To be, or not to be ............

[Guest guest]

Thank you for this lucid explanation and interpretation of Hamlet's

soliloquy from the *immortal* Poet Shakespeare's works !

 

Over the years , i have read many interpretations of this soliloquy -

specially in terms of Christian theology - so an 'advaitic'

interpretation is a welcome relief.

 

Ananda-ji ! Is there a not a 'Hamlet'in everyone of us ? At many

times in my own life , i have been plagued by thoughts of 'suicide'

( atma-hatya) when i had no control over many circumstances in my

life that caused me pain, sorrow, gulit , remorse etc etc - ... the

whole nine yards !What saved me From taking my own life was my

infinite 'love ' for my children and i thought what will happen to

my kids if i leave them as orphans in this BRUTAL world ? So it was

not so much what will happen to me once i end my life 'artficially'

for as a hindu i believe in reincarnation and 'sanchita'

and 'agami' and prarabda' karmas! i knew 'suicide' is considered

a 'sin' in Hindu religion ! also, in its wake it leaves

many 'tortured' souls behind ! the living suffer for the action of

the one who committed 'suicide' .

 

i also know that 'atma' never dies - it is only the 'body' that

perishes.

 

Chapter 2, Text 20, Srimad Bhagvat gita :

 

na jayate mriyate va kadacin

 

nayam bhutva bhavita va na bhuyah

 

ajo nityah sasvato 'yam purano

 

na hanyate hanyamane sarire

 

For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been,

does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing,

undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.

 

Everyday all of us like 'Hamlet ' are tortured by these

thoughts of 'duality' or what psychologists would interpret

as 'delusional ' thinking ! 'To be oe not to be ' - in one phrase ,

Our favorite poet , has CAPTURED the perennial philosophy of Life -

yes! Life's choices - should we stay in this material world and face

all challenges courageously without losing hope or should we cop out

and abandon everything and take to 'Sanyasa' ? ( SANYASA IS NOT FOR

THE WEAK AND THGE COWARDLY) Here i would like to to rephrase 'to be

or not to be' in terms of Ramana Bhagwan's philosophy :

 

Do not meditate - be!

Do not think that you are - be!

Don't think about being - you are!

 

(Thanx Peter-ji)

 

Ananda-ji, this is exactly what i was looking for - Thanx for

providing it .

 

"But what is done from mind's confusion vacillates uncertainly,

between the sanity of unmixed truth and the insanity of mind's

confused duality. In this passage, Hamlet's mind is shown caught up

in the insanity, with "resolution ... sicklied o'er with the pale

cast of thought" that makes "enterprises of great pith and moment

... lose the name of action".

 

 

At one time or the other , we all suffer from this type of

temporary 'insanity ' when we are tortured by such emotions which

makes us contemplate 'suicide' as a way out but 'suicide' is never

a 'solution'!

 

Fellow Advaitins , would you not agree that Shakespeare has penned

many such gems in his plays that is not only great poetry but also

great philosophical truths ? How can we even call Shakespeare

a 'fool' ? He is a Genius !

 

As Ben Johnson in praise of Shakespeare says

 

" Thou art alive still while thy book doth live,

And we have wits to read and praise to give.["

 

Dear ones! Maa Saraswati lives on the tongues of Poets like

Shakespeare , in the paint brushes of Painters like Picasso, in the

logic and wisdom of philosophers like Socrates , in the music of

pianists like Beethoven, in the minds of scientists like Einstein

and finally in the hearts of Saints like Adi Shankara! She is the

inner 'self' of us all!

 

thank you once again, Ananda-ji

 

I LEAVE YOU WITH THIS LINE FROM 'MACBETH'

 

IS THIS A 'DAGGER' THAT I SEE BEFORE ME ?

 

YES ! dO NOT USE THE DAGGER TO TAKE YOUR OWN LIFE OR SOMEBODY ELSE'S

LIFE - INSTEAD LOOK AT THE DAGGER AS A WEAPON OF DISCRIMINATION AND

CUT ASUNDER THE KNOTS OF IGNORANCE OR AGYANA!

 

with warmest regards

 

 

 

advaitin, Ananda Wood <awood wrote:

>

> Namaste,

>

> A list member has asked me to post an advaita interpretation of

> Hamlet's soliloquy which starts:

>

> To be, or not to be - that is the question:

> Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

> The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune

> Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,

> And by opposing end them....

>

>