Self-interest
Every action of every individual soul is performed only with the aim of fulfilling its self-interest. This is the philosophy of the Vedas. Until a soul’s self-interest is fulfilled — until that moment when we find infinite, eternally gratifying divine love, we will continue to perform actions in this world, whether physical or mental, to try and satisfy our self-interest. This is a spiritual law, and the Saints advise us never to forget it.
There are some souls — God-realised souls — who have attained their goal. They have fulfilled their self-interest. Their existence proves that whatever philosophy we have heard throughout our infinite lives since eternity, has not resulted in us attaining our cherished goal. Our true aim is to attain God, and till date, we have not learned nor practically applied the true philosophy connected with it. Since eternity, we have only learned the opposite — that by attaining the objects of this world, our self-interest will be attained. But this has never happened. If you churn limewater with the expectation that butter will be produced, all your efforts will be futile. Why? Because butter is not present in limewater; butter is present in milk. In the same way, we are searching for eternal, divine happiness in this material world where it does not exist.
We have heard spiritual knowledge innumerable times. In fact, we have even given lectures to others on the subject! But our life experience proves that for the most part, whatever advice, or philosophy we have heard, we have not retained, nor applied it practically in our life. Scriptures state that there are two types of listening: the first is putting into practice what has been heard and sustaining it, and the second is listening to the advice but not implementing it practically. We have heard many Saints before. In social gatherings, we discuss spiritual topics and even express our agreement with what the Saints say, but we fail to go beyond that. We instead say, “I have my family to consider. I am not an ascetic. I agree with what is being said, don’t get me wrong, but I am still a bit young for all this. I’ll focus on attaining God when I am older.” Someone else says, “All this is a matter determined by one’s fate. If it is written so for me, then I will surely follow it.” A third person says, “When the time is right, all this will happen automatically.” “With God’s grace, it will surely happen,” claims a fourth person …
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Kripalu Bhaktiyoga Tattva-darshan — the essence of Vedic wisdom, spirituality and devotion in daily life.
