The Lower Nature of Prakriti - Assignment Example

Philosophy Q1. The terms ‘purusha’ and ‘Prakriti’ are two distinct elements of the manifest Brahman referred to as Iswara. They engage, regulate, guide, and enact the universal process. Prakriti implies that which offers shapes meaning pure energy or the universe. On the other hand, purusha implies the eastern dawns, which implies the evident Brahman, or the creative and reasonable consciousness that guides the creativity process. Prakriti function at two points. The lower nature of Prakriti includes the eight-fold nature, which consists of fire, air, earth, reason, water, the ego, and the mind. The higher nature of Prakriti includes things that are regarded as life force which hold all living things on earth. Therefore, it stresses that all the living things emerges from prakriti’s two fold levels. All living things melts in a universal Prakriti at the end of their lives while at the start of creation, God breathes new life in them and they live again. The Purusha on the other hand, is responsible for creating all living or existing communities and the entire creation both in motion and stagnant. The Prakriti represents the mind and the body with all their components while Purusha represents the inside witness ego or spirit which is the clean conscience that lives beyond human mind and senses (Giles 82). Further, it is significant to note that the purusha represents the collective cosmic male whose endurance leads in the evidence of world and life. By enduring the hardships and pains, it forms the basis for one to liberate or free himself from evils of this world. The idea of purusha is well entrenched in the Vedas specifically the purushasukta which explains how the world’s were formed and how beings were given power to live in accordance to natural laws. Further, it illustrates that the social order of the worlds was build from the purusha. The purusha exists in two types; the perishable and the imperishable. In this case, the body is perceived as perishable while the soul is seen as the imperishable. An important note is that the Supreme Being does not comprise any of these features because he is beyond Prakriti. The supreme being posses the highest qualities and is above the inner self, sustains and protects the world he created by guiding them in right path. The Prakriti takes care of the dual sense and illusion of living things. Therefore, all major transformations occur because of Prakriti. Via the connection with the ‘gunas’ it binds the inner soul to the sense of objects and hence leads to birth of good and bad womb. In its activities, the purusha is regarded as the reason for pleasure and suffering while the Prakriti is perceived as the cause. Bhagavad-Gita shows the devotion of human beings to God, which is the origin of spiritual knowledge. The main reason of the Bhagavad-Gita is to describe to the human beings the recognition and comprehension of the actual nature of divinity. Human beings have to attain higher spiritual conception in order to achieve the love of God (Giles 90). Q2. The doctrine of conditioned genesis argues that in a man there is nothing like existence of an absolute, everlasting, and permanent entity, which is untouchable and unchanging aspect behind the transforming phenomenon of the universe (Giles 79). It disputes the idea that every person has a distinct and separate soul and mind, which God created, and which after death or demise exist forever or eternally in either heaven or hell. It holds that the destiny of the human soul relies on the judgment and decision made by the creator who is the supreme beings. According to the philosophy of the conditioned genesis, the question of existence is conditioned, interdependent, and relative. It questions the possibility of a will to be free. It states that like other thought, human will is already conditioned. Therefore, freedom does not qualify to be free in the mental, physical and the general world because everything in the world is relative and conditioned. If free will means a will autonomous, autonomous of the cause and effect such a thing as a free will does not live or exist. It questions the possibility of the will to exist in absence of conditions when the actual life of a human being is relative and conditioned. In this argument, the concept of free will is associated with the concepts of the Supreme Being, justice, punishment, reward and soul. Thus, it is irrational to qualify the idea of free will as free since the whole notion of free will is not free from conditions. The conditioned genesis holds the argument that the notion of immortal, the ego, the self and the soul is perceived as a false belief because this is the Buddha dogma of anatta is based on the premise that ‘no-self or no-soul’ (Giles 44). For human beings to avoid confusion, they need to understand that in life there are two types of truths, ultimate and conventional truths. When a person applies expressions such as ‘you’ ‘I’ he or she do not lie since the soul or self does not exist, and as such, we tend to speak a truth conforming to the tenet of the universe. The ultimate truth is that there is nothing like ‘I’ in actual sense. The conditioned genesis is important for liberation because it help people realize that in life everything is interdependent and interconnected because everything exists because the other thing exists. Therefore, anytime a person faces difficulty in life, he or she will be confident that the factor that causes it to happen will also trigger it to cease. The extended analysis of the twelve aspects assists human beings to understand the cosmic laws and the universe in the way they function. This is significant because it offers us direction and guidance in that if we are reasonable and wise, we will be able to avoid wrongdoing that can lead to undesirable results. Further, the twelve aspects assist us to comprehend the noble truths and practice them in our lives. Q3. Lao Tzu majorly focused on exercise of humility of leadership and called for a more restrained model to governance for either pacificist or ethical purposes. Further, he dwelled much teaching on the powers of the weak in society, which the most responsible government should care for. Lao Tzu as a libertarian argued that it was significant to minimize the purpose and functions of the government. Instead, governments should let people build their own social order, which in turn would result in economic and social harmony (Giles 59). Lao Tzu asserted that the right political power is not gained by force from the people but it is rightfully earned. The usurped power is wrong and such a State cannot survive resistance from the citizens, which results in war thus destroying the economic and social harmony. He argued that self-sacrifice for its own sake is not tolerated because it is corruption of power. Power should be available to everybody in society. Lao Tzu argued that a state should not be governed by force or in a manner whereby it is forcing issue. Instead, he advocates that a good ruler should not govern people using force, he or she should cease to use force, and due to this, he or she will be honored and respected by his or her subjects. Further, he also asserts that a good leader is the one that is treasured and loved by his people, not feared (Giles 71). A state is best run if the ruler does not hold to power because Lao Tzu believes that too much power corrupts. He calls for compassions, simplicity, and patience in governance and if a ruler holds these virtues, he will be in a position to govern without problems. In order to run a state in a good manner, a good leader should be ready and willing to give his people freedom, respect their dignity, and comprehend that they probably have more knowledge than the he does. Lao Tzu teaches that prohibitions and restrictions by the government will make people become poor because they are subjected to oppression by the government and everything becomes stagnant because of confusion. A leader should reduce the amount of force applied to the people in order to provide them with room to do their own work. Therefore, if the government ceases to engage in people’s work, then the State and the people will grow rich. The leader will show that he is not greedy, and thus, it will make his citizens naturally revert to simplicity. If the government places too much burden to the people, they become hard to govern. According to Lao Tzu, there is no better way of engaging in war because war is a calamity in that engaging in it means that one is at risk of losing his treasure. When people engage in war, the well-trained army will win. However, winning the war should not guarantee a State or a person to continue with the acts of violence. Therefore, the best way a person can engage in war is to wait for the one who takes the initiative to start and attack, then you should act in defensive manner. Work Cited Giles, Herbert (Translator). Tao - The Way - Special Edition: The Sayings of Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu and Lieh Tzu. New York: El Paso Norte Press, 2011. Print. Read More