and glasses etc.
And for sleeping - beds, mattresses, pillows, quilts, covers, the list
goes on and on. A massive enterprise - all of it, just to eat and
sleep. What to speak of the meat-industry, the second largest industry
in the world, only topped by the defense industry.
So the global culture is basically one giant industrial setup to
fulfill basic bodily needs.
The fact is that the Western civilization is an exploitative
civilization that rapes and plunders nature, and puts her inhabitants
through untold suffering. And its proudly called the industrialized,
developed world. Its a civilization that is basically creating hell
on earth for countless of living entities.
Anyway, the happiness that can be obtained by surrendering to
Krishna's enjoyment is so far superior to the happiness that can be
squeezed out of matter, that sex with the most beautiful women become
like broken glass in comparison.
Krishna says:
O learned Uddhava, those who fix their consciousness on Me, giving up
all material desires, share with Me a happiness that cannot possibly
be experienced by those engaged in sense gratification.
--Srimad Bhagavatam 11.14.12