Fashions allure us constantly in today’s world. New clothes, new cellphones, new cosmetics – such things often captivate our minds.
Keeping up with fashions doesn’t just cost much money, time and energy. The main problem with a passion for fashion is that it keeps us obsessed with the changing and blinds us to the unchanging.
This is especially detrimental for us aspiring spiritualists who wish to see beyond changing matter to unchanging spirit. Shifting our focus from matter to spirit is inherently difficult because due to our present material attachments, the material attracts us far more easily than the spiritual. But the inherent difficulty increases manifold when the materialistic culture relentlessly introduces changes in lifestyle and the media aggressively glamorizes these changes as the latest fashions. The Bhagavad-gita (14.12) indicates that insatiable craving for material things characterizes the mode of passion.
Those taken in by fashions suffer dissatisfaction and delusion. Dissatisfaction because no matter how fashionable the gadget or trinket we acquire, something new always comes up soon, leaving us discontented. Delusion because the unrelenting media blitz, by alluring us with new-seeming things, doesn’t let us recognize the root cause of our dissatisfaction – not lack of material gratification, but lack of spiritual connection.
Whereas the materialistic media schemes to deny us this insight, Gita wisdom strives to empower us with it. The Bhagavad-gita provides philosophical understanding of our spiritual identity as beloved parts of Krishna. And it outlines the practical pathway of devotional service to realize that identity. When we thus connect with Krishna, the supreme spiritual reality, and relish devotional happiness thereof, we use the new whenever it is useful but don’t become captivated by it. Instead our attraction for Krishna protects us by providing lasting satisfaction and illumination.
Prabhu, Thank you for your lesson.
Hare Krishna !!! Very true, too much involvement in material things can only lead to unhappiness, all this passion for fashion cannot satisfy, it may only cause great delusion, discontentment and dissatisfaction… Better : Plain Living & High Thinking ! Really excellent lecture and explanation of the same, thank you very much, Prabhu ji !!! Hari Bol 🙂
Hare Krishna prabhuji!
Very nice article. Mostly the young generation people hankering after fation and sense gratification and are always anxious and restless. Gita teaches us the loving devotional service to Krishna and there by attain the lasting eternal bliss.
Thank you very much!
Dear Prabhu,
I love how you gave this important instruction from BG in a easy to digest capsule. I have a question. As a practicing devotee, how do you distinguish between spiritual anxiety (hankering to satisfy the desire of spiritual master) vs material anxiety (mode of passion infused devotional service)?
ys
Siddha Hari das
https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2019/02/how-do-we-distinguish-between-material-anxiety-and-spiritual-anxiety/