What If Someone Doesn’t Want To Give Up Material Attachment

“The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness.”  (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.59)

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विषया विनिवर्तन्ते
निराहारस्य देहिनः
रस-वर्जं रसो ऽप्य् अस्य
परं दृष्ट्वा निवर्तते

viṣayā vinivartante
nirāhārasya dehinaḥ
rasa-varjaṁ raso 'py asya
paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate

Friend1:  I have heard it said that the more you advance in Krishna consciousness, the more detached from material life you become.

Friend2:  It has to be the case.  Advancement here is a stronger, solidified link to the Divine.  Genuine yoga. Always thinking of the Supreme Lord, in the personal form.  Every activity dedicated to Him.

Friend1:  Authorized, of course.  We don’t just go around shooting people and declaring after the fact that it is done in Krishna’s honor.

Friend2:  Proper behavior.  Respecting the basic responsibilities of eating, sleeping, working and the like, but keeping them to a minimum.  Or if going in the extreme, then for the right purpose.

Friend1:  And so I think that is what concerns someone new to the process.  They are worried that they may lose all of their friends. No more attachment to news, politics, sports, vacationing and the like.

Friend2:  Oh, for sure.  You will lose friends.  I guarantee it. Sad to say, but it is true.  You will lose interest in the temporary. But what you will gain is much more enjoyable.  That is the reason for the reference to the higher taste, as His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada translates param drishtva to mean.

Friend1:  A superior experience. Seeing something better.  Anyway, I am wondering how to handle the instances where someone is not ready to give up material attachment.

Friend2:  To anything specific?

Friend1:  It could be anything.  Playing sports. Bodybuilding.  Enjoying cars. Testing the latest technology.  They don’t want to abandon these interests.

Friend2:  Okay. What is the issue, then?

Friend1:  What should I tell them?  How could we get them to stay connected in yoga while maintaining attachment to the temporary?

Friend2:  This is a very easy one.  The binding factor in these interests is appreciation.  I marvel at the latest smartphone. I have so much respect for that expensive automobile.  I want to look by best through proper diet and exercise.

Friend1:  Right.

Friend2:  In each case, just extend the appreciation to Shri Krishna.  In the Bhagavad-gita you get the explanation of how Krishna is the essence of so many things.  The taste of water. The light of the sun. The penance of ascetics, and so forth.

रसो ऽहम् अप्सु कौन्तेय
प्रभास्मि शशि-सूर्ययोः
प्रणवः सर्व-वेदेषु
शब्दः खे पौरुषं नृषु

raso ‘ham apsu kaunteya
prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ
praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu
śabdaḥ khe pauruṣaṁ nṛṣu

“O son of Kunti [Arjuna], I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable om in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man.”  (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.8)

Friend1:  I would think you could apply this practice to the entire creation as a whole.

Friend2:  For sure. That beautiful sunset.  The peaceful walk through the park.  The amazing waterfall. Krishna is responsible for all of it.  This is His creation. Material nature is but one of His energies.  Appreciate in this way as a starting point. The detachment will occur on its own, without much effort, if you focus on staying connected, such as through the chanting of the holy names:  Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

In Closing:

Detachment to come on its own,
From connection in yoga alone.

With interest elsewhere less,
That higher taste to bless.

Magic of bhakti’s way,
Just from holy name to say.

Appreciation more than now,
Marvel at Krishna’s ability how.