Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 02, Text 68
In today’s society, living without technologyis almost impossible. As aspiring devotees living in a techno-centric society, we usually think of technology as a neutral tool that can be used for devotional purposes.
What we may not realize is that our relationship with technology is not one-way, but two-way. It is not we alone who use technology; technology also uses us.
How?
Technology is deeply, even inextricably, associated with certain uses. For example, television is so widely used for materialistic entertainment that its use for watching spiritual programs, though hypothetically possible, is practically rare. Even when we are using it spiritually, we may succumb to using it sensually at any moment. After all, the temptation is just one click away — always.
We are especially vulnerable to such temptations because the materialistic uses of technology are far more aggressively marketed than its spiritual uses. Additionally, to use technology, we often have to place ourselves in temptation zone, a cultural ambience that injects us with material desires. Due to these subtle but strong influences, we sometimes get carried away and waste our irreplaceable time on anti-devotional indulgences. Thus we end up being used by technology, that is, used by those materialists who use technology to get to our time, heart and finally money.
