Suppose we want to go north, but somehow board a train going south. Will running northwards within the train take us to our desired destination?

Might this be our situation when we try to advance spiritually while living in a materialistic culture and accepting its definitions of success?

We board the train of the materialistic culture by adopting its values as our own. These values often reduce humans to consumers who are defined by their capacity to own and enjoy the things glamorized by the culture. If we adopt these values, then external opportunities and internal fantasies conspire to propel us headlonginto unending materialistic pursuits.

Within such a value system, whatever spiritual activities we practice become rituals that are nominal, superficial and ineffectual. They become akin to running north in a train going south.

Authentic spiritual progress requires clear differentiation between the materialand spiritual, as done in the Bhagavad-gita (02.69). By understanding this difference, we can choose to board the train going north. That is, using our individual willpower, we can choose spiritual values and pursue devotional aspirations.

Does this imply that we cut ourselves off from society and stop pursuing material goals?

No, not necessarily. The path of bhakti is so inclusive that it can utilize the material in the pursuit of the spiritual.We can stay in the world and use our material talents and accomplishments to serve Krishna. But to ensure that our stay in the world doesn’t make us worldly-minded, we need the twin convictionsthat firstly material things can’t make us truly happy, and secondly spiritual things can and will make us everlastingly happy. Regular scriptural study and mantra meditation grants us this conviction, thereby keeping us on the bhakti train headed towards Krishna. 

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 02 Text 69

“What is night for all beings is the time of awakening for the self-controlled; and the time of awakening for all beings is night for the introspective sage.”