Guest guest Posted March 8, 2004 Report Share Posted March 8, 2004 --- Chittaranjan Naik <chittaranjan_naik wrote: >> But Kenji, I don't believe that the question "why" > leads to ahamkara. > The question "why" is the other side of avidya. > Ahamkara is not the > same as avidya, though avidya leads to ahamkara > sending out its > armies on wild conquests to build its vain empires. Namaste Chittaranji, About three years ago I was having an e-mail conversation with Swami Bodhananda on the Kena Upanishad. One of his early points was the following which I am 'pasting' from our discourse: 'Dear Ken, I think there are three ideas that the first question [keneshitam Preshitam etc.] throws up:- that the rishi is more concerned with the 'who' question than with the 'why' 'what' or 'how' question. I think the why question leads you to the ego, the what question to inert matter, the how question to mechanical processes.' As a child I was always told that the 'Why' question was the devil's question which, if 'devil' comes from 'dva' then the implied duality fits with Swamiji's comments above. Although I think that my parents' answer had more to do with disciplining a rebellious child. I have been thinking about your challenge above in order to change my own opinion but still think that Swamiji is correct. So a thought occurs: 'Can I find any use of 'Why?' in shruti?' If a chance arises I will search the texts and report back. Thanks for reply, Ken Knight New Photos - easier uploading and sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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