The Philosophy of the Karma Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita - 10 : Swami Krishnananda
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14/12/2019.
(Spoken on July 15, 1979.)
10.
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The greatest pair of opposites is the pair of the seer and the seen, myself and yourself. These two constitute the central pair of opposites, and then everything else follows. Like, dislike, heat, cold, hunger, thirst, etc., are all secondary. The opposition between me and you is the pair of opposites. I cannot fully agree with you, and you cannot fully agree with me.
Here is the ultimate irreconcilability of nature: the structure of things and the structure of the mind that beholds the things. Mind cannot reconcile itself with matter; matter cannot reconcile itself with mind. This is the philosophical or the metaphysical irreconcilability of opposites which descends in the form of lesser irreconcilabilities between parties in political fields, etc. Therefore, light has to be thrown on the various degrees of irreconcilability that we feel in our lives in order to understand what it is to be a dvandva mumukta.
Sukha and dukha, from which we have to be free according to the teaching of the Gita, arise because of this dvandva or the clash of opposites. The whole creation seems to be arranged in such a manner that a tendency to irreconcilability has been planted in the very seed of creation itself. We are unable to comprehend this mystery, of course, but we have somehow or other to adjust ourselves to the existing conditions.
When, as the scriptures say, God willed that He should become many, it appears as if the Universal Subject willed to become the objects, and we know what it means: the I becoming the you. First the I becomes the me, then the me becomes the you. The you becomes the friend and the foe, and everything that follows as a consequence thereof, to the level where we are today.
To be continued ....
========================================================================
=======================================================================
14/12/2019.
(Spoken on July 15, 1979.)
10.
=======================================================================
The greatest pair of opposites is the pair of the seer and the seen, myself and yourself. These two constitute the central pair of opposites, and then everything else follows. Like, dislike, heat, cold, hunger, thirst, etc., are all secondary. The opposition between me and you is the pair of opposites. I cannot fully agree with you, and you cannot fully agree with me.
Here is the ultimate irreconcilability of nature: the structure of things and the structure of the mind that beholds the things. Mind cannot reconcile itself with matter; matter cannot reconcile itself with mind. This is the philosophical or the metaphysical irreconcilability of opposites which descends in the form of lesser irreconcilabilities between parties in political fields, etc. Therefore, light has to be thrown on the various degrees of irreconcilability that we feel in our lives in order to understand what it is to be a dvandva mumukta.
Sukha and dukha, from which we have to be free according to the teaching of the Gita, arise because of this dvandva or the clash of opposites. The whole creation seems to be arranged in such a manner that a tendency to irreconcilability has been planted in the very seed of creation itself. We are unable to comprehend this mystery, of course, but we have somehow or other to adjust ourselves to the existing conditions.
When, as the scriptures say, God willed that He should become many, it appears as if the Universal Subject willed to become the objects, and we know what it means: the I becoming the you. First the I becomes the me, then the me becomes the you. The you becomes the friend and the foe, and everything that follows as a consequence thereof, to the level where we are today.
To be continued ....
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