Our mind is constantly surfing for something enjoyable. While surfing referred traditionally to a water sport, it has now come to refer to the act of casually looking for interesting sites on the Internet. We are innately pleasure-seeking creatures. And nowadays we look for pleasure on the net, hoping to find something enjoyable to read, hear or watch.

Many things around us promise pleasure — and that list has now been extended almost unlimitedly by technology which can summon before us stimuli from all over the world. So many people spend hours and days and weeks and months and years surfing on the net. Indeed, their life is centered on their net surfing. And the more they surf, the more their craving to surf increases, while ironically their enjoyment from surfing decreases. Surfing is ultimately disappointing. Why? Because, metaphorically speaking, they are seeking comfort through sparks of fire while being out in the cold and the dark. 

Gita wisdom explains that we all are souls who are lost in the dark and cold of material existence. The Bhagavad-gita (10.41) states that everything attractive manifests a spark of the all-attractiveness of Krishna. That means whatever pleasure any object may provide us is only a tiny spark of the light and warmth that Krishna can provide us. 

However, he can’t provide us that pleasure if we don’t connect with him, if our consciousness is caught in a million other things. That’s why we all need to conscientiously redirect our consciousness from the world toward him. The best way to redirect our consciousness is by practicing bhakti-yoga. And while the opportunity to redirect is always available for us, we rarely feel the impetus to do so. The necessary impetus can come from the philosophical conviction provided by Gita wisdom: whatever gives us any pleasure, Krishna can give us all that and much more. 

Think it over:

  • Why is most surfing ultimately disappointing? 
  • Why don’t we redirect our consciousness to Krishna? How can we correct that?
  • How are we ultimately surfing for Krishna?

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10.41 Know that all opulent, beautiful and glorious creations spring from but a spark of My splendor.

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