Plato's Cave theory and Advaita!

 Plato in his magnum opus Republic has given an Allegory of the Cave which is widely called Cave Theory to emphasise on the lack of education on our nature which is similar to the prisoners inside the cave .Prisoners inside the cave see only images of reflection which are only shadows of the reality in the dim light.Plato being the disciple of Socrates has written this as a dialogue between his brother and Socrates. The prisoners free themselves from the bonded chains in the caves and come out and see that what they have experienced is not reality but reality outside the cave exists. This allegory shows that the human senses when chained to the cave do not allow humans to think beyond the cave images. In this allegory Plato keeps mathematics, geometry and deductive logic at the third and highest level of education.

There is a similarity of this to Indian philosophy of Advaita, in which in simple terms it is said that what we experience is not the reality and it is more like an illusion what we dream in our sleep. Adi sankara when explaining this illusory phenomenon says that this happens due to Avidya or lack of education which is awareness. When we realise our true self we become one with our Creator and realise there is only one Absolute and there is no second- "A dvaita"- only" Brahmam Sathya" and this "Jagat(Earth) Mythya(myth/illusion)".

So in a way both the concepts of philosophy talk about Education or lack of it and its effect, impact on human understanding. Human minds are conditioned by experiences, perceptions and memory impressions and their interplay, without comprehension of the reality or the true nature of human existence.

Bhagawan Krishna in his Gita also emphasizes on this Avidya (Chapter 4)and suggests ways to come out of it(chapter 5). The best and the easiest way is to surrender our ego to Bhagwan and continue with our duty selflessly without any attachment to the fruits of our actions.

We are born without locks!

Whenever any discussion happens on the human mental states, usually the discussion starts with Sigmund Freud. His Id, Ego and Alterego interpretations of the human mind in both conscious and subconscious levels have been the subject matter of debate throughout the world.

If you construct a matrix grid with Child, Parent and Adult ego states of Eric Berne's Transactional Analysis of social behaviours exhibited by human beings,  blended with Freud's human personality types of psycho analysis , then the two-axis grid will present what Eric Berne envisaged.

However, I went one step further and tried to blend the basic gunas as outlined by the Indian philosophy of yonder: Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. The complex matrix will be like the above.

According to me the middle axis of a combination of Ego, Parent and Rajas will give a stability to the human life and existence through the ages. It is Sattva which will primarily drive the Adult behaviour and bear on the Alterego for the soul's evolution to a higher plane of existence. Only a very few would be able to reach that level of discipline and yearning it demands.

Some of you may wonder why I titled this piece "we are born without locks!".

One young man met a yogi and asked him, if God had willed that everybody should be disciplined and strict then he could have given us locks for our senses and so since He has not sent us with locks, He wants us to remain free and enjoy the life as per our wishes. Yogi with a smile replied saying that He has set us free with a free Will trusting us against misuse and abuse.! that is the beauty of the whole game.

We create our own game and our own rules, and we are allowed to play with all our senses in our command. We are free to choose our methods, ways of creating excitement, enjoyment and merrimaking to our hearts' contentment. But your methods and ways pave way for your own future to unfold for you. Your means justify the ends. If You tread on others' toes to play this game, you may invite somebody to tread on your toes as a reaction and the game continues that way.You let others play and enjoy the game with you, somebody will also allow you to play and enjoy. So, this way the game goes on and on and on.

It is all about how you try to improve your fair play in the game. When your Sattivic nature gains upper hand , you are out of the line of Ego taking over and you are constantly trying to up your fairplay. Yogis play it the minimalist way.

It is all without locks and keys!!All in the game!

Progressive Compromises....!

The great Tamil writer  சுஜாதா(Sujatha) once wrote that our lives are one of Progressive Compromises of unfulfilled wishes and wants.

When we are born, Sigmund Freud said ,that we are born with Id, Ego and Alterego-the three states of our subconscious existence and the interplay between these three manifests in our personality and reflect in our behavioural traits.

Eric Berne wrote a famous book "Games People Play:The Psychology of Human Relationships" where he described how Child,Adult and Parent ego states play and he described it in terms Transactional Analysis for interpreting all the social interactions.He also went on to say that people also play mind games with hidden motives,desires etc. and described such negative behaviours in terms of the ego states dominating the individuals.

For solving the life's problems Thomas Harris wrote a practical guide "I'm Ok, You are OK" by doing  the Transactional Analysis of the behavioural pattern of individuals.This is based on the Johari Window concept developed by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham where the four  quadrants are fit in the understanding of the relationship with themselves and with others:" I'm not Ok, you are not OK', I'm not ok,you are OK", "I'm OK, you are not OK", "I'm OK, You are OK".

So all these stalwarts have explained what is happening in our daily interactions but none of them have looked at what it means to individuals in the long term for themselves or for the society at large.

However, even if somebody is in the quadrant of I'm OK, You are OK, with the right blend of Adult, Parent and Child egos , then with aging there can be "progressive compromises" and that is what writer Sujatha alludes to.

He goes on to explain that in his twenties he wanted to play guitar and buy a piece of Moon. But over a period of time his ambitions mellowed down and finally when he reached the 70s in age , even passing urine daily morning without any complication,according to him, became an achievement in one's life. May sound funny but it outlines a question as to what is the purpose of one's life. is it only Progressive Compromises or something more? We can feel within ourselves that there can be or should be something more to life.

Many philosophers have pondered over this question and in India all the Masters and Spiritual Gurus have categorically told that the surrendering of the self to Bhagawan is the ultimate purpose of life. But the means advocated is like what 15th century Gujarati poet Narsinh Mehta sung:" vaiṣṇava jana to tene kahiye 
                                                                                                 je pīḍa parāyī jāṇe re,"

                                                                                          (Call those people Vaishnav who
                                                                                                 Feel the pain of others,)

So helping those in pain and misery is the means by which one surrenders himself  to Bhagawan.

Is there any better way of explaining the purpose of Life!!May be, but in all humility, I want to say ,I don't know.

The Interactive Triangle -how do we lead a life!

Humans are students of life with the ability to help others in every possible way, however small may it be, day in and day out and go up in the ladder of evolvement of their individual souls. In this process they realise that they are preprogrammed machines with same set of Operating Systems  of mind and senses ,but with a discerning intellect guided by the Paramatman from deep inside.

Some may agree that the "inner voice" of conscience, as Gandhiji would put it,  is God speaking to you or through you and many may disagree with this. Let us not digress into that.Let us keep it aside as this is a black box about which discussion can go on endlessly.

But the elephant in the room is that we have limited cognition of both our external  universe i.e physical outer world as well as, of the inner mind space world. We are only tuned into certain frequencies or preset softwares, for the purpose of our existence in this earth.

We are daily shaped by our observations cum experiences , which form our memories of short run and long run based on our Cognitions or Perceptions. All these interact and reinforce each other continuously defining our path of life.
The Interactive Triangle can be presented this way: (Ego is Gross and Consciousness is subtle- but both exist)

The Interactive Triangle