Superior Spiritual Enjoyment

Nityananda! Gauranga! Hare Krishna! Many people understand, at an intellectual level, that material enjoyment is always the cause of suffering, but still despite their best efforts to restrain themselves, they are un­able to give up the desire to enjoy. Therefore the million-dollar question is: how can we give up the enjoying mentality?

It is possible only when we engage all our senses in the service of God. Our senses are like venomous serpents with the fangs of the enjoying mentality. But if we engage the senses in the service of the Lord, it is like removing their poison teeth. Without its fangs, a snake can cause no harm. Similarly if our senses are engaged in the service of the Lord, they be­come harmless. Service to the Lord gives us a higher pleasure, which enables us to give up the pleasure derived from sense enjoyment.How can one engage the senses in the ser­vice of the Lord? By using our eyes in behold­ing the beautiful forms of the Deities in the temple, by using our hands in cutting veg­etables for the Lord  and in washing the temple, by using our legs in going to the temple of Lord Gauranga Krishna, by using our whole body for dancing in front of the Lord, by using our tongue for chanting the Holy Names of God, especially the Nityananda and Gauranga Mantrarajas and the Hare Krishna Mahamantra and for honouring prasadam. In this way all our senses can be purified of the contamination of the desire to enjoy.

And if our mind starts making too much demand for material enjoyment, still we don't have to experience it to realize its futility. We can see and learn from the experience of the worldly people. Those who are struggling to increase their enjoyment more and more in the world are only becoming more and more frustrated. Thus, using our intelligence, we can control the mind.We can derive further spiritual strength by knowing that life, after all, is flickering and tem­porary; it is just like a dream. Every night, when we sleep, we have an 8-hour dream. But life is an 80-year dream; that is the only differ­ence. Both are temporary and, after they are over, neither has any factual existence. Know­ing that life will pass away like a quick jour­ney, we should cultivate the Hanuman men­tality of serving Lord Rama. Just as Hanuman was trying to make arrangements to bring Sita back to Rama, similarly we should try to bring all the things of the world closer to God by engaging them in His service. Then we can achieve peace of mind.

How can we actually engage all the things of the world in the service of God, especially in the modern times? All of us can use our various talents in the service of God. Some of us who are expert in computers can do com­puter services for publishing ebooks and websites about God and His message. Some of us can make beau­tiful garlands to decorate the Deities of the Lord. Some of us can engage in cooking and offering to the Lord. Thus according to individual abilities and inclinations, we can engage ourselves in service to the Lord. By perform­ing such service, the most dangerous enjoy­ing mentality will subside and we will get the serving mentality, which alone can bring us to the platform of sanity and peace. The enjoy­ing mentality is a deadly disease and the ser­vice of the Lord is the perfect medicine for it. (Adapted from an article compiled by Radheshyam Dasa, Jaigopala Dasa, Chaitanya Charana Dasa, Sundara Vara Dasa, etc.)