09.10: Why attraction to the supernatural is natural…

Supernatural stunts in cartoons and sci-fi movies attract not only common people, but also diehard skeptics who usually denounce anything supernatural. They happily suspend their skepticism and enjoy watching stunts that are naturally impossible.

Despite their commitment to naturalism, what makes them enjoy the supernatural?

It’s the heart.

Naturalism helps us see in the world the orderliness that our head demands. This orderliness gives the head a sense of control, of knowing what to expect and how to respond.

But this orderliness also brings in its wake ordinariness.

The naturalist worldview with its predictable law-governed landscape banishes mystery out of the world.  Yet our heart longs for the exciting and extraordinary, the magical and the marvelous. This longing finds a gateway to fulfillment in fiction. No wonder that the heart pushes the head aside to enjoy fiction.

Gita wisdom informs us that we can enjoy more than just a few such moments; we can enjoy an eternity of them. Moreover, we don’t have to squeeze that enjoyment out of fantasy; we can savor it in a reality that exceeds fantasy.

We are souls who can relish an eternal loving relationship with the supreme stunt star, Krishna. As he is the controller of material nature (9.10), he isn’t bound by its laws. The only law that binds him is the law of love; to reciprocate love with his devotees, he sometimes acts inside natural laws and sometimes outside them.

The result?

Krishna-lila: Adventures with the most fantastic fabric of magic within the most touching tapestry of love.

Our attraction to the supernatural is natural. And it’s naturally fulfilled in Krishna-lila. Fiction is a distant and distorted reflection of this original.

Why settle for anything less than the original?