If everyone is meant to be spiritual why are so few people attracted to spirituality?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
a celebration? Yeah, so, if everybody is meant to be, being created that way, why is, so few people, attracted to spirituality? God, is, reciprocal.
Reciprocal means, that he reciprocates, with our desires. So, we all, have been, we could say, we are not exactly, created by God, because we are all eternal. But, we could say, eternally, we are meant to be spiritual.
But, we all have also been, given free will. And, we all, can choose, how to use our free will. So, based on, the culture, that we are brought up in, based on, kind of impressions, that we have, in our minds, which, both of these, in today’s world, are largely materialistic.
So, because both the culture, and the conditioning, that we have internally, because they are materialistic, so, most of us, are prompted towards, the materialistic way of life. So, we all have, the potential to be spiritual. But, for that potential, to be developed, we need, some kind of, spiritual stimulus.
If I consider, wood. Wood, has the potential, to burn. But, consider say, three logs of wood, one which is, fully dry, one which is, partially dry, and partially wet, and one which is, fully wet.
All three, have the potential, to be lit. But, not all three, will be, equally, easily, or equally, rapidly lit. Why? Because, their condition is different.
So, there is a potential, and there is a condition. So, if the wood is wet, even if water, fire, it is brought in touch with, some torch, or flame, it will not burn. So, the materialistic situation, around us, is, like the, wetness, around the wood.
So, to the extent, we are more and more, materialistic, to the extent, the spiritual spark, doesn’t get ignited, within us. And, there are different ways, in which, this wood can get dried, from the wet state. One is, through frustration.
That means, that, we pursue something material, and, we don’t get it. Or, we get it, but it doesn’t fulfill us. And then, we start looking for something else.
So, that means, that’s how the wood, starts getting dried. Otherwise, it can also be, through, education. That, we, learn, okay, there must be something more to life.
Okay, I achieved this, I achieved that, I achieved that, what next after that? What is there, ultimately to life? So, it could be through education. But, most powerfully, it is through, association. Our desires, are not just, linear, they are also, triangular.
What do you mean by, triangular desires, and linear desires? Normally, we think that, if I see something, I desire that. Say, if we see, a gulab jamun, oh, I want to eat it. I see the object, and I get the desire.
But, suppose, say, there is, food after, food after this program, and there is some, item which you have never seen. Which you have never heard of. Should I take this, or should I not take it? We see it, but we don’t get any desire, by seeing it.
But, then, some friend whom we know, he goes and takes it. Give me also. So, what happened over here? Just seeing the object, did not create the desire within us.
Seeing someone else, enjoying that object, created the desire. The desire, is not just linear, it is triangular. And, this is the principle that, most advertisements use.
Advertisements don’t, don’t just show the product. They show the product, being enjoyed by some, famous person. Celebrity endorsements are what? They are tapping the, triangularity of desires.
And, especially with respect to, spiritual things, the linearity, does not work so much. Because, many spiritual things, may not, at first glance, appear attractive. For example, the Bhagavad Gita.
Okay, how many people, see the Bhagavad Gita, and immediately get a, strong desire, I want to read it, I want to understand it. Okay, I have the Bhagavad Gita, it is like a holy book, I keep it in the corner, in my house. Now, Srila Prabhupada wrote a book, called the Bhagavad Gita, as it is.
So, many people, take the Bhagavad Gita, as it is, and then they keep it, as it is. So, what happens is, just seeing it, does not create the desire. But then, if we associate with someone, who is relishing the Bhagavad Gita, who is, mining insights of the Gita, and sharing those insights, Hey, all this is in the Gita, and, seeing that person, relishing the Gita’s wisdom, creates a desire within us, gets me also relished.
So, for us, or for people around us, if they are not spiritually interested right now, the, it may be because, their culture has been materialistic, their conditioning has been materialistic, that is not so easy to change. But what can be changed, is the association. If somehow, they can be placed, they can be brought in association that is spiritual, then, that stimulates the spiritual desire.
So, Artha Forum is basically a, forum for association, of people, who are from business background, but, they are also spiritually minded. So, we say that the more we can provide this kind of association, then whatever is the wetness of the wood, that might be there in some, that wetness can be dried, and the spiritual potential, can be unleashed. Does that answer your question?