One of the most basic concepts of economics is want vs. need. A need is something you have to have, something you can’t do without, like air. A want is something you would like to have. It is not absolutely necessary, but it would be a good thing to have. A good example is jewellery.
So many of us are satisfied with the possessions and the pleasures of this earth. Living amidst the luxuries of life, we do not feel the need for the Lord until we realise that this world cannot give us what we truly require. Then the feeling of uneasiness stirs. The troubled spirit begins to feel the longing for liberation.
Fortunate is the one whose heart longs for the love of the Lord. Such a devotee is rare, for he realises that these luxuries of life are trinkets and the joy they give is ephemeral. Within his heart is a wound festered by separation from the Beloved. Such a devotee cries out, even as he sits in meditation, “O Lord, where should I search for You? Where will I find You? I need Thee, and only Thee. I need nothing else besides.” We must create this need for God. And when this need occurs, then it is that the Lord comes and blesses us.
Long for God, said that great saint of India, Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa, long for God even as a child longs for his mother whom he has lost somewhere. When you have that longing, keep on telling God again and again, “God, I need you. I don’t want anything else.”
God is more real than all these things that we perceive with our outer senses. You can see the face of God. However, to be able to see God, labour is needed, and that labour is intense yearning of the heart, deep longing of the heart. Let that yearning rise and take you to a higher elevation above the mundane acts of daily living. The heart-wrenching soulful cry for the Beloved will put you on the spiritual path. You will find He is by you, guarding you and guiding you at every step of your life.
