1 / 21

Bondage & Liberation

Bondage & Liberation. The Present state of Society. The Present state of Society. Root cause of Problems: Wisdom Deficit Increasing avarice, envy and pride Stinginess : lack of generosity , apathy Anger, ill will , hatred

yardley
Download Presentation

Bondage & Liberation

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Bondage & Liberation

  2. The Present state of Society

  3. The Present state of Society • Root cause of Problems: Wisdom Deficit • Increasing avarice, envy and pride • Stinginess : lack of generosity , apathy • Anger, ill will , hatred • Increasing economic well being & increasing un-ease and dis-quiet • Invisible mental bondage => Sense of lack • Message of the great Masters => for abiding happiness look within P L Dhar ( NRCVEE Lecture )

  4. Genesis of Bondage

  5. Perspective from Developmental Psychology • During the first two years or so, a child doesn’t have any notion of individual self • Guided entirely by pleasure pain principle • No sense of identity • gender, caste , creed, religious, nationality • All these are drummed into him : mental conditioning • Identification with body, various traits, opinions, preferences, desires, apprehensions, habit patterns

  6. Perspective from Developmental Psychology • Role of memory : persistent feeling of self • This notion of ‘I’ am puts ‘me’ in conflict with ‘others’ • Notion of ‘mine’ and ‘thine’ • Both failure & success in fulfillment of ‘my’ desires leads to intensification of the mental defilements & strengthening of the notion of ‘I’ • Escalation of the sense of ‘lack’ • Increase in un-ease and dis-quiet : BONDAGE

  7. Notion of Self

  8. The Notion of Self • David Loy : Self is a psychological-social-linguistic construct • Gaussen / Allan Schore: • The evolution of brain structure influenced by infant caregiver interaction: emotional memories • The core of sense of self lies in the patterns of emotional behaviour exhibited by a person which are determined by the brain structure evolved primarily during infancy

  9. The Notion of Self • Damasio : Notion of self arises from the brain’s ability to sense somatic sensations and associated feelings. • Since both these change incessantly, the sense of self arises from moment to moment • Our individual identity is anchored on predominantly invariant structure of background feelings, and the slowly evolving autobiographical data.

  10. The Notion of Self • Insight of the Buddha : the notion of self arises due to strong attachment to the body-mind complex • Mind : consciousness, perception, feeling, volitional mental formations • Body & mind are intricately inter related and incessantly changing • Apart from the five aggregates there is no distinct being • no forest apart from the trees, no car apart from its components, ….

  11. Liberation Bondage Egoic Identity Seeing through the illusion of Self Reconstruction of Self Deconstruction

  12. De-construction of Self • Abandoning desires based on attachment to Body & Mind • Not suppression by will power • By acceptance of the reality of desires as and when these arise • these would naturally cease ! • Detailed instructions on gaining this ability • Steps : Dis-enchantment => dis-passion => abandoning craving & aversion => Awakening from the illusion of personality • Manifestation of dormant potentials => Reconstruction of self

  13. Practical Implementation • All humans are endowed with the ability to experience emotions and feelings and also to be aware of how we are feeling! • I do become aware, ‘I am angry’ ! • Usual response to this awareness : justifying and defending ‘my’ position • Possible responses when imbued with insight of ‘no –self’ : • Investigating : who is getting angry ? • Investigating: ‘what is going on inside’? • Training in Mindfulness

  14. Implications for day to day Life • Personal life : reducing negative emotions • Excellence in work : Normal paradigm • Focus on ‘self’ aggrandizement , profit or power • Any obstacles or difficulties taken ‘personally’ • Resentment , anger burn up energy • Inner distance from one’s ‘own’ actions • Detachment from success or failure, praise or blame • Exclusive devotion to work, not a constant ‘concern’ about its consequences P L Dhar ( NRCVEE Lecture )

  15. Implications for day to day Life • Observation of ‘what is happening inside’ • any deflections or failing are brought to the fore through inner awareness : self policing • As pre-occupation with ‘self’ reduces, kindness and compassion naturally emerge and can manifest in various ways • Work done impersonally is a great joy; everything else is suffering ! P L Dhar ( NRCVEE Lecture )

  16. Concluding Remarks

  17. Modern Science & Ancient Wisdom : stubborn notion of individuality is ‘optical delusion of consciousness’ ‘Hell is other People’ : Sartre P L Dhar ( NRCVEE Lecture )

  18. Consciousness has multiple dimensions : sense-sphere consciousness & self- awareness P L Dhar ( NRCVEE Lecture )

  19. The practice of Mindfulness: Abiding in ‘pure’ consciousness Liberation : Let go the ‘one who is in bondage’ P L Dhar ( NRCVEE Lecture )

  20. The practice of Mindfulness: Facing the Brutes ! Conscious surrender to Reality P L Dhar ( NRCVEE Lecture )

  21. Thank you all

More Related