The Psychopath And The Sage At Kurukshetra
Then Delhi's feisty chief minister recently referred to Prime Minister Narendra i as a psychopath, even those who ire the combative Muffler man ht have wished that for once he'd m his signature woollen scarf a little er, so that it covered his mouth and das a gag to impolitic expression. However, it could be argued that, far denigratinghim, Kejri could in have been bestowing the highest loaded on NaMo by likening him to supreme Krishna bhakt, Arjuna, on pattlefield of Kurukshetra. As the ravas and Pandavas faced each er in anticipation of Armageddon, Krishna enjoin the vacillating ina to become a psychopath? The clinical definition of a chopath isa person who is incapable reeling empathy: An individual who capable of seeing things from ther person's point of view, indeed is incapable of seeing the other person as a person at all. When Arjuna showed reluctance to wage murderous war against the Kauravas who were his kinfolk, Krishna urged him to rise above the emotions of pity and remorse. In the words of the Nike slogan, Arjuna should 'Just do it', with total detachment and with no thought to the fruits of his actions. He should rise above all feeling, including that of empathy. Whoa! Is the Bhagwad Gita preaching psychosis? Is it, in effect, telling us that we should all become bloodthirsty psychos, like Hitler, and Stalin, who slaughtered millions without a qualm? Absolutely to the contrary. Hitler and Stalin, to name only two of history's most famous psychopaths, acted in exactly the opposite way of what Krishna was advising Arjuna, the peerless warrior. to do. Far from acting with passionless detachment, tyrants and megalomaniacs like Hitler and Stalin were driven by the negative emotions and the atrocities that they inflicted on humanity were perpetrated to further swell their already monstrous egos. This is the diametric opposite of what Krishna helps Arjuna to obtain: The total extinguishing of one's illusory ego, and all the baggage of hopes and fears, anger and grief that it is doomed to carry. The sensory world that the ego creates for itself is an illusion, and all that pertains to it is illusory including death, says Krishna. In the words of Emerson's poem: "If the red slayer thinks he slays,/Or if the slain think he is slain,/They know not well the subtle ways/ikeep and pass, and turn again." Krishna would have Arjuna, and us, believe that the relinquishing of the ego -and of the emotions that constitute and bind it, including the emotion of pity and empathy-is the first steр towards spiritual evolution, the first step towards becoming a sage. On the opposite end of the spiritualscale to the sage is the terrorist, whoseactions are motivated by insensate hate and the pathological compulsion to inspire fear in others. The sage is ego-less; the terrorist is all-Ego, and nothing but Ego in its most perverse and perverted form. The terrorist and the tyrant are truepsychopaths, moored and mired inthepathology of their psychosis. The sageis the spiritual sojourner who goes beyondempathy to a realm where neither psyche nor pathology exists. So, by calling him a psycho, was Kejri implying that Modi was a fledgling Arjuna,a sage-in-progress?Maybe he was. And maybe the other is.Why not give both guys the benefit of the doubt?
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Jug Suraiya kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Jug Suraiya Speaking Tree, Times of India
The Psychopath And The Sage At Kurukshetra
Then Delhi's feisty chief minister recently referred to Prime Minister Narendra i as a psychopath, even those who ire the combative Muffler man ht have wished that for once he'd m his signature woollen scarf a little er, so that it covered his mouth and das a gag to impolitic expression. However, it could be argued that, far denigratinghim, Kejri could in have been bestowing the highest loaded on NaMo by likening him to supreme Krishna bhakt, Arjuna, on pattlefield of Kurukshetra. As the ravas and Pandavas faced each er in anticipation of Armageddon, Krishna enjoin the vacillating ina to become a psychopath? The clinical definition of a chopath isa person who is incapable reeling empathy: An individual who capable of seeing things from ther person's point of view, indeed is incapable of seeing the other person as a person at all. When Arjuna showed reluctance to wage murderous war against the Kauravas who were his kinfolk, Krishna urged him to rise above the emotions of pity and remorse. In the words of the Nike slogan, Arjuna should 'Just do it', with total detachment and with no thought to the fruits of his actions. He should rise above all feeling, including that of empathy. Whoa! Is the Bhagwad Gita preaching psychosis? Is it, in effect, telling us that we should all become bloodthirsty psychos, like Hitler, and Stalin, who slaughtered millions without a qualm? Absolutely to the contrary. Hitler and Stalin, to name only two of history's most famous psychopaths, acted in exactly the opposite way of what Krishna was advising Arjuna, the peerless warrior. to do. Far from acting with passionless detachment, tyrants and megalomaniacs like Hitler and Stalin were driven by the negative emotions and the atrocities that they inflicted on humanity were perpetrated to further swell their already monstrous egos. This is the diametric opposite of what Krishna helps Arjuna to obtain: The total extinguishing of one's illusory ego, and all the baggage of hopes and fears, anger and grief that it is doomed to carry. The sensory world that the ego creates for itself is an illusion, and all that pertains to it is illusory including death, says Krishna. In the words of Emerson's poem: "If the red slayer thinks he slays,/Or if the slain think he is slain,/They know not well the subtle ways/ikeep and pass, and turn again." Krishna would have Arjuna, and us, believe that the relinquishing of the ego -and of the emotions that constitute and bind it, including the emotion of pity and empathy-is the first steр towards spiritual evolution, the first step towards becoming a sage. On the opposite end of the spiritualscale to the sage is the terrorist, whoseactions are motivated by insensate hate and the pathological compulsion to inspire fear in others. The sage is ego-less; the terrorist is all-Ego, and nothing but Ego in its most perverse and perverted form. The terrorist and the tyrant are truepsychopaths, moored and mired inthepathology of their psychosis. The sageis the spiritual sojourner who goes beyondempathy to a realm where neither psyche nor pathology exists. So, by calling him a psycho, was Kejri implying that Modi was a fledgling Arjuna,a sage-in-progress?Maybe he was. And maybe the other is.Why not give both guys the benefit of the doubt?
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Jug Suraiya kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Jug Suraiya Speaking Tree, Times of India