The Voidness : शून्यता

Reading about Voidness and its importance in life :

In psychology ,Voidness is described as the period of time, during which we are involved in an overt or covert compulsive act. Due to our limited awareness from being withdrawn from our surroundings...there is a gap in memory..or pocket of time where our awareness is limited. (e.g. - We may be trapped in a mental compulsion while someone is talking to us and not remember much of what they had said by the time we are done). Conversely, this term has also been used to describe the period of time one use to spend in obsessive-compulsive behavior. There is an increasing lack of tension in the gap of one’s thoughts as the occurrence of their symptoms begin to decrease

Śūnyatā : शून्यता signifies that everything one encounters in life is empty of absolute identity, permanence, or an in-dwelling 'self'. This is because everything is inter-related and mutually dependent - never wholly self-sufficient or independent. All things are in a state of constant flux where energy and information are forever flowing throughout the natural world giving rise to and themselves undergoing major transformations with the passage of time.



Anātman :अनात्मन् refers to the notion of "not-self". In the early texts, the Buddha commonly uses the word in the context of teaching that all things perceived by the senses (including the mental sense) are not really "I" or "mine", and for this reason one should not cling to them.

The monk Ananda, the attendant to Gautama Buddha asked, "It is said that the world is empty, the world is empty, lord. In what respect is it said that the world is empty?" The Buddha replied, "Insofar as it is empty of a self or of anything pertaining to a self: Thus it is said, Ananda, that the world is empty." He goes on to explain that what is meant by "the world" is the six sense media and their objects, and elsewhere says that to theorize about something beyond this realm of experience would put one to grief.

The fundamental reason for suffering is human beings' ignorance (Pāli: avijjā; Sanskrit: avidyā) – our inability to perceive how things really are. We regard "what is impermanent as permanent, what is suffering as pleasure, and what is not-self [Pāli: anattā; Sanskrit: anātman] as self."


यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत ।
अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ॥४-७॥
परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् ।
धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे ॥४-८॥

yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham

Transliteration:

"Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time I descend Myself."



असतो मा सद्गमय
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय
मृत्योर् मा अमृतं गमय
ॐ शांति शांति शांति
Asato maa sadgamaya
Tamaso maa jyotirgamaya
Mṛtyor maa amṛtan gamaya
Aum shaanti shaanti shaanti


“Oh Almighty! Lead us from the unreal (falsity)
to the real (truth) from darkness to light!
From death to immortality!
Oh Almighty! May there be Peace! Peace! Peace!”



Sorry on this serious Note , it reminded me of a funny story on तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय part.

एक सज्जन ने एक घटना सुनायी थी... !!!

एक माँ ने अपने पुत्र से, जो कि कक्षा 10 का छात्र था, एक प्रश्न किया -
"तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय... संस्कृत के इस सद् वाक्य का अर्थ बता सकते हो।"

रात का समय था, संयोग से बिजली भी चली गयी और अंधेरा छा गया।

पुत्र बोला - "हाँ, क्यों नहीं माँ, बहुत आसान है, इसका अर्थ है कि -
माँ, तुम सो जाओ, (तमसो मा) बिजली चली गयी है (ज्योतिर्गमय) "

माता ने झल्ला कर कहा, "तुझे कुछ नहीँ मालूम, कल ठीक से पढ़ कर बताना"

अगले दिन दोपहर का समय था -

माँ - "क्यों बेटा, अब पढ़ लिया, अब तो बताओ कि तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय का क्या अर्थ है"

पुत्र - "हाँ, कल कुछ ग़लती हो गयी थी, इसका अर्थ है -

माँ, तुम सो जाओ (तमसो मा), मैं ज्योति के साथ जा रहा हूँ (ज्योतिर्गमय) "

इस घटना मैंने अपने एक मित्र को भी बताया, अभी उसके वास्तविक अर्थ पर बात नहीं हुयी थी। वहाँ पर उन मित्र का पुत्र भी मौजूद था, जब उससे भी यह प्रश्न किया गया, तो वह तपाक से बोला -

"इस स्लोगन को कहीँ देखा है, - हो न हो, यह भैया के स्कूल का ही स्लोगन है!"

अब देखते हैं कि देश के अन्य भावी कर्णधारों का क्या मत है इस विषय पर।




Jai Hind,
Aditya Dogra