Bad Faith

[ancient_paztriot]

Syamasundara dasa: Being free, man is subject to what Sartre calls “bad faith,” a kind of self-deception. Through bad faith, man looses his freedom and responsibility.

 

Srila Prabhupada: You certainly have limited freedom to choose, but if you choose improperly, you have to suffer. Responsibility and freedom go hand in hand. At the same time, there must be descrimination. Without it, our freedom is blind. We cannot understand right from wrong.

 

Syamasundara dasa: A man in bad faith drifts along from day to day without being involved, avoiding responnsible decisions.

 

Srila Prabhupada: This means that he has decided to drift. His drifting is a decision.

 

Syamasundara dasa: Sartre believes that bad faith must be replaced by a solid choosing, and by faith in that choice.

 

Srila Prabhupada: But if he makes the wrong decision, what is the value of his action? Moths fly very valiantly and courageously into the fire. Is that a very good decision?

 

Syamasundara dasa: Due to bad faith, people treat others as objects instead of prersons. Sartre advocates rectifying this situation.

 

Srila Prabhupada: He speaks about bad faith, but what about good faith?

 

Syamasundara dasa: If bad faith is the avoidance of decisions, good faith would mean making decisions courageously and following them out, regardless of what these decisions might are.

 

Srila Prabhupada: But what if your decision is wrong?

 

Syamasundara dasa: For Sartre, it is not a question of right or wrong.

 

Srila Prabhupada: then whatever decision I make is final and absolute? This means that the insect’s decision to enter the fire is a proper decision. This is the philosophy of insects. If man can do as he pleases, where is his responsibility?

 

Syamasundara dasa: Sartre believes that the fate of the world depends on man’s decisions. Obviously, if man decides properly, the world would be a better place.

 

Srila Prabhupada: Therefore we are trying to introduce this Krsna consciousness in order to make the world into Vaikuntha, into a place where there is no anxiety. But this is not a blind decision. It is the decision of a higher authority; therefore it is perfect.

 

Syamasundara dasa: Many people call Sartre’s philosophy pessimistic because he maintains that man is a “useless passion” vainly striving in a universe without a purpose.

 

Srila Prabhupada: Sartre may be a useless passion, but we are not. No sane man is useless. A sane man will follow a superior authority. That is Vedic civilization. If one approaches a bona fide spiritual master, he will not be bewildered. Sartre believes that the universe is without a purpose becasue he is blind. He has no power to see that there is a plan. Therefore, according to Bhagavad-gita, his philosophy is asuric, demoniac. Everything in the universe functions according to some plan. the sun and moon rise, and the seasons change according to plan.

 

Syamasundara dasa: For Sartre, man stands alone in the world, yet he is not alone if he is a being-for-others. Man needs others for his own self-realization.

 

Srila Prabhupada: This means that man requires a guru.

 

Syamasundara dasa: Sartre does not speak of a guru but of interaction with others for self-understanding.

 

Srila Prabhupada: If this is required, why not interact with the best man? If we require others to understand ourselves, why should we not seek the best man for our own understanding? We should receive help from the man who knows. If you take the advice of one who can give you the right direction, your end will be glorious. That is the Vedic injunction.Tad vijæanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet (Mundaka-upanisad 1.2.12).

 

Syamasundara dasa: Sartre feels that in the presence of others, man is ashamed.

 

Srila Prabhupada: Man is ashamed if he is not guided by a superior. If you are guided by a superior, you will be glorious, not ashamed. Your superior is that person who can lead you to the glory of Krsna consciousness.