Sense pleasure is not imaginary, but it is a product of
imagination
Imaginary refers to that which doesn’t exist, whereas a
product of imagination refers to that which results from the activation of
imagination.
Sense pleasure is not imaginary in the sense that it does
exist. The Bhagavad-gita (05.22) acknowledges the reality of this pleasure by
stating that it arises when the senses and sense objects contact each other.
When we see something beautiful or taste something delicious, we do feel some
pleasure.
Gita wisdom doesn’t intend to deprive us of pleasure;
rather, it intends to help us end our self-inflicted deprivation of pleasure.
Yet the Gita (02.55) urges us to reject such pleasures,
declaring them to be a product of the mind (mano-gataan). It is due to the
mind’s imagination that we deem such pleasures as immense and irresistible. So
the pleasure exists, but it is exaggerated by the imagination. Its quantity,
intensity and irresistibility are all products of imagination, akin to
mistaking a drop of water in a desert to be an ocean. We succumb to such
imagination because we need pleasure – we are innately-pleasure seeking beings.
And Gita wisdom doesn’t intend to deprive us of pleasure;
rather, it intends to help us end our self-inflicted deprivation of pleasure.
If we are in a desert desperate for water, then our desperation may make us imagine
a drop to be far more that what it is. And if this drop lies in a direction
opposite to where an ocean is, then pursuing that drop takes us away from the
ocean. Similarly, bodily consciousness that is foundational for enjoying
drop-like sense pleasure takes us away from the spiritual consciousness that is
foundational for relishing oceanic devotional happiness in relationship with
Krishna. By redirecting our thirst for happiness from matter to Krishna, by
envisioning how we can serve him according to our talents and resources, we can
fulfill both our mind’s propensity for imagination and our heart’s longing for
happiness.
No comments:
Post a Comment