Whenever we see something attractive, we usually appreciate, even admire it. But when someone else has that attractive thing and we don’t, we often crave to acquire that thing. How can we admire without craving to acquire?

Unfortunately, we just can’t acquire everything we admire. Why not? Because our resources are finite. What if we become phenomenally wealthy? Still, there will always be some people who will be wealthier than us and who will therefore have more things than us. What if we get all the wealth in the world? Still, we wouldn’t be able to acquire some things such as the looks of someone gorgeous or the brains of someone brilliant.

The combination of the craving to acquire and the inability to acquire can leave us dissatisfied, even frustrated. How can we avoid such discontent?

By internalizing the Gita’s vision that can enable us to admire without feeling the need to acquire. With the Gita’s vision, we learn to see those things less in terms of their present possessor and more in connection with their ultimate source, the all-attractive supreme person, Krishna. The Bhagavad-gita (10.41) explains that everything attractive manifests a spark of Krishna’s all-attractiveness. When we cultivate a devotional disposition by practicing bhakti-yoga, we start experiencing joy in remembering Krishna. Indeed, everything that reminds us of Krishna becomes a source of pleasure for us. With such a disposition, when we see something attractive, we don’t lament that others have that thing and we don’t; instead, we celebrate that we have our Lord who is an oceanic reservoir of such attractiveness.

One-sentence summary:

To admire something without craving to acquire it, obsess not on the temporary reality that others have that thing and we don’t; focus instead on the eternal reality that all such admirable things are just drops in the ocean of attractiveness that is our Lord. 

Think it over:

  • Why can’t we acquire everything we admire?
  • How can the Gita change our vision of attractive things?
  • How can we delight in something admirable without needing to acquire it?

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

To know more about this verse, please click on the image