Materialists sometimes accuse spiritualists, “You people are
so old-fashioned, holding on to regressive ideas like sexual restraint. The
whole world is giving up such ideas – you are on the wrong side of history.”
Such materialists assume that the course of history is
always right. But is it really? History is often affected by temporary trends,
whereas reality rests on perennial truths. Gita wisdom states that adharma
prevails in some historical phases. We live in one such phase, Kali-yuga,
wherein prevails fanatical materialism, which deems material pleasure as the
primary, if not the only, purpose of existence. During this phase, materialists
naturally deem spiritualists as being on the wrong side of history.
History is often affected by temporary trends, whereas
reality rests on perennial truths.
But more important than being on the right side of history
is being on the right side of reality. And the perennial reality is that we
conscious beings are at our core non-material, because consciousness is
essentially non-material. So we can find real fulfillment only by attaining
spiritual freedom, not by attaining sexual freedom, which anyway is impossible
because sexual enjoyment is forever limited by the body’s finite capacity for
such indulgence. Accepting this reality is not regressive – it is progressive
for it impels us to explore higher non-material forms of happiness and thereby
discover the eternal freedom of ecstatic spiritual love. Actually, rejecting
this reality is regressive for it destroys our chances of progressing towards
that higher happiness.
Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (13.11: aratir jana samsadi)
urges us to not be swayed by the masses. This is not a prescription for
unthinking rigidity, for the heart’s devotion expresses itself dynamically
according to the time-place-circumstances. But when the trend of history is on
the wrong side of reality, it’s better to be on the wrong side of history and
the right side of reality.
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