31. January 2013

The Proof Of You Part 9

just like this bird cannot enjoy when his cage is cleansed, the soul cannot be happy simply by bodily pleasure

by purujit dasa
DISSATISFACTION WITH MATERIAL PLEASURE

Another example of how we are not this body is our feeling of dissatisfaction with bodily enjoyment. Whatever pleasure you take in this world is temporary, but because we are eternal, we are hankering after eternal pleasure. Just like, for example, you take nice food. You feel temporary satisfaction, but as soon as the pleasurable feeling is gone, again you are looking for another source of enjoyment –you want to take a nap, chat with a friend on a phone, check out how another person likes your profile pic on Facebook, etc. In other words your hankering after pleasure is not over simply because you have satisfied your bodily need of hunger. The hankering is going on perpetually and that’s called life –always trying to enjoy something. The eternal hankering within us for pleasure is of the soul.

Real enjoyment is when I am free from this embodiment of five elements, gross elements, and three subtle elements. I have entered into this, and the action and reaction of these five gross elements, three subtle elements, I am enjoying. Actually, not enjoying. This is called māyā. There is no enjoyment. It is enjoyment in the mind. The mind is also material creation. Real enjoyment is beyond these senses. Sukham ātyantikaṁ yat tad atīndriya-grāhyam [Bg. 6.21]. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā: sukham ātyantikaṁ yat tat. The real happiness is not by these gross senses. By transcendental senses, we can enjoy sukham āt..., real happiness. Therefore, because we are not in that platform of enjoying the transcendental senses, we are trying to enjoy by these gross senses, therefore we are becoming baffled and frustrated. This is the cause of frustration. Because that is not the platform of enjoyment.Sukham ātyantikaṁ yat tad atīndriya-grā... Atīndriya. Atīndriya means "beyond this." It is covered. Covered senses, you cannot enjoy. Suppose I cover your tongue with some cloth and then I give you one rasagullā. Can you taste it? What you'll taste? There are so many things. If you cover the senses, the real senses, and try to enjoy with that covering, what you'll enjoy? That is not enjoyment.