Distinguising Between the Good and the Pleasant - Sri Aurobindo

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13/11/2019.
Sri Aurobindo translates Katha Upanishad, First Cycle, Second Chapter, Verses 1-4:
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“Yama speaks: ‘One thing is the good and quite another thing is the pleasant, and both seize upon a man with different meanings.  Of these whoso takes the good, it is well with him; he falls from the aim of life who chooses the pleasant.  The good and the pleasant come to a man and the thoughtful mind turns all around them and distinguishes.  The wise chooses out the good from the pleasant, but the dull soul chooses the pleasant rather than the getting of his good and its having.  And thou, O Nachiketas, hast looked close at the objects of desire, at pleasant things and beautiful, and thou hast cast them from thee: thou hast not entered into the net of riches in which many men sink to perdition.  For far apart are these, opposite, divergent, the one that is known as the Ignorance and the other the Knowledge.  But Nachiketas I deem truly desirous of the knowledge whom so many desirable things could not make to lust after them.’ ”

There is a proverb especially circulated among spiritual seekers, that the “good” tastes bitter, but has a sweet effect; while the “pleasant” tastes sweet, but has a bitter effect.  The Vedic Rishis and the seers of the Upanishads spent considerable time resolving the issues of what is the “good” and how to achieve it in one’s life versus those things that act as distractions.  Eventually this led to the conclusion that following the desires of the physical and vital being, or the ambitions presented by the mind, may yield short-term enjoyment, but they simply do not last, and act as a serious detriment to inner peace and spiritual growth.  Transitory enjoyment was thereby treated as the “pleasant” while the hard path of tapasya, concentration of conscious force, was treated as the “good”.  To carry out this tapasya, the seeker would need to focus his energies and not simply work to satisfy the promptings of desire.  In its more extreme forms, this led to the idea of sannyasa, or renunciation of the life of the world to pursue the spiritual seeking exclusively.  This extreme version implies that there is a distinct duality whereby the Spirit is one side of the duality and the “life of the world” is the other.  And for the seeker who is entering the path, an exclusive concentration on things spiritual may be both beneficial and necessary.

Eventually, however, the unity of the Spirit, “all this is the Brahman” combined with “One without a second” needs to be reintegrated, and the life of the world then can be taken up once more, but not from the standpoint of the satisfaction of the individual desires of the ego-personality, but from the standpoint of the unity of all in the manifestation of the Divine.  This involves a much more subtle understanding of “good” and “pleasant” than the traditional “duality” approach needs to apply.

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NOTE : Recent media reports

1.Anna University to Teach Upanishadas and Gita to Engineering Students
Several political parties, academicians and students’ organisations have condemned the move by the university.

2.DMK chief MK Stalin slams 'mandatory' teaching of Hindu scriptures in Anna University, varsity denies move
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) staged a protest against the alleged imposition of Sanskrit in Anna University and other issues.

3.Earlier, DMK President MK Stalin had condemned Anna University over its decision to include Bhagwad Gita in the curriculum. Seeking governor's intervention, Stalin had tweeted, "It is condemnable to attempt imposition of Sanskrit by making philosophy compulsory in the syllabus of Anna University's CEG campus."

3. People can’t dictate religion: Kamal Haasan slams inclusion of Gita in Anna University syllabus
After Stalin, now Kamal Haasan has raised concerns about the inclusion of Bhagavad Gita in the Anna varsity curriculum saying that one can't dictate religion.
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OPINION :

1.THIS UNIVERSE RESPECTS OUR BHARATIYA HOLY SCRIPTURES THAN ANY THING;

2. NATIONS ALL OVER THE WORLD INTRODUCED LEARNING OF UPANISHADS, SRIMAD BHAGAVAD GITA AND SANSKRIT; THESE SCRIPTURES ARE TRANSLATED INTO ALMOST ALL WORLD LANGUAGES; OUR SCRIPTURES ARE ACCEPTED, AND ACCEPTED BY THE UNIVERSE;

3. WONDER ARE THESE TAMIL PEOPLE NOT AWARE OF THIS UNIVERSAL TRUTH?

4. ARE THESE TAMIL POLITICS SEPARATE FROM THIS HOLY NATION?

5. WHY TAMILNADU PEOPLE NOT PREPARED REJECT THIS RUBBISH ANTI NATIONAL POLITICS OF SEPARATISTS?

6. EVR ATROCITIES AGAINST TAMILNADU BRAHMINS AND HIS ACCUSAL THEORY OF ANTI RAMAYANAM BY WAY OF HIS DRAMA KEEMAYANAM; NO ONE PROTESTED THEN; WHY? ARE THE PEOPLE NOT AWARE OF THE HOLINESS OF GREAT EPIC RAMAYANAM. THEN?

7. THE FUNNIEST PART OF THIS STORY THAT WHEN AP NAGARAJAN PRODUCED SAMPURNA RAMAYANAM WITH THEN SUPER STARS TAMIL PEOPLE MADE A HEAVY RUSH TO THEATRES? WHY THIS ATTITUDE? CINEMA IS DIVINE NOT RAMAYANAM IS IT SO?

8. PARENTS AND CHILDREN ARE DECISION MAKERS AND FREEDOM CHOOSE THE SPIRITUAL SUBJECTS IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS;

9. IF THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT HAS DECIDED THIS, IT IS A FACT THAT THE PEOPLE OF BHARATHAM REQUESTED PM MODIJI THROUGH MAN KI BAAT AND OTHER CHANNELS BY WAY PEOPLE CONTACTS WITH PM AND TEAM INDIA.

10. TAMIL POLITICS HAS NO ROLE HERE, WHERE THE PEOPLE IS IN THE CENTRE-POINT, DIRECT WITH PM MODI JI  LEAD TEAM INDIA, SO KEEP AWAY IT IS BHARATHAM.

11. DMK LIKE TAMIL POLITICAL PARTIES, PLAY ANTI HINDUS, ANTI NATIONAL POLITICS AND SPREAD VENOM OF HATRED TO GET MINORITY VOTE BANK, A FUTILE IDEA, WILL BE BROKEN SOON, FOOLS;

12. THIS FUNNY TRICK AIADMK WHO IS THE PARTNER TO BJP IN TAMILNADU POLITICS, DID NOT RAISED VOICE AGAINST THOSE WHO OPPOSED THE SPIRITUAL LEARNING WITH SANSKRIT, BEWARE THESE TYPES OF WOLVES.
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SUM : TO TAMIL NADU PEOPLE, TO UNDERSTAND :

"THE CHHANDOGYA UPANISHAD IS ONE OF THE MOST PROMINENT AMONG MAJOR GROUP OF PHILOSOPHICAL AND MYSTICAL TEXTS CONSTITUTING OF THE THREEFOLD FOUNDATION OF BHARATHAM'S SPIRITUAL LORE, THE TRIPOD OF BHARATHA SAMASKARAM, BEING CONSTITUTED OF THE 1.UPANISHADS, 2. BRAHMASUTRAS AND 3. THE SRIMAD BHAGAVAD GITA."
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FINAL WORDS : WHAT THE GREAT ACHARYA SAID :

#The interesting phenomenon of the delivery of the Bhagavadgita is that the most sacred thing that it is – a holy teaching connected with God and creation, something which you would like to hear in a sanctified spot such as a #temple or an #ashram, a #university or an #academy, a #school or a #college – is given in the worst of human conditions, #called battle.
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#WARNING
#Request Tamil nadu people :

Breaking India Forces, are very active in Tamil nadu, wake up, be cautious, Christian missionaries and Islamic Jihadis the two communal forces are patronized by all demonic political parties, the Aiadmk government and media is silent on this. both these communal groups misuse our Democracy, and Freedom, under the cover of minority status, hour has come to eliminate this combined evil, before the state become self destroyed; do not allow this, SAVE TAMILNADU.
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THE RECENT ITCHING TO URBAN NAXALS AND TAMIL POLITICS CLEVERLY SUPPORTED BY CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES AND EVANGELISTS WITH FOREIGN FUNDS AND ISLAMIC RADICALISM :

IS PM MODI JI + THIRUKURAL,

OUR BELOVED PM A TRUE NATION LOVING SON OF BHARATHAM, IN HIS SPEECHES, ALWAYS MENTION 130 CRORES OF MY PEOPLE OF BHARATHAM, THIS INCLUDES ALL,;

NOW PM MENTIONED THIRUKURAL ON SEVERAL INTERNATIONAL PLATFORMS, THIS TEXT BELONGS TO THE NATION, NOT TAMILS ALONE;

TAMIL POLITICAL ASYLUM TALKS NONSENSE, THIS DEMONIC BEHAVIOUR WITH THE SUPPORT OF CHRISTIAN AND ISLAMIC VOTE BANK POLITICS SOON DESTROY TAMIL NADU SOON;

STOP ABUSING SANATANA DHARMAM, BEWARE AND AWARE OF PRAKASHRAJ, KAMAL HASSAN LIKE FOOLS WHO LOST THEIR IDENTITY AND PERISH SOON.
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