Stars brighten and beautify the night-sky. But when thick clouds darken the sky, we can’t see the stars, though we know with out intelligence that they still exist.

The same applies to spiritual truths such as our identity as souls and our eternal relationship with God. In the sky of our consciousness, these truths offer illumination and beautification – they help us make our life purposeful and joyful. But when the clouds of conditionings spread in our consciousness, we can’t perceive these star-like truths. Consequently, we no longer feel like practicing spiritual life – we start getting doubts, “Who knows whether this spiritual stuff really exists? When I can see so many sources of material pleasure, why should I bother about anything else?”

The spiritual is eternal; it will continue to exist even after the earth and the sky cease to exist.

However, the things we see – worldly objects – can offer at best only temporary pleasure, whereas the things we can’t see – specifically the spiritual truth of our eternal loving relationship with Krishna – can provide lasting spiritual satisfaction. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita after pointing to the star of our spiritual identity (02.13) asserts (02.16) that the material is temporary; the material things that dazzle us now will soon deteriorate into non-existence. In contrast, the spiritual is eternal; it will continue to exist even after the earth and the sky cease to exist.

When clouds obscure our vision, we can do little more than wait for them to clear. Thankfully, when cloudlike conditionings obscure our perception, we can do much more – we can turn towards scripture to intellectually convince ourselves that the spiritual is real, and we can strive to invoke Krishna’s presence by earnestly calling out to him. He mercifully reciprocates by manifesting in our heart. His presence dissipates the clouds, grants us glimpses of extraordinary devotional fulfillment and reinforces our conviction that the spiritual is real, attainable and relishable.

Explanation of article:


Download by “right-click and save content”