We often feel dissatisfied with the same old things that keep repeating themselves in our life’s routines. So, we try to acquire new things: delicacies, cars, jobs, houses or even spouses. Such new things excite us initially, but the sheen of their newness wears away soon, and the familiar old dissatisfaction returns to gnaw at our heart.

Why is our longing for a new life never satisfied?

Because, Gita wisdom answers, all material objects, no matter how new-looking, are always made of the same old substance: matter. And the emotions that we as living beings, souls, can experience by contacting dead matter are pathetically few. When we contact a new material object, we may initially experience some new pleasure as long as we are contacting the externals of the object, for that external is new. However, as soon as our contact with that object goes beyond its external appearance to its essential substance, we are forced to admit, “There’s nothing new here.”

If we truly wish to have a new life, Gita wisdom encourages us to redirect our search for newness from outside to inside, from matter to Krishna. He is the ever-fresh ocean of supreme beauty residing eternally within our own hearts. The Bhagavad-gita (6.28) proclaims the supreme happiness that results from this contact sukhena brahma samsparsham atyantam sukham ashnute. If we strive to increase our inner connection with Krishna, then we can constantly relish newer and newer aspects of his beauty and personality. Our deepening inner awareness makes us better attuned to detecting opportunities for remembering and serving him in the world around us. Tapping these opportunities brings constant freshness to our external life.

Thus does the new life within lead us to the new life without.

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 06 Text 28

“Thus the self-controlled yogi, constantly engaged in yoga practice, becomes free from all material contamination and achieves the highest stage of perfect happiness in transcendental loving service to the Lord.”