8
On the Way to Kṛṣṇa
So how can we, as sons of God, assert our personality and individuality and at the same time deny them to our Father, the Supreme Lord?
Atīndriyam  means that we have to transcend these material senses before we can appreciate real happiness.  Ramante yogino 'nante satyānanda-cidātmani : the  yogīs  who are aspiring after spiritual life are also tasting enjoyment by focusing on the Supersoul within. If there is no pleasure, if there is no enjoyment, then what is the point of going to so much trouble to control the senses? What kind of pleasure are the  yogīs  relishing if they are taking so much trouble? That pleasure is  ananta —endless. How is this? The spirit soul is eternal, and the Supreme Lord is eternal; therefore reciprocation of their loving exchanges is eternal. One who is actually intelligent will refrain from the flickering sensual enjoyment of this material body and fix his enjoyment in spiritual life. His participation in spiritual life with the Supreme Lord is called  rāsa-līlā .
We have often heard of Kṛṣṇa's  rāsa-līlā  with the cowherd girls in Vṛndāvana. That is not like ordinary exchanges that take place between these material bodies. Rather it is an exchange of feelings through spiritual bodies. One has to be somewhat intelligent to understand this, for a foolish man, who cannot understand what real happiness is, seeks happiness in this material world. In India there is the story of a man who did not know what sugarcane was and was told that it was very sweet to chew. “Oh, what does it look like?” he asked. “It looks just like a bamboo rod,” someone said. So the foolish man began to