On Real Progress

~Insights by Jagad Guru Siddhaswarupananda

— If someone doesn’t know her true identity, she’ll see the purpose of life as being material enjoyment. To that end, she will seek material advancement. After a while, such ambition wanes because she experiences the emptiness of it all. She then becomes purposeless. Many young people in affluent families feel purposeless from the beginning of their lives.

— A person suffers frustration from trying to obtain fulfillment in material things, and yet tries to forget his frustration by still further sensual activities. Thus we have an endless groping for economic development. There is always a desire for more. “Perfection” becomes relative. It is not based on actual need, but on imagined need. We think we need a new car to be happy, but when achieved, our goal is for something else. Progress shouldn’t be measured according to the amount consumed or able to be consumed, but on the degree of satisfaction.