The Material Enjoyment Is The Source Of All Suffering

Radhanath Swami

But actually, Prahlad Maharaj explains, “It is like trying to relieve an itch, by scratching”. We have a very bad itching, rash and it terrible pain. And the mind says, “if you just scratch it, it will feel better.” Prahlad Maharaj explains that when you scratch, it actually feels better, while you are scratching, not really better but it is some illusory sense of relief but as you are scratching, you are inflaming that rash and it will itch more and more and more and the more you scratch, the more it itches, and the more you scratch the more you itch, and birth after birth after birth after birth, you are just scratching and scratching and scratching and scratching and it’s not getting better, it’s getting worse. But see the illusion, the immediate sensation is that appears that it is relieving the itch. But with the little intelligence people had, “yes right now it feels nice but what will the next moment bring? It is aggravating and intensifying the problem.” Therefore, children when they get these rashes, they like to itch and the parents they understand what is sreyas and preyas. Sreyas and preyas, one is the nature of the animal consciousness, whatever feels good do it, for tomorrow will never come; and human existence is not to consider what feels good now but to calculate with our God given intelligence, what would be the best for my future? in this life and beyond death?