The Emptiness Quotient

The emptiness of our life can be measured by the time we spend transfixed by the grip of Facebook and WhatsApp.

The mind's nature is to run behind the next thing that comes along, and the senses follow the mind. WhatsApp and Facebook provide an unending stream of things to run after, dragging the senses in all directions. How then will the mind get steady?

A serious student of yoga should use his senses - eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and touch - very deliberately and not engage them with anything and everything that comes along.

The mind can be controlled by giving it a goal and using the intelligence to guide it in that direction. Choose a worthy goal and fill your life with purpose and satisfaction.

What is your emptiness quotient today?

Goalful Fortunates

Those are most unfortunate who spend most of their spare time in entertainment. No higher goal defines their life.

You don't need to be intellectually or skillfully special to have a goal. Material goals do require such qualifications, but not spiritual goals. Everyone can strive for personal spiritual upliftment irrespective of social, monetary, intellectual, or skill  status. Spiritual goals add meaning to living, and to life itself.

Entertainment centered life is meaningless, hence unfortunate. Goal centered life is purposeful, hence fortunate.

The Unfortunate Non-Changers!

Dear All,

Suppose I am following a certain way of life. And someone comes and says that my way of life is wrong, or that it could be improved. Now, what should I do? What should be my reaction to this? Should I say a bit agitatedly "Well, I live life this way, you may live life some other way. Why do you want to impose upon me your way?" Or should my reaction be "OK. Let me see what you have to say, and then I will think about it and compare it with my way of life and see if it makes sense to me.. Thanks."

What a stark difference in the two approaches. The first betrays my lack of motivation to improve my life. It also betrays that I dont really know why I am living a certain way of life. What is the goal of my life and so on.. If I were very clear about why I am following a certain way of life, and what I want to achieve by doing so, then when presented with an alternative, I will certainly have something to compare it with. I certainly wont say that you do your thing and I'll do mine. Instead, I will try to understand the goal of the alternative way of life. Then I'll compare it with my current goal of life and then come to a conclusion whether the alternative path is better or not.

Makes sense?

I get flabbergasted when people just say "well, there are different ways to live life.... " and some such philosophical sounding but vague concepts.. Agreed that there are different ways of living life, but isnt one way better than the other? Isnt leading a virtuous life better than leading a criminal life? Well, this is a gross example because it compares two extremes, but this is just to bring forth the point that one way of life can definitely be better than another!

And shouldnt one be eager to lead a better way of life?

Another quite illogical argument I have to face when speaking to people who dont really want to make any change in their lifestyle (because it will disrupt their daily routine of getting up late, rushing to a newspaper, drinking a couple of cups of tea and so on...), is that "Abhijit, you say your philosophy is better than the others! How can you say that? How can you be so close-minded?"

I find this response so absurd and illogical that I cant possible refute it with logic :-) Because ya, I might say that this is the best way to live life, but as long as I am justifying every statement I make with sound logic, how can anyone say that it is "close-minded"? Its quite a no-win situation when talking to people who cant talk logically.

The conclusion I have come to with such people is that they do not want to change their lifestyle even if it is recommended by the great saints. They say it is impractical though there are thousands of live examples in front of their eyes. And the reason is that these people are attached to their sense enjoyment so much that they cant give it up even if there is a promise of wonderful things. In fact, they say that they are already following some way of life, but if one looks a little closely, one can see that they are not following even that path seriously!

What an unfortunate situation? Who can help these miserable people if they do not want to be helped? Who can wake up a person feigning that he is asleep?

May God be merciful upon such unfortunate souls.

Abhijit.

Unfortunate Rebels!

Dear All,

There are different spiritual paths described in the Vedic scriptures along with the goal that is achieved by following them. What can be a more wonderful goal than to achieve the association of God? That's what Bhakti (Devotional Service) gives -- association with God!

Knowing this, I am surprised that people follow (really?) other paths which finally result in an existence devoid of activity and devoid of any loving relationships. Why are these people destroying their futures like this?

Related Article - Can Impersonalism be defeated?

Ofcourse, Prabhupada has extensively explained the reasons. One is that the living being gets frustrated with material life and thinks that he is miserable because of seeking happiness from material relationships (relationships without God in the center), and therefore thinks that all relationships are causes of misery, and thus, in fear, aspires for an existence without relationships. Similarly, he gets frustrated with material desires and thinks that he should give up all desires so that there is no more misery.

However, he is unaware that relationships or desires in themselves are not a cause of misery, but relationships and desires without God in the center are cause of misery.

The desire to become independent of God is the cause of misery. There is ample proof of this. Some survey made by some big well known organisation clearly indicates that people who believe in God are much happier than those who dont..

Point is, why this rebellion against God, despite seeing that surrender unto God is giving so much bliss to those who have surrendered? Again, Prabhupada answers extensively all throughout his purports. The living being is in this material world (full of misery) for the very reason that he wanted to become (or enjoy) independent of God! So, even after he understands that material world and material relationships and material desires are the cause of misery, he still wants to stay independent of God! Thats the original reason he is in the miserable material world, and yet he is unaware of this! As Prabhupada says, even if the person is fed up with material entanglement, that desire to remain independent of God is still there -- the last snare of Maya!

So, these unfortunate people, rebelling against God, want to become God. So they philosophise using big big flowery words to prove that God doesent exist and only the impersonal manifestation of the sum total of energy is the Absolute Truth. This way, they hope to remain aloof from both the material world and from God!

However, that is not possible. One has to either serve the material world or serve God. One cannot become God. God is always God, and never forgets that He is God as the foolish philosophers suggest.

So, as devotees, one should not get disturbed by such philosophers, who themselves dont really want to know the truth, but are just egoistic and are trying to become God! How can such people find the happiness that comes only by surrendering unto the most merciful God! If someone is just envious of God, and just doesent want to surrender despite the well known fact that those who surrender unto God are the happiest, then who can help them?

Your servant in Krishna Consciousness,
Abhijit.