I am in the IT/Software profession and see people visiting abroad regularly (or onsite as they call it)
There is a lot of talk among all the employees and mostly it is related to how good life is abroad. While some is related to bad things like easy access to girls and all that stuff, we also have talk about quality of life abroad.
The quality of life seems to be undoubtedly better abroad compared to India. That would include living, roads, traffic, food quality, etc I, being in Mumbai (a crowded & congested city), those parameters would rank much higher abroad for me.
My question is if one does not need to worry much about these things, can one not focus or concentrate better on all other things, which can also include spiritual things (though I do understand that one can also get easily distracted as well).
Hare Krishna...
Replies
Also wanted to add that today even India is getting westernised a lot...shopping malls, overall lifestyle, etc
So one sometimes feel that is it not better to live that lifestyle in more organized way abroad than in India...
Hare Krishna Prabhuji,
Thanks a lot for your reply. I did not find your reply harsh at all and found it to have lots of facts.
You must have given a lot of thought when you said that rejected offers to go abroad.
Being in the software industry, I have seen people who are desperate to go abroad. Their only aim/intention to work in the software company is the chance to go abroad. It is quite difficult for one to not get influenced when you are constantly surrounded by such people.
Some of the other things they refer to is about human value being higher abroad. e.g. In the US, I think there is a global emergency contact no where you can call in case you get stuck anywhere like car breaks down on a highway..Such thing is entirely unimaginable in India. Being in a congested city like Mumbai, I realize how important that aspect actually is. While this is again a material thing, such things do seem to have an impact on us directly while living a normal life.
What do you think about these things? I wanted to understand the rational thinking of people who reject such material comforts and are satisfied living comparatively difficult life in Indian cities.
Hare Krishna
Hare Krishna Prabhuji. Dandavat Pranam. All glories to Srila Prabupada
See one of the basic aspect to progress in spirituality is Tapasya or austerity. Austerity means to take some inconvenience or discomfort of the body to make spiritual advancement. Without minimal austerity no spiritual progress can be done. Actually what happen when we get stuck in too much comfort of body then we no longer feel the intense urge to get out from this world, we no longer able to call Krishna "Krishna , I really want to go to you. please ".Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita
BG 15.5: Those who are free from false prestige, illusion and false association, who understand the eternal, who are done with material lust, who are freed from the dualities of happiness and distress, and who, unbewildered, know how to surrender unto the Supreme Person attain to that eternal kingdom.
Here it says who are done with lust, so one of teh aspect of lust is to work to increase bodily comfort. More bodily comfort means who become busy to afford the comfort to the body. just like we have to struggle hard if we want nice car, big bungalow, family etc. And what happen in course of our struggle we get less time for our spiritual practice and we spoil this life also.
God made India for practicing spirituality not to increase materialism because hard struggle for life give us a thought that why should we struggle hard ? Another thing is when we try to somehow arrange bodily comfort we are thrown into mental discomfort. If you see statistics the more miserable persons (mental misery) are who possess much materially.
just like suppose a man travel to his office by public transport daily, now one day due to some bandh he have some inconvenience to return from office, now seeing a ad of a car in the billboard he thought that if he would have a car then life would have been so comfortable , no anxiety of catching public bus,crowd. So he decided to buy a car, now he has to arrange the down payment, has to take care of Emi, petrol and other expenses , in this way to solve the physical discomfort now he took mental discomfort of arranging all the expenses for that he become more entangled. This is the way of material life. Problem will always be there. We can't be fully comfortable,
If we seek material comfort we will never get God, we have to adjust , material comfort is needed for a family man but not in the cost of sacrificing spiritual life. we have to calculate whether my spiritual life being hampered for my decision.
Your aspiring servant
hari BOl