The extremely beautiful and talented film star Marilyn Monroe was born in America in 1926. She first appeared in a film in 1948 and came into limelight with small roles in film Asphalt Jungle and All About Eve (1950). By 1954, when she married a famous baseball star, she was already a world – famous sex symbol. The marriage did not last and she married again in 1956, this time a famous playwright. This year was important to her for another reason - her hit film Bus Stop was released.

By 1961, she got disillusioned with her second husband and they got divorced. The same year, her another successful film Misfits was released. Though she was a great success in films, her personal life was tragic. By 1962, she got totally disillusioned with her life and committed suicide.

Why would a person blessed with beauty, loaded with money, having earned great fame and enjoying enormous power as a consequence of success not want to continue to live ? Because all these material assets and achievements are not sufficient in themselves for the intelligent human species. Human beings because of their developed mind, higher awareness and susperior intelligence require much more than food, sex and sleep; they need peace, eternity and higher consciousness.

A human being without these is like a person lost in a jungle, not knowing its topography. Another example which comes to the mind is that of a computer – one needs a password. This crucial information is contained in our scriputres, like the Bhagavad-Geeta. Spiritual knowledge contained therein informs about higher goals, pure means, faith, patience, goodness, peace, eternity, love, cooperation, service, selflessness, etc. In absenece of these a person like the example cited seeks pleasures in sex and support from other people, and having no worthwhile goal gets disillusioned in the end.

Our anchor must be God only, not material gains. We have seen how great amounts of wealth (Howard Hughes) do not assure. Media glare may excite but does not satisfy (Marilyn Monroe). Beauty in itself is not sufficient as well (same example). Power may look attractive but makes one highly insecure. In short, the materialistic culture may appear very glamorous but leaves a human being highly disillusioned.

One needs God, even though His existence cannot be proved by scientific means. The knowledge of soul is very comforting. Fortunately goodness leads to God. Personally I have benefited by this realization. Our anchor has to be God and the real knowledge is the spiritual knowledge.