In the conclusion of The Bhagavad-Gita, the lord Krishna asks if the warrior-prince, Arjuna, after their long discussion, has destroyed his delusion, to which Arjuna replies, “Krishna, my delusion is destroyed, and by your grace I have regained memory, I stand here, my doubt dispelled, ready to act on your words” (Ch, 18, 73). Delusion and memory are two sides of the same coin, and a trait belonging to memory may find its opposite in delusion: desire for the fruits of action and discipline, ignorance and knowledge. Of the triad of nature’s qualities, passion and dark inertia lead to delusion, whereas lucidity leads to memory. However, the aspect of which the regaining of memory is most important is the complete devotion to Krishna. Discipline …show more content…
Arjuna is warned to “Be intent on action, not on the fruits of action; avoid attraction to the fruits and attachment to inaction” (Ch. 2, 47). To refuse the fight, to refuse to take action, as Arjuna is considering seeing his family across the field of war, is to take the road of cowardice (Ch. 1, 44-46). Yet, heaven will welcome with open arms he who is fierce and dies in battle, and should he live, he will be celebrated on earth (Ch. 2, 37). Arjuna is a warrior, it is his duty to fight, and taking the road of inaction, he chooses cowardice. Even in killing his family, they don’t really die (Ch. 2, 12-13), and so there is no reason to refuse to fight, as Krishna explains. It is the nature of both Krishna and Arjuna to fight, and they have been and will continue to do so for as long as their souls remain. To take inaction, Arjuna would refuse memory and instead welcome delusion, for he would be forgetful of the nature of his soul. However, Arjuna must also refuse the temptation of the fruits of action. Even though his senses might be under control, should he still crave the fruits of action, he will become a “self-deluded hypocrite” (Ch. 3, 6). Desire for the supposed reward of taking action clouds the senses and “driven by desire,
In the Historical fiction, “The Red Badge of Courage”, written by Stephen Crane; a young man try’s to find courage in himself in the time of war. After watching your commander die in war, would you stay and fight or return home and be a coward? Enlisting Himself into war Henry, to be more than the common man to prove worthyness and bravery. With the sergeant dead will Henry lead his men to victory, or withdraw his men in war. Not being the only are faced with the decision Jim and Wilson Henry’s platoons will have the same decision.
In “Delusions of Grandeur” by Henry Louis Gates Jr., Gates discusses a big problem and mental state in black communities. He addresses the fact that the mindset of the black youth is in the gutter. In their eyes the only way to fame and fortune is by being a professional athlete. That mindset is destroying and breaking down the black community because out of every black kid trying to be a professional athlete only one out of million is making it to the professionals. Leaving a sufficient gap in black youth striving to be other professionals such as doctors, lawyers, doctors, government officials, business owners, CEOs, accountants, or bank tellers. Furthermore, it ultimately causes blacks to fill out and settle
One of the main concerns of contemporary philosophy has been the role of the memory in the life of the individual and the group, or more precisely - the lack and excess of memory. Memory is something very unreliable, because it causes the same kind of decay that invades our physical bodies, undermining the identity of every individual and every society. Even though human identity is based on historical memory, neither individuals, nor societies should be limited in categorical way by it and the importance of forgetting should not be diminished. In consideration of memory, psychoanalysis and history as disciplines may be merged to provide one with a more expansive view of this phenomenon, without reducing one to the other. Reading Freud's account of melancholia in relation to Nietzsche's account of historical illness can help enhance the understanding one derives from each individual discourse, in addition to highlighting an important theme in contemporary philosophy.
... As in the case of the warrior Nobutsura, whose life was spared after Kiyomori was given an account of Nobutsura’s meritorious reputation. Warriors would take time to justify why they are unable to save them from execution, as Yortiomo did with Munemori. Yoritomo elucidated “it is impossible for anyone born in this country to disregard imperial edict.” It is the actions of these warriors that exhibit characteristics of people who kill purely for duty.
For example, when Salva was on the plane to the United States, a waiter asked him what drink he wanted, Coca-Cola or orange juice. This reminded Salva of something which caused him to remember the flashback of when “Salva’s father had once brought a few bottles of Coca-Cola “ and when he drank it he “remembered his family passing the bottles from hand to hand...laughing with every bubble…” (Park 93) The memory of his family made him think about his future and if they would ever be out back in it. Salva always wanted to see his family throughout the journey and it was very hard for him to forget them. But he used the good memories of them to keep him motivated and change his mood or emotion about hard challenges such as the journey. As Salva thought more about his family, the more he wanted to see them. So when Salva found out about his father in the medical clinic in Sudan after Salva was transferred to Rochester, New York, he convinced his new family to bring him back to Sudan to find him. Knowing how positive and convincing Salva is, his new family made up the money and they traveled to Sudan where Salva found his father. When Salva found his father, he was the happiest he ever was and got to find out about the rest of his family. Although Salva heard some bad news, he still was very happy and glad to be reunited with his father. Therefore, Salva’s memories motivate him and allow him to do the impossible in his
Memory is a marvelous aspect of who we are as human beings. It can produce delight, warning, affection, thought, sentimentality, and feelings of commitment. When memory is invoked, we are called to attention. The past becomes present and we become present to events in the past in a way that pushes us into the future. Memory is the way past events and commitments “live” for us and continue to touch us in a very real way.
As I have been reading memoirs about memory for this class, each essay made me recall or even examine my past memory closely. However, the more minutely I tried to recall what happened in the past, the more confused I got because I could not see the clear image and believe I get lost in my own memory, which I thought, I have preserved perfectly in my brain. The loss of the details in each memory has made me a little bit sentimental, feeling like losing something important in my life. But, upon reading those essays, I came to realize that remembering correct the past is not as important as growing up within memory. However, the feelings that were acquired from the past experience tend to linger distinctly. The essay that is related to my experience
...when there is a person who tells you what to do, when to do it and how to do it you will listen out of fear, nationalism and to be respected. In today’s day and age we still have this because we still listen to each other’s opinions and what goes on in each other’s life but when it does come down to it you will not take your own life unless it is unavoidable. This may be because you are a person who has no hope to go on with your life. You may have experienced your own trauma that can’t escape your mind or maybe you live your daily life in fear of the world you live in. When you feel like there is nothing that you have to live for death seems like a better option whether we are talking about a traumatic event from almost forty years ago or a traumatic event in today’s day and age. Life does not always seem more rewarding in someone who is hurting’s eyes.
Near the beginning of the Second Essay ““Guilt,” “Bad Conscience,” and the Like” of On the Genealogy of Morals Nietzsche asserts that forgetting is absolutely necessary for “all the nobler functions and functionaries” (2.1) and even the present to be possible. Furthermore, according to Nietzsche, memory, which inhibits the above functions, is not merely an inability to forget, but an active will not to forget (2.2).
Hinduism focuses on liberation from the realm of samsara, the cycle of rebirth and death, while Confucianism focuses on the Dao, the correct way to act for society, and ren, or benevolence. Both religions have religious texts that reflect these ideals, the Bhagavad-Gita belonging to Hinduism, and the Analects belonging to Confucianism. While these two texts originate from two distinct religions, the two have some similarities and differences. Both the Bhagavad-Gita and the Analects address the proper way for one to act; however, they differ when it comes to heaven and the main concern of each text. The main concern of the Bhagavad-Gita is a personal journey, achieving moksa through devotion to Brahman, and the main concern of the Analects is a communal journey, maintaining social propriety through the five relationships.
...th intense compassion and love for the enemy and wait for the enemy to shoot him down. My contention is that war is impossible when every one follows the principle of “Love they neighbor…” and “service before self”. However, my ethical system does not propagate relinquishing one’s duty. It is possible to imagine a soldier fighting a war as a part of his duty, slaying his enemies even as he continues to love them. This was what Krishna preached in Bhagwadgita to his disciple Arjuna who was horrified at the sight of his kinsmen fighting on the enemy’s side.
But Lord Krishna says to Arjuna “If you turn from righteous warfare/your behavior will by evil/for you will have abandoned both/your duty and your honored name”, meaning that Arjuna’s cowardice will bring evil and his “honored name” will be lost and forgotten (Bhagavad Gita 1290). Arjuna is in fear of ending their lives, a plaguing uncertainty that is his fault they’ll perish away at his sword and he’ll just be as evil as the men who stole the throne away from his rightful claim. Lord Krishna is saying that it is Arjuna’s duty to fight for virtuous and moral reasons and forsaking his post to fight against the evil, and Arjuna will become what he is fighting against – evil. Arjuna’s external and internal actions are plaguing his eternal being at stake, as Lord Krishna continues with “People will speak of your disgrace…suffers a fate much worse than death”, meaning that shame will carry on in the next life he lives, forever haunted by the
The Bhagavad-Gita teaches many things, and amongst these, morality and moral law are developed for the Hindu religion. What Krishna, the primary Hindu god, declares in this somewhat epic poem to be the "basis of good in this world" (stanza 3, pg. 620 of text) is for people to take action. Action, as he goes on to state, is within the very nature of our beings to do. Krishna even states that "without action you even fail to sustain your own body" (stanza 8, pg. 620 of text). Thus, Krishna feels that action is very important and key. To take this concept as a relation to ethics, Krishna tells Arjuna, the warrior he is talking to in this poem, that "Action imprisons the world unless it is done as sacrifice; freed from attachment, Arjuna, perform action as sacrifice!" (stanza 9, pg. 620 of text). Thus, Krishna is prescribing that, in order for an action to be considered good, the good that he already declared to be the basis of all good in the world, one must detach himself from the action being performed and perform the action sacrificially. The detachment aspect is incredibly important to Krishna, for he proclaims that in "performing action with detachment, one achieves supreme good" (stanza 19, pg 620 of text). By doing this, Krishna believes that the world is preserved, for other people will follow the warrior's actions and imitate them in their own lives. A leader, such as a warrior or king, "sets the standard for the world to follow" (stanza 21, pg. 621 of text), as Krishna says and thus must take whatever action is necessary for the world to not be destroyed, to set examples of goodness and right in his own actions. By separating himself from these actions, thus becoming detached, he can achieve this. Another main reason that Krishna feels detachment is necessary is this: "You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty." (Bhagavad-Gita 2.47). Thus, so long as one does not profit from his own actions, the action itself is good. And, this is Krishna's prescription for leading a life of morality and duty is the moral law to follow in order to achieve this.
The Bhagavad Gita is perhaps the most famous, and definitely the most widely-read, ethical text of ancient India. As an episode in India's great epic, the Mahabharata, The Bhagavad Gita now ranks as one of the three principal texts that define and capture the essence of Hinduism; the other two being the Upanishads and the Brahma Sutras. Though this work contains much theology, its kernel is ethical and its teaching is set in the context of an ethical problem. The teaching of The Bhagavad Gita is summed up in the maxim "your business is with the deed and not with the result." When Arjuna, the third son of king Pandu (dynasty name: Pandavas) is about to begin a war that became inevitable once his one hundred cousins belonging to the Kaurava dynasty refused to return even a few villages to the five Pandava brothers after their return from enforced exile, he looks at his cousins, uncles and friends standing on the other side of the battlefield and wonders whether he is morally prepared and justified in killing his blood relations even though it was he, along with his brother Bhima, who had courageously prepared for this war. Arjuna is certain that he would be victorious in this war since he has Lord Krishna (one of the ten incarnations of Vishnu) on his side. He is able to visualize the scene at the end of the battle; the dead bodies of his cousins lying on the battlefield, motionless and incapable of vengeance. It is then that he looses his nerve to fight.
Hamlet is an extremely contemplative man, whether it is deciding to terminate his life or his uncle’s, Hamlet is constantly thinking. One of Hamlet’s most famous soliloquies “To be or not to be” demonstrates Hamlet’s lack of inability to decide his own fate. "The line; Who would bear the whips and scorns of time" (3.i.72) is a classic example of Hamlet weighing the pros and cons of taking his own life. Here, Hamlet is not only thinking of himself but the consequences it would have on everyone else. Hamlet is fueled by his emotions, and comes to the conclusion that if he takes his own life, no one will avenge his father’s death. Hamlet also decides that being being damned to hell for eternity is not worth it as evidenced in the line (3.i.85.) “The conscience does make cowards of us all." Hamlet wants to end the pain in his life but realizes it is much nobler to liv...