Western vs. Indian Philosophy: Who Holds the Key to True Freedom? || Acharya Prashant (2024)
Video Information: 27.11.2024, Vedanta: Basics to Classics, Goa
Description:
In this discussion, Acharya Prashant explores the relationship between existential philosophy and the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita. He explains that existentialists like Sartre emphasize personal freedom and the necessity for individuals to define their own essence, contrasting this with the Gita's focus on ego liberation and unity with nature.
Acharya ji highlights the angst that arises from societal pressures to conform, which often conflicts with one's inner nature. He argues that true wisdom begins with recognizing personal suffering rather than sifting through various theories. Ultimately, he emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and the quest for inner peace over external validation or predetermined paths.
🎧 Listen to Acharya Prashant on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/2QmVEAAnsNE7Xs0MW0Li8Y?si=09fbcbc7c99c469b
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~
Video Information: 27.11.2024, Vedanta: Basics to Classics, Goa
Description:
In this discussion, Acharya Prashant explores the relationship between existential philosophy and the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita. He explains that existentialists like Sartre emphasize personal freedom and the necessity for individuals to define their own essence, contrasting this with the Gita's focus on ego liberation and unity with nature.
Acharya ji highlights the angst that arises from societal pressures to conform, which often conflicts with one's inner nature. He argues that true wisdom begins with recognizing personal suffering rather than sifting through various theories. Ultimately, he emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and the quest for inner peace over external validation or predetermined paths.
🎧 Listen to Acharya Prashant on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/2QmVEAAnsNE7Xs0MW0Li8Y?si=09fbcbc7c99c469b
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00You know, Srimad Bhagavad Gita talks about liberation of the ego and a unity with the nature.
00:06I mean, I don't have a clear sense of how these are exactly complementing each other and how they
00:12contradict each other. Whereas human beings, they are born without a predetermined purpose.
00:19So existentialism says that existence precedes essence. Now the nihilist would step in and say
00:28life is for nothing. The absurdist would come and say it is impossible to reconcile a purposeful
00:36human being with a purposeless universe. You can ask a small clarification. So I think
00:41there's a mention of existential acts in his writings. The society that Sartre is coming
00:49from, France, you know, of the last century, you see, they were still not really so much
00:55attuned to Vedantic philosophy that they could declare right at the outset that mukti is swabhav.
01:07So firstly, thank you for the subject. You mentioned that if you exist, you have to
01:15fret about the future. And you often also mention Tartare who talks of existential philosophy,
01:22which put radical emphasis on personal freedom. And I'm assuming that is in the context of the
01:29present moment. And his words are, man is condemned to be free. And I think with that,
01:35that brings an existential angst. While on the other hand, you know, Srimad Bhagavad Gita
01:41talks about liberation of the ego and unity with the nature. I mean, I don't have a clear
01:50sense of how these are exactly complementing each other and how they contradict each other.
01:59They don't contradict each other. You see what the existentialists, including Sartre,
02:06were saying was, the nature of the human being is such that even if you want to suppress or
02:15disown consciousness, you will not succeed. So man is condemned to be free.
02:23And in that sense, Sartre would often quote a chair. He would take the example of a chair.
02:29He would say, the chair's existence, its purpose, they are all determined by somebody else.
02:38Form, purpose, everything is determined by somebody else. The chair exists
02:42for the sake of others. The chair has no volition over its present condition.
02:48And the chair will also not mind. Or if it doesn't mind, we do not know.
02:55Whereas human beings, they are born without a predetermined purpose. So existentialism says
03:05that existence precedes essence. What does that mean? You exist and then you have to discover
03:16your essence. Which means essentially, in the language of Neti Neti, that nobody outside of
03:25you can supply you with your essence. You are born as a baby and that's just existence
03:34and then it is part of your freedom to consciously determine what life is for.
03:44What life is for. Now the nihilist would step in and say, life is for nothing.
03:53The absurdist would come and say, it is impossible to reconcile a purposeful human being with a
04:00purposeless universe. Which is fine. Even these three can be shown to be consistent with each
04:09other. That is all right. But what you have to take from the existentialists is that they are
04:21very fiercely refusing any external dictation of human life and life's purpose.
04:35You are saying, you and only you, go and find out what this life is for.
04:46Your essence has to come from you, not from an external source.
04:52You can ask a small clarification. I think there's a mention of existential angst
05:01in his writings. That, I guess, can come from even choosing to operate from an internal campus.
05:11But, I guess, from what I understood in the words today, and otherwise also, that
05:21there is less or almost no existential angst, I think, when you choose to submit to...
05:30Your nature is to be free.
05:33And the society you are born in, the family, the education system, the economic system,
05:39they are commanding you all the time to follow, to serve,
05:49to just beat the common path. That's angst. In general, there is nothing around you
06:03to whisper in your ears that liberation is possible. And that's angst.
06:11Our external situations are never in sync with our inner natural demand.
06:21The society that Saratra is coming from, France, of the last century,
06:27they were still not really so much
06:36attuned to Vedantic philosophy that they could declare right at the outset that Mukti is Swabhav.
06:47And because France was recovering from the travails of the Second World War,
06:56it had become all the more important to rebuild, construct, give a structure to the nation and the economy and everything.
07:05Therefore, there has to be followership. Therefore, patterns have to be adhered to.
07:13And none of that can ever be in harmony with your inner nature to never follow any pattern or any dictum.
07:26Are you getting? And that's angst. Something within me is not prepared to take lessons from anywhere.
07:35And yet the world is hell-bent on doling lessons at every step.
07:42This one doles out lessons, that one does. My grandmother, my teacher, my boss, my prime minister, my priest,
07:52all of them want to shape me in their pre-determined ways and they also show me benefits.
08:04And yet, there is something within that just won't agree. That's angst.
08:11That's angst. Out of this angst, you got that cultural revolution.
08:17Of the 60s and 70s. So much happened in Europe at that time.
08:26And that was definitely a revolution because we don't want to... You remember?
08:36We don't need no education. That's that.
08:41All in all, another brick in the wall. I don't want to just follow that same pattern.
08:50We don't need no education. Teacher, leave them kids alone.
08:56Because everybody was trying to cast the newcomer in his own desire and image.
09:05Yeah, this makes a lot of sense.
09:10Well, I have a related question, but I don't want to take time from other people.
09:15You may continue, please. Everybody will benefit.
09:19So, I think there's an idea from...
09:22I think there's an idea from...
09:24I think there's an idea from...
09:26I think there's an idea from...
09:28I think there's an idea from...
09:31So, I think there's an idea from 10 years or maybe 20 years ago from a simulated reality
09:39that we are living in a simulated reality by Nick Bostrom.
09:42And he proposes three options in his paper.
09:52I don't exactly remember the option, but the conclusion was that
09:57there's an external agent that is controlling us.
10:02And that could be seen analogous to us submitting to truth in some way and liberation of the ego.
10:10But I don't know if there's any value in actually having all these different ways of thinking,
10:18us being in a simulation, and it challenges the concept of free will in some way.
10:26So, I guess, I mean, the question really is, is there value in trying to
10:34meld all these theories into one theory or treat them as a very separate?
10:42The term is not really about sifting through the various theories
10:46or even trying to regularize or harmonize them.
10:50All spirituality begins from a single point, the point of suffering.
10:58If I am all right, joyful, being in a simulated world, then I don't need to challenge it.
11:08Problem is not whether or not all this is virtual, simulated, real, fake,
11:14determined by somebody else. Is it a proxy life I am living?
11:18All that is not really the central question. The central question is, am I all right?
11:24Yeah, I think so. The reason I said it is because you mentioned to see
11:30sabko ek dekho. I think, in other words, try to see things as unity, see diversity as a common
11:39expression of something more beautiful, more common. So, I think in that spirit, I try to
11:47put this forward. But yes, I think I totally hear what you are saying. Thank you.
11:52Welcome.