07.16 – Bringing and keeping Krishna on our curiosity radar

Curiosity is one of our defining characteristics; we are shaped by what we seek and find on our curiosity radar. Science, philosophy, literature and all such monuments of human intelligence began in curiosity. The curiosity radar functions not just in human beings but also in animals. Dogs sniff and search wherever they are placed, for example.

Significantly, the curiosity radar of animals searches at a much lower level than that of humans. Animals ask practical questions of the how type: “How can I find out what exists outside the trapdoor?” or “How can I continue to exist – how can I get food, sleep, sex and shelter?” We alone can ask philosophical questions of the why type: “Why does anything exist at all?” and “Why do I exist?”

Of course, most of us let our curiosity radar search at the low animal level, where it is normally riveted by our materialistic culture. When we raise it high enough to ask the why questions, we are gradually guided towards Gita wisdom. Thus through his words Krishna enters our curiosity radar. The Bhagavad-gita points to this when it outlines (7.16) the four kinds of people who come to Krishna: the distressed, the financially needy, the inquisitive and the knowledgeable.

Our initial curiosity that brings us to Krishna places us among the inquisitive. Our subsequent curiosity that impels us to seek a deep relationship with Krishna places us among the knowledgeable. Initially, we bring Krishna on our curiosity radar to know him. Subsequently, we keep him there to love him.

When we thus animate our curiosity about Krishna with the desire for intimacy with him, he reveals himself as an eternally all-attractive person, unlike any other curiosity object that become uninteresting over time. Krishna’s self-revelation transforms life into an exciting adventure in endless love.