________________
140
M. V. Baxi
Sharma of course recognizes this problem (PY. p.38) but he goes on to say that Yoga denies that human destiny can be derived from family dynamics, social dynamics or even psychodynamics. Sharma talks of destiny beyond death i.e. freedom from the stress of becoming. Yoga is more concerned with such an experience of being. Now such an otherworldly orientation would hardly inspire ordinary men and women to undertako yogic sādhană. If Yoga is to be employed for the welfare of all men, then destiny before death is more important than destiny beyond death, but according to Sharma we must move from the stage of wanting to the experience of non-wanting. It would however be more important if as Maslow has shown, man wants to actualize his higher needs. We do not advocate hedonism or excessive satisfaction and preoccupation with material goods, but even Yoga should lead to the satisfaction of higher needs.
In recent philosophical literature in this problem area, many varieties of freedom are distinguished e.g. (1) Freedom to act with a different degree of effort or attention (2) Freedom to act with different knowledge or ability and (3) Freedom to act with different reasons or values. Similarly freedom from coercion and freedom of the will have also been distinguished (PPR, Vol XLI, No. 4,1981, p.520). The concept of freedom has been analysed with reference to the problem whether John could have given up smoking if he had so willed, whether the motorist who ran red light colliding with an incoming automobile could have attended more carefully to his driving and so on, Freedom thus is discussed with reference to ordinary human actions and such analysis of routine human actions in relation to the concept of freedom makes it clear that even philosophical analyses of human freedom need not necessarily be undertaken in the context of ultimate metaphysical freedom. Sharma, at times, refers to such kinds freedom, e.g. freedom as an actualization of potentiality is accepted by Sharma but this idea again has nothing to do with the concept of moksa,
Sharma moves from Yoga to Psychoanalysis and vice-a-versa with an ease which is commendable but occasionally confusing. For example he admits that freedom has a metaphysical dimension in Yoga because of the Sâmkbya concept of identification of Purusa and Prakrti (PY, p. 55). In the very next paragraph he notes that happily, identification, involvement etc. are in common use in current psychological literature. He then goes on to discuss identification in the life of a neonate and other psychoanalytic details. We are left wondering whether Sāmkhya concept of identification is anywhere near the psychoanalytic corcept of identification. Sharma rightly clarifies that freedom is freedom from the bondage of Prakrti. A Yogi leaves Nature behind. (PY. p.69) But if so, then a Freudian
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
