More than just scrolling: The importance of the human form of life
The soul is blissful by nature, but in material life this original nature is covered. Instead of real happiness, we look thus for pleasure outside, connected with the senses and the sense objects.
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The soul is blissful by nature, but in material life, this original nature is covered. We look thus for pleasure outside, connected with the senses and the sense objects. All forms of life share this same search for sense satisfaction, but human life is supposed to be different.
In the teachings of Lord Ṛṣabhadeva, it is established that sense gratification is not the goal of life. Instead, He offers a positive alternative: We should act according to superior advice in order to attain eternal happiness, returning to our original blissful condition, back home, back to Godhead.
As He says:
“Of all the living entities who have accepted material bodies in this world, one who has been awarded this human form should not work hard day and night simply for sense gratification, which is available even for dogs and hogs that eat stool. One should engage in penance and austerity to attain the divine position of devotional service. By such activity, one’s heart is purified, and when one attains this position, he attains eternal, blissful life, which is transcendental to material happiness and which continues forever.”
The language may sound a little heavy at first, but the meaning of the verse is sharp. Human life has a purpose, and it is not just about short videos and infinite scrolling. To attain this goal, we have to move from the mindset of an easy life and put some effort into achieving something different.
Spiritual advancement means voluntarily accepting some inconveniences for a higher purpose. In any case, no one can live comfortably in this material world; there is always suffering and anxiety caused by factors that are beyond our control. To just maintain a small apartment and be able to eat three meals a day, a person often has to travel two hours in an uncomfortable train early in the morning, work eight hours or more facing all kinds of pressure, and then come back in the same train, late a night, traveling for two hours more, hoping to catch some sleep, just to repeat the same in the next day. In such a life, one is not even conditioned by material happiness, but by the mere hope of some future happiness that will probably never come.
Instead of living a life of illusion, just to lose everything at the end, it is better to accept some voluntary austerity that will purify us from the material influence and bring us back to our original, healthy condition.
Human life starts from the point one inquires about self-realization. All forms of animal and plant life can enjoy their senses, but only human beings have superior intelligence that can be used to inquire about the goal of life. This intelligence should be used to find a solution to the real problems of life, to understand the absolute truth, and find our way out of material entanglement.
This verse thus transmits to us three ideas that are conveniently divided by Śrīla Prabhupāda into three separate sentences in his translation.
a) Having received the human form of life, we should not waste our intelligence in the same pursuit of sense gratification as in animal life.
b) What is the alternative? We should engage in penance and austerity to attain the divine position of devotional service.
c) What is the result of this path? Our heart is purified, and we attain eternal blissful life, transcendental to material happiness and distress.
How can we escape the path of illusion and find this path that brings us to eternal happiness? This is explained in the second verse:
“One can attain the path of liberation from material bondage only by rendering service to highly advanced spiritual personalities. These personalities are impersonalists and devotees. Whether one wants to merge into the Lord’s existence or wants to associate with the Personality of Godhead, one should render service to the mahātmās. For those who are not interested in such activities, who associate with people fond of women and sex, the path to hell is wide open. The mahātmās are equipoised. They do not see any difference between one living entity and another. They are very peaceful and are fully engaged in devotional service. They are devoid of anger, and they work for the benefit of everyone. They do not behave in any abominable way. Such people are known as mahātmās.” (SB 5.5.2)
Generally speaking, a materialist never comes to the path of devotional service; they just continue on the same path, life after life. There is, however, a way out: association with great souls.
Ṛṣabhadeva defines this as mahat-sevām, service to the spiritually advanced persons called mahātmās. Prabhupāda clarifies that there are two types of mahātmās: the devotee and the impersonalist. By “impersonalist”, he means a Brahmavādī, who is more attracted to the impersonal aspect, but doesn’t have an offensive attitude. This is different from a Māyāvādi.
The goal may be different, but both groups follow the same basic process to get out of the material clutches. By associating with them and offering some service, we can become situated on the same path. Simultaneously, we should avoid the association of materialistic persons, so as not to be again swayed into the path of illusion. This second verse brings thus a positive (something to do) and a negative, something to avoid.
How can we find such mahātmās? We can recognize them for their qualities:
a) The first is that they are equipoised, not discriminating one living entity over the other based on the external body. This is the symptom one is situated in the platform of knowledge that comes from contact with the mode of goodness. As Krsna explains in Bg 18.20, “That knowledge by which one undivided spiritual nature is seen in all living entities, though they are divided into innumerable forms, you should understand to be in the mode of goodness.” This knowledge in the mode of goodness contrasts with knowledge tinged by passion, in which one sees difference based on the external body. A transcendentalist in the intermediate stage will discriminate based on practical factors (he will not try to embrace a tiger, for example), but not consider one less important or less worthy than the other.
b) The second factor is that they are peaceful, which shows they are free from material desires. Because they have achieved this freedom, they can also exhibit the third factor: they are fully engaged in devotional service.
c) Another symptom that they are free from the influence of the mode of passion is that they are devoid of anger. Of course, they are also free from ignorance, and thus they work tirelessly for the benefit of others and don’t act in any abominable way.
The influence of the mode of goodness is not always easy to spot, because the peaceful nature of goodness can often be confused with the lethargy of the mode of ignorance. The mode of ignorance, however, comes accompanied by many negative habits that are absent from goodness. Another difference is that goodness includes being enthusiastic in performing spiritual practice and spiritual welfare activities, which are, again, absent in the mode of ignorance. The presence of the mode of goodness is important because only from goodness can one eventually transcend the material modes.
By this, we can see that these two verses give a framework of the whole spiritual process we follow.
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