We human beings have an intelligence more advanced than our nonhuman fellow beings. This developed intelligence enables us to think beyond the immediate issues that occupy the animals: eating, sleeping, mating and defending. We can ponder the ultimate issues: the meaning of existence, the source of creation and the supreme goal of life.

Unfortunately, some people dismiss ultimate issues as insubstantial: “Why bother about things that you can’t see or touch? Just enjoy the here-and-now.” Such spiritual shortsightedness sentences them to an insubstantial existence not much different from that of animals. They dissipate their life in the pursuit of animalistic pleasures – an existence that is exposed as meaningless and fruitless in the face of inevitable death.

Among such people, the Bhagavad-gita (07.15) refers to one category as mayayapaharita jnanah, those whose knowledge has been stolen by illusion. This designation acknowledges that these people have knowledge, but underscores that illusion has blinded them to the purpose of knowledge: to find a pathway for going from the animal level to the spiritual level. These people use their knowledge for the opposite purpose: to erect cultural misconceptions and technological distractions that keep them away from the spiritual level.

For those of us who wish to fulfill the purpose of knowledge, Gita wisdom offers a philosophical and experiential pathway to the world beyond. When we use our intelligence to comprehend and implement Gita wisdom, we discover answers to life’s ultimate questions. And we also find our consciousness rising from the visible to the invisible, from the material to the spiritual, from the mundane to the divine. Gradually, we realize our identity as integral parts of the all-attractive source of everything, Krishna, and progressively achieve life’s supreme goal: ecstatic eternal love for him.

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 07 Text 15

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