What is Knowledge : Ch-3. Part-5.

-



Chapter-3. A Philosophic Outlook of Life


Part-5.


This is precisely the reason why we are restless.

If someone goes on pricking us with a needle or pulling our ears constantly, day in and day out, we will be conscious only of these pricks and the pulls, and we will have no time to think anything else except that we are being pricked and pulled, dragged, etc.

Not that we are incapable of thinking in any other manner, but we will not be permitted to think because of the continuous pressure exerted upon the mind by events and circumstances of the outer world, of nature, and of society.


But this is a kind of illness, in a very important sense, that we have no freedom except to react to circumstances, and to be employed, as it were, in the act of attending to demands from outside.

This state of affairs cannot be considered as real freedom.

If we are forced to do something, do we call it a free act?


Swami Krishnananda

To be continued  ...



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is Knowledge : Ch-5 -3.

-
Image
Chapter 5: Maintaining One's Position-3. What are you going to understand when you are trying to understand yourself? Where is the object? And which is the subject there? When I see an object, I say, "I see this. I know this table, this desk, this person, this something that is in front of me"; but I am not in front of me, so I cannot make such statements in regard to my own self. I cannot say, "I am seeing myself"; nor can I say, "I am touching myself". These statements, which usually apply to persons and things outside, do not apply to our own self. Hence, this understanding may not be adequate for the purpose of understanding your own self. All knowledge fails when it becomes a means to the knowledge of one's own self, though it becomes a great success when it is a weapon to know what is not itself. There is this peculiar difficulty which is easy to miss, because of the fact that the only thing that we miss in our daily o...
Read more

What is Knowledge : Ch-4. Part-4.

-
Image
Chapter 4 : Yoga – An Integration of Consciousness. Pat-4. It is only the discriminating consciousness that feels dissatisfied with its present achievements. Ignorance is bliss, and when we know nothing about what lies ahead of us, and we are not even conscious of there being anything at all beyond our possessions and our areas of operation and action, we are kept in a state of This ignorance also brings a sort of joy, because of the disconnection of consciousness from the awareness of there being something beyond itself. So, the ignorant person is happy, and we too are happy, though we know very well that our very physical existence here is not secure. It is a terrible insecurity in which we are placed, and the next moment's fate of our physical existence is not known to any wise man in the world; yet, we are happy. This is an instance of how ignorance can be bliss. However, yoga is that art of awakening the sleeping consciousness of the human individual to...
Read more

Vedantasara :20.

-
Image
201. General discipline (Yama) consists of non-injury, truthfulness, non-stealing, continence and non-acceptance of gifts.  202. Particular discipline (Niyama) consists of cleanliness, contentment, austerity, study of the scriptures and meditation on God.  203. Posture (Asana) means the placing of the hands, feet, etc., in particular positions, such as Padmasana, Svastikasana etc.,  204. Control of the vital force (Pranayama) refers to exhalation, inhalation and retention of breath, which are means to the control of  the vital force.  205. Self-withdrawal (Pratyahara) is the withdrawing of the sense-organs from their respective objects.  206. Concentration (Dharana) means the fixing of the mind on Brahman, the One without a second.  207. Meditation (Dhyana) is the intermittent resting of the mental state on Brahman, the One without a second.  208. Absorption (Samadhi) is what has already been described as attended with self-co...
Read more