Hansadutta at Santa Rosa Junior College (Part 6/10)
Guest speaker to Professor Carla Grady’s Asian Philosophy Class
September 27, 2010
Vedic culture was concerned… and I wanted to address this at the beginning… we say “East and West”. We think in terms of Eastern philosophy, Western philosophy, but actually there’s no East and West. This is not East and West. This is everywhere. People in the East are also old, diseased and dying. They may have less material amenities in terms of eating, sleeping, defending, mating, but they will all come to the same, undergo the same tribulations. It’s not that because one man is very wealthy therefore his disease is not painful. No, it’s painful. Or that he doesn’t mind dying, because “Oh, I have so much money.” No. Everyone at all times, all places and under all circumstances wants to live. Even an ant. If I try to kill it, it will scramble away. Why? Because spiritually, we are not subject to death. What is subject to death is this body, which we have accepted and which we identify with thoroughly. If someone just pulls one of your hairs, you’ll respond, “Hey, what do you think you’re doing?” Right? Because we are so thoroughly absorbed in the identity of our material body that we can’t tolerate an insult or a pinch or any kind of affront. But when the body is dead, you can kick on it, and it won’t bother him. Why is that? Because the person, the resident who was present, has gone. Like when they tow your car to the wrecking yard. You don’t care. They take the headlights off, the door panels off. You don’t care. Why? Because you are no longer in possession of the car.
