If what we live with becomes what we live for, we end up having nothing to live for Gita 02.08

Transcript

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If what we live with becomes what we live for, soon we end up with nothing to live for.
All of us have two aspects to our lives. What we live with, the facilities, the things, the resources and what we live for. Those are the values, the purposes.
Now, resources are important. Without them we can’t function, just like a car cannot move unless it has fuel. And if there is no fuel, then getting the resource itself can be a purpose.
You have to drive to get the fuel. But after that, once there is enough fuel, then we need to have some other purpose, something meaningful where we are driving. If somebody keeps driving just to put fuel, then not only is that underutilization, not only will that be underutilization of their energies, but also soon they will be wasting their time.
They will themselves feel bored and frustrated because they are not going anywhere meaningful, just putting fuel. Similarly, we humans, we have what we live with and for example, if we don’t have food, that’s a problem. That becomes our top priority.
Somehow or the other, I need food right away. But once we have that food, then hungry people are unhappy, but well-fed people are not automatically happy. We need something more.
And that something more is, what do we do? Same applies with money also. Making money is important. But what we are making with money is even more important.
And thus, if somebody lives only for making money, then after some time, they never feel that I have enough money because what we are living with can never provide us fulfillment the way what we are living for provides us. And that’s why each of us needs to focus on what we are living with in a way that some basic level is met, an optimal level is met also. But beyond that, we have to focus on what we are living for.
Unfortunately, in today’s world, we have defined progress largely in terms of improving resources, in terms of giving ourselves more and better things to live with. But the result of it is that many people end up not having anything substantial to live for. And thus, we have people living with luxuries and still being unhappy.
Krishna talks about how we need holistic knowledge. If we have only fragmented knowledge, then that knowledge cannot bring us happiness. So, Arjuna realized that at the start of the Gita in 2.6, he realized that even if I get the very best among the things to live with, that is not going to make me happy.
I need something more in my life and that is what he turned to the Bhagavad Gita for, he says, turned to Krishna for. He said, even if I get the wealth equivalent to that which is in the heavens, he says in 2.8 rather that He said that, I am not going to be satisfied no matter how much I get. And therefore, please, O Lord, guide me.
Krishna provided him a vision that made his life meaningful. Similarly, each one of us, we need spiritual knowledge so that we can have something truly worthwhile to live for and thus make our life meaningful. Thank you.
Meaningful and joyful.