On Life and Liberation

Author(s): Mukesh Chhajer
Publisher: Mukesh Chhajer

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On Life and Liberation
horrifying experience can still feel the goose bumps just thinking about it as they experienced at the time of actual occurrence of the act. If the time can be equated to a straight thread in the western thought then in the Indian thought it is like a thread with curves and loops. For each jiva we can define two different time: at the physical level an external/universal time and at the mental level an internal/personal time. The internal time relates to the state of mind of the jiva and we may say that fluctuation in the state of mind of a jiva is its internal time. The more a mind is agitated and restless, the slower the jiva is evolving towards liberation. So, if the mind can be made to evolve at a rate that is different than the passage of external time, then one can evolve at a rate slower or faster than the external time. In this context, the external time can be defined as the collective fluctuations in the minds of all jivas in the universe. As long as there is even one jiva experiencing these fluctuations, the external time will exist.
In general, the 3rd and 4th aras may correspond to an external time when a critical mass of people, conditions and/or ideas come together to make liberation more probable. Even on the material level, this is true. Industrial revolution of 19th century in Europe and the recent information technology revolution are just two examples of such events. However, the following example may be more illustrative of our dilemma. Traditionally, mangoes have been available only during the months of May-June. If a thousand years ago someone in India said that mangoes are available only in the months of May-June, then before coming to any broader conclusions we have to keep in mind that it was said within certain context. First, we need to remember that it was said in the context of India where May and June are the months of summer that is harvesting season for mangoes. If we go to Australia, that is the time of winter there and we will not get a harvest of mangoes there. Second, it must
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