Most music festivals are an intense representation of what material life has to offer in terms of extreme sense gratification. Everything is heightened people really let loose.
The question, is this really all material energy has to offer me comes to the front of my mind whist selling books at the Download rock festival at Castle Donington.
IS THIS IT?????
There really didn't seem to be an awful lot there to be attracted to.
Sure there is intoxication, fraternal and conjugal experiences to be had as well as music to keep the senses occupied, but nothing to compare with the experience of chanting for a weekend with 100's of devotee's. I was reminded of the proverb of how a dog who is being beaten thinks it is experiencing pleasure when the beating stops. In fact as the festival wore on even the people that had put all their faith into download where starting to look less and less like they were enjoying themselves and more and more like they were coming to the conclusion that they were in fact suffering. I began to feel great compassion for these people.
They had faith in the material energy, saved money for months and worked hard to have their enjoyment at this weekend of metal mayhem, only to have been let down. Dreams and hopes for the festival fading from peoples minds, anxiety and sadness replacing the early glint in the rockers eyes. What hope was there for them????? I concluded, Krishna is their only hope.
As I approached person after person with books on spiritual realization the relief in some eyes became visible, they also realized that there is another option available to them to escape their material suffering, something that can give inner pleasure without the harsh punishment of Maya (the illusory material energy). They have the chance for experiencing a higher pleasure not limited by weather, money or time but a happiness that is unlimitedly deep in it's profound experiences.
So next time we are quick to believe Maya's promises remember the poor people of download rock festival and how they were being beaten like dogs in the search of some small amount of limited sensory pleasure.
No comments:
Post a Comment