World and India believe
that Freud was the first one who had analysed the mind and developed
psychological concepts about it. But before that five thousand years ago, Lord
Krishna had narrated Bhagavad Geeta to Arjuna and in that analysis of mind was
done and its psychological aspect (about mind) was discussed. The same is
relevant, acceptable even in today's context. Having compared both, at the end,
we will find that its analysis and conclusion is even superior to that of Freud.
Freud's psychology says that desire, lust, attraction, only go away when these
negative feelings are fulfilled,
else the person gets disappointed, feels tensed and suffers from complex, which
affects the whole personality of the person. On the other hand Geeta says
desires etc are formed from selfish attraction. The mind will be disturbed to
fulfil that desire, will feel uncomfortable and lack of peace. The inner
personality will be influenced with it (similar to Freud). Further a person
commits sins when he is under the influence of lust, desire and aspirations. Further Geeta's psychology says that when they
are fulfilled then they are not removed but subside for some time or become
calm, but they arise once again. The cycle rotates and does not stop. The Geeta's
psychology is not just philosophy, but contains easy and practical methods to
control desires, lust and attraction, which are psychological, appropriate and
practical. It says that as the Sunrays outshine the light of an earthen lamp in
the same way the high thoughts defuse
the lust, desires and attractions (differ from Freud) .
The Bhagavad-Geeta is
full of such insights and a model of personal peace and harmony is contained
therein. It shows how our physical self
is related to social self and work
but both are different from real self.
This model shows how doing the work
with the intention to achieve the fruits of our labour leads to an entrenched
development of social self, but letting go of the passion for the reward for
our actions leads us toward the liberation and real self. If we consider
two alternative paths to lead a life, Freud or Western psychology deals
with the first path by
focusing on various aspects of intentional work for achieving fruit only, thus missing out on
the immense possibility of leading a spiritual life that the second path ( of Geeta) has to
offer.
To begin
with, for a person or society first question is- to work or not to work? As per Geeta verse 3.5, work is said to be natural to human
being. We are driven by our nature, and cannot live even for a moment without
doing some work. So question boils down to what type work is to be pursued
by the person. Geeta shows a strong tie between Self and one's duty (or Svadharma),
which is enumerated in verse 2.31 (Kshtra Dharma) and elsewhere. One has a
choice to do or not to do his or her duty, or work prescribed by one's caste
and phase of life (Varnashrama dharma). The positive aspects of
performing one’s duties are stated in verses 3.35a, 18.47a, and 18.48. In
verse 3.8, two interesting arguments are made. First, doing work is stated to
be superior to not performing one’s duty or work, presenting the general
principle that action is better than inaction. Second, it is argued that
we cannot even continue the journey of life or maintain the body without
performing work. In this argument
lies the strong bond between the physical self, the social self and work.
The verse 18.46 argues that God is in everything, and that God gives the
drive to living beings. Further, human beings achieve perfection by
worshipping God, and one worships God by performing his or her work.
Finally, in verse 18.48, Arjuna is advised that one should not abandon one’s natural
duties even if it has flaws since all work have some flaw much like there
is smoke associated with fire. The Bhagavad-Geeta is
categorical about the consequences of not performing one’s duties. In verse
2.33, Arjuna is told that if he did not take part in the battle for
duty or the battle supporting righteousness in the battlefield of
Kurukshetra, he would accrue infamy and sin. In light of the above
reasons, it becomes quite clear that one is to perform his or her duties at all
times, and that there are serious negative consequences of not performing them.
So far we do not find any noticeable difference between Freud and
Geeta with regard to importance of work in life, but here too Geeta’s emphasis
is on a work which is person’s duty and not all type of work.
Thus
having decided to perform one’s duties, we move to the next step to examine the
intention of performing one’s duties. Once we decide to perform our duties (svadharma),
we arrive at another decision point,
where we have to decide whether we want to do our duties (svadharma) with
the intention of achieving/ enjoying the fruits of our action (sakama),
or we want to pursue it with the intention of being indifferent about achieving
or not achieving the fruits of our actions (nishkama). Intention being
the best predictor of human behaviour, this is a significant phase in decision
making, and it affects how our self develops further. If we decide to pursue
the work with the intention to enjoy the fruits of our effort, we follow Path
1, which leads to increased attachment
to work and its consequences,
or Karmic bondage.
This is stated in verse 3.9a. The nature of Path 1 is described in verses
2.41b, 2.42-44, and 2.45a. If we intend to work without being concerned with
the fruits of our effort, or become detached from them, i.e., maintain
equanimity in achieving or not achieving them, then we are following Path 2,
which leads to liberation.
Path 2 is described in verses 2.38-40, 2.45b, 2.48, 3.7b, 3.9b, 3.17, and 3.30.
In verse 2.49, Path 1 is stated to be inferior to Path 2, and in verse 3.7 Path
2 is stated to be superior to Path 1.
What are the factors
for destruction/fall of the person (following path1) or after which stage the
person rises above in life (following path2) has been told in the Geeta. If we
follow path1, sequence is, while contemplating the objects of the senses, a
person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops,
and from lust anger arises. From anger, complete delusion arises, and from
delusion bewilderment of memory comes. When memory is bewildered, intelligence
is lost, and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the material pool, (verse 2.62
and 2.63). Lord Shri Krishna
must have been a great psychologist, who told the mankind that there are eight
stages of destruction of man, which begin from subjects and end with
destruction. In other words whatever is attained, it becomes the basis for the
intelligence to work. If the person does not have intelligence he will destroy
his life. If the wisdom is lost the person falls down from his path. The path
of this destruction moves at great speed. At the stage of attachment the perception
of the thing changes and jealousy and
hatred, which are internal things, become our companion and are
infectious. Hatred and jealousy are our nets to fall in traps. This is the
stage of destruction. The person can come out of anger due to his natural
nature of freedom by following path 2. The
source of coming out is disinterest, lack of willingness. The Geeta
says that in order to calm down anxiety (created by desire etc) either
the person has to lead a selfless life free of aspirations, lust and
attractions or lead a life with some high aspiration. High aspiration is also
of two types thinking of God (Bhakti
Yoga) or selfless service of the society (Karm Yoga). Selfless service has no
aspiration; there is only peace of mind, a gift of life. You should work with
this gift of life but remember that nobody can do anything alone; we are part
of the society. Thus the Bhagavad Geeta contains the psychological analysis of desire. None of the books of the
world contain such an analysis.
Further,
following the path 1 every task or element of our work when completed, adds
something to our social self,
adds to our identity box as we advance in our careers and acquire wealth and
professional success. While pursuing a materialistic life we are often
motivated to do what our neighbours or colleagues do, aptly express in the
expression "keeping up with the society.” We also indulge in conspicuous
consumption to gratify our various needs, and add to our social self in the process. Finally, we are constantly drawn
toward the ego-enhancing objects or
products that are aggressively advertised by companies that manufacture luxury
goods. All these lead to an endless, perhaps infinite, growth in our social
self. This explosive growth of social self is much like the expansion of the
universe captured in the entropy principle (of physics i.e., entropy of the
universe is constantly increasing) resulting
chaos and unrest in life.
On the
other hand, Path 2 originates when a person makes a conscious decision not to
passionately pursue the fruits of his or her endeavours. In verse 2.38, Krishna
tells Arjuna that if he fought by maintaining equanimity in happiness or
sorrow, victory or defeat, and loss or gain, then fighting the battle for its
own sake, and killing his relatives in the process, would not accrue any sin to
him. In verse 2.39, Krishna starts to explain to Arjuna how Karmayoga (or
yoga through work) leads one to get rid of the bondage of karma. In
verse 2.40, Krishna tells Arjuna that in doing one's duties there is no loss,
disappointment, offence, diminution, or sin, and if done properly even doing a
little bit of one's duties protects one from great fear. When one stops worrying
about the fruits of one's efforts, performs one's duties by controlling the
senses with the mind, and allow the work organs to perform their tasks without
any anxiety, then slowly one begins to withdraw from the hustle-bustle of the
world, and begins to be inner centred. Thus
the social self-starts to lose its meaning for the person, for it is an
external identity, and the person begins to be anchored inside, on the inner
self, following this path. The physical self and social self-starts to
slowly melt, and when the intellect of the person becomes stable then one
realizes the atman or the real self. This
melting of the self is just the opposite of the explosive growth of the self
that happens when one follows Path 1.
In brief,
when we follow Path 1, we set goals and achieve them. This leads to further
development of our social self,
and we get more and more entrenched in our physical and social self. On the
other hand, when we follow Path 2, we detach ourselves from the fruits of our
action, and slowly but definitely erode the social self and the associated “I consciousness” and “agency ship (kartabhav)”. In the
long run this process leads to the realization of the real self, or atman,
which is described in verses 2.17-29. It shows that even if intention to obtain
the fruit was taken out of work, one
could still work in the world and make progress on the spiritual (and
material) path, because the consequences of work and the entailing passion
would be pre-emptively dissipated. However
it must be remembered whether you wish fruits/ results of work or not as per
path1 or 2, person will definitely get fruits of or has to suffer for his work.
This is the rule of “Karma” (work).
As said earlier,
whether you wish or not, fruits of work will definitely accrue and there will
be some surplus with us. So, as per Geeta, whatever wealth and money remains
after maintaining of self and social service, should be donated to the society.
The Geeta calls this as Yagya. Whatever else we do other than Yagya leads to
attachments (because we keep it with ourselves). Of course we should use it for
our upcoming, but whatever remains should not be considered to be belonging to
us, it should be donated to the society. This
is known as 'Idamna mama'. Whatever was my share, I took it, now the
remaining does not belong to me, and it belongs to the society. This is called
the unselfish action. In this way the person leads a lust free, aspiration free
and attraction free life. Such type of person is away from all the negative
things despite doing his duties and all work.
How to
achieve all this? As person following path 1, believes in Self- efficacy meaning individual’s belief in his or her capacity
to execute behaviours necessary to produce specific performance attainment and
the ability to exert control over one’s own motivation, behaviour and social
environment. Here human beings view self
as agents who are responsible
for their development, adaptation or change. An athlete's feats are clearly
associated with the physical ability and the regimen of rigorous practice (i.e.,
the mental ability) they subject themselves to. Therefore, the "can do
attitude" or efficacy is associated with the concepts of our physical and
ever expanding social selves and thus is necessarily an outward process. On the other hand if the inner journey
requires the dissolution of the social self, as the path 2 posits, then to
advance on the spiritual path (without sacrificing material prosperity) one has
to get rid of these elements of
self-efficacy. In other words, the self-efficacy that makes us so
effective in the material world becomes a burden on the spiritual journey. Part
of the challenge in making spiritual progress is to be able to get rid of the
sense of agency, and self-efficacy is nothing but innumerable aspects of that ego and being an agent.
Therefore,
those following Path 2 must have necessarily acquired their self-efficacy through the
practice of "not paying attention to the fruits of their effort.” But this
skill is not readily available in the society, since most people follow Path 1.
Therefore first, change of mind-set is
required. Path 2 thus, offers some interesting insights to the process of
self-efficacy development, especially as it pertains to spiritual self-growth,
which has not been hitherto thought about. For a beginner on the path 2, this raises
the questions about what we know about goal
setting (as per path1). It is not easy to visualize how one may proceed
or motivated to perform one's work without concern for the fruits of his or her
effort. However, it is possible to set goals and reschedule them without either celebrating the success or
expressing frustration about the failure. If we work with the intention
not to chase the fruits of our efforts, then we enter a zone where goals are not important, and they lose
their motivating potential. We are in a situation where the person does
not have to be an agent
setting goals and taking actions to meet those goals. It is likely that the
above situation may sound quite alien to the western mind. But in fact we can
see a similar state of mind among tenured professors in US universities, who
often do research that interests them, but are not overly concerned about where
they end up publishing the paper ( as juniors do worry).
To
conclude the path 2 proposed by Geeta shows how we can continue our engagement
in the world and yet strive toward liberation. People can use the path for
their personal growth, and test its validity for themselves by reflecting on
changes in their life in terms of reduced attachment to various social selves,
increase in felt calmness and peace, and a clear reduction in work and social
stress.
This way we can get rid of the path proposed by Freud's psychology which led
the people to materialistic life but gave a life full of tension, depression,
loneliness, disappointment and other mental diseases.
