When we face many problems repeatedly, we may become disheartened. And such discouragement becomes aggravated when problems thwart us in something extremely important. We may start thinking, “What is the point of it all? Why should I keep struggling against so many problems?” 

Such feelings are understandable. Not so well understood, however, is another truth: life becomes stripped of meaning not so much by problems that seem pointless as by pleasures that turn out to be pointless. 

Suppose we seek some pleasure as our life’s purpose. Suppose further we achieve that pleasure and it turns out to be disappointing and anti-climactic. That afflicts us with a profound crisis of purpose: “What am I living for?” Unfortunately, today’s materialistic culture doesn’t let us dwell on such existential questions; it allures us with myriad worldly goals, including an increasingly large variety of mind-numbing entertainment. However, chasing such goals becomes more and more unfulfilling. Thus, for example, people fantasize incessantly about sex, but many people find themselves bored while actually indulging in sex.

Gita wisdom explains that we are souls, who are parts of a whole bigger than ourselves. That whole is the all-attractive, all-loving supreme, Krishna. We are meant to live in harmony with him. How? By striving to connect with him internally through remembrance. And by contributing to his purpose of benefiting everyone by using our resources in a mood of service. If we neglect our role as parts of a bigger Whole and live for our own sensual pleasures, we live in vain (Bhagavad-gita 03.16).

When we live for a purpose bigger than ourselves — serving Krishna and serving others in relationship with Krishna — we find our life enriched with a sublime meaning that makes life’s problems bearable. 

 

Think it over:

  • How can life’s problems make us question life’s meaning?
  • How can life’s pleasures strip our life of meaning? 
  • How can we infuse our life with sublime meaning?

 

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03.16 My dear Arjuna, one who does not follow in human life the cycle of sacrifice thus established by the Vedas certainly leads a life full of sin. Living only for the satisfaction of the senses, such a person lives in vain.

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