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.
Comments