WHEN WANTING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN HAVING

WANTING STUFF IS MORE 

PLEASURABLE THAN HAVING IT

http://blogs.psychcentral.com - Wondering why your appetite for more “things” seems insatiable? A study to be published in the June 2013 Journal of Consumer Research confirms that people tend to find greater pleasure in wanting things vs. having things. “Thinking about acquisition provides momentary happiness boosts to materialistic people, and because they tend to think about acquisition a lot, such thoughts have the potential to provide frequent mood boosts. But the positive emotions associated with acquisition are short-lived,” said study author Marsha L. Richins. She continued, “Materialists are more likely to overspend and have credit problems, possibly because they believe that acquisitions will increase their happiness and change their lives in meaningful ways.” In other words, lusting after that new flat screen is pretty exciting. After purchasing, it morphs into “the TV.”

Most people in the age of consumerism can probably relate. When you hype yourself up for a new toy, the let down is sure to follow. People in pursuit of shiny objects tend to visualize those objects in certain ways. Big, bright, glistening pictures dance around in the their minds, enhancing the thrill of the pursuit. The cycle: We amp ourselves up in pursuit of “stuff.”  We acquire said stuff. We then feel let down or empty, or not nearly as fulfilled as we imagined when convincing ourselves we needed the stuff. So, we look for more stuff! Sometimes we are willing to go deeply into debt to get all the stuff, as if we were addicted. 
Why do we subject ourselves to this cycle again and again? This is where it gets interesting. It involves more than seeing the simple pattern or even understanding how it manifests in the mind. Here we need to delve into why people seek fulfillment in things that do not fulfill and then do it again and again and again.

Materialists tend to buy more than other consumers and are more willing to go into debt because they believe that buying things will make them happier. But does acquisition actually make them happier? "After the TV is set up and working, adjustments are made to the internal mental imagery. The internal images of “the TV in the living room” dull down, become smaller and lose their internal glisten. Good-bye pleasure. Time to look for the next temporary high. Sometimes the string of temporary consumer highs is expensive and debt begins to pile up. This is where problems develop," explains Mike Bundrant, the author of the article. The intensity of the illusory happiness drives materialistic experiences before making a purchase, and such pleasure vanishes when the desired object is achieved.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US? 

There are endless possibilities for material enjoyment in the dreamland, and there are as many outlets for devotional service, or bhakti-yoga. In this highest discipline the temporary pleasure turns into ananda, or bliss. Instead of disturbing the mind, the various aspects to the material creation help to fuel the enthusiasm to please Krishna, who always reciprocates the devotee’s offerings. Sometimes He’ll remove obstacles that weren’t foreseen, keeping the devoted soul under His wing, protecting them like a pet child. The outlook of the individual then changes as well, as the eyes are said to be anointed with the salve of devotional love. Sort of like putting on rose colored glasses, seeing with the Krishna vision enables one to use everything around them properly and thus remain immune to the effects of the dreamland.

Krishna's Mercy.org - Jai Shri Krishna :
“Virtual Reality”
Written by: Keshava - Published on Aug 16, 2012
http://www.krishnasmercy.org/dotnetnuke/
http://www.krishnasmercy.org/dotnetnuke/News/Blog/tabid/57/EntryId/1238/Virtual-Reality.aspx

Published by dasavatara das - "Vedic Views on World News"
http://www.vedicviews-worldnews.blogspot.com.ar/