--- In [email protected], turquoiseb <no_reply@...> wrote: <snip> > Seems to me that Patanjali was the classic recluse. He > couldn't make it out in the world, so he is preaching to > others that he assumes are just like him, terrified of > ephemeral, relative experience, and afraid that these > experiences will end at some point.
Barry, one of the most prominent legends about Patanjali is that he was a *master dancer*. He's the patron saint of Hindu dancers. That simply doesn't jibe with your theory about his being a recluse terrified of ephemeral experience; it's the very antithesis of it. Nor (obviously) does it jibe with how those who have passed on that legend have perceived him. Not only could "your" Patanjali never have been a master dancer, it would never have occurred to anybody even to make up such a legend about him. "I do not know what the spirit of a philosopher could more wish to be than a good dancer. For the dance is his ideal." --Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche "It's the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance." --Bette Midler "While I dance I cannot judge, I cannot hate, I cannot separate myself from life. I can only be joyful and whole. That is why I dance." --Hans Bos > News flash for Patanjali: some of us got over the > ephemeral nature of life some time ago. We enjoy > experiences for as long as they last, and then we enjoy > the next experiences. What we DON'T do is is what he > seems to be urging people to do while claiming it's > "wise" -- focus on the negative. No, that's not what he's urging people to do. That's a shallow, overly literalistic interpretation. > Anyone -- and I think we all know who on this forum might > fall into this category :-) -- can take *any* experience > and try to focus on some negative aspect of it. "The beau- > tiful sunset won't last...boo hoo...knowing it won't last > I'm so sad...this sunset has caused me pain." Or "Loving > someone is scary because one of these days either they'll > die or I'll die and it'll be over...boo hoo...I'm so sad, > because love is such a painful experience." I'm gonna take a wild guess and assume you believe you're describing me. If so, sorry, you couldn't be more wrong. Are you beginning to get the idea that maybe you've completely missed the point of what Patanjali was saying? No, "all experience is painful" is not a way of expressing FEAR. But *denying* it is a way of expressing FEAR OF ACKNOWLEDGING PAIN. That's you, Barry.
