"As an individual desires, so is his will, as is his will, so is his action, as is his action, so is that to which he attains." So says the sage in the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad (4.4.5), dated several thousands of years ago. The sage explains further that he who is attached to the objects of desire goes at death to that upon which he is most attached, carrying with him his entire KARMIC load. It is therefore one's desires that distinguish him as an individual from another. The true SELF, which is by nature pure, an expression of pure subject without consciousness of object, thus becomes affected by desires. Against this background, this book is concerned with issues of human desire, and especially those relating to the purpose and method of assessing the validity, legitimacy, and urgency of the claims of certain desires upon the mind. This is done in recognition of the principle that self-denial or renunciation of desires at one fell swoop is universally unfeasible. It thus seeks to delineate the scope and limits of the path of desire in the quest for liberation from what in Indian spiritualism and other philosophies of the East is called samsara (worldly existence), plagued as this is by all sorts of trials and tribulations. At the same time, in the second chapter, the work addresses the modalities and workings of four YOGAS of SELF REALIZATION as a precondition for coming to terms with the concerns mentioned in the previous chapter. In doing so, it boldly acknowledges the notion of difference in abilities and aptitudes (intellectual, emotional, spiritual, etc.) as an indubitable datum in the human condition. We are obviously not all cast in the same mold. Human beings are critically different in manifold ways other than merely in their fingerprints. The hope is that the discussion will proffer justification for choosing different paths to the same destination, while rejecting any notion of inferiority or superiority as to the path that an individual feels obliged to choose.
About the Author: Professor Emeritus Bansraj Mattai, who hails from Guyana, is a long-standing student of the Classical Languages (Latin and Greek) and Philosophy. He has also studied Sanskrit. He holds degrees from four universities in the United Kingdom, and has taught in colleges and universities in Guyana, the United Kingdom, and the United States. His Doctoral Thesis was on the Social and Educational Philosophy of British philosopher and Nobel Prize winner, Bertrand Russell. Dr. Mattai's current research interests are in Moral Philosophy, and among his recent publications are: HINDUISM: On The Nature of Religious Experience, Moral and Spiritual Values, and Human Conduct; "Ethics, Education, and Conflict Resolution" in EASTERN AND INDIGENOUS PERSPECTIVES ON CONFLICT RESOLUTION (Y. Pathak, ed.); and THE HINDU CONCEPTION OF GOD AND USE OF SYMBOLS.