The Story of STUFF
Living in a materialistic society, it is no wonder we are generating such aberrations as this “circuit of the STUFF in nature” that almost competes with the “circuit of water in nature”. This video shows an incredible situation that does not show our collective intelligence, but rather shows the result of where the game of desires leads. As long as we try to fulfill the desires with other desires we will end up becoming consumers that feed the chain of production and consumption in order to make the fulfillment of more desires possible.
The grotesqueness of this situation is that nowadays people are no longer defined by their aspirations, by their deeds, by their revelations and understandings; instead they are defined in most situations by their STUFF. E.g. If one has an IPOD he/she already belongs to a certain group of people as we are even talking about the objects that define our personality. From the status of being tools used to express our personality in actions and achievements, in the materialistic society objects are promoted to the status of parts of our personality. In ancient times a warrior was not great because of the color of his armor, but because of his heroic deeds on the battlefield. Nowadays a man defines his personality by the brand of car he drives and the size of the gold chain around his neck. Our STUFF becomes more important than our principles, ideas, feelings and beliefs.
Opposing this tendency will make you a social outcast, a communist or a fanatic that wants to destroy the welfare system. This is also one of the points that those who want to maintain control over society will use to attack the spiritual teachers, making them look like enemies of the “social evolution”. Looking closer we can see that evolution in this moment in time is more an evolution of material production, people very often evolve in the same rhythm the frequency of the microprocessors is rising and the screens become flatter. We can say that human evolution nowadays is obsolete and people suffer a process of “technological upgrade”.
The science of yoga science teaches the principle of APARIGRAHA – non accumulation or simplicity – one of the ten guidelines that regulate the spiritual life. It is one of the most ignored moral principles of the modern time in which people have become just consumers. The shopping mania relates to the gross level of consciousness in which many people indulge, becoming increasingly robotic while turning their homes into private storing rooms. APARIGRAHA is a life principle that makes us understand the real value of each object and teaches us not to become the objects we posses, but to keep only those objects that meet our needs.
Of course this attitude will not be so convenient for the present setting of society since the whole economical machine depends on consumption and not on real needs. Therefore the implementation of such a principle in the life of many might slightly shake our economic and social setting and also the expectations and demands will not be the same. Usually the people who benefit most from this system tell us that if we stop consuming all the welfare will disappear. In truth, we will not only stop consuming but we will start practicing APARIGRAHA, and we will only use the objects we need. The system will not be the same AND NEITHER WILL OUR NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS and in the end we will have all that we need for our life from the new perspective.
The solution this movie offers will be truly successful in the case of a genuine rising of the level of consciousness beyond humanity’s current level. This is only made possible by a lot of people living their lives after a certain set of principles and this is mostly possible when people know the proper exercises that help to increase the level of attention and detachment above the game of desires. Yoga is such a system that gives the practical means for such a fundamental transformation that can penetrate to all the level of society.
Enjoy a good wake up call….
