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all considered by us as sources of pleasure, and our body itself is worshipped as an
object of beauty, a piece of art which we daily look at in the mirror, if possible, and we
embellish it in every possible manner, not knowing what it is really made of. The
experiences of our life are not really pleasurable. The conditions through which we pass
in mind and intellect from morning to evening are not one of happiness; but we try to
make the best of this suffering itself, and we try to create a heaven out of hell. This is to
mistake pain for pleasure. And the greatest error which tops all the list is the mistaking
of the non-atman for the atman, the object for the subject, the external for the
Universal, the perishable for the permanent, the material for the conscious. This is, truly
speaking, the state in which we are. From this kind of bondage, which is of such a
difficult make-up, we have to free ourselves, step by step. This is the aim of yoga. From
ignorance and its offshoots we have to gain freedom, and simultaneously gain mastery
over our own self.
Bondage is not only dependence on the non-atman but also forgetfulness of the nature
of the atman, at the same time. The consciousness of the object necessitates a
forgetfulness of the subject in some proportion. As a matter of fact, the awareness of the
existence of anything outside is due to a transference of a part of our consciousness to
the object outside. All perception is an extroverted operation of consciousness. The
awareness of an object, the knowledge that we have of things outside, is a form of the
operation of our consciousness within in terms of what is outside. We are aware of the
existence of a world on account of our being in a state of motion towards the conditions
of externality. This is why human life is to be regarded as a state of becoming, rather
than being. Life is considered as a process of transiency by masters like the Buddha.
They never considered the world as ultimately existent. Nothing in the world is.
Everything passes. Everything moves. Even our awareness of the existence of the world
is a process, a transitory condition of the activities of the mind, due to which we are said
to be living in perpetual anityata, perishability, changefulness and an urge towards
something beyond at every stage in which we are. There is a perpetual asking for the
more in us. We ask for more and more, endlessly, - we do not reach an end of it. One of
the philosophers of the West, William James, called this process the philosophy of the
more. The whole life of man is nothing but an asking for the more. Whatever is supplied
to you is inadequate for your purpose. If you become the ruler of the earth, you would
like to become the ruler of the sky, and so on. This is because there is a tendency in us to
move beyond the limited self, to overstep the boundary of the body and mind, to break
through all bondage and to reach that which we seem to have lost, and of which we have
at present no knowledge whatsoever. Our bondage is of such a nature that we do not
know what type of bondage it is. It is like a sick man not knowing what ailment he is
suffering from. Bondage becomes real when its nature is not known. A real thief is one
who is never caught at any time. A thief who is caught is not a good thief! Likewise,
when you know what sort of bondage you are in, you are not in bondage. You have
already overcome it to some extent. But we are in it right up to our necks. We are not
only in it, but are also deprived of the knowledge of what has happened to us. This is
samsara in its quintessence.
The difficulty of the practice of yoga, the way of the Spirit, lies in this central enigma of
our not having any knowledge of what has befallen us, where we stand actually at this
present moment, and what is required of us for our true freedom. There are several
The Secret of the Katha Upanishad by Swami Krishnananda
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layers of our bondage. The bondage is not only external, but also internal. It is woven
into our texture like a carpet that is knit with various layers of thread. It is wide, and
also thick. If you remove one layer, you will find another layer underneath it. There is an
organic complication, as it were, in the bondage which is part of us. The practice of yoga
is, thus, not a straight movement towards a given point or a target in front of us. It is a
winding process, sometimes a circular motion, with forward and backward steps
occasionally, with ascents and descents. It is like entry into the Chakravyuha, the
impregnable fortress described in the Mahabharata. One does not know how to enter it,
and if anyone enters it, he does not know how to come out of it. Such is the difficulty
involved in the practice of the path of the Spirit, the way of the atman.
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