What if you were more than you realised? What if your life spanned more than the temporary appearance of this body? What if deep fulfilment and pleasure was possible without payment and without any material facilities? The Vedas (ancient Eastern writings) say that we are beyond this body and the greatest pleasures are attainable if we develop our consciousness. We may all have experienced the limitations of materialism. When you get that new laptop/phone/car does the satisfaction and pleasure last long? Or do you find yourself longing for the next new purchase? Is our sexual appetite ever satiated or does it continue forever? The Vedas explain that life is meant for experiencing higher pleasures, and that these pleasures belong to the soul. This happiness is not limited, and it is not temporary. It is not dependent on material circumstances such as nice weather or beauty. It is accessible at all times, at all places and without interruption. And that pleasure is also tied to existence. That spiritual pleasure helps us to realise our inherent nature, whereas material, bodily pleasures cover our awareness and make us forget our real identity. The part that most people don’t like is that realising ourselves also involves developing our relationship with God. Just as when the sun rises we see the sun, the world around us and also ourselves, when we come closer to God everything around us becomes clear. Have you ever felt lost, or confused? Have you ever felt directionless, wondering what your life is ultimately about? That is because materialistic life does not have a lasting goal - on the material platform everything is inevitably lost, whereas on the spiritual plane we understand that progress continues over lifetimes, and that our identity is above this temporary body. What is the meaning of a sandcastle built on the beach and then washed away by the waves? We understand that our ultimate goal is to return to our original, eternal home, a place where there is no death, no ignorance, no confusion and full of relationships that are based on pure, unadulterated selfless love.
We often think that deeper happiness lies elsewhere - somewhere that we have not yet discovered. A new country, a new dress, a new partner. The grass really is greener on the other side. And we also think that if we try some kind of therapy then we will solve our problems. Some people also believe that when we die we get free of our problems - that’s why some people commit suicide. But actually we need to go deeper. And not just deeper into our psyche, but deeper into our real identity. Scientists do not understand consciousnees - it is a mystery to them. They do not know where it comes from, how it is it generated, how it functions. It is beyond material science’s tools. But the Vedas explain that consciousness, or awareness, comes from the soul. The soul is considered to be more powerful than the Sun. And until we come to the platform of the soul, perfect happiness cannot be reached. And when we come to the platform of the soul, perfect happiness begins. But it goes on eternally, forever becoming deeper and more relishable. It is explained that happiness in this world is like chewing something that has already been chewed before - tasteless. And we then continue chewing it. The taste becomes less and less. Spiritual life is just the opposite. In the beginning spiritual practice may not afford the practitioner much taste at all, but as he progresses his taste becomes deeper and deeper, to such an extent that he does not want to eat or sleep, only to meditate on his beloved deity. He goes beyond the constraints of this world and of this body and reaches the spiritual sky, the higher reality. So what we experience here is just a reflection of this true reality. Imagine trying to eat a reflection of an apple? There will be no taste. That is our situation in this world. We must connect to the real substance, not the reflection. and when we experience the reality we will rejoice in the taste, the relief, the clarity, the freshness. our taste for the impermanent will fade away and we will be left with the truth. This is the teaching of the Vedas and the ultimate success of the soul. It is considered very embarassing for the mighty soul to be engaged in petty sensory activties that actually are befitting the animals. Sniffing around other animals and barking and fighting, This is animalistic. But until we reach the life of the soul, this is what occupies our mind. It is as if we have been overtaken by a ghost. It is like the material energy haunts us and takes away our real intelligence. We are dictated to by this energy and blown around in different directions. We may think that we are independent but actually when we are not conscious of our connection with the Supreme then we are puppets in the hands of the inferior or material energy, and in this way the goal of our life, true happiness, is thwarted. Who can be happy if they are very unclean? Or if they don’t know who they are? No one. So the Vedas are there to direct t one to one’s real self-interest - realisation of one’s very self. Unfortunately we are preoccupied, or rather obsessed or addicted to various unpalatable things (3) When one is addicted to some substanceit is very difficult to divorce oneself from it. It takes great willpower and discipline. Similarly for us to overcome our love for sensual pleasures (which are the cause of our distress) and to elevate ourselves to the spiritual platform takes great determination. But it is said: spiritual life is difficult, but material life is impossible. Why is material life impossible? Is there not value to ourlives here? Our famillies, our nations, our goals? Certainly it is not all worhtless, but it is all temporary. And when something disappears after a short time, it is almost as if it never existed. The problem is that this is normal for us. It is difficult for us to imagine a reality that is eternal, and we may even think that it is good that life is temporary because we don’t want to suffer unendingly.
(3) Prabhupada told the story about his God-brother's preaching in Burma. The local people couldn't tolerate the smell of ghee cooking, which we think is such a sweet smell, but they would take dead animals and preserve them in such a way that their flesh became liquified and they would drink that as a very special beverage.
