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8. Schopenhauer
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The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) took some of his ideas from the Indian Vedic literature but many more from Buddhist writings, and he ended up espousing an atheistic and pessimistic doctrine. Ś rī la Prabhupā da shows how his idea of nirvā ṇ a, extinguishing one's will, is self-defeating and ultimately impossible to achieve.
Disciple: For Schopenhauer, happiness meant inactive satisfaction - nirvā ṇ a. Since he thought that the will to enjoy the material world is the irrational urge that brings about all suffering, he advocated the extinction of the will. In his main book, The World as Will and Idea, he wrote, " The Indian Vedas and Purā ṇ as have no better simile than a dream for the actual (material) world, which they call " the web of mā yā, " and they use none more frequently. " From this Schopenhauer concluded, " Life is a long dream.... What is this world of perception but my idea? " He goes on to conclude that life is a projection of the will.
Ś rī la Prabhupā da: Yes, material life is a projection of the material will, or material desire. And nirvā ṇ a means that material desires are finished. But the living entity cannot be desireless, because he is an eternal spiritual being. Thus, even when he finishes his material desires, he still has spiritual desires. In the materially conditioned state, these spiritual desires are covered by material desires, but in any case desire is the constant companion of the soul, or living entity.
The soul transmigrates in this material world from one body to another, and he creates desires according to the type of body he gets. God's supreme will affords the living entity various bodies so that he can fulfill his minute will, which is made up of material desires. In other words, the living entity wills something, and the supreme will (God, or Kṛ ṣ ṇ a), understanding the finite will of the living entity, gives him facilities to fulfill his particular desire. In this way, the will of the living entities is the cause of this material existence.
However, Schopenhauer was wrong in thinking that you can become happy by extinguishing your will. Since you are a living being, you must always have desires. If your desires are stopped, you become like a stone. So instead of trying to put an end to all desire, you should try to cleanse the diseased form of desire (sarvopā dhi-vinirmuktam). That cleansing process is Kṛ ṣ ṇ a consciousness (bhakti). Presently our desires are desires of the body. When the living entity acquires the body of an American, a European, a Chinaman, or whatever, he desires like a human being. When he changes his body to that of a dog, he spends his time barking. According to his desires, he has received a particular type of body. But these desires are temporary, and thus the living entity moves from one body to another. Because he is materially covered, he considers the temporary world to be reality; but because it is constantly changing, it is not. Therefore, in one sense, this material world is all a dream.
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Disciple: And trying to enjoy this dream is the source of frustration?
Ś rī la Prabhupā da: Yes, because it is a fact that we cannot fulfill our material desires, which come and go like dreams. All material activities, subtle or gross, are manifestations of various dreamlike desires. Therefore, the impersonalist Mā yā vā dī philosophers say brahma satyaṁ, jagan mithyā: " The dreamer is a fact, but the dream is false. " Our Vaiṣ ṇ ava philosophy agrees that the dreamer is the factual living entity; but we say that the dream of this material world is not false - but temporary. Therefore the dreamer has to come to the real, eternal spiritual platform so that his flickering material dreams can be extinguished. As explained in the Nā rada Pañ carā tra,
sarvopā dhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam
hṛ ṣ ī keṇ a hṛ ṣ ī keś a-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate
" Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects: he becomes free from all false material designations, and his senses become purified. " When one abandons the dream and awakens to reality, that is Kṛ ṣ ṇ a consciousness, or bhakti.
Disciple: Then will, or desire, can never be annihilated?
Ś rī la Prabhupā da: No, not even for a second. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gī tā (3. 5) that we cannot live for a second without desires. Because we are living, we must will and desire.
Disciple: What about the Buddhists? They advocate a state of desirelessness.
Ś rī la Prabhupā da: They believe that if you dismantle this material body, there will no longer be will, desire, or suffering. But this is not a fact. The fact is that you are an eternal spirit soul; you do not die after the destruction of the body. Consequently, thinking, feeling, and willing are actually carried from this body to another body in the process of transmigration. When the body dies, the living entity's will carries him away, and according to the quality of his will, he receives another body. That body may be the body of a demigod, a dog, a human, or whatever. In any case, will or desire is the carrier.
Disciple: Schopenhauer was greatly influenced by some of the Vedic writings. He wrote, " Every keen pleasure is an error and an illusion, for no attained wish can give lasting satisfaction.... All pain rests on the absence or passing away of such illusory pleasure. Thus both pain and pleasure arise from defective knowledge. The wise man, therefore, holds himself equally aloof from joy and sorrow, and no event disturbs his composure. "
Ś rī la Prabhupā da: In this material world people say, " This is good, and that is bad. " But actually there is no question of good and bad, because everything material is on the temporary platform. Also, the Bhagavad-gī tā states that the pains and pleasures experienced in the material world do not touch the spirit soul. When a spirit soul is under the illusion that he is his material body, he becomes concerned with the body's pains and pleasures - because he thinks that those pains and pleasures are his. But this is not a fact. Therefore Kṛ ṣ ṇ a a advises,
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mā trā -sparś ā s tu kaunteya ś ī toṣ ṇ a-sukha-duḥ kha-dā ḥ
ā gamā pā yino ‘nityā s tā ṁ s titikṣ asva bhā rata
" O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed. " (Bhagavad-gī tā 2. 14) Since pleasures and pains come and go in due course, they are not the reality. So why bother about them? If I feel pain, let me tolerate it and go about my business of serving Kṛ ṣ ṇ a.
Disciple: Schopenhauer saw happiness in the world as at best a negative state - simply a momentary suspension of suffering.
Ś rī la Prabhupā da: Yes, that is explained by Caitanya Mahā prabhu. Sometimes when a man is to be punished, he is held under water to the point of suffocation. Then he is let up, and when he can finally breathe, he thinks, " Ah! Happiness at last! " But he is then immersed in the water for another period of suffering. So the point is that real happiness means to be relieved of suffering permanently, not for just a few moments.
Disciple: Schopenhauer felt that the greatest crime of man was that he was ever born.
Ś rī la Prabhupā da: That's all right, but when you understand that there is a crime, you must understand that there is someone to punish you for that crime. If you suffer because of that crime, you must understand that there is someone who has judged you to be a criminal.
Disciple: Schopenhauer would disagree. He wrote, " Human life must be some kind of mistake. " And because he thought the world mad or irrational, he concluded that it could not possibly have an author. He believed that if there were a God, He would have set the world in order.
Ś rī la Prabhupā da: We have certainly experienced that there are madmen in the world, but there are also hospitals where such men can be treated. The world may be mad, but God is providing hospitalization and treatment - the process of Kṛ ṣ ṇ a consciousness. Unfortunately, Schopenhauer had no knowledge of the hospital or the treatment. He speaks of sinful life, but he does not accept the judge who gives the punishment for sinful life. He sees that the world is mad, but he does not know the treatment for madmen.
Disciple: In The World as Will and Idea, Schopenhauer wrote, “If we narrowly analyze the reality of our body and its actions... we find nothing in it except the will; with this the body's reality is exhausted. ” He goes on to state that " the genitals are the focus of the will. "
Ś rī la Prabhupā da: As I said before, one wills in accordance with his body. We should understand that we have nothing to do with this material world, which is the production of the material will. We are spiritual, and when we will spiritually, we are Kṛ ṣ ṇ a conscious. When we will materially, we get different types of material bodies. It is true that the basis of material life is sex. Yan maithunā di-gṛ hamedhi-sukhaṁ hi tuccham: " The basic principle of those who are addicted to the material world is the pleasure that comes from maithuna, sexual intercourse. " The strong desire for sex will continue as long as we are in material existence, because sex is the center of all material pleasure. However, when we get a taste of spiritual pleasure - pleasure in Kṛ ṣ ṇ a consciousness - we can give up sex. Paraṁ dṛ ṣ ṭ vā nivartate: by experiencing a superior pleasure, we can give up an inferior one.
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Disciple: Schopenhauer considered sex to be selfishness, whereas real love means sympathy.
Ś rī la Prabhupā da: Sex is animalistic. It is not love but lust. Sex simply means the mutual satisfaction of the material senses, and that is lust. All this lust is taking place under the name of love, and out of illusion people mistake this lust for love. One who has real love - love for Kṛ ṣ ṇ a and for all living entities - thinks, " People are suffering from a lack of Kṛ ṣ ṇ a consciousness. Let me do something for them so that they can understand the value of life. "
Disciple: Schopenhauer considered that immoral acts result from a sense of egoism.
Ś rī la Prabhupā da: Yes, that is so. To be immoral means to avoid surrendering to the will of Kṛ ṣ ṇ a. Immoral people think, " Why should I surrender to Kṛ ṣ ṇ a? Kṛ ṣ ṇ a is a person, and I also am a person. " Such thinking is demonic. Rascals cannot understand that by surrendering unto the supreme will and satisfying the supreme will, they can attain salvation.
Disciple: Schopenhauer felt that it is possible to crush egoism and desire by love.
Ś rī la Prabhupā da: Yes - but we must direct that love toward Kṛ ṣ ṇ a. If I do not love Kṛ ṣ ṇ a, I cannot surrender to Him, and if I do not surrender to Kṛ ṣ ṇ a, my false egoism will continue. So the more you love Kṛ ṣ ṇ a, the more your surrender is perfect. But when there is a lack of love, the mentality by which you can surrender will not develop. For instance, if you have some love for me, you will carry out my orders. There is no question of forcing you to surrender. Or take the example of a child: a small child naturally surrenders to his parents because there is love for the parents. In the same way, the living entity is free to love Kṛ ṣ ṇ a or to reject Him. Without freedom, there cannot be love. Therefore Kṛ ṣ ṇ a consciousness means learning to love Kṛ ṣ ṇ a.
Disciple: Schopenhauer looked on love as compassionate sympathy for one who is suffering. Through this compassionate love we can lose our selfish desire.
Ś rī la Prabhupā da: Why should we love those who are suffering but not those who are enjoying?
Disciple: Schopenhauer saw everyone as suffering.
Ś rī la Prabhupā da: We agree that everyone within the material nature is suffering. Therefore Kṛ ṣ ṇ a descends and speaks the Bhagavad-gī tā to deliver all fallen souls. Similarly, a Vaiṣ ṇ ava takes sannyā sa, the renounced order, out of compassion for others - because a sannyā sī ’s only duty is to preach the message of Kṛ ṣ ṇ a consciousness. People in this world are suffering because of ignorance. They think, " Oh, now I have a nice car, an apartment, and a girlfriend; therefore I am happy. " Actually, this is not happiness but suffering. Because the Vaiṣ ṇ ava loves Kṛ ṣ ṇ a and understands that he is part and parcel of Kṛ ṣ ṇ a, he realizes that the conditioned living entities are suffering for want of Kṛ ṣ ṇ a consciousness. Therefore, out of compassion the Vaiṣ ṇ ava takes sannyā sa and goes forth to preach.
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Disciple: Schopenhauer saw the pleasures of this world as ultimately frustrating.
Ś rī la Prabhupā da: If he had taken his frustration seriously, it might have made him successful. I receive many letters from frustrated students who understand that frustration is hell. Eventually they come to understand that they should seek the real shelter - Kṛ ṣ ṇ a consciousness. So frustration is really not so bad. If you are put into a dangerous position and you know how to save yourself from it, that very danger can become a source of pleasure for you.
Disciple: In The World as Will and Idea, Schopenhauer wrote, " Eternal becoming, endless flux, characterizes the inner nature of will. Finally, the same thing shows itself in human endeavors and desires, which always delude us by presenting their satisfaction as the final end of will. As soon as we attain our desired objects, they no longer appear the same; therefore, they soon grow stale or forgotten, and we throw them aside as vanished illusions. "
Ś rī la Prabhupā da: Yes, all this is going on, and therefore the living entity acquires one body after another.
Disciple: Schopenhauer saw everyone going through a constant transition from desire to satisfaction, and from satisfaction to a new desire. For Schopenhauer, it is this flux from desire to satisfaction that characterizes the will's activities in the phenomenal world. Outside this flux, he thought, there is only nirvā ṇ a, extinction of the will.
Ś rī la Prabhupā da: That is not a fact. One has to understand that behind the will and its satisfaction is a person who is willing. Schopenhauer did not take that person into consideration; he considered only the will and its satisfaction. It is the individual soul who is willing. If the soul succeeds in stopping this flickering willing, what next? Even the stopping of the will is temporary. You may stop one kind of willing, but you will adopt another kind of willing and another kind of satisfaction. We must understand that behind the whimsical will is the spirit soul. When that spirit soul understands his real identification as the eternal servant of Kṛ ṣ ṇ a, his will is purified. One should not be satisfied by simply annihilating the whimsical will. One should understand the real will of the real person. That is the beginning of spiritual life.
It will not help simply to negate the temporary material will. One has to will in reality, and that is his eternal willing - that is Kṛ ṣ ṇ a consciousness. In the material world, the living entity directs his will toward sense satisfaction because he has forgotten the spiritual field of willing. When the same will is directed toward satisfying the senses of the Supreme - Kṛ ṣ ṇ a - that is the eternal willing of the living entity. Jī vera " svarū pa" haya - kṛ ṣ ṇ era " nitya-dā sa": " When one comes to the platform of real knowledge, he understands that he is the eternal servant of God. " When we concentrate our will on how to serve God, we attain our real position of eternality, bliss, and knowledge.
Disciple: Schopenhauer apparently believed in life after death. He wrote, " If a man fears death as his annihilation, it is just as if he were to think that the sun cries out at evening, " Woe is me! For I go down to eternal night. " "
Ś rī la Prabhupā da: Yes, because the will is eternal, death is not the stoppage of life. One simply gets another body. In the Bhagavad-gī tā Kṛ ṣ ṇ a says, tathā dehā ntara-prā ptiḥ: " When the body dies, the soul transmigrates to another body. " This is proof that the life of the person is eternal. And because the person is eternal, his desire and will are also eternal. But Schopenhauer did not know what that eternal willing is. The eternal will of every living entity is to serve Kṛ ṣ ṇ a always.
Disciple: Schopenhauer looked on Indian philosophy as a philosophy of the denial of the will...
Ś rī la Prabhupā da: But he did not study Vedic philosophy and religion perfectly. He simply had some idea of some portions of the impersonalist and Buddhistic philosophies. Evidently he did not know about Vaiṣ ṇ avism. Although he touched the Bhagavad-gī tā, he did not study it thoroughly. In the Bhagavad-gī tā Kṛ ṣ ṇ a tells Arjuna that if he simply tries to attain knowledge of God - Kṛ ṣ ṇ a - his will and his life will be purified, and he will return back to Godhead upon giving up his body. In the fourth chapter of the Bhagavad-gī tā (4. 9) Kṛ ṣ ṇ a says,
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janma karma ca me divyam evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ
tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mā m eti so ’rjuna
" One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna. "
Either Schopenhauer did not study the Bhagavad-gī tā very thoroughly, or he could not understand it for want of a real spiritual master. According to the Gī tā itself, one should go to a bona fide guru who has actually seen the truth. Schopenhauer simply speculated on the basis of his own experience, and consequently, although everything is there in the Bhagavad-gī tā, he could not see it.
Disciple: According to Schopenhauer, the man of knowledge is imperturbable in any condition. He wrote, " Such a man would regard death as a false illusion, an impudent specter which frightens the weak but has no power over him who knows that he is himself the will of which the whole world is the objectification or copy, and that therefore he is always certain of life.... "
Ś rī la Prabhupā da: This is contradictory. On the one side Schopenhauer has a desire for the certainty of life, and on the other he says that nirvā ṇ a, annihilation, is the only answer. Which does he want? He simply tried to adjust things to fit his theory. But he couldn’t understand the philosophy behind purification of the will.
Disciple: Apparently he had no other solution than the suppression of the will.
Ś rī la Prabhupā da: But that is not possible. In order to be happy, you must change the quality of your willing through purification. The purification process is bhakti - chanting and hearing the name, qualities, and pastimes of the Lord (ś ravaṇ aṁ kī rtanaṁ viṣ ṇ oḥ ). That purifies the will. Schopenhauer missed the point Although he accepted the fact that life is eternal, he thought that its purpose is nirvā ṇ a, putting an end to the will. Unfortunately, he did not know what nirvā ṇ a is. Nirvā ṇ a means putting an end to the whimsical will and coming to the platform of willing in Kṛ ṣ ṇ a consciousness.
Disciple: For Schopenhauer, there were three means of salvation - aesthetic, ethical, and religious. Through aesthetic salvation - contemplation of the Platonic ideals - we rise above passion through poetry, music, and art. Through the contemplation of these higher ideals, we reach a plane of desirelessness.
Ś rī la Prabhupā da: This is not a new idea; it is mentioned in the Bhagavad-gī tā: paraṁ dṛ ṣ ṭ vā nivartate. The students of this Kṛ ṣ ṇ a consciousness movement have abandoned their abominable living habits because they have received a better life - with superior thoughts, philosophy, food, song, poetry, and art. When the mind is filled with Kṛ ṣ ṇ a consciousness, there is no chance of its engaging in the contemplation of nonsense.
Disciple: For Schopenhauer, aesthetic salvation is a temporary experience. For instance, when one looks at a beautiful painting, he transcends the lower levels of consciousness and for a few moments becomes " will-less, " or desireless.
Ś rī la Prabhupā da: Yes, we agree that this may be the case, but we wish to remain in that higher consciousness continuously - not momentarily. This is possible if we practice. By practice a child learns to read and write, and thus he becomes educated. It is not a momentary thing. If we practice Kṛ ṣ ṇ a consciousness daily, lower consciousness will automatically vanish. For instance, we worship the Deities in the temple - that is actual aesthetic salvation. But unless you apply the aesthetic sense with reverence and respect, you cannot derive benefit from worshiping the Deities.
Disciple: According to Schopenhauer, you achieve ethical salvation by attempting to satisfy your will. When you satisfy your will, no new desires can arise, and you experience happiness.
Ś rī la Prabhupā da: Apart from the individual will, there is the supreme will. If we satisfy the supreme will, we are happy. But we cannot know the supreme will directly, and therefore we must approach a spiritual master. Our philosophy is that by satisfying the spiritual master, the representative of God, we satisfy the supreme will (yasya prasā dā d bhagavat-prasā daḥ ).
Disciple: For Schopenhauer, the third and most effective type of salvation is religious salvation. He felt that by denying the will through asceticism, you can attain the state of nirvā ṇ a, nothingness.
Ś rī la Prabhupā da: But Schopenhauer did not know that since the soul is eternal, willing is also eternal - although the will may be suppressed for some time. For instance, after death, when a living entity enters a mother's womb, he spends nine months developing his next body, and there is a temporary suspension of the will. But when he emerges from his mother's womb, he resumes the willing process. Death simply means a suspension of the will for a few months - that's all. If you fail to train your willing process properly you have to suffer, life after life, but if you train your will properly - to serve Kṛ ṣ ṇ a's supreme will - you can go to Kṛ ṣ ṇ a's supreme planet immediately after death.
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