There have been several experiences in my life that made me think
about how beautiful the material nature is, but upon closer inspection how deadly.
Once, when I was a teenager, I was in the Rocky mountains having a great time hiking with friends. There was beauty all around us, fresh air to breathe... but a blinding blizzard hit us without warning. That beautiful scene quickly turned to a nightmare; we got lost for quite some time until we made it to a clearing and were spotted by a rescue helicopter. Meanwhile, one of our companions nearly died from hypothermia, stumbling, falling and talking incoherently until she had to be carried along in the freezing cold, nearly unconscious.
Then picture this- a young mother is happily watching her baby laugh as she is swinging back in forth in her automatic baby swing that a neighbor lent to her. It's a Kodak moment, something we get to relish for a few seconds, now and then, in the business of life. Well, I noticed after baby was no longer sitting in the swing, a tag was sticking out from the seat with a big "WARNING: Do not leave baby unattended...." and then proceeded to list all kinds of possiblities of what might happen if not heeded, including death.
Then there have been a few times my kids and I raised butterflies as a fun project. The second time around didn't go so well. The weather was bad, so I didn't want to release the newly emerged butterflies immediately. Meanwhile, I fed them sugar water and became rather attached to them.
So when the time came that I must finally release them into the wild, mother nature suddenly didn't look so beautiful or friendly anymore. The birds in the yard that I always loved to watch and listen to sing, suddenly felt evil when I thought they may gobble up the butterflies.
These kind of experiences have helped awaken me from a sort of illusion. The material nature is now comparable to a brilliant fire in which materialistic persons are like moths being allured to their deaths (Bhagavad gita 11.29).
But why do we have this intense attraction in the first place? It's because of its relation to the most beautiful, Krishna. In Bhagavad gita Krishna says:
"Of all that is material and all that is spiritual in this world, know for certain that I am both the origin and the dissolution....there is no truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread...Know that all states of being – be they of goodness, passion or ignorance – are manifested by My energy. I am, in one sense, everything, but I am independent. I am not under the modes of material nature, for they, on the contrary, are within Me."
When we become Krishna conscious, material nature's attraction loses its grip. As will be thought upon further in the next post entitled "The Most Beautiful".
Once, when I was a teenager, I was in the Rocky mountains having a great time hiking with friends. There was beauty all around us, fresh air to breathe... but a blinding blizzard hit us without warning. That beautiful scene quickly turned to a nightmare; we got lost for quite some time until we made it to a clearing and were spotted by a rescue helicopter. Meanwhile, one of our companions nearly died from hypothermia, stumbling, falling and talking incoherently until she had to be carried along in the freezing cold, nearly unconscious.
Then picture this- a young mother is happily watching her baby laugh as she is swinging back in forth in her automatic baby swing that a neighbor lent to her. It's a Kodak moment, something we get to relish for a few seconds, now and then, in the business of life. Well, I noticed after baby was no longer sitting in the swing, a tag was sticking out from the seat with a big "WARNING: Do not leave baby unattended...." and then proceeded to list all kinds of possiblities of what might happen if not heeded, including death.
Then there have been a few times my kids and I raised butterflies as a fun project. The second time around didn't go so well. The weather was bad, so I didn't want to release the newly emerged butterflies immediately. Meanwhile, I fed them sugar water and became rather attached to them.
So when the time came that I must finally release them into the wild, mother nature suddenly didn't look so beautiful or friendly anymore. The birds in the yard that I always loved to watch and listen to sing, suddenly felt evil when I thought they may gobble up the butterflies.
These kind of experiences have helped awaken me from a sort of illusion. The material nature is now comparable to a brilliant fire in which materialistic persons are like moths being allured to their deaths (Bhagavad gita 11.29).
But why do we have this intense attraction in the first place? It's because of its relation to the most beautiful, Krishna. In Bhagavad gita Krishna says:
"Of all that is material and all that is spiritual in this world, know for certain that I am both the origin and the dissolution....there is no truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread...Know that all states of being – be they of goodness, passion or ignorance – are manifested by My energy. I am, in one sense, everything, but I am independent. I am not under the modes of material nature, for they, on the contrary, are within Me."
When we become Krishna conscious, material nature's attraction loses its grip. As will be thought upon further in the next post entitled "The Most Beautiful".
