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Re: : ARTICLE : About Hinduism and Buddhism
Sankar Jayanarayanan <kartik@Eng.Auburn.EDU> writes:
>
>vspatz@access.digex.net wrote:
>Actually, I heard (someone told me, I don't have the reference) that in one of
>his works, Shankara says,"When a child, you are interested in playing; when a
>youth, you are immersed in studies; when a man, you are involved in family
>matters; on growing old, you are interested in maintaining your health. When
>are you ever going to tread the path and attain mukti?"
This is from the bhaja govindam.
>So the part about "life should be fully enjoyed" can be disputed. Of course,
>religious texts like the mahabharata are full of stories of enjoyment as well
>as asceticism. The Mahabharata concentrates on the Kuru clan, and Yudhishthira,
>a householder, is eulogised. The Ramayana is about Rama, who is a prince,
>not an ascetic.
Define enjoyment. Enjoyment need not be external, but internal.
A poor saint can be as happy (or happier) than the richest person in his
(or her) town.
Satisfying sense pleasures does not constitute enjoyment. See a
freehand translation,
Thinking about sense-objects
Will attach you to sense-objects;
Grow attached, and you become addicted;
Thwart your addiction, it turns to anger;
Be angry, and you confuse your mind;
Confuse your mind, you forget the lesson of experience;
Forget experience, you lose discrimination;
Lose discrimination, and you miss life's only purpose [self-realization].
- Bhagavad Gita 2: 62,63.
Nowhere does Bhagvad gita say that life should be enjoyed with the
sense of 'I'. Most of the sense pleasure stem from the ego (imho).
>> Virginia
>-Kartik
Giri
