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Spiritual Pursuit versus Material Pursuit
Is it a defect in human nature which is to blame for
this? Not at all. It is simply people’s unawareness of
themselves that creates this problem. Awareness is the
key to a contented life, while unawareness is responsible
for all manner of discontent and restlessness.
To properly explain this phenomenon, we have to
come to grips with the scheme of things devised by
the Creator. According to the creation plan, the scope
for material fulfilment in this world is very limited,
while the scope for spiritual fulfilment or intellectual
development is so vast that only the word ‘unbounded’
can describe its scope.
If your aim is to achieve a state of fulfilment in the
material world, you will very soon discover that here
the scope for this is very limited. Food, clothes, fame,
married life, entertainment – all these things are all
too often eventually marred by boredom. Even going
on a holiday does not necessarily give you any sense
of fulfilment. A person may go on holiday with high
hopes of enjoyment, yet return with a feeling of “holiday
stress”. This sense of a lack of fulfilment pertains to
your physical being, whereas your spiritual being is
untrammelled by all such constraints.
Man has a dual personality—physical and spiritual.
In physical terms, a person’s body most often has its
limitations in terms of height, girth, health, muscularity,
athleticism, and so on. Due to these limitations, a
person frequently becomes dissatisfied as far as his
physical prowess is concerned. On the contrary, his
spiritual or intellectual being has no limits to it. The
realm in which the mind travels is vast and eternal, like
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