#37: Achieve Real Progress
Society is definitely making huge progress—going nowhere really fast. Material sense gratification has replaced spiritual growth, and is now the standard of civilization. We always try to get ahead of everyone else; whether it’s within sports, career, or family life.
We all need to take a step back and ask ourselves; “Is the world as a whole, the people on planet Earth, are we as individuals more happy?” When we do, we see that our striving for so-called progress takes us further away from the ultimate goal of happiness. The house of cards is falling down. And the further we move away from a spiritual foundation of life, the more we lose our spiritual values, morals, our spiritual compass.
In our life, we have to know clearly what the goal should be, how to reach our desired destination, and what hindrances and stumbling blocks are in the way. We need to know, “How do I know if I am actually moving forward in my life?”
In episode #37, we’ll take a closer look at the difference between real and apparent progress to be able to know whether or not we are actually moving forward.
“The question is, ‘Which society is advancing?’ Advancement does not mean creating material ‘necessities’ unnecessarily and thus wasting human energy in aggravation over so-called material comforts. Real advancement is advancement towards spiritual realization.”
Srimad Bhagavatam 3.21.52-54 Purport
Highlights:
- (4:59) What we see as a success are often just material achievements, and they can never satisfy the soul
- (15:53) The ancient Vedic civilizations were geared toward making spiritual advancement, but the material achievements were also unprecedented. There is no contradiction between the two.
- (25:19) The material world is a dangerous place full of calamities. The duty of the sane person is therefore not to be disturbed by these calamities, which are sure to happen in all circumstances, but one should make progress in spiritual realization. This is the mission of human life.
- (36:19) One must learn both the means to approach the desired destination and making progress, as well as the hindrances to such progress
- (47:40) The biggest calamity of life is not earthquakes, floods, or wars. The biggest calamity is losing our spiritual values, losing our spiritual morals, our spiritual compass, our sense of right and wrong. We need to take responsibility for our life and help those who want to be helped.
Recorded on August 9, 2021. Read episode transcript on https://breakingtrail.life/podcast/37
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