Me, Myself and Isolation

 

For something so sought after, love and satisfaction, rarely stay for long. I mean, how is it that we're striving so hard for peace and happiness, and yet, stress and disappointment often prevail. Can every living being be truly happy? or is life just a race to get our piece of the pie.

In this passionate world we can easily feel like we're not doing enough or are still far behind no matter what our position is. This mentality is very draining. We want to enjoy the now but unfortunately we don't know how to enjoy. 

     With the modern day craze for newer, bigger, better, we get caught up in the ferris wheel of material improvement -going up and down - no end in sight.

     Often the same thing that brought us joy when first acquired, after a few months, years, or days even,  bring a us disappointment, stress or a lust for more. We see this constantly in our relationships, technology, jobs, drugs, food, you name it. The list goes on and on. So how do we stop it?

     Well, in this compare and compete mentality, only two things can result. One is we get what we want, and thus, thirst for more and better, or, we don't get what we're expecting which ends in anger, frustration, and enmity. But still, if we aren't striving to upgrade ourselves how will we improve? This is the question.

     If we take a close look at the interactions we have, we can find mainly two parties: one serving and the other being served. In this transactionary world we see these interactions either take on a positive connotation or be unbeneficial for one or both sides. Scientists call these 'symbiotic relationships', and they can take a physical or subtle form, but in any case, service is there.

     Either we're serving our dog, our friends, or our boss and teachers. our parents, children, wives, country, or we're just plain serving our senses. Service is inescapable.

     So what is the nature of our service? and for whom are we serving? Acting as well-wishers for someone renders some good feelings, I'm sure we've all felt the joy of gift-giving on Christmas or a birthday. But is that the ultimate, is that the final solution? Maybe we do some service for someone but what if they don't like it? or even if they do, that feeling doesn't last forever. Still there's so many people unhappy. 

     So let's extend it. Organizing a friend's birthday party was fun so organizing a block party or community wide event will be even better! Then, good community leaders and public servants expand on to run for state or national positions to fulfill their desires but still don't seem to be role models for happiness and satisfaction.  

     So let us save the Earth! Let us clean the ocean, save the rainforests, and stop the glacier melting. Still there are sections of the population that are unperturbed, unchanged, and indifferent. All of these aforementioned activities are good and commendable, but still somewhere deep down they seem to fall short of satisfaction. 

     This is because we are spiritual beings. No amount of material adjustment will ease the self. Changing our external situation without nourishing the soul is as useful as changing the clothes on a dead body. It is not that we neglect the material aspects or condition of the Earth, in fact, improving these can be a symptom of a deep spiritual understanding and unconditional love.

     How we get from a material action to an act of love on the spiritual platform is simply by our intention, or, our ultimate object of love.

     You see, there is a reservoir of love so deep and so personal that each and every one of us have a unique and unending relationship with Him. The Supreme Being, known in the Vedic texts of Ancient India as Krishna, which means "the all-attractive one", this Divine Person is carefully orchestrating our circumstances specifically, so we can fulfill our desires, in hopes that we will reconnect with our loving Father and remember our eternal identity.

     So doing whatever we do with knowledge of Him, and the blessings He's given us, adds a deeper dimension to our experience. This is the passive state of spiritual awareness and there is a way of living even higher than this.

      Just as a child who has love for their parents naturally loves their siblings, when we share love with our Supreme Father, all of life becomes attractive. Because Krishna is the root of existence, serving the Supreme is like pouring water on the root of a plant, whereas, serving ourselves or each other separately is like pouring water on the individual leaves. Watering the root nourishes the entire plant, whereas, watering one leaf or two barely does benefit for those leaves. 

     So we can love Krishna through our work,  through our relationships, through our food, and not only purify our hearts and minds, but also, attain lasting love and satisfaction. 

     To do this we must first know who He is. Many texts and practices teach us about spiritual living but few give detailed accounts of life in the spiritual world, the Personality of the Godhead, and how we can relate with Him in loving exchanges. For the highest satisfaction and bliss, we must seek out this knowledge of the Supreme Personality of God and use our transactionary conditioning to repay the love we've been given. Thank you very much.