Category:Will-o'-the-Wisp
Theme Analysis
This category explores Śrīla Prabhupāda's use of the phrase "will-o'-the-wisp" to describe the illusory and deceptive goals of material existence and imperfect spiritual paths. A will-o'-the-wisp is a phantasmagoria—something that appears attractive but possesses no factual substance. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that materialistic persons madly chase the will-o'-the-wisp of sense gratification, false prestige, and accumulated wealth, particularly gold. Furthermore, pure devotees consider the so-called elevated rewards of fruitive activities (karmīs) and mystic yoga to be equally illusory. To a devotee who is fixed in the eternal, concrete reality of serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead, elevation to the heavenly planets, mystic siddhis, and the impersonal Brahman effulgence of the Māyāvādīs are all completely rejected as useless will-o'-the-wisps.
- The Illusion of Heavenly Planets: Pure devotees completely reject the desire to be promoted to the heavenly planetary systems, viewing such temporary material elevation as a useless will-o'-the-wisp.
- The Allurement of Material Wealth: The obsessive attraction for accumulating gold and material wealth is compared to a madman chasing a will-o'-the-wisp, which ultimately brings only distress.
- The Vain Struggle for Sense Gratification: The entire struggle for existence in the material world, fueled by the desire for sensual enjoyment and illusory activities, is a futile chase after a will-o'-the-wisp.
- The Phantasmagoria of Impersonalism: The impersonal conceptions of the Absolute Truth, which deny the personal form of the Lord, are imaginary will-o'-the-wisps, whereas pure devotees make progress toward the concrete Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Will-o'-the-Wisp - The Illusory Pursuits of Material Existence.
Subcategories
This category has the following 2 subcategories, out of 2 total.
Pages in category "Will-o'-the-Wisp"
The following 23 pages are in this category, out of 23 total.
A
- A bhakta always wants to retain his individuality in order to render service to the Lord. Indeed, he considers promotion to the upper planetary systems to be no better than a will-o'-the-wisp
- A devotee of Lord Caitanya considers residence in the heavenly planets a will-o’-the-wisp. He surpasses the perfection of mystic yoga power because for him the senses are like snakes with broken fangs
- A man who is simply attached to sensual enjoyment voluntarily accepts the miserable material existence and thus wanders after the will-o'-the-wisp of sense pleasure. He is certainly the most foolish man, for he drinks poison and puts aside the nectar
- As far as the heavenly planets are concerned, to a devotee they are like a phantasmagoria or will-o'-the-wisp, and as far as yogic perfection is concerned, a devotee does not care a fig for such perfection
- As indicated by Bali Maharaja by the words janad bhitah, every devotee in Krsna consciousness should always be afraid of the common man engaged in pursuing material prosperity. Such a person is described as pramatta, a madman chasing the will-o'-the-wisp
K
- Karmis hanker to be promoted to the heavenly planets, but a Krsna conscious person considers such promotion a will-o'- the-wisp, good for nothing
- Krsna consciousness persons, they are not after will-o'-the-wisp, phantasmagoria. No. They're actually making progress to the concrete Supreme Personality of Godhead
T
- The color of gold is compared to the will-o'-the-wisp or yellow stool; therefore one should not be allured by gold-manufacturing gurus but should sincerely approach a devotee like Jada Bharata
- The Mayavadis imagine themselves to be the Supreme. They imagine that the Supreme has no personal form and that all His forms are imaginary like the will-o'-the-wisp or a flower in the sky
- The will-o'-the-wisp (in the forest of material existence) is our attraction for gold and its color, and material residence and wealth are the ingredients for our material enjoyment
- There is no estimation of our circumambulation and the concomitant distress resulting from such travel life after life for illusory, material happiness, which is compared to the will o' the wisp
- This struggle for existence is something like following the will-o'-the-wisp under the spell of material enjoyment