Skip to main content

CHANNELISING MIND'S CURIOSITY

We all have heard the saying "The grass looks greener on the other side". The mind by nature is never satisfied, always looking for "what others have that I don't have". It is always curious to find newer and newer ways of enjoyment and material nature seems to understand our mind by offering us unlimited varieties to enjoyment. There seems to be no end to the fascinations that are available in this world.

Why is the mind always looking for newer ways to enjoy? Because it soon gets bored of what it has. It looks for release from this boredom through newer experiences. But the problem is that as soon as we get the new experience that we are looking for, it's not a long till that also becomes old and boring.


The point we miss to understand is that "the newness that material nature provides in its variegated forms are all the same oldness packaged in new ways." As they say - Old wine in a new bottle. But we never really believe this fully. The mind keeps dangling the carrot of so called happiness in front of us - "One more thing, one more car, more one country to see, then I will be happy", that's what it promises us and we foolishly subscribe to its promise. But once you get that one, it will show you one more thing. There is never end to this "one more". In this way the mind keeps us endlessly stuck until we escape out of this loop. The mind over promises but under delivers.

Lord Krishna confirms this truth in the Bhagvat-gita 8.16, by saying - abrahma bhuvanal loka punar avartanio arjuna... "That right from the highest planet in the material world to the lowest all are the same, all are places of misery."

We inadvertently equate the quality of our life to the container we have, not to the content inside the container. We are hoping that by changing our container - by getting a better job, a better house, a better car, we will be happy. What we forget is how many ever containers we change, our experience will be the same until we change the content inside the containers. 

That's the reason all great saints and sages from all over the world advise us to look for happiness in spiritual life. Materially we can never be fully happy. Happiness is not an outside-in job as we think it to be, it is an inside-out job. We have been fascinated by God's energy for so long and have been cheated, so why not be try to be fascinated by God Himself. Just imagine if God's energy is so fascinating, how much fascinating God Himself will be.

Let's try to dovetail the curious nature of the mind from matter to spirit, from external to internal, from 'this worldly' to 'other worldly', from Maya to Krishna. Let's be curious to find out - what is happening in the spiritual world, what will be the consciousness of a pure devotee, what kind of love they will be experiencing, how will life be to look through the eyes of a pure devotee!

One tiny glimpse of true spiritual experience will make unlimited material experiences seem pale and insignificant, just like drinking one glass of water while awake is more satisfying than drinking liters of water in a dream.

- Achyut Gopal Das

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THE SPEAKING RIVER

Rivers are considered lifelines of humanity. They not only nourish us physically but also emotionally and spiritually. No wonder, our culture has rightly given them status as mother's. Imagine, if rivers could speak, what message they would like to give us. Here are few lessons that we can learn from them. In fact if we remain in the mood of submissive students of life, there is so much we can learn even from "so called" inanimate objects. Many of these lessons are from Radhanath Maharaj's memoir - 'The Journey Home'. Lesson 1 - MAGIC OF SETTING GOALS The river is so desperate, so determined, so focused to reach the sea that nothing can stop it. It goes over, under or around all impediments. It never gives up. It has learnt the art of overcoming all obstacles. In fact it is said that, obstacles are those things that you see when you loose focus of your goals . The river teaches us that the first and most important key to overcome obstacles in lif...
Post a Comment
Read more

BORN INTELLIGENT

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” - Albert Einstein One time a young man approached a psychologist and told him that he considers himself unintelligent and foolish. The psychologist asked him the reason for him feeling so. He replied "It's because I don't have anything to say when my colleagues in office discuss sports. I feel like a total fool in front of them." The psychologist smiled and asked him, "Do you care about sports? Is it your area of interest?" The man said, "No, not at all." That's exactly what the psychologist wanted to hear. He told him, "You see, it's not that you are not intelligent - it's only that you are not good in the knowledge of sports because it's not your area of interest. And, when you are around your colleagues who have a lot to say on sports, you feel like you are unintelligent. The only ...
Post a Comment
Read more

THE MASTERSTROKE - Reflections on the retirement of Dhoni & Raina

  "Some people believe holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. However, there are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go and then do it." - Ann Landers Everyone is sad about the retirement of M.S. Dhoni and Suresh Raina from international cricket. This shows how much love and respect these players have earned from their fellow Indians. Indians also should be proud of the example these players are setting by retiring timely, thereby setting a healthy precedent for the other players to follow. Voluntarily retiring at the right time by the elder generation in order to make space for newer and younger generation is a sign of maturity and wisdom. This has been the mindset of great leaders of this great land of India - to live with dignity and leave with dignity. This is the spirit and ethos of India. To hold onto a position till one is made to forcibly quit it, is not a dignified life. Only those wh...
Post a Comment
Read more