Nirvana or Selfishness?

At a common friend’s wedding, a friend and I had an interesting discussion on nirvana. The discussion started from the idea of how does one go about becoming inside-out. Prompt came the answer from him, that one should not take external factors into consideration. One should act because one wants to and not because it has been forced on someone. I have known him for a decade or so now, and I think he really practices what he preaches. The problem with that reasoning is that sometimes an individual is not just responsible for himself, but has other obligations (family, job, friends, etc). This binding to the society ties us to worldly problems.

For this reason, when an individual seeks to move towards nirvana, he first needs to take the consent of his family. This consent gives that person a freedom to be inside-out. That act cuts off his liabilities, and he can then transcend to a truly enlightened individual. A person who chooses to do so without the consent of his family and dependents, is merely a selfish person who chooses to ignore them.

6 thoughts on “Nirvana or Selfishness?”

    1. its a thoughtpiece in the very least. i am saying in the path to nirvana, one needs to release all ties to the world, otherwise its a path of the selfish.

  1. Ideally, the person shouldn’t be forced… what if the family refuses? The person gives up his inner needs?

    Infact, if we look at Mahabharata, the greatest epic of all time, after Krsna has reasoned out the need for war, Nishkaam Karma, etc… he gives Arjuna a choice… he is free to walk away from the battlefield..

    So, when “Saakshaat Prabhu” can give one a chance to follow one’s own calling… who are we to stop him? :)

    1. “Saakshaat Prabhu” was a wily one who used words for changing the course of history, but let that be a fodder for another post :)

      Heres an example, Sant Dnyaneshwar’s father wanted to be a sanyasi, he just ran away from his family and became one. When his guru came to know of this, he sent him back, refusing to accept him as a disciple. By all means follow one’s own calling, but do not use it as an excuse to shirk your responsibility.

      1. Ofcourse, shirking one’s responsibility is wrong… Infact, Indians are often enamoured by the idea of “sacrifice”/”renunciation” and one needs to keep an eye on such tendencies. Still, if one truly believes that such a way of life is what he/she wants… then “ideally” he should be given a free hand…

        I will wait for your post on Saakshaat Prabhu :)

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