Lecture Notes: Bondage and Liberation

Key Concepts

• Bondage: Attachment to desires (vasanas) and wanting to fulfill them.

  • To be plagued by desires is bondage.
  • Thickening and tightening of vasanas leads to bondage.
  • Indulging in and thinking about desires deepens this bondage.

• Liberation: Freedom from desires (vasanas).

  • The exhaustion of vasanas leads to liberation.
  • Thinning and loosening of vasanas is the path to liberation.
  • Attaining a state where no desire arises, even in the presence of objects, signifies liberation.

Path to Liberation

• Thinning Vasanas: Little by little, reduce the strength of desires.
  • Example: An object being present does not incite desire.

Vasana Formation and Impact

• Impressions: Every thought, feeling, and perception forms an impression on the mind.

  • A vasana is a deep-rooted impression associated with likes or dislikes.
  • Not every impression becomes a vasana, but every vasana is an impression.

• Creation of Vasanas: When impressions are associated with strong feelings of like or dislike, they solidify into vasanas.

  • Example: A strong desire to re-experience a pleasant memory, like eating a delicious corn, becomes a vasana.

Differentiating Weak and Strong Vasanas

• Weak Vasanas: Easily dismissed desires.
  • Example: Wanting corn but being okay if it's not available.
• Strong Vasanas: Desires hard to dismiss, often leading to compulsive behavior.
  • Example: Traveling far or spending a lot to fulfill a desire for corn.

Signs of Vasana Presence

• Prompts Actions: Vasanas drive desires and actions.
• Reactions: Emotional responses to the fulfillment or non-fulfillment of desires.
  • Example: Feeling happy when a desire is met, sad when it is not.
  • Strong reactions indicate strong vasanas.

Awareness and Control

• Inner Awareness: Crucial to prevent vasanas from reaching the desire level.
  • Even in the presence of objects, strong inner awareness prevents desires.
  • Example: The enlightened one remains unaffected by external stimuli because of diminished vasanas.

Practical Examples and Analogies

• Examples of Justification: Rationalizing indulgence in desires.

  • Shifting from one indulgence to another, e.g., from tea to coffee, without true renunciation.

• Childhood Toys: Maturity changes how we view past desires.

  • Example: The desire for toys as children compared to the desire for luxury items as adults.

Summary

• Path to Liberation: Focus on thinning and ultimately exhausting vasanas.
• Role of Awareness: Preventing desires from gaining power through continuous inner awareness.
• Adjustment of Desires: Subtle shifting of vasanas from one object to another without true inner change is not liberation.

Conclusion: True liberation involves the exhaustion of vasanas, leading to a state where external objects or thoughts do not give rise to desires, achieved through continuous spiritual awareness and maturity.