Suppose a person while driving a car competently tackles the problems along the way, say, the car breaking down or running out of fuel. But if preoccupation with solving such problems blinds the driver to the fact that the road ends in a steep fall from a cliff, then the driver ends up doomed.

During our life-journey, we all face problems – financial, relational and mental, for example. Yet while tackling such problems, we often overlook that life in material existence is itself a problem. Life here is defined by a fundamental incompatibility: we want to live forever, yet we are headed towards inevitable death. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (13.09) states that knowledge is characterized by the capacity to perceive the problems of old age, disease, death and rebirth – these frustrate our longing for lasting life, lifetime after lifetime.

Gita wisdom helps us solve this fundamental existential problem. It explains that we are at our core spiritual beings, and we are meant for a life of eternal love with Krishna in his indestructible abode. When we misidentify with our temporary material bodies, we look for the eternal in the ephemeral, thereby setting ourselves up for frustration.

To prevent such frustration, we need to raise our consciousness to the spiritual level. There, we realize our indestructible essence and love Krishna according to our eternal nature. For raising our consciousness, the best method is bhakti-yoga, which redirects our heart and our activities from the world to Krishna. When our vision is thus fixed on the eternal, worldly ups and downs don’t unduly agitate us – being internally calm, we can deal with life’s routine problems more effectively. And more importantly, bhakti-yoga gradually raises our consciousness to the spiritual level, thereby solving ultimately the problem that is life in material existence.

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